XP Home slow on Dell Notebook

[Msnews.Microsoft.Com]

Hi,
I bought my granddaughter a Dell 8200 Inspiron notebook and she has lost the
software that came with the computer. The computer still boots and runs but
everything is really slow. And it take a long time to start up. It did
really good for a year or so but has really bogged down. I have tested it
for viruses, adware/malware. It has updated Norton antiviurs and ad-aware
and spybot search and destroy plus windows defender installed and up to
date. Every thing seems to be clean. I have disabled everything at startup
using msconfig. Nothing seems to be running in the background. I have
uninstalled all the programs that doesn't need to be installed using
add/remove programs in control panel. As far as I can tell, everything seems
to functioning as it should be, but it's still really slow - a lot slower
that it was at first. The computer was purchased 11/21/02. Any advice will
be greatly appreciated.

Starlin

 

[Daave]

Hi,
I bought my granddaughter a Dell 8200 Inspiron notebook and she has
lost the software that came with the computer. The computer still
boots and runs but everything is really slow. And it take a long
time to start up. It did really good for a year or so but has really
bogged down. I have tested it for viruses, adware/malware. It has
updated Norton antiviurs and ad-aware and spybot search and destroy
plus windows defender installed and up to date. Every thing seems to
be clean. I have disabled everything at startup using msconfig.
Nothing seems to be running in the background. I have uninstalled
all the programs that doesn't need to be installed using add/remove
programs in control panel. As far as I can tell, everything seems to
functioning as it should be, but it's still really slow - a lot
slower that it was at first. The computer was purchased 11/21/02.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

You didn't mention clearing temp files followed by defragging your hard
drive.

How much free space do you have on your hard drive?

How much RAM is installed, and what is the computer used for? What are
the settings for Virtual Memory?

What specific software came with the computer, and are you able to
contact Dell to get replacements?

Norton (paradoxically) very often slows down computers.

Is the computer also slow in Safe Mode?

 

[FreeComputerConsultant.com]

I agree.

For a test could you temporarily disable Norton? Disconnect from the
internet first! Unplug network cable if on broadband.

www.FreeComputerConsultant.com

 

[Msnews.Microsoft.Com]

Thanks for the quick reply. I did clear temp files, temporary internet
pages, cookies and defragged the hard drive. The hard drive has 20GB free
space and the computer has 256MB ram. She uses the computer for her school
work. She is a Junior in college. I don't know the settings for Virtual
Memory. I check it later this evening when she gets home with the computer.

The computer came with the software for xp home, Dell resource CD with
application backup, Intervideo DVD software,CD for network card, Microsoft
Office Small Business, Microsoft Money, and others I can't remember. I have
not checked with Dell to see I they would sell me replacements. I figured
they would cost a lot to get them replaced. But I will contact them to find
out for sure what, if anything, they will do.

I have disabled the Norton software to see it that helps, but it didn't seem
to make any difference. I'll check to see how slow it is in safe mode. I
went in safe mode last time but I cannot remember exactly how much
difference there was in speed. I did disconnect from the internet and the
Ethernet cable last time, but no help.

I'll check the settings for Virtual Memory and see what they are. What
should the setting be?
Thanks again,
Starlin



----- Original Message -----
From: "Daave" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 12:12 PM
Subject: Re: XP Home slow on Dell Notebook

 

[Daave]

Thanks for the quick reply. I did clear temp files, temporary
internet pages, cookies and defragged the hard drive. The hard drive
has 20GB free space and the computer has 256MB ram. She uses the
computer for her school work. She is a Junior in college. I don't
know the settings for Virtual Memory. I check it later this evening
when she gets home with the computer.

You didn't mention which apps your daughter uses specifically. But I
will assume it's Web, e-mail, word processing, and maybe instant
messaging/chat. 256 MB, although low, should be enough in this case (but
I would still recommend more). But if she views videos, especially
streaming ones, then all bets are off! RAM is fairly cheap, so I would
look into increasing it to a total of 512 MB (or even 1 GB, if she runs
memory-intensive apps).

I'll check the settings for Virtual Memory and see what they are.
What should the setting be?

Almost always, you should just let Windows manage it. See:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417/en-us

Also see http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php .

Personally, I would let Windows manage Virtual Memory. If you want to
tweak it, experiment with 250 MB for initial size and 800 MB for maximum
size.

 

[Starlin Dotson]

Again thanks,
No, she doesn't do any video or streaming videos. She uses Web, e-mail,
word processing, excel, instant messaging/chat. I agree 512MB Ram would be
better but the computer worked fine for a long time. Just gradually bogged
down to a crawl. Something is going on and I just haven't been able to find
it.
Starlin

 

[Daave]

Again thanks,
No, she doesn't do any video or streaming videos. She uses Web,
e-mail, word processing, excel, instant messaging/chat. I agree
512MB Ram would be better but the computer worked fine for a long
time. Just gradually bogged down to a crawl. Something is going on
and I just haven't been able to find it.

Well it's either software- or hardware-related. Or both.

Software ideas (I'm aware you've already addressed a number of these):

The fact that the memory is low *plus* another factor.

Norton is a resource hog.

Perhaps for whatever reason, some malware has yet to be detected.

Regarding background processes, see:

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

http://www.sysinfo.org/startupinfo.html

Be very dilligent in pruning them.

Post a HijackThis log to an appropriate forum. Feel free to post the
link to your discussion thread. See:

http://www.tomcoyote.com/hjt/

Hardware ideas:

Check your hard drive for errors. If checkdsk yields negative results,
try something like Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test (info on this below).

Make sure memory is seated properly. (Also, check all your connections
and clear away all dust.) Check temperature. Run a memory diagnostic
tool such as Memtest 86+.

See
http://www.laptoprepairguy.com/laptop/2006/01/31/dell-service-manuals/comment-page-7/