W
Wim
I have a pretty fast laptop (ACER Travelmate 5612WMSMi with Intel Core
Duo Processor 1.66 GHz x 2, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache, 1GB DDR2
(support dual-channel) memory). After a while, it started slowing down
terribly: Start-up times grew from 2 minutes to 5 minutes, shutting
down from 30 secs to 2 minutes, hibernation from 17 secs to 4 minutes.
Starting Outlook and Firefox, etc. takes much longer.
Here are the astonishing time figures (after HDD defrag + registry
defrag):
0.00 Acer screen
0.07 WXP screen
0.46 black screen
1.54 Welcome screen
2.47 plain desktop
3.10 Windows sound
3.50 desktop icons
4.10 MSConfig message
These are figures that are a duo-core 2x1.66GHz CPU unworthy!!!
Acer Helpdesk agreed that this slowdown is unacceptable and suggested
to restore the factory defaults (which brings the laptop back to the
configuration when I received the laptop, without all the added
programmes installed). This process is very easy (well done Acer!) but
of course the subsequent reinstalling of all favourite programmes (MS
Office, Firefox, Skype, Picasa, GDS, FMA, SecondCopy, XTNDConnect,
WinRar, WinZip) and all its required updates, incl. Microsoft Update)
takes a hell of a long time. Acer suggested to track to changes in
performance after each and every programme installation. That's what I
did, and after the Restore to Factory Default the laptop was running
like brand new again. VERY FAST!! Made me very happy again. And MS
Office + updates, MS Windows update, NAV, etc. did not significantly
slow down the computer.
But all of a sudden (AND unfortunately I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE AFTER
INSTALLATION OF WHICH PROGRAMME) the computer went back to its previous
very slow performance.
I tried to restore to a previous system restore point, but since I did
not do that the same or next day, the relevant system restore point had
already been deleted by the system and replaced by automatic system
restore points on the days after (while I have my space allocation for
the system restore set to maximum = 6.6GB on each disk x 2 = 13GB!!) .
I then un-installed all programmes I remembered I installed in the days
around the moment the laptop slowed down, but to no avail.
Before I do Acer's Restore Factory Defaults again and re-install all
requires programmes again (and even more consistently monitor the
impact of each programme installation on the system's performance), I
call upon the very experienced Google community to help me out! Which
programme is causing the problem, why, and how to solve the problem?
Let me know if you need screenshots of the programmes I have installed,
the processes running and listed in Windows Task Manager, the registry,
etcetera. Please help me out, before I spent my
In Windows Task Manager Performance Tab the two CPUs are presented, and
at start-up the 1st one is generally working to its maximum while the
second CPU is much less active. Is that normal, is this an indication
where the fault is?
Wim Eising
Durban
South Africa
Duo Processor 1.66 GHz x 2, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache, 1GB DDR2
(support dual-channel) memory). After a while, it started slowing down
terribly: Start-up times grew from 2 minutes to 5 minutes, shutting
down from 30 secs to 2 minutes, hibernation from 17 secs to 4 minutes.
Starting Outlook and Firefox, etc. takes much longer.
Here are the astonishing time figures (after HDD defrag + registry
defrag):
0.00 Acer screen
0.07 WXP screen
0.46 black screen
1.54 Welcome screen
2.47 plain desktop
3.10 Windows sound
3.50 desktop icons
4.10 MSConfig message
These are figures that are a duo-core 2x1.66GHz CPU unworthy!!!
Acer Helpdesk agreed that this slowdown is unacceptable and suggested
to restore the factory defaults (which brings the laptop back to the
configuration when I received the laptop, without all the added
programmes installed). This process is very easy (well done Acer!) but
of course the subsequent reinstalling of all favourite programmes (MS
Office, Firefox, Skype, Picasa, GDS, FMA, SecondCopy, XTNDConnect,
WinRar, WinZip) and all its required updates, incl. Microsoft Update)
takes a hell of a long time. Acer suggested to track to changes in
performance after each and every programme installation. That's what I
did, and after the Restore to Factory Default the laptop was running
like brand new again. VERY FAST!! Made me very happy again. And MS
Office + updates, MS Windows update, NAV, etc. did not significantly
slow down the computer.
But all of a sudden (AND unfortunately I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE AFTER
INSTALLATION OF WHICH PROGRAMME) the computer went back to its previous
very slow performance.
I tried to restore to a previous system restore point, but since I did
not do that the same or next day, the relevant system restore point had
already been deleted by the system and replaced by automatic system
restore points on the days after (while I have my space allocation for
the system restore set to maximum = 6.6GB on each disk x 2 = 13GB!!) .
I then un-installed all programmes I remembered I installed in the days
around the moment the laptop slowed down, but to no avail.
Before I do Acer's Restore Factory Defaults again and re-install all
requires programmes again (and even more consistently monitor the
impact of each programme installation on the system's performance), I
call upon the very experienced Google community to help me out! Which
programme is causing the problem, why, and how to solve the problem?
Let me know if you need screenshots of the programmes I have installed,
the processes running and listed in Windows Task Manager, the registry,
etcetera. Please help me out, before I spent my
In Windows Task Manager Performance Tab the two CPUs are presented, and
at start-up the 1st one is generally working to its maximum while the
second CPU is much less active. Is that normal, is this an indication
where the fault is?
Wim Eising
Durban
South Africa