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[Guest]

I have P4 1.5 PC with 256 MB RAM & WIndowsXP PRo (SP1) with 40GB Hard Drive
which has around 20GB free space ( 3 partitions).

The PC when booted, boots quickly to Desktop Screen, but after that, it
stops for a long while say 5 minutes and then after this delay works fine.
SAY if I click and open My Computer.it will open, but then if I click to open
Hard drive/ partitions..it wouldn't open SOme text files in startup folder
open while initialising..But other aplications say Excel or Word will wait
that long. I cant explore/browse my pc during this period either

I have checked (Norton)- No viruses No SPy or adware (Python or something..)
Disk regularly Defragmented, PArtitions checked No errors,
Yes sometimes The PC doesn't take that long..and starts working very quickly
but most of the time it takes long.
I ahve checked processes, No alarming /unknown process running, No unwanted
application shows in Task manager..

CAn anyone help me PLEASE..?

I have not been able to find the solution ...as to how to solve this problem.

Thanx in anticipation

BYE
SAT P

 

[Guest]

Hi Sat

click on 'Start and then run'

type 'msconfig' into the text box and click on the startup tab.

you can safely stop anything in here from starting, you may, however, loose
conectivity to some services. theese can all be restored though.

I would sugest unchecking all of the items in the startup and then re-enable
them 1 or 2 at a time to see how it improves the speed.

Good luck

Jason

 

[Glen]

Start by clean booting using msconfig. If disabling all startup items makes
windows start quickly you then need to track down which item is causing the
slowdown by starting them one at a time.

As you only have 256 MB RAM you might have too many programs open and
windows has to open them, then push some of them out into virtual memory
which will take time.

As you only have 256 MB RAM, disabling all start up items will speed up the
start up but you wont track the slowdown to any one program as the fault is
not enough RAM, not a slow loading program.

Fit at least another 256 MB RAM you might even take it up to 1 GB, only you
will know what's right for you.

If the above suggestions don't show the fault look below.

Run chkdsk

Download the hard drive diagnostic tool by the computer manufacturer and run
it. This will tell you if the hard drive is failing.

I am assuming your computer is clean of malware as you say you have run anti
malware programs. Run hijack this and post it to one of the online forums if
you need to.

Antispyware

Microsoft Antispyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Spybot S&E
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Hijackthis
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html


Spyware forums
http://www.merijn.org/forums.html

http://forums.spywareinfo.com/


AntiVirus

AVG Antivirus
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

Avast
http://www.avast.com/

Online Anti Virus
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/


MULTI_AV.EXE
http://www.ik-cs.com/programs/virtools/Multi_AV.exe

 

[Guest]

yes, diffently need at least another 256. then the system will be blazing.....

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi Sat

click on 'Start and then run'

type 'msconfig' into the text box and click on the startup tab.

you can safely stop anything in here from starting,

Not at all true! He may have several security-oriented programs that start
automatically: Anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall. Stopping them from
starting is nothing but foolhardy.

you may, however,
loose conectivity to some services. theese can all be restored though.

I would sugest unchecking all of the items in the startup and then
re-enable them 1 or 2 at a time to see how it improves the speed.

Sorry, but that's terrible advice! Although his problem may well be one or
more programs that are starting automatically, blinding stopping them all is
foolhardy.

Here's my standard advice on autostarting programs:

On each program you don't want to start automatically, check its Options to
see if it has the choice not to start (make sure you actually choose the
option not to run it, not just a "don't show icon" option). Many can easily
and best be stopped that way. If that doesn't work, run MSCONFIG from the
Start | Run line, and on the Startup tab, uncheck the programs you don't
want to start automatically.

However, if I were you, I wouldn't do this just for the purpose of running
the minimum number of programs. Despite what many people tell you, you
should be concerned, not with how *many* of these programs you run, but
*which*. Some of them can hurt performance severely, but others have no
effect on performance.

Don't just stop programs from running willy-nilly. What you should do is
determine what each program is, what its value is to you, and what the cost
in performance is of its running all the time. You can get more information
about these at http://castlecops.com/StartupList.html. If you can't find it
there, try google searches and ask about specifics here.

Once you have that information, you can make an intelligent informed
decision about what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

yes, diffently need at least another 256. then the system will be
blazing.....

Sorry, that's not at all true, for two reasons:

First, there's no way any of us can tell from his message what the problem
is. We can only guess. If his system is slow because he doesn't have enough
RAM for what he's doing (based on his message, I doubt very much that that's
the problem), then adding more RAM may fix it. If on the other hand, it's
slow because of spyware infestation, adding RAM won't fix it.

Seconnd, the assumption that 256 isn't enough RAM, and that everyone needs
512MB is not correct. This is *not* a one-size-fits-all situation. You get
good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using the page
file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most people running a typical
range of business applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works
well, others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less
than 256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large
photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than
512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory will
decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance. If you are
not using the page file significantly, more memory will do nothing for you.
Go to http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should give you
a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Guest]

Dear Mr. Blake,
Thanx, I would like to inform you that PAGE file size fluctuates around 180
MB on my referred PC, and I assure you (MSconfig, ) that there are just bare
minimum applications start and run, like Norton, Perfect Disk, and Microsoft
progs required for Networking etc.. SO No luck there..

** The Problem is -Sometimes PC doesn't take time to run at all..but most of
the times it delays the Startup (? is it startup..? 'cuz I can open text
files etc during this idle period, but can not browse PC, or run processes
which require rundll32.exe)**

and once it is ready..it can handle all the application like WORD, EXCEL,
POWERPOINT all at once, simultaneously and with very nice speed,

I assure you I have scanned the computer and its free of Viruses, ( Norton
and AVG) and maleware spyware ( Bullete proof and Python), I have checked
the RAM also, it not leaky of faulty,

May I ask..Can I reinstall the Explorer..? if yes.Where can I find the
file..? and will it affect my installed programmes..?

Thanx again for taking time..

SAT

 

[Glen]

You need to read and understand exactly what I wrote.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Dear Mr. Blake,

No formality necessary. Just "Ken" is fine.

Thanx, I would like to inform you that PAGE file size fluctuates
around 180 MB on my referred PC, and I assure you (MSconfig, ) that
there are just bare minimum applications start and run, like Norton,
Perfect Disk, and Microsoft progs required for Networking etc.. SO No
luck there..

** The Problem is -Sometimes PC doesn't take time to run at all..but
most of the times it delays the Startup (? is it startup..? 'cuz I
can open text files etc during this idle period, but can not browse
PC, or run processes which require rundll32.exe)**

and once it is ready..it can handle all the application like WORD,
EXCEL, POWERPOINT all at once, simultaneously and with very nice
speed,

If that's the case, if I were in your shoes I wouldn't worry about it. My
personal view is that the attention many people pay to how long it takes to
boot is unwarranted. Assuming that the computer's speed is otherwise
satisfactory, it may not be worth worrying about. Most people start their
computers once a day or even less frequently. In the overall scheme of
things, even a few minutes to start up isn't very important. Personally I
power on my computer when I get up in the morning, then go get my coffee.
When I come back, it's done booting. I don't know how long it took to boot
and I don't care.

 

[Guest]

Dear KEN,
Thanx,
for taking the burden off of my shoulders..Now atleast I will sleep
easy..The PC I refeered to..contains most important data Though I have
backups.. the transactions per day are very high..
ANyways,,My personal warm regards and thanx again..

Bye..
SAT

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Dear KEN,
Thanx,
for taking the burden off of my shoulders..Now atleast I will
sleep easy..The PC I refeered to..contains most important data Though
I have backups.. the transactions per day are very high..
ANyways,,My personal warm regards and thanx again..

You're welcome. Glad to help. If you make regular backups of your important
data, it's very unlikely that you will have a problem. Even if the worst
happens, and you have a a virus that wipes your drive (and I don't see
anything in your messages that suggests this is likely) your backups should
protect you against data loss.

 

[Guest]

Dear Mr. Glen.
Thanx,
I have tried all you suggested, No spyware, no malware etc found..i tried
booting the machine in safe mode, and a Clean boot also,
But as I have said, the response is luke worm the PC takes its own time,
sometimes its say under 2 minutes and most other times its more than 5, I am
unableto pinpoint the fault.. :-(. It seems the Explorer is having its onw
mood (?) and does the trick..
However, No additional programmes running in the Background that I have made
sure, by disabling even the Antivirus and Networking service.
I think here that what Mr Ken suggested , I should rely on that...
But still I am amzed, why the PC is behaving strangly, and why other pcs
with asme configuration in my office on the same network are doing just finr.?

Bye
SAT