Add/Remove Programs slow to populate

[Gary S. Terhune]

Only a minor annoyance for me, but others have asked (online and offline)
and I don't know the answer. Why does it take so damned long to populate
Add/Remove Programs? Can anything be done about it?

 

[DL]

because it, the results, have to built on the fly and however this is done
is taking a while to itterate through the registry?

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Of course, but the effect isn't constant... In my experience, the delay
doesn't build in steady increments as more apps are added. It seem to *jump*
from taking a relatively short amount of time to taking a really, really
long time, from under a minute to several minutes. I just want to know if
anyone has found a way to deal with it. As I said, I don't know the answer,
or even if there *is* an answer other than, "You're SOL".

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?_db_=B4=AF`=B7.._=3E=3C=29=29=29=BA]

mine averages
5-10 seconds

however, my machines
are optimize in spite
of the contrarian ineptitudes.

--

<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

..

 

[Opinicus]

Only a minor annoyance for me, but others have asked (online and offline)
and I don't know the answer. Why does it take so damned long to populate
Add/Remove Programs?

An even (more? less) minor annoyance is why Add/Remove Programs gets the
"Used" information so consistently wrong. I use the DiVX codec several times
every day for example yet ARP says I use it "rarely". Same for IrfanView,
which I use almost hourly. On the other hand not a single item in the list
is marked "frequently" even though I do use quite a few of them quite
frequently.

Frankly I think this is a bit of disinformation that we are better off
without.

 

[PA Bear]

If you ever get a useful answer, lemme know.

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Unfortunately, while I think that useless and time-consuming part of the
utility should be done away with (or fixed), I don't think MS is going to do
it, and I doubt there's any way to disable it. I hope that isn't the crux of
the problem.

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Your reply is NOT a good sign! If you don't know, I think I'll give up.

 

[PA Bear]

[I'd post something about all the Security Updates listed in Add/Remove
Programs but I don't wanna start an MS-bashing contest here.

PS: You're not the first to wonder about this either:
http://groups.google.com/groups?num...+programs"+++populate+++slow&um=1&sa=N&tab=wg &
http://www.google.com/search?num=20...dd/remove+programs"+++populate+++slow&spell=1 ]

 

[Peter Foldes]

And you are correct. Removing the checkmark from Show Updates and restarting Add\Remove shows a big difference in time. But who would want to uncheck that.

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

[I'd post something about all the Security Updates listed in Add/Remove
Programs but I don't wanna start an MS-bashing contest here.

PS: You're not the first to wonder about this either:
http://groups.google.com/groups?num...+programs"+++populate+++slow&um=1&sa=N&tab=wg &
http://www.google.com/search?num=20...dd/remove+programs"+++populate+++slow&spell=1 ]

Your reply is NOT a good sign! If you don't know, I think I'll give up.

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Not on my machine. Same results whether Show Updates is ticked or not. 5-6
minutes.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

And you are correct. Removing the checkmark from Show Updates and restarting
Add\Remove shows a big difference in time. But who would want to uncheck
that.

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

[I'd post something about all the Security Updates listed in Add/Remove
Programs but I don't wanna start an MS-bashing contest here.

PS: You're not the first to wonder about this either:
http://groups.google.com/groups?num...+programs"+++populate+++slow&um=1&sa=N&tab=wg &
http://www.google.com/search?num=20...dd/remove+programs"+++populate+++slow&spell=1 ]

Your reply is NOT a good sign! If you don't know, I think I'll give up.

 

[Jon Scott]

Not on my machine. Same results whether Show Updates is ticked or not. 5-6
minutes.

Strange. What do the processes look like in Task Manager or Process
Explorer (SysInternals) look like when that's happening? If you navigate to
your software installation registry key, are there any bogus entries in
there that might be affecting this?

Jon.

 

[Doug W.]

Get a faster machine.

Mine populates in less than a minute.
-
Doug W.
-

Not on my machine. Same results whether Show Updates is ticked
or not. 5-6 minutes.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

And you are correct. Removing the checkmark from Show Updates
and restarting Add\Remove shows a big difference in time. But
who would want to uncheck that.

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be
acknowledged.

[I'd post something about all the Security Updates listed in
Add/Remove
Programs but I don't wanna start an MS-bashing contest here.

PS: You're not the first to wonder about this either:
http://groups.google.com/groups?num...+programs"+++populate+++slow&um=1&sa=N&tab=wg &
http://www.google.com/search?num=20...dd/remove+programs"+++populate+++slow&spell=1 ]

Your reply is NOT a good sign! If you don't know, I think
I'll give up.


If you ever get a useful answer, lemme know.

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Only a minor annoyance for me, but others have asked
(online and
offline)
and I don't know the answer. Why does it take so damned
long to populate
Add/Remove Programs? Can anything be done about it?

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Process Explorer shows nothing unordinary. Nothing over 1.5% CPU usage. I
have over 300 entries in my
HKLM\Software|Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall key. None look
bogus, but then I only skimmed through them.

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

Well, I'm not sure about updates. Currently, without updates shown, it takes
5-6 minutes to populate. When I then click Show Updates, it takes another 30
or 40 seconds... My own first impression was that the Updates are the only
ones that *do* enumerate in a reasonable time. But perhaps they are already
enumerated and it just takes that long to display.

I'll admit, even not including Updates, my list is long, but I've seen the
same thing on much shorter lists, and others with long lists populate in a
more reasonable time, say under a minute. Gonna make sure to take better
notes for a while and see if I can spot it. Maybe there's some kind of
threshold involved. I've got one machine here I just installed that has all
updates and little else (Adobe Reader, Flash and Avast), and it takes 3
seconds to populate.

There's the poster from a week or two ago who swears that a 3rd-party
defragmenter fixed the problem. It doesn't. I tried a Registry defragmenter
and it made no difference, either.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

[I'd post something about all the Security Updates listed in Add/Remove
Programs but I don't wanna start an MS-bashing contest here.

PS: You're not the first to wonder about this either:
http://groups.google.com/groups?num...+programs"+++populate+++slow&um=1&sa=N&tab=wg &
http://www.google.com/search?num=20...dd/remove+programs"+++populate+++slow&spell=1 ]

Your reply is NOT a good sign! If you don't know, I think I'll give up.

 

[R. McCarty]

Some things like the issue you describe can be traced to permissions
issue(s) with certain Registry keys. There is a tool and batch file I
use to Reset Permissions globally on "Problem" machines.
http://winonline.blogspot.com/2005/11/reset-entire-registry-permissions-to.html
*Not a Universal fix or recommended unless you've got your system
properly backed up. That being said, I've never had a case where
using it compounded any existing problems.

Well, I'm not sure about updates. Currently, without updates shown, it
takes 5-6 minutes to populate. When I then click Show Updates, it takes
another 30 or 40 seconds... My own first impression was that the Updates
are the only ones that *do* enumerate in a reasonable time. But perhaps
they are already enumerated and it just takes that long to display.

I'll admit, even not including Updates, my list is long, but I've seen the
same thing on much shorter lists, and others with long lists populate in a
more reasonable time, say under a minute. Gonna make sure to take better
notes for a while and see if I can spot it. Maybe there's some kind of
threshold involved. I've got one machine here I just installed that has
all updates and little else (Adobe Reader, Flash and Avast), and it takes
3 seconds to populate.

There's the poster from a week or two ago who swears that a 3rd-party
defragmenter fixed the problem. It doesn't. I tried a Registry
defragmenter and it made no difference, either.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

[I'd post something about all the Security Updates listed in Add/Remove
Programs but I don't wanna start an MS-bashing contest here.

PS: You're not the first to wonder about this either:
http://groups.google.com/groups?num...+programs"+++populate+++slow&um=1&sa=N&tab=wg &
http://www.google.com/search?num=20...dd/remove+programs"+++populate+++slow&spell=1 ]

Your reply is NOT a good sign! If you don't know, I think I'll give up.


If you ever get a useful answer, lemme know.

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Only a minor annoyance for me, but others have asked (online and
offline)
and I don't know the answer. Why does it take so damned long to
populate
Add/Remove Programs? Can anything be done about it?

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

It's a new Asus P5B Deluxe mobo, Core2Duo, 2.66 GHz (x 2, of course, since
I'm running 32-bit XP.) 2GB RAM. Faster than most machines out there,
especially XP machines. Nothing I've seen or heard, none of my long
experience, suggests the issue is related to hardware speed.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

Get a faster machine.

Mine populates in less than a minute.
-
Doug W.
-

Not on my machine. Same results whether Show Updates is ticked or not.
5-6 minutes.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

And you are correct. Removing the checkmark from Show Updates and
restarting Add\Remove shows a big difference in time. But who would want
to uncheck that.

--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

[I'd post something about all the Security Updates listed in Add/Remove
Programs but I don't wanna start an MS-bashing contest here.

PS: You're not the first to wonder about this either:
http://groups.google.com/groups?num...+programs"+++populate+++slow&um=1&sa=N&tab=wg &
http://www.google.com/search?num=20...dd/remove+programs"+++populate+++slow&spell=1 ]

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Your reply is NOT a good sign! If you don't know, I think I'll give up.


If you ever get a useful answer, lemme know.

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Only a minor annoyance for me, but others have asked (online and
offline)
and I don't know the answer. Why does it take so damned long to
populate
Add/Remove Programs? Can anything be done about it?

 

[Gary S. Terhune]

I'll try that when I get back from town.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

Some things like the issue you describe can be traced to permissions
issue(s) with certain Registry keys. There is a tool and batch file I
use to Reset Permissions globally on "Problem" machines.
http://winonline.blogspot.com/2005/11/reset-entire-registry-permissions-to.html
*Not a Universal fix or recommended unless you've got your system
properly backed up. That being said, I've never had a case where
using it compounded any existing problems.

Well, I'm not sure about updates. Currently, without updates shown, it
takes 5-6 minutes to populate. When I then click Show Updates, it takes
another 30 or 40 seconds... My own first impression was that the Updates
are the only ones that *do* enumerate in a reasonable time. But perhaps
they are already enumerated and it just takes that long to display.

I'll admit, even not including Updates, my list is long, but I've seen
the same thing on much shorter lists, and others with long lists populate
in a more reasonable time, say under a minute. Gonna make sure to take
better notes for a while and see if I can spot it. Maybe there's some
kind of threshold involved. I've got one machine here I just installed
that has all updates and little else (Adobe Reader, Flash and Avast), and
it takes 3 seconds to populate.

There's the poster from a week or two ago who swears that a 3rd-party
defragmenter fixed the problem. It doesn't. I tried a Registry
defragmenter and it made no difference, either.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

[I'd post something about all the Security Updates listed in Add/Remove
Programs but I don't wanna start an MS-bashing contest here.

PS: You're not the first to wonder about this either:
http://groups.google.com/groups?num...+programs"+++populate+++slow&um=1&sa=N&tab=wg &
http://www.google.com/search?num=20...dd/remove+programs"+++populate+++slow&spell=1 ]

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Your reply is NOT a good sign! If you don't know, I think I'll give up.


If you ever get a useful answer, lemme know.

Gary S. Terhune wrote:
Only a minor annoyance for me, but others have asked (online and
offline)
and I don't know the answer. Why does it take so damned long to
populate
Add/Remove Programs? Can anything be done about it?

 

[Plato]

Only a minor annoyance for me, but others have asked (online and offline)
and I don't know the answer. Why does it take so damned long to populate
Add/Remove Programs? Can anything be done about it?

I'm not sure if there is an answer. I have an almost virgin install of
XP running and it takes so darn long to populate the list in add/remove
that it makes me think I have a ram or hardware problem, which I dont.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?_db_=B4=AF`=B7.._=3E=3C=29=29=29=BA]

begs the question,
how many mvp's does it
take to .......



--

<)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>

..