IO Slows down windows xp

[headexplodes]

Hi,

I need some windows XP performance tips.

Recently I have noticed that certain heavy IO is slowing windows down. A
couple for example that I have notice get worse are ripping a CD to WAV
(using Nero) and recording a show off my Digital tv card (direct to MPEG
TS - which should be using very minimal CPU). When doing these things
windows slows right down and it keeps locking up for half or second or
so while the ripping/recording is going on. I'm absolutely sure that the
TV card never used to slow down the computer like this. I could happily
be recording 1 show and watching another, which I can't do any more
because its painful having it lock up all the time. Also, there is not
necessarily any heavy disk use and I keep my HD fairly well defragmented.

I'm running windows XP pro, Gigabyte Mobo with an NForce3 chipset, 2GB
of ram, AMD64 3500+ and the HD in use is a WD 200GB IDE. Runs most
things like recent games very well.

What sort of things would cause this slowness? Any BIOS/Windows settings
I should be tweaking?

Thanks in advance,
Robert.

 

[Guest]

Try to limit the number of tasks/services that are running. You can end these
by going to the Task Manager (Alt+Ctrl+Delete). Also, you can stop these
services from being loaded when you start your computer. Go to Start >> Rundisable any components that you do not use often. This should improve
performance, especially when burning CDs.

 

[headexplodes]

Problem solution:

Hard disk transfer speed was being reduced automatically by windows due
to excessive drive errors. This resulted in the transfer mode coming
down to PIO, which requires CPU cycles to transfer data to the disk (DMA
mode is preffered because the HD controller can actually take the
information directly from memory, leaving the CPU to do other things).
This is the reason for the temporary freezing.

How to fix with a NVidia IDE controller, "Device Manager > (HD
Controller, not the hard disk!) > Advanced Settings or whateva tab >
"Select LET BIOS DECIDE". For other chipsets without good windows
drivers, there are registry settings you can change. However I didnt
both looking them up - you'll have to look them up yourself.

I hope that helps someone.