Computer very slow

[Guest]

About a month ago I reinstalled Windows XP on my Dell Dimension V450
computer. It is Pentium II with 384 mb Ram and 120 GB hard drive. The
computer worked much faster but now it's back to it's old speed. All
applications including the IE are loading very slow. The applications run OK
but to load them it takes sometime 30 sec. or more. I use a BitDefender and
Spy Sweeper and don't have any viruses or spyware. I did the disk cleanup and
defragment but it did not help. I'm using this couputer for wordprocessing
and spreadsheets as well as email and internet. I think I don't need a more
power.
Can anybody help?
Thank you.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

How much free disk space on the hard disk?

How much use is made of the pagefile? Graphics and camera related
programmes, especially where editing is done, generate hgh demands for
memory.

Use page file monitor to observe what is the peak usage. Start it to
run immediately after start-up and look at the log at the end of the
session.The log is Pagefilelog.txt. If you right click on the file in
Windows Explorer and select Send to, Desktop (Create Shortcut). The
same applies to XP_PageFileMon.exe.

A small utility to monitor pagefile usage:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

Post copies of any Warnings / Error Reports in the System and
Application logs in Event Viewer from a single session. Disregard
Information Reports.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event Viewer.
Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of the
message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from Event
Viewer.

--

Regards.

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

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

About a month ago I reinstalled Windows XP on my Dell Dimension V450
computer. It is Pentium II with 384 mb Ram and 120 GB hard drive. The
computer worked much faster but now it's back to it's old speed. All
applications including the IE are loading very slow. The applications
run OK but to load them it takes sometime 30 sec. or more. I use a
BitDefender and Spy Sweeper and don't have any viruses or spyware.

Despite what software you run, my guess is that you *do* have spyware. These
days the most common cause for performance issues is malware infestation.
The first thing to do is always to be sure you are free of malware. I
recommend that you go to Malke's Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and follow
the instructions there.

 

[Guest]

Despite what software you run, my guess is that you *do* have spyware. These
days the most common cause for performance issues is malware infestation.
The first thing to do is always to be sure you are free of malware. I
recommend that you go to Malke's Malware Removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and follow
the instructions there.

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

if i were you i would see if i could put more memory in at least 2gb change proccessor to faster one. get 250 gb hard drive

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

First of all, I'm not the one with the problem. Please reply to the
appropriate message in the thread.

i would see if i could put more memory in at least 2gb

Because this is arbitary advice, it's very poor advice. His current 384MB
may be just fine. And 2GB is *way* more than most people can make effective
use of. How much memory you need 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.



First, whether you even *can* change the processor to a faster one depends
on what motherboard he has. Second, whether changing the processor would
make any significant percepible improvement in performance depends on what
apps he runs.

get 250 gb hard drive

Getting a bigger hard drive should be done only if ne needs more hard drive
space, not with any false expectation of its improving performance. His
current 160GB may be just fine for him. In fact, I know lots of Windows XP
users with far smaller hard drives (20GB or so) who have no performance
problems and have plenty of hard drive space available.

And finally, note that he is not complaining simply about poor performance,
he is complaining about a performance *slowdown*. That makes it obvious that
his probelm is not inadequate hardware, but something that has changed in
his environment. I'd bet on malware.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Ken,
I am a bit ignarant about Windos XP but I think 384 mb RAM is sufficeint and
I have under 30 GB used, out of 160 GB. My motherboard will mot accept mor
then 384 MB. I use this computer for my e-mails, Word and Excel. I agree with
you is has to be a spyware. I used Spybot, Adware, AVG, Spysweeper and
Bitdefender. I also ran Registry Mechanic and SystemMechanic 6. What is a
page file and how do I use it? I am away on business and am writing to you
from a different computer I will try the link you suggested when I am back at
home.
Thank you very much for your help,
Michael

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks Ken,

You're welcome. Glad to help.

I am a bit ignarant about Windos XP but I think 384 mb RAM is
sufficeint

Rather than "think" it's sufficient, read the following paragraph, and
download and use the program cited:

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.

and I have under 30 GB used, out of 160 GB.

That's certainly not an issue.

My
motherboard will mot accept mor then 384 MB.

Are you sure? If so, it's a very unusual number. You probably have two RAM
slots, with a 256MB module in one, and 128MB in the other. Not that I'm
recommending that you do, but if you need to, you should be able to replace
the 128MB module with another 256.

I use this computer for
my e-mails, Word and Excel.

Then 384MB *is* very likely enough. But it doesn't hurt to run the Page file
monitor.

I agree with you is has to be a spyware.

"Has to be" is too strong. That's my guess, but I can't be certain.

I used Spybot, Adware, AVG, Spysweeper and Bitdefender. I also ran
Registry Mechanic and SystemMechanic 6. What is a page file and how
do I use it?

Read here: "Virtual Memory in Windows XP" http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm/