Brand-new Windows XP OS working worse than old!

[Guest]

Internet Explorer was constantly freezing up or shutting down on me and
Microsoft Crash Analysis repeatedly suggested I install SP2 to solve the
problem. But I could not install it or any security updates, as WU kept
insisting the product key was invalid. I tried everything at MS Knowledge
Base, with no luck. Thinking XP may have been pirated, I purchased a new XP
Pro Edition with valid product key and installed. Now NOTHING seems to work
properly, not just IE. The event viewer lists an application hang for IE and
now it lists an application hang for entire OS! (Knowledge Base contains no
fix for this) Will I have to reinstall the whole system? I think SP2 is part
of the problem and it came included on the disk. I'm flabbergasted that
Microsoft charges for support for a product that costs over $300 and is not
working properly! I receive super support for products costing $20. Wish I
had kept the old system....

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Internet Explorer was constantly freezing up or shutting down on me
and Microsoft Crash Analysis repeatedly suggested I install SP2 to
solve the problem. But I could not install it or any security
updates, as WU kept insisting the product key was invalid. I tried
everything at MS Knowledge Base, with no luck. Thinking XP may have
been pirated, I purchased a new XP Pro Edition with valid product key
and installed. Now NOTHING seems to work properly, not just IE. The
event viewer lists an application hang for IE and now it lists an
application hang for entire OS! (Knowledge Base contains no fix for
this) Will I have to reinstall the whole system? I think SP2 is part
of the problem and it came included on the disk. I'm flabbergasted
that Microsoft charges for support for a product that costs over $300
and is not working properly! I receive super support for products
costing $20. Wish I had kept the old system....

If you bought a retail copy (and it sounds like you did) - you get two free
technical support calls.

To me it sounds more like hardware and/or bad installation (since you said
you bought a new copy and installed.)

 

[Smile Extender]

You might have hardware problems. Maybe disk problems or memory failures.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

How about some details concerning your computer? RAM memory and
processor.

I suggest you work through the suggestions detailed below making sure
that you run a full virus scan with updated definitions and check for
spyware.

Poor system performance can be the result of a single problem or a
combination of factors. Listed
below are issues, which you may wish to examine if you are experiencing
poor performance after
the boot process has completed. Some items may help with slow starting
of Windows XP but the
list has not been prepared for tackling that problem. Work through the
list until you achieve an
acceptable result.

Regular and effective housekeeping is essential. What you do and how
often you do it will depend
on how you use your computer. A suggested routine may include:

1. In Outlook Express empty your Deleted Items folder.
2. In Outlook Express run File, Folder, Compact All whilst OFFLINE.
3. Run Disk Cleanup. Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk
Cleanup with
Temporary Internet Files, Offline Web Pages (optional), System Restore
( more Options tab )
and Recycle Bin selected for deletion. If you have more than one drive /
partition you may
need to do this operation for each drive / partition.
4. Remove Cookies. Start, Control Panel, Internet Options, General,
Delete Cookies.
5. Run Disk Defragmenter.

Check whether you could reduce the number of days the History of sites
visited is retained. Start,
Control Panel, Internet Options, General, History.

Spyware causes many problems. If not installed download Adaware and / or
update Reference file
from http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/ and use it to remove
parasites. If Spyware
persists as a problem try a Hosts file.
http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/what_is_hosts.html

Slow performance resulting from insufficient memory, causing over
reliance on virtual memory,
may be especially noticed by those upgrading to Windows XP from an
earlier version of Windows.
Windows XP will run with 64 MB of RAM memory. However, a minimum of 256
MB is
recommended and many users will recommend 512 MB. You may check on
pagefile (virtual
memory) usage with Page File Monitor for XP:
http://www.dougknox.com/

Check how much free space you have on the hard drive / partition where
your pagefile is located.
You need a minimum of 15% but 20% or more is better.

Check your setting for the Indexing Service. Start, Administrative
Tools, Services, Indexing
Service. The default setting is Manual. Check that it is not running.
More information here:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#Indexing_Service

You can have too many programmes running in the background. Close
programmes/windows after
use. Check whether all the programmes loading when Windows is started
are really necessary.
http://aumha.org/a/loads.htm

Check whether you can identify slow performance with a particular
programme. Look in Google to
see whether others have encountered the same problem and found a
solution.
http://groups.google.com/

Are there any error messages in Event Viewer? You can access Event
Viewer by selecting Start,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning of
the error, information
regarding Event ID: and Source Description is important.
HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308427&Product=winxp

~~~~~~


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Thanks everyone for the input, and so quickly! Processor is AMD Athlon 1150 -
256 MB Ram
I can see I have done well on my "Regular and effective housekeeping". I
believe in routine maintenance and thought maybe I was messing with it too
much. That's why this is is so hard to accept. I have done and do most of the
things you mentioned but I didn't know about the Indexing setting, I will
have to check that. (I shouldn't have it running?) There was a problem with
page file on the old system so I increased the page file and installed a
memory manager which seemed to take care of the problem at the time and I
reinstalled it but not sure why I would need it with this new system.
Something does seem to be draining the memory, haven't been able to isolate
the problem. There's 28GB (71%)free space/no partitions...I also run a
regular disk check. No problems there. I've checked the processes running at
start-up and there doesn't seem to be anything I can shut down except there's
one file I don't recognize. The event viewer has recorded the errors, that's
how I knew about the hanging application for the OS. I suspected part of the
problem was in the system, not just IE, was not surprised when I found it in
Event Viewer. Found nothing helpful. Microsoft Help Online could not offer a
solution and suggested this newsgroup. I had Windows XP Pro and I don't think
I would consider it an upgrade so I'm going to rule that one out. I thank you
for the considerable thought you've put into this problem, and will check out
the links you have supplied. Will let you know if anything helps, I'm sure
others have had the same problems one time or other. Thanks again!