Applications starting very slowly

[Honza]

Hello,
could somebody explain, what was the problem?
Windows XP, very slow start of all applications.
Virus check OK (Avast, mwav scan, Panda scan), Spyware check OK (Ad-Aware,
Spybot SD).
System disk (WD800JB - 80 GB, let's call it "disk 1") benchmark 2,5MB/s,
normal benchmark of the same disk type 30-55MB/s (HD Tune 2.54).
WD Diagnostics of the disk - O errors.
System cleaning (CCleaner) - no help.

Norton Ghost 2003 image, restore to another disk (let's call it "disk 2") of
the same type (WD800JB - 80GB), formerly W98, Fat32, without reformatting,
just over old data. After restore file system changed to NTFS, disk is not
fragmented (Ghost saved and then restored files, not sectors).

Disk 2 as a system disk - Xp boots normally, applications start OK,
benchmark OK.

Restore from Ghost image to disk 1, disk 1 as a system disk: files
defragmented but benchmark 2,5MB/s, system slow as before.

!!! Disk 2 as a system disk, disk 1 as a second disk: system runs OK, disk 1
benchmark 30-55MB/s !!!

!!! Norton Ghost Clone disk from disk 2 to disk 1 - disk 1 as a system disk
- system OK !!!

What could have been the problem? Something on the disk what didn't change
by restore (but restore was enough to change the file system and make a
functioning system disk), system was OK (after restore to another disk system
runs OK). What was wrong on the disk 1 and OK on the disk 2 when just clone
helped? Only one what I haven't tried was reformatting of disk 1 before
restore from the image. Could it help also as clone did?

I find the question serious because I offen meet the problem when
recommendations from Internet how to speed up the system to be as after
installation don't help. I would like to repair the system and hold it OK
instead of repeated reinstallations.

Many thanks!

 

[Leonard Grey]

The most common explanation for slow performance is: too many resource
intensive applications running at the same time. (Included among
resource-intensive applications are viruses and other forms of malicious
software.)

Absent malware, you either reduce the number of resource intensive
applications, change their settings to reduce resource consumption, or
purchase more resources (principally RAM, but also hard disk and video).

The above presumes, of course, that you have not made any unsupported
changes to your computer.

 

[Honza]

Well, it's common explanation but it doesn't explain my special problem. It
is a problem when Task Manager doesn't show any activity, disks don't show
any activity but applications start slowly - as if some waiting or what. When
something was wrong on the system (virus, malware) then restore from the
backup image wouldn't run OK but it did! I supposed to find some special
record on the disk which was wrong.

 

[Gerry]

Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as it
is more informative.

How much RAM memory? How large is your drive and how much free space?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Honza]

Do you mean Analyse before Defrag can give some useful information? I wil try
it next time (my problem is that nothing known helped - see what I wrote -
but I corrected the system and don't know what was the cause). I often see
that comp seems slow or frozen but Taskmanager doesnť show any activity -
look like waiting for something. I have another comp running very slowly and
would like to help it to run normally without reinstallation. I describe
problems of my friend's computers - I try to help them. I always have
Taskmanager from start - in minimized Window (I always see the system
activity), I use Diskeeper fo Defrag (XP Defrag is Lite version of Diskeeper).

 

[Gerry]

The Disk Defragmenter Report can yield useful background information if
you know how to interpret it. I am asking for very specific information
because it can be used to find pointers to the the problem. Just answer
the questions if you want help.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Honza]

Could you tell more about it? Now I don't have Analysis log because I solved
the problem 2 weeks ago and I didnť save the log but I'd like to know what to
search the next time. What is better - Analysis log from XP Defrag or the one
from Diskeeper (Diskeeper log could have more info)?
Thanks!

 

[Honza]

Well, I saved an Analysis log from my computer (healthy, no problem), here
you are:

Job Report

Computer: HONZA-EPOX
Volume: S80S_20 (C

Findings and Recommendations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diskeeper has completed analysis of this volume and found
12 fragmented files and/or directories and 57 excess
fragments.

The average number of fragments per file is 1,00.

Little or no fragmentation detected on this volume. You
should keep Automatic Defragmentation turned on full time
to maintain maximum performance.


Health
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Healthy

The overall health of volume C: is not currently affected
by fragmentation due to the low level of fragmentation.

There are no volume health issues related to fragmentation.


Access Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time to read fragmented files on volume C

Current read time: 566 milliseconds

Optimum read time: 316 milliseconds

44% improvement



Time to read all files on volume C

Current read time: 4 minutes

Optimum read time: 4 minutes

0% improvement


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume Files
Volume size = 20 003 MB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 7 125 MB
Free space = 12 879 MB
Percent free space = 64 %

Fragmentation percentage
Volume fragmentation = 0 %
Data fragmentation = 0 %

Directory fragmentation
Total directories = 4 095
Fragmented directories = 4
Excess directory fragments = 31

File fragmentation
Total files = 34 710
Average file size = 201 KB
Total fragmented files = 8
Total excess fragments = 26
Average fragments per file = 1,00
Files with performance loss = 0

Paging file fragmentation
Paging/Swap file size = 0 bytes
Total fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 93 072 KB
MFT records In Use = 38 903
Percent MFT in use = 41 %
Total MFT fragments = 1


Most Fragmented Files
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File size Most fragmented files
17 976 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\index.dat
15 204 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\7V4W5PW5 [Directory]
10 192 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\C0H5LWED [Directory]
4 196 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\CI2LZEZE [Directory]
2 144 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\MOHWTGGD [Directory]
2 80 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
History\History.IE5\index.dat
2 49 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\My Documents\
Cerny_humor.pdf
1 48 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
History\History.IE5\
MSHist012007120120071202\
index.dat
1 11 MB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Application Data\Identities\
{A2FD14C3-BE3C-4983-961E-D1627401
E80A}\Microsoft\Outlook Express\
Deleted Items.dbx
1 546 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\
Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\
6.0\Preferences\
AcrobatColorSettings.csf
1 740 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\
Application Data\SPAMfighter\
Logs\Core.log.txt
1 1 019 KB \WINDOWS\WindowsUpdate.log

What can I use to analyze the problem of slow applications start?

It seemed me that after Restore from Image backup (as I described in my
prime question) all files were without fragmentation but might be not...

Thanks!

 

[Honza]

Problem solved!

Basic information came from HD Tune - Manual, 2 different benchmark pictures
analyzed: 1st normal, high transmission speed, low processor usage (1-2%).
2nd picture - transmission very slow, processor usage high, about 98%. Cause:
XP switched IDE Controller from UDMA to PIO Transfer Mode after some disk
problem (timeout, CRC).

Helped: Uninstall IDE Channel where disk is connected (Primary in my case)
in Device Manager. After restart XP automatically reinstall the disk with
normal setting (=UDMA). After next restart system works normally!

If I understood Microsoft is working on the Update (still beta version) when
system corrects the setting after disk problem is solved.

I discovered several "disk problems" due to unreliable power connectors
(female) after some time or after multiple disconnections. Female pins are a
bad quality, not flexible material. They need to be deformed to get a better
contact

Well, I saved an Analysis log from my computer (healthy, no problem), here
you are:

Job Report

Computer: HONZA-EPOX
Volume: S80S_20 (C

Findings and Recommendations
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diskeeper has completed analysis of this volume and found
12 fragmented files and/or directories and 57 excess
fragments.

The average number of fragments per file is 1,00.

Little or no fragmentation detected on this volume. You
should keep Automatic Defragmentation turned on full time
to maintain maximum performance.


Health
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Healthy

The overall health of volume C: is not currently affected
by fragmentation due to the low level of fragmentation.

There are no volume health issues related to fragmentation.


Access Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time to read fragmented files on volume C

Current read time: 566 milliseconds

Optimum read time: 316 milliseconds

44% improvement



Time to read all files on volume C

Current read time: 4 minutes

Optimum read time: 4 minutes

0% improvement


Statistics
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Volume Files
Volume size = 20 003 MB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 7 125 MB
Free space = 12 879 MB
Percent free space = 64 %

Fragmentation percentage
Volume fragmentation = 0 %
Data fragmentation = 0 %

Directory fragmentation
Total directories = 4 095
Fragmented directories = 4
Excess directory fragments = 31

File fragmentation
Total files = 34 710
Average file size = 201 KB
Total fragmented files = 8
Total excess fragments = 26
Average fragments per file = 1,00
Files with performance loss = 0

Paging file fragmentation
Paging/Swap file size = 0 bytes
Total fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 93 072 KB
MFT records In Use = 38 903
Percent MFT in use = 41 %
Total MFT fragments = 1


Most Fragmented Files
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File size Most fragmented files
17 976 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\index.dat
15 204 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\7V4W5PW5 [Directory]
10 192 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\C0H5LWED [Directory]
4 196 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\CI2LZEZE [Directory]
2 144 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Temporary Internet Files\
Content.IE5\MOHWTGGD [Directory]
2 80 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
History\History.IE5\index.dat
2 49 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\My Documents\
Cerny_humor.pdf
1 48 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
History\History.IE5\
MSHist012007120120071202\
index.dat
1 11 MB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\Local Settings\
Application Data\Identities\
{A2FD14C3-BE3C-4983-961E-D1627401
E80A}\Microsoft\Outlook Express\
Deleted Items.dbx
1 546 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\
Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\
6.0\Preferences\
AcrobatColorSettings.csf
1 740 KB \Documents and Settings\
honza.HONZA-EPOX\
Application Data\SPAMfighter\
Logs\Core.log.txt
1 1 019 KB \WINDOWS\WindowsUpdate.log

What can I use to analyze the problem of slow applications start?

It seemed me that after Restore from Image backup (as I described in my
prime question) all files were without fragmentation but might be not...

Thanks!

The Disk Defragmenter Report can yield useful background information if
you know how to interpret it. I am asking for very specific information
because it can be used to find pointers to the the problem. Just answer
the questions if you want help.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~