Why is it soooo slow???

[Robert]

Hey Everyone,

I have a brand new Dell P4 2.4 with 512mb of Ram running
XP. I can't believe how slow this OS runs! Prior to this
system I had a PIII 600 with a GB of ram that was 5x
faster.

I created a dual boot on this system, the second with W2K
pro. If I boot into W2K, the system is incredibly fast.

Why is XP so slow? Is there someway to disable whatever is
running in the background that is slowing me down? Is the
slowness a function of all the "auto update" stuff that
seems to be running - someone said that XP reports info
back to Microsoft - is this true and could that be what's
causing this problem? If so, how can I disable that? I
don't want my system communicating anything to anyone
without my knowledge.

Is there anyway to make XP run as fast as W2K or should I
just format and make this a W2K system?

Thanks!
- Rob

 

[Rob Schneider]

Hey Everyone,

I have a brand new Dell P4 2.4 with 512mb of Ram running
XP. I can't believe how slow this OS runs! Prior to this
system I had a PIII 600 with a GB of ram that was 5x
faster.

I created a dual boot on this system, the second with W2K
pro. If I boot into W2K, the system is incredibly fast.

Why is XP so slow? Is there someway to disable whatever is
running in the background that is slowing me down? Is the
slowness a function of all the "auto update" stuff that
seems to be running - someone said that XP reports info
back to Microsoft - is this true and could that be what's
causing this problem? If so, how can I disable that? I
don't want my system communicating anything to anyone
without my knowledge.

Is there anyway to make XP run as fast as W2K or should I
just format and make this a W2K system?

Thanks!
- Rob

Frankly, you should not notice any performance differences between XP
and Win2k.

Any slowness you see is not do to auto update (which only happens
occasionally and if you want you can turn this off). It is not true
that "xp reports back to Microsoft" in the way you suggest.

You give no infomation which let's me speculate further on the cause of
your problem.

I suggest:
1. look at task manager and figure out what process are running and
consuming.
2. has your computer caught a virus, worm, or spyware which is
unnecessary soaking up cpu cycles?
3. I once had a firewall program that was buggy which consumed 99%of
the CPU when the laptop of "off" the network (in my lap) while it
searched for the non-existant network... do you have some other
non-performance utility and or hardware driver?

 

[Rob Schneider]

Re your computer dialing itself ... I'm pretty confident this not due to
anything Microsoft provides. Are you sure there is no viruses, worms,
or socalled "spy-bot's" on your computer?

 

[Eric]

I'm positive there is no virus.
1. Because this all started the day I took the computer out of the box.
2. This only happens when the dell with Windows XP is on the network and
this system does not actually have a connection to the internet (no
modem) and I made sure not to setup any internet connection for this
computer during setup of the network. I did this specifically to
prevent viruses on this system because it's my work computer. Something

 

[Maureen Goldman]

I also just purchased a brand new dell with XP home edition and I have
noticed the same problem. My dell is a 2G processor 400 front side bus
with 512 mb ram. My previous system was 550 mhz 128 mb of ram and it
definitely ran faster.

I also believe that microsoft is attempting to retrieve information,
because I have my dell on a network connected to a computer with a
dial-up connection and the dial-up is automatically launched about every
half hour. I have disabled everything that I can think of to no effect.
I have actually missed important telephone calls because my computer
has automatically launched the dial connection without my realizing it.
The problem is so bad that I have decided to just disconnect my computer
from the telephone line whenever I am not using the internet.

You should run this under a subject heading of its own since you are
asking a question unrelated to the original poster's problem.

 

[Robert]

Yes... I know the feeling. I've talked to some engineers
who said, unequivocably that system running XP run much
slower than those running Windows 2000 because "they do
more, even when not doing anything".

I have a cable modem, so I don't notice the same problem
with the dial-up, but when I'm running 2000 my download
speed is about 50% faster.

 

[Rob Schneider]

Oh. Hadn't captured the thought two computers involved. Interesting
problem.

To summarize:

Dell: XP Pro networked to Computer 2
Computer 2: Modem with dial-out

Questions:
1. What OS is running on Computer 2?
2. Is your network just 2 computers? Does the network extend beyond
thse two machines?
3. Has your Dell been configured to make Computer 2 a "gateway" or
something?

Assuming that indeed your Computer 2 is the gataway, and has been setup
to dial on demand ... and the Dell is the "demander" ... the issue is to
figure out what onthe Dell launches every 30 minutes or so.

Things to check:
1. Have you setup for automatic XP Updates? (Check My Computer
Properties, Automatic Update)
2. Are you runing an anti-virus program that goes and looks for
updates? (check that software configuration)
3. Do you have the Dell setup to synch with a network time server?
(check control panel, date and time, internet time).
4. Check on Dell for any scheduled programs
5. Check for other services running via msconfig that may be "calling home"

Also, you release even though your Dell is not "directly" connected to
Internet and only (apparently) connected via Computer 2 acting as a
Gateway ... your Dell is "connected" to the Interet and assumes the same
risks of viruses/worms that you mentioned you thought you were avoiding.

 

[Robert]

Hi Eric,

Just an FYI, I just had two techs re-image two brand new,
out of the box, Dell C640 laptops. On one we installed
Windows 2000 Pro and on the other Windows XP Home. With two
of us clicking the same things, at the same time, the
applications - Word for instance - open MUCH quicker on the
2000 box.

I can open a PowerPoint presentation, close it, open it
again, before the XP system has opened the same
presentation!

I have no explanation - but my engineers here say that is
the way it's always been. XP is a memory hog that is pretty
to look at it, with a smooth "looking" interface, but not
very practical for people who need a strong, stable,
operating system.

 

[Eric]

1. Both computers are running XP Home Addition
2. There are only two computers


1. I am currently not at home near my computer, but I will check for
auto updates when I get to my computer (Auto updates is something that I
did not previously consider)
2. I did disable updates for my anti-virus software.
3. I personally did not set up to synch with network time server. I will
check to see if that is the case. I'm not familiar with this. Could it
have come out of the box already configured that way?

I am aware that on a network the dell is still at risk, but I thought
that not having a direct connection (no modem), not dealing with email
and what I thought was no internet access would at least minimize
chances of a virus. I don't think I mentioned before, but I can't
access the internet from my dell. When I launch my browser I get page
not found, so I thought that I was set up in such away that my dell was
on the network, but cut off from the internet.

Also, you mentioned computer 2 as a gateway. I'm not sure about this.
Is there a way to make sure computer 2 is not a gateway for computer 1?

 

[Steve Nielsen]

I've seen Dell computers come with a boat-load of adware pre-installed
which will try to connect to the internet however they can. What I think
is happening is that the Dell looks to your dialup machine for an
internet connection periodically and then it dials out. There are also
other Windows settings such as Internet Time Sync that will periodically
try to get online.

There is a setting in the Dialup Networking properties of the dialup
machine to to disable on-demand dialing. Try toggling that, then get
AdAware and SpybotS&D to rid the Dell of the adware.

Steve

 

[Rob Schneider]

Eric,

See Steve Nielson's reply in secondary thread. I agree. Check for ad-ware.

There no reason that this should be doing this.

more tomorrow...

rms

 

[Alex Nichol]

Yes... I know the feeling. I've talked to some engineers
who said, unequivocably that system running XP run much
slower than those running Windows 2000 because "they do
more, even when not doing anything".

One aspect is the level of eye-candy. WIthout necessarily going back to
the 'classic view' you can make things more responsive by unchecking the
top ten items in Custom at Control Panel - System - Advanced -
Performance; click Settings - Visual Effects.