XP performance slowing down? 1

[J741]

Maybe it's just me but...

I've been using Windows XP since the day of it's public release. I run defrag regularily, ensure my anti-virus software is up-to-date, and apply all Windows patches as they are available. Despite all this, it seems as though Windows XP is slowing down!

It seems to me as though it's taking longer for programs to open, web sites to load, the PC to shut down, e-mail to be displayed in outlook, and so on. I thought I was just imagining this, but when the game "Warcraft III" came out, I installed it and began to play. The in-game cinematics were smooth, charachter animations were good, and game load times were not signifigant. Now that I have just finished the game, I noticed that the in-game cinematics are verry choppy, sound cuts out a little bit, and the load and close times are awful.

So is it just me, or is anyone else's Windows XP showing signs of degradation? Does anyone know of any simple, friendly, free tools to help clear this up?

 

[meastaugh1]

I haven't noticed anything. Have you installed any new hardware? If you've installed a noteable amount of software then that could also be an obvious cause.

 

[J741]

No hardware changes since the original upgrade to WinXP. Only a few programs installed since the original upgrade to WinXP. No changes of any noticeable signifigance.

 

[meastaugh1]

Nothing in event viewer?

 

[linney]

It does sound a bit like your Anti Virus program is interfering with your other programs. What brand is it? Have there been any major changes to it lately?


How much RAM have you got? Here are a couple of links you can check out to see if they make any difference.
Try disabling any unrequired services that are running in background.

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

HOW TO: Set Performance Options (Q308417)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/4/17.asp

Some freeware or free trial programs you can play with to see if they help.

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/pagedefrag.shtml

RegVac from

http://www.superwin.com

You in the end might just have to reformat and re-install XP to get your performance back.

 

[Hiwayman]

I have noticed the same problem. I have also noticed that the cpu runs at 100% load during these slow downs, especialy when trying to play UT or MOHAA. I have also detected that when I run the directx 3D test it fails with a memory fault. This has only been recent. Nothing new has been installed. My suspicions are that it may be video related (drivers) though no joy with MS tech support yet. If someone does come up with an answer I would love to know.

 

[bradster122]

I have came across the same problem. Its weird, but everything loads slower over time without any new hardware added. I know that XP is supposed to work better if left on over a period of time unlike 98, which would fill up RAM unill theres none left. I used the CD to repair and re-installed windows and made a huge difference, and then surely again about after two months, the same slow speed. And I'm like you, defrag, clean up reg, tweaks and all, but same thing. And your right about the support, they have no know issues of this. One advantage is using Tweak XP, and power tools for XP to allow you to reset your settings. But I still think its something to do with your RAM.

 

[J741]

Linney, I'm using Norton Anti-Virus 2002, udpated whenever possible (usualy every few days). My system is based on a 1.2GHz AMD Athlon-c CPU, and I have 256MB of PC-2100 DDR memory.

I do notice a lot of hard drive activity when there shouldn't be any, but my internet firewall (a seperate box) shows absolutely zero network traffic during those times, so I don't suspect a trojan virus or hacker at work here.

 

[linney]

Did you check this link out? Have a look at the Indexing Service.

http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

 

[kishleo]

it seams there is some problem running nortan anti virus on windows xp, i had a same problem but when i had uninstalled the antivirus, its ok, uninstall your antivirus and check the performance..... ô¿ô Kishore

 

[CowboysFan87]

Agree with Kishleo...noticed XP really crawling....unloaded Norton AV 2002 and bought a copy of McAffe 6....it runs a lot faster now.

 

[tekinfarmland]

I have a customer using XP and his system crawls too. His problem is that there is a rogue AOL process that never shutsdown normally (waol.exe I believe is the filename). When I manually kill this process, XP returns to normal.

 

[J741]

O.K. I tried a few things...

Tried a few of the tweaks found in the program "TweakXP". No major difference noticed.

Changed a few services from "automatic to manual". The "Indexer" service made a HUGE difference which I immediately noticed at login time; All my icons and task bars were displayed and available to use much faster than before. Also noticed that when I'm in Outlook and click on an interent link contained in an e-mail, IE now starts and loads the link MUCH faster than before.

I'm going to try some other things too, but disabling the "Indexer" service sure seems to have helped. But I though the service is suppose to help access files faster? It sure seems to do quite the opposite as far as I can see.

 

[fenris]

The indexing service goes through your hard disk(s) and makes a database of all the files you have on your computer. Now when you do a search for that word document that you can't find, instead of it searching through your entire hard disk(s) it will query the database. This will return results much faster! Unfortunately for this service to be accurate it needs to re-index the files on your hard disk(s) periodically, depending on the number of new files added to the disk(s).

In my opinion, for normal users, the indexing service is a complete waste! Think of it this way, how many times do you search for a file? Personally I may search for a file once a month. So I don't mind waiting an extra minute or two to find the file.

If you have your files are organized in a way that you know all the word documents are in a specific directory then the indexing service becomes a real waste of resources.

Troy Williams E.I.T.
fenris@hotmail.com

 

[Guest_imported]

A general hint to xp users, you do not need to geat all the "Critical updates", 90% of them are for users strapped on a network that has an entry point for malicious users. Since microsoft couldn't code their way out of a box, they use more than whats nessicary to counteract their security holes. Before mindlessly allowing windows to apply any patch they see fit, research each patch and see if you need it. They really arn't that critical once you take a look at what infact they all do. I researched the majority of the updates and only found 1 or 2 critical updates that I needed and a few optional ones. Do this to prevent system degredation. This will only work for those with a fresh install, if you have already updated im sorry. Note that you are suppose to be able to uninstall the hotfixes, except you will probably notice that when you try you will be unable to.
Also antivirus programs with the auto-protect option will kill your computers preformance. Basically they scan EVERY SINGLE FILE you access. Disable the auto-protect and you will notice a huge boost in speed, as your computer will not have to rethink every single process before it runs it. If your worried about security just use the antivirus when you get incoming emails, download programs and the ocational system scan. Anything more for a home user is super overkill, unless you just hang out on virii ridden websites.

 

[Javelin]

I have a problem with XP running sluggish as well, but with 512 meg of PC-2100 DDR Ram on an XP 1900+...games for the most part work fine, but IE is extremely slow, and I can't even run Adobe Photoshop and IE at the same time ('not enough system resources available'), even when photoshop is only using about 100 meg and IE uses 16 and there are no other programs running...there is one process that is bugging me, called System Idle Process, that constantly shows up in the task manager as using 97% of my CPU...what is that process and is it essential?

 

[polymath5]

System Idle Process should be that high. Ideally you want it around 99%. It's telling you that the system is x% idle. If you sort by CPU and have programs running, you'll notice that as other programs CPU vaulues go up, the System Idle process goes down.

You'll see it drop when programs get launched, then bounce back up.

Worry, if you see it consistantly running low!

 

[meastaugh1]

Yep, that's right, the System Idle Process is Windows way of accounting for unused processor time. It's supposed to be high.

 

[Javelin]

After I start up, the desktop freezes right in the middle of loading for about five seconds....niether my processor or my memory should be swamped with starting programs, so what gives?

And also, why can't i run photoshop and IE at the same time when the total amount of memory being taken up doesn't come close to the total amount that i have...

 

[Guest_imported]

I'm running two XP machines (one P4, one Celeron, both HP machines, both two hard drives and 384 ram)

About a month ago the Celeron started to slow down. Only have AOL, Opera and Mozilla as apps on the machine.

It now takes upwards of a minute for anything to load (including XP properties boxes, etc.)

Once loaded everything runs fine. Mouse, video, etc. respond fine at all times. No extraneous tsr's (now aka ghost drivers).

This is the weirdest behavior I've every seen on a new machine.

Is it possible that somehow XP is going from Microsoft 'registerd' mode to unregistered -- which I understand slows everything down?

That's about the only thing I can think of.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.