Windows XP forum: Slow computer! - will increase disk space for temp internet files help?

To properly speed up browsing you need to delete the temp files occasionally. The more files you keep, the longer the PC has to look for the pages, then compare them to the one on line, then decide which is the most relevant.

>> I've been emptying the temp internet files like crazy, and in fact have always done so <<

You deleted them in the normal procedure. However, not all the files are deleted because of some deisgn oversights.

So, use the WORKAROUND procedure as described in the following MSKB article in order to delete by good the IE's cache folder (aka Temporary Internet files)

Q301057 -"Temporary Internet Files Use More Disk Space Than Specified"

Note: this procedure is easy because you know why and now How-To do it.

Good Luck,

Cetin


Trying to unweave, unwind, unravel
And piece together the past and the future,

T. S. Eliot

Many XP users experience this problem. One rumor has it that the security patches have caused the problem, although I haven't seen direct evidence. The conclusion seems to be that you need to do everything: defrag, get rid of unwanted startup programs, etc. I also found that increasing paging space helped (Control Panel / System / Advanced tab / Performance Settings button / Advanced tab (another one) / Virtual Memory Change button). I set the minimum to about 50% more than the Recommended size, and the maximum to 2X the minimum. This is voodoo, but it seemed to help, probably because I run some large programs. Also, here's a MSFT forum on XP performance: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/reader.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.perform_maintain

Thanks for all the replies. Here are some answers. I haven't yet tried Cetin's workaround since I just arrived home, but I will, ASAP.

I am connecting with a cable modem, and it's usually lightning fast. The problem is present with all users, not just me.

PAGING SPACE: It says "Total paging file size for all drives: 192 MB", then when I click it, it goes to another tab and says "Initial Size: 192 MB....Maximum Size: 384 MB" Then below that it says: "Total Paging File Size for All Drives: Minumum Allowed: 2 MB, Recommended: 957 MB, Currently Allocated: 192 MB". It looks like I'm way below what they even recommend, let alone 50% higher! What should I reset it to, 1431 MB? Is that right? I'll wait until I hear back before I do that! Also I should note here that fairly occasionally that popup about "You are Runnning Low on Virtual Memory" appears. Applicable to the problem, you think?

Here's one other funky thing. I was watching the status bar as it was (not) connecting to my start page, which is a page that used to fly up on the screen but now takes over a minute. It was flashing that it was loading all sorts of advertising, lots of it, then this flashed by: "Bad URL". Eventually it loaded but it seemed like full of stress from loading a million ads. I don't know.
I will get to Cetin's project as soon as I can and will let you know.

Also, interesting info about the TIF disk space (esp, "sitting on the beach..."!) Ha, yeah, true that. What IS the recommended disk space to put that slider on? I've moved it so many times but have no idea what I'm doing anyway. What number should it be set to, where do you guys keep it?

Check out the procedure descrobed in the following MSKB article.

Q315270 - "Error Message: Your System Has No Paging File, or the Paging File Is Too Small"

Also, click the Q308417 link inside the article and you'll find that the recommended size depends of your RAM amount. So, change it accordingly with your physical amount.

As for the TIF aka cache size, don't bother. When it fills the allocated size, the last used content (as time stamp) is lost. Never touched the default size, although it can be lowered if there is a free space need.

Good Luck,


Cetin


Trying to unweave, unwind, unravel
And piece together the past and the future,

T. S. Eliot

Sorry, this is probably more to the point - it has 640MB RAM. I read this link too:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php
It looks like my amount is low. It said this about size:
"The file should be 2.5 times the size of RAM (or some other multiple)."
So - 1600MB of Page File space? Is my math right? Am I on the right page here? (Ha, no pun intended!)

I guess I'll leave it where it is. I've learned a lot about a topic I didn't know about. Thanks, appreciate everything.

It is IE6, and is set to do that but never seems to. Only when the computer shuts down totally, which isn't often.