Slow IE6 Browser and "My Computer" after SP2 Install 1

[timwescott]

Since applying WindowsXP SP2 I have got a few issuses with my computers response times in certain areas. These are as follows and worked perfectly well before the SP2 install.

1. IE v6.0.2900.2180.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519 is slow to open web pages, once in a site it responds fine. Installed FireFox and this does not have a problem at all - it fairly flies and is my default browser, but the "bread-knife" wants to use IE.

2. "My Computer" and "Explor" take about two minutes to display the drives if you select the top folder. Once in a drive/directory it responds fine. Returning to the top level always takes ages to display.

3. When selecting the "Send To" option after right clicking on an item the machine again takes ages to display the options.

There is nothing in the envent log to suggest anything is wrong. I've used CCleaner, Spybot and others but no sign of spyware, etc.

Also running Norton Internet Security 2004, which has been disabled for a short period to eliminate this, but still the same problems. Windows FireWall has been disabled.

The Machine is a Sony Vaio P4 Laptop, 2.8MhZ with 512Mb Ram, so performance should not be an issue.

Also read in some other articles that Windows hotfix Q811493 caused similar issues, but SP2 replaces all other hotfix's and updates so I can't remove this one item. Uninstalling SP2 resolves the issues.

Any help appreciated as I'm getting a little tired of tralling various web sites looking for answers and most suggest spyware which I have eliminated - I think?!?!

Thanks

 

[gpurush]

Since your system is responding slow and your virus scans and spyware search have come out with nothing, it may be a good idea to check your HD for fragmented files and see if its time for a defrag.

 

[bcastner]

-Right click on the My Computer Icon and Select properties,
[alternatively double-click on System icon form the control panel folder (in classic mode.)]
- Select Hardware and click on Device Manager
- Open the processor section and double-click on the processor
- click on the driver tab
- click on "roll back driver" ... and finish the process.

What happened is that SP2 installed a new driver called intelppm.sys that seems to have a problem. This process restored a driver called processr.sys that was previously installed.

Discussion:

http://groups.google.com/groups?threadm=AsZ0d.18666$6q1.2076@newssvr27.news.prodigy.com

Other tips:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819101

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819017

In both My Computer and in your Send to folder, look for shortcuts to network fileshares. Look for shortcuts to FTP sites. Delete them.

 

[timwescott]

Thanks for the advice. I have already run defrag with no positive results.

I will try the second suggestion, but before I do can anyone comment on the following change I just made.

I noticed that the event log was reporting a DCOM error on a regular basis. By setting the service to manual and restarting the slow responses have gone away.

However, now Norton reports an error every five minutes relating to Messenger downloads and the Live Update no longer works. Not surprisingly, restarting DCOM reproduces the problems.


Thanks

 

[bcastner]

Could you post the error log details on the DCOM error?
It is not tenable to disable the DCOM service launcher process.

 

[timwescott]

Rolling back the processor driver did not fix the problem, but thanks for the input.

Here is the DCOM error event information.
SourceCOM
EventID:10010
Description:The server {A1F4E726-8CF1-11D1-BF92-0060081ED811} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

Hope this helps.

I have also tried a brand new user account, also with no luck.

Thanks

 

[bcastner]

That CLSID refers to the Windows Image Acquisition service. That you can set to Manual or disable. I referenced this in my third link above.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819017

Best regards,
Bill Castner

 

[bcastner]

I should note another workaround, which is to remove the DCOM references from the WIA Service.

Start, Run, Regedit

Locate:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\{A1F4E726-8CF1-11D1-BF92-0060081ED811}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{A1F4E726-8CF1-11D1-BF92-0060081ED811}

Either export the keys and remove them, or rename the keys by right clicking, Rename,and add something like a '@' symbol to the beginning of the Name.

Reboot.

Now set the WIA service to disabled by a Start, Run, services.msc

 

[timwescott]

Thanks. I did refer to the articles before and changed the WIA service to manual, but problems still arise. Setting the service to 'disable' has now sort the problem.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[bcastner]

It occured to me that you could still throw DCOM errors if the WIA service was set only to Manual. See my workaround above, but it appears you have beaten me to this.

Note: The Send to shortcuts still need some attention on your part. As does the right-click context menu.

Some SP2 related thoughts on the context menu:

. Check for DIVX issues. Your machine may not necessarily crash but it certainly will be slow:

http://www.winxptutor.com/sp2/divxcrash.htm

. right click context menu slow, or odd issues:

http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/slowrightclick.htm

Best regards,
Bill Castner