Windows XP: Slow computer
Updates
by macheath48 - 2/2/07 6:27 AM In reply to: Slow computer by gcousinsThe same thing happened to my HP Pavillion desktop. I was told by HP that the problem causing my "very, very sluggish" behavior was that the patches Mircosoft and McAfee install add a around 10 - 15 seconds to the time. If that is true (and, like you, I defragged/ deleted/use the disk cleanup/ use the Internet tools and clear out cache's and temp files)then it agrees with the horrible time it now takes to get anything done.
Slow XP computer - Mine is a Dell
by Delirious - 2/2/07 7:13 AM In reply to: Slow computer by gcousinsMaybe it's XP home edition (SP2), but that Dell box was the worst running computer I have ever owned after it was on the Internet for a few months. We have kids in the house, and I'm sure my wife ate a few cookies she shouldn't have, but I ran every Spyware, Adware, Virus app I had access to and nothing helped.
Reading all the posts and system level fixes that people are suggesting reassure me that I made ther right decision when I disconnected the Dell CPU from the monitor and threw it in the basement. I connected my son's Mac IBook laptop (has a broken screen) to the monitor permanently, and everybody loves it. Opening up the laptop cover at about a 30 degree angle provides a nice neon-lit keyboard for evening use. Problem solved!
Dennis DiValerio
Algonquin IL
This is a "last resort" but it always works
by dsafety - 2/2/07 7:53 AM In reply to: Slow XP computer - Mine is a Dell by DeliriousI find that my XP computer slows down over time. This wonderful windows feature is as predictable as the sunrise. It is not a question of if the computer will eventually slow down, but when. I have no idea what causes the problem.
Like many of the others who have posted in this tread, I have tried all the usual fixes when the slowdown becomes too much to bear. (the DMA/PIO switch is a new one to me, however). I have seldom been able to fix the problem so I usually have to resort to a reformat and reinstall of all my software. This fix can take days to complete but it always solves the problem. (Read on for some time saving suggestions)
Since I know that as long as I have a Windows computer, I will eventually have to reformat and reinstall, I have learned to do a few things that makes the exercise less painful. First, I do not keep any of my data on my C drive. I have a large hard drive formatted into three partitions. My data lives on one of the other partitions and a backup lives on another partition on a different hard drive. When I have to reformat, I no longer run into the problem of losing data, such as my email database, that was hidden by default somewhere on the drive I just reformatted.
Just to be safe, I make a full backup of my C drive on another hard drive just before I reformat. This has turned out to be very useful on those occasions where I have forgotten to move some data or a driver to my data drive, (something stored on the desktop for example)
The second big timesaver I have learned to do is to make a copy of my newly reformatted C drive along with all the newly installed software as soon as I feel comfortable that everything is working properly. I use Norton Ghost for this and it works great. I make sure that I have updated all my drivers, installed all the service packs, etc. before making the Ghost copy.
If the Ghost copy is good and my data is safely stored on another drive, I can usually reformt the C drive and reinstall everything is a matter of hours rather than days.
Bob
I do the same thing
by Robert K - 2/2/07 4:12 PM In reply to: This is a "last resort" but it always works by dsafetyI did the same thing when I built my daughter's machine a few years ago. Being a teenager, I knew she would do something to force me to do an OS reload so when I built it, I partitioned the drive to 20mb for drive C and 140mb for her drive D. She was instructed to keep all her precious pictures, music and videos in folders on drive D. She was very glad she did after re-installing XP twice. Drive D never got touched.
Slow Computer Frustration
by jerrys_54 - 2/2/07 2:49 PM In reply to: Slow computer by gcousinsI can identify. I just went through this. 1. too many firewalls and antiviruses at the same time. 2. Even though you ran all the utilities, empty boxes are left in your system. back up what you can and run your original set up disk ( installation, came with machine). you will have to wip out your system first, but it run like the day you bought it when your done. Live and Learn
Some Updates Take Up the Limits of your Hardware
by Robert K - 2/2/07 4:02 PM In reply to: Slow computer by gcousinsI have seen it over and over again. As time goes by there are updates, some automatic, some you are offered and take. Many of these new updates take up much more system resources than the older ones. After awhile the machine reaches its limit and cannot handle these processes. The biggest resource hogs are (this is a fact) Norton Antivirus or any of the Symantec programs (Internet Security, etc), MacAfee, and the newest hogs of the year are: JAVA 5.0 and Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0! Oh yeah, IE7 also uses more resources. The combination of these things will make even the fastest machines slow down on their own.
I have to have a machine that takes as long as the sound of the mouse click to open. The above programs and updates slowed my machine down and had to uninstall them. See oldversion.com.
Speeding up your PC!
by drjmozzillo - 2/4/07 12:50 PM In reply to: Slow computer by gcousinsHi:
I had a similar problem with my laptop. I finally reformatted my hard drive and replaced the data as best I could. I now make regular backups of my laptops hard drive. Fortunately USB hard drives for backup are reasonably priced and easily obtainable.
My theory is that your computer was probably attacked by a virus or Trojan Hourse, etc. I believe that mine was. After formatting my hard drive and starting from scratch, my laptop was working normally. I purchased a new antivirus program and so far so good. I have mixed several products for protecting my laptop. Now I wish that I purchased an all-in-one security package. On the other hand most people that would write viruses probably test them against the popular products.
I hope that the above was helpful.
Also I do not recommend trying to download your files now in-order-to place them back on your reformatted hard drive. You may be putting the virus you are trying to get rid of back on you computer.
Basics
by kjang - 2/6/07 9:26 AM In reply to: Slow computer by gcousins1 Close unecessary background programs like more than one virus program running at once unless it's necessary
2 Add RAM
3 Run registry mechanic could be orphan files etc cluttering things up
4 Make positively sure there are no viruses,spyware and malware etc
5 Google closing unecessary background programs check that out
I had the same problem.....This is how I fixed it....
by skippy594 - 2/7/07 5:27 PM In reply to: Slow computer by gcousinsI recently bought a new computer after having the same pc for close to 12 years, we bought, the cheapest pc the pc store had on its shelf....
A month or 2 goes by and the same exact thing happened....my new pc sucked worse than the the old one.
Turns out that when I bought the pc, it came with 256 MB RAM, but also came with xp, which requires 512 mb to run, not 256. Yes my new pc was obsolete before it left the store.
Its really easy to fix, I found out that my pc has 2 128 mb ram modules. I had to remove one of those and install a 512 in one of their places. Now I'm realising after writing this that all I need to do to upgrade from xp to vista with my machine, I need to replace the other 128mb with either another 512mb or a full gig.
If you do the math when I replaced the first 128mb and installed the 512 I now currently have 704mb RAM. Runs just fine now....
slow computer
by pamestartit - 2/9/07 3:36 AM In reply to: Slow computer by gcousinswindows xp
dell 500
telefonica adsl
Why have you posted this?
by MarkFlax
- 2/9/07 3:44 AM
In reply to: slow computer by pamestartit
pamestartit, why have you posted this information? If you have a problem please state what it is. You may want to start a new discussion.
Mark
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