File deletion taking a very long time

[xwb]

Machine Spec: PIII, 400MHz, 256Mb Memory, 40Gb disk.
OS: XP SP3

Indexing switched off
Disk is in 2 partitions, both with 7Gb free.
Recycle bin is empty.

Deleting using a DOS prompt is pretty quick but I don't always remember to pop up a DOS prompt to delete files.

Deleting a 2K file in explorer takes 40 seconds. The file disappears almost immediately from the explorer display but the animation takes 40 seconds to disappear.

At first I thought it might be fragmentation but the disk isn't fragmented. Any idea what might be causing this?

 

[AverageJoePC]

Some big things to note are as follows:

256mb of RAM - This is ideally the minimum of RAM to run XP on. Upgrading to 512 is probably as high as you can go. 256mb per DIMM slot. Maybe even 128 per depending on the motherboard.

Service Pack 3 on 256mb RAM - Pretty much you are at a point of nearly all your resourced being consumed just by your operating system alone.

P3 400MHz processor - This was an outstanding processor for its time, but that time was during Windows 98. This processor does not have the l1/l2 caching needed for present day applications

Your main issue is that you are running too powerful an operating system for the machine. So if you are using other software in the background such as an antivirus, you are going to be waiting for some time. If you are running Norton and McAfee, its junk anyways.

I would check you task manager to see how much RAM is being used during regular load.

There are some great tools out there such as dial-a-fix that will give a good cleaning and fix general errors all at once within about 5 minutes.

I would also recommend running spybot S&D. Grab the updates first and then run it in safe mode for best results.

Upgrade your RAM if your motherboard allows for it.

If you have any other questions, let me know

http://www.averagejoepc.com

 

[linney]

Since 2001 things like Anti Virus software have increased in size (MB's) by about 12 and are now using 12 times as much resources. They are probably struggling to run on your machine and probably bogging down Windows too.

To check this out, boot your machine to Safe Mode and take it for a spin. If it performs like new, see if you can isolate any offending software.

310560 - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310560

 

[xwb]

Thanks - I'll have a look and report back

 

[BadBigBen]

Any idea what might be causing this?

besides what was already mentioned...

Check the DMA setting of the HDD's, they may have reverted back to PIO mode (Slow as molasses)...

open up the Device Manager, navigate to the ATA / ATAPI controller, right click the PRIMARY & SECONDARY CHANNELS... under one of the TABS it should tell you about DMA or PIO mode data transfer rates...

if it is set to PIO, then uninstall the device, and reboot, let windows reinstall the drivers... This happens when XP detects more than 6 DMA errors in a row...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[xwb]

I set off spybot last night and checked this morning: still as slow as ever.

The DMA mode is set to Ultra DMA mode 2, whatever that means. Anyway, it isn't PIO so I think I'm safe there.

I'll try the safe mode next. As you said, maybe I shouldn't have put on SP3. It was fine with SP1 until I put on VS2005.

 

[xwb]

It was fast in safe mode so I had a look at the run/runonce stuff and the services. It is one of the following:

Adobe (removed from run in registry)
Roxio (stopped 3 services - I only need it for burning DVDs)
IIS (stopped service - I only need it when I'm testing web pages)
Windows Security Centre (stopped service)

Anyway, I have fast deletes once more. Thanks guys.

 

[cdogg]

Because you don't see much issue deleting from a command prompt, the problem is likely rooted within the explorer.exe process. It doesn't sound like the hard drive or lack of resources at this point. There's not much to suggest except maybe to use a registry cleaner like RegClean or Registry Mechanic, or to do a clean install of Windows unfortunately.

Also, you've mentioned that at one time you had SP1 on this system and simply upgraded the service packs over time. Although it works fine in most situations to do that, the best way to apply a service pack is during the initial installation of Windows or before you have a lot of applications installed. I would strongly recommend at this point that you give a fresh installation of Windows some strong consideration at this point. Of course, it would make even more sense to upgrade the hardware while you're at it.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[xwb]

I normally reinstall after each project. Windows gets a lot of registry bloat on some of the projects.

The machine is fast enough for most of the stuff I do (C++, web scripting, writing docs). The biggest suite of code takes 3 minutes to build. Not really a problem: enough time to ponder. If it is too fast, I lose the pondering time and things really start going wrong.

I use faster machines for C#, Java and databasey stuff i.e. the really bad excuses to get faster machines. Don't particularly like them because the battery doesn't last as long (this one lasts 2.5 hours) and they burn when placed on the lap.

I can't seem to find a replacement where I can touchtype instead of two-finger type. Netbooks are too small and the average laptop is too deep to fit between my tummy and the steering wheel when I'm waiting for kids/wife.

 

[linney]

Perhaps you should try turning the Security Center back on and see if it still runs OK (after a reboot). It is a bit of a risk not having that Service running.

Does your Roxio programs include something called "Go Back"? That program has often caused problems in Windows.

 

[xwb]

I've switched on the security center - seems to be OK. Don't remember stopping anything called goback but there was tons of roxio stuff. I only write CDs once every 2-3 months so there really isn't any point in having it on.