When I click on the Start button, it usually takes a few minutes for
the menu to appear. Other than that, my computer runs at an
acceptable speed - it's just the Start menu that's inordinately slow.

My question is... why might this be happening and is there anything I
might be able to do to "fix" it?

I would suspect malware on your system. Do a google search for
Spybot Search and Destroy and Adaware. They both have free
versions. If you have changed or added anything ( software or
programs ) recently, you can try a System Restore. Go to Start>All
Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore. Follow the simple
instructions and go back to a point prior to having this
problem.
"yawnmoth" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:d7a323da-d9ee-4e1e-9714-(E-Mail Removed)...
> When I click on the Start button, it usually takes a few minutes for
> the menu to appear. Other than that, my computer runs at an
> acceptable speed - it's just the Start menu that's inordinately slow.
>
> My question is... why might this be happening and is there anything I
> might be able to do to "fix" it?

On Aug 21, 10:08*pm, "Rich Barry" <rba...@socal.rr.com> wrote:
> * * * *I would suspect malware on your system. *Do a google search for
> Spybot Search and Destroy *and Adaware. *They both have free
> * * versions.

As much as I loathe it, I have Spybot on my system and it hasn't found
anything. I've done Google searches on every single process that
appears in Windows Task Manager. I've even sniffed packets on this
computer for two straight days and found no suspicious activity.

My theory is this: I don't have enough RAM for all the applications I
have open* and opening the Start menu requires a *.dll be loaded from
virtual memory that would normally be loaded from RAM. Thrashing
occurs, slowing down my system performance, until the Start menu
finally opens.

The problem doesn't always occur, mind you. If I click on the Start
menu after having done so once before, it's a lot faster. It's just
that after taking out of Hibernate, it's slow. At least the first
time.

What, specifically, I'm wondering, is this: maybe there's some setting
that can make the Start menu GDI components more likely to stay in RAM
as opposed to being moved to virtual memory?

Obviously, per this theory, installing more RAM would be an option,
but that would require I reboot the computer. Which is kinda
something I'm trying to avoid by using hibernate.

yawnmoth wrote:
> On Aug 21, 10:08 pm, "Rich Barry" <rba...@socal.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> I would suspect malware on your system. Do a google search for
>>Spybot Search and Destroy and Adaware. They both have free
>> versions.
>
>
> As much as I loathe it, I have Spybot on my system and it hasn't found
> anything. I've done Google searches on every single process that
> appears in Windows Task Manager. I've even sniffed packets on this
> computer for two straight days and found no suspicious activity.
>
> My theory is this: I don't have enough RAM for all the applications I
> have open* and opening the Start menu requires a *.dll be loaded from
> virtual memory that would normally be loaded from RAM. Thrashing
> occurs, slowing down my system performance, until the Start menu
> finally opens.
>
> The problem doesn't always occur, mind you. If I click on the Start
> menu after having done so once before, it's a lot faster. It's just
> that after taking out of Hibernate, it's slow. At least the first
> time.
>
> What, specifically, I'm wondering, is this: maybe there's some setting
> that can make the Start menu GDI components more likely to stay in RAM
> as opposed to being moved to virtual memory?
>
> Obviously, per this theory, installing more RAM would be an option,
> but that would require I reboot the computer. Which is kinda
> something I'm trying to avoid by using hibernate.


The more items you force to remain in memory the worse the rest of the
system response is going to be. Perhaps it's time to upgrade/replace?

>> "yawnmoth" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:d7a323da-d9ee-4e1e-9714-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> When I click on the Start button, it usually takes a few minutes for
>> the menu to appear. Other than that, my computer runs at an
>> acceptable speed - it's just the Start menu that's inordinately slow.
>>
>> My question is... why might this be happening and is there anything I
>> might be able to do to "fix" it?

> "yawnmoth" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:0c22ec69-87cb-41dd-80e6-(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> My theory is this: I don't have enough RAM for all the applications I
> have open* and opening the Start menu requires a *.dll be loaded from
> virtual memory that would normally be loaded from RAM. Thrashing
> occurs, slowing down my system performance, until the Start menu
> finally opens.
>
> The problem doesn't always occur, mind you. If I click on the Start
> menu after having done so once before, it's a lot faster. It's just
> that after taking out of Hibernate, it's slow. At least the first
> time.

Hi "yawnmoth",

How many menu items? Right-click Start button, click Open. Right-click the
upper left folder icon on the title bar and click Properties. Look at
"Contains" and write down the number of "files". Close that folder.
Right-click Start button again, and click "Open All Users". Check its
properties and number of files, and add those two numbers together, and
include that number in your reply message here. Close that folder.

When you click the Start button, is your name displayed at the top?

Laptop or desktop computer?

Does your keyboard have a Windows logo key?

> What, specifically, I'm wondering, is this: maybe there's some
> setting that can make the Start menu GDI components more likely to stay
> in RAM as opposed to being moved to virtual memory?

None that I am aware of.

> Obviously, per this theory, installing more RAM would be an option,
> but that would require I reboot the computer. Which is kinda
> something I'm trying to avoid by using hibernate.

Care to share the reason why you don't want to turn off the computer? The
problem with hibernating your computer every day is that you pick up where
you left off, which is good, -IF- all applications were flawless and bug
free, but obviously they are not. At least once a week, it is <generally> a
good idea to either completely shut down the computer for awhile, (or reboot
it,) and start fresh.

Keep in mind that when your computer hibernates, everything in memory is
stored on your system drive in the hidden hiberfil.sys file, which is about
the same size as the amount of RAM. Increasing the RAM would also increase
the hiberfil.sys file, and possibly increase the time it takes to come out
of hibernation.

It is possible that hiberfil.sys needs to be refreshed. While logged on
with an account with Administrator privileges, go to Control Panel,
double-click Power Options, click Hibernate tab, UN-check "Enable
Hibernation", click OK. Restart your computer. Next, Start Windows XP Disk
Defragmenter. (Start> [All]Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk
Defragmenter) Analyze your system drive and save a copy of the report to
your desktop as "Defrag1.txt". Defragment your system drive. Save a copy of
that report as "Defrag2.txt". Go back to Control Panel> Power Options>
Hibernate, and Checkmark "Enable hibernation". Restart computer. Start Disk
Defragmenter and Analyse again, and save a copy of that report to your
desktop as "Defrag3.txt".

Observe how your computer works for several days. Note the last several
things you do each time before hibernating. One thing to do before
hibernating is, right-click your taskbar clock and choose Task Manager, and
click the Performance tab. Use the "Hibernate" option on the Task Manager
Shutdown menu. Check Task Manager when your computer wakes up.

In the mean time, you can paste copies of the three Defrag reports in a
message here. There may be some additional clues we can use. (For privacy,
you may want to edit the reports and substitute <UserName> every place in
the file paths that your user account name appears.)

Another thing to do, click Start, click Run, and type:
msinfo32
and press Enter. After the System Information appears, press Ctrl+A to
Select All. Then, (for privacy,) find the "System Name" item in the right
panel, and while holding Ctrl key, click to un-select that. Likewise, find
"User Name" further down and Ctrl click that. Then Ctrl+C copy the rest to
clipboard. And paste that into a reply here also.

Also in that System Information window on the left, click the plus(+) in
front of Components, click the plus(+) in front of Storage, click Disks,
press Ctrl+A to SelectAll, Ctrl+C to Copy, and paste that into the same
message as the previous stuff. And further down on the left, click "Problem
Devices", and if any shown, select, copy and paste in the message.

And finally, (now that I have you jumping through hoops without saying
"Simon says" right-click "My Computer" on your desktop, click Properties,
click Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings, click Advanced tab,
(we're getting really "advanced" here,) click "Change" button. What are the
numbers in "Initial" and "Maximum", and what is "Recommended"? (Press ESC
key several times to cancel out of all those dialog panels.)

Looking forward to your progress report.

(Be Happy, be Very Happy!
--Richard