XP- getting very slow

[Gerald Sargent]

XP on my laptop, well updated, runs very slow indeed and seems to
be getting worse. Tried empying Trash, deleting Temps, and defrag,
none of which have improved matters. Frequently the HD seems to
grind away on its own - with no programmes running - for ages.
Using AVG antivirus (paid subscriber). My laptop with XP, no virus
protetion and not updated boots fast and works fast.

[allan gould]

Same experience here Gerald. I installed xp sp2 and refused to allow the pc to update. It screams that I'm at risk, not protected etc etc and wants to update over the internet but I don't do it.
Runs like a dream - our PCs at work which have to be 'updated' run like pigs.
Thats WINDOZE bigbrother for you.

[Gama]

Gerald, i recommend you re install XP and service pack 2 again.
Backup your data, delete/replace the windows directory when re installing and go for it.
Windows slows down heaps mainly with the registry being so huge over the years of updating, installing and uninstalling software. It gets so big, it takes yonks to do anything.
Every now and then i do a re install my self.

Theo

[acropolite]

I cleaned up a machine at the weekend with similar problems. It was an old PIII laptop with only 256Mb Ram. You could bake a cake while it booted and it wouldn't see an external HDD that was plugged in.

Nothing to do with service packs or updates, merely links to resorces that weren't there, some misguided apps and bloatware.

The PC had links, on the desktop, to USB devices that weren't plugged in as well as links to the net. Shortcuts to removable devices and or network resources on the desktop can bog XP down, as well as cause long delays when opening IE.

As well they had a sync utility which was trying to sync files that had been deleted from their HDD to folders that no longer existed on the removable device.

To top it off they had installed the mother of all bloatware products Norton AV.

Regarding AVG, I have found lately it's a real dog, several times it has removed parts of applications after detecting "false positives", I've since removed it and gone to AVAST antivirus, which is free for home use and very well reviewed. All my machines have auto update turned off.

[Tandum]

I use a program called autoruns (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx) to inspect the load options of windoze.

You probly need to know 5hit from shinola in the computer world to remove what shouldn't be there, but there you go.

[Barrykgerdes]

Hi

All the above seems to be a common problem with XP and the program sure gets slower and slower.

I scored a nice 3 MHz pentium off a friend a few months ago that had got so slow that it was useless and then got locked into a Norton AV loop that took about me about 2 minutes to get out of. The owner could not even do this.

The registry had over 2000 errors which took some time to correct. Over the next couple of hours I managed to remove most of the programs that were on the computer along with Norton AV and 5 GB of Ipod downloads.

After about 5 hours I had the computer down to its basics and was able to re-install some "essentials". The computer now runs as fast as it should and I have a useful spare computer.

Yes I could have re-formatted but this would have lost the factory installed Windows XP installation and there were no recovery disks. I wanted to retain the XP installation. I recovered the key and I have since made a backup image for the system.

I have all my computers running with the developement tools used fo compiling the source code for Stellarium. This allows me to test the stellarium svn version on different platforms as it is progressing.

Barry

[vindictive666]

i use a couple of different registry cleaners

and no problems here :)

i use xp pro and sp3


regards john

[Maverick]

Hi there
Your lapi has some spyware problems.Try downloading SuperAntiSpyware and after update/scan your laptop shoud get better.Also look in Spybot and Zone alarm.All free programs.Avast is better than AVG because it will auto update and can run scan on booting.
Good luck;)

[Achilles61]

As far as the random mutterings of the drive is concerned, it's possible that the indexing "feature" has kicked in. Double-click MyComputer, right-click the drive(s), and you should see the option near the bottom of the window. It's the first thing I disable, since it always seems to kick in just when I want to do something else - and I don't need super-fast searches.

[Ian Robinson]

Ditch Norton AV (uninstall it completely) after your have done a system recovery (pick a date (restore point) that is well before your computer got really slow BTW).

Get a copy of SPYBOT and run it , then uninstall it. (FREEWARE)

Get a copy of LAVASOFT ADAWARE (FREEWARE) and run it (regularly), this will get rid of malware that has been installed in the background when you visit websites , that are not viruses , this will get rid of garbage that Spybot and what ever the new antivirus app your decide to use missed, but which still use lots of resources and can really slow the computer down.

Reinstall XP and the updates (up to sp2) if all the above doesn't help. I've not bothered downloading or installing sp3 - I've heard bad things about it.

If you've got lots of shortcuts to stuff on your desktop - delete most of the shortcuts - they will consume resources even when not being used or viewed.
I've only got 9 shortcuts to folders or apps that I used frequently + the Office Slide Bar, and am often amazed at how many shortcuts people have in their profile .... seen some people with a screen full of shortcuts (who wonder why their computer takes forever to startup .... been there and done that myself).

Tidy up / purge the program list - I use a rule of thumb that if I haven't used a program for 12 months or more - it's unstalled.
Tidy up / purge the shortcuts directory .... easy to accumulate lots of bookmarked shortcuts to urls that just clutter things up - if you aren't sure - copy all your shortcuts to a floppy or CD , then be ruthless in purging.

I have updates active , but only to advise me there are updates , which I manually install.

GET MORE RAM - this is the very best and cheapest way of speeding up an opsys and a computer, RAM is pretty cheap , and a lot cheaper than replacing a computer. The more RAM you have , the less often the HDD has to called, HDDs are the main limiting factor in computer speed and really have not become all that faster (seek time and platter rpm) than they were several years ago , they just got bigger.

Get more RAM.

This is what I would do.

This is what we learnt in ELEC4700 (Advanced Computer Engineering) a few years ago when I did that subject as part of my second engineering degree.

PS : there are some good Registry Repairers about that are FREEWARE , get one and run it , that can't hirt and may even help.

[nightsky]

G'Day Gerald,
I've been using these 2 programmers for a while now and I have never had a problem.give them a go you'll be surprised how much cxxxp is on your machine.And as always before installing any programmers make create a restore point.
http://www.iobit.com/advancedwindowscareper.html?Str=dow nload
http://www.ccleaner.com/update/?v=2.11.636&l=1033
Cheers
Arthur
P.S.You should also try there defrag programmer,as windowz file system leaves a lot to be desired

[Ian Robinson]

Scanning on bootup is a bad idea unless you don't mind very slow startups, best to scan manually on a regular basis - ie a weekly deep scan of EVERYTHING say.

[Maverick]

Scan on boot is just option you can select if you get nasty virus.
Scan before your PC boots in Windows will help remove virus.
You will do the same if you run scan from safe mode.Cya;)

[Ian Robinson]

I find a monthly deep virus scan is more than sufficient unless I am advised of something via Sophos or the Uni.

Can't recall the last time I detected an infection on my computers.