Laptop in Slow Mode

[Rob T]

My wife's laptop has suddenly entered Slllooooowwwww mode. A Dell Inspiron
8600 with WXP Pro SP3 (and a 7200rpm hdd). It has been running fine until
the last couple of days, but now it takes as much as a minute to a minute
and a half to open programs that heretofore took only seconds.

I've cleaned and defragged the registry, cleaned and defragged the hdd. I
ran a virus/spyware scan (we're using ZoneAlarm Internet Security suite),
and I checked to make sure that the security wasn't set too high.

Is there something that I've missed, or are there any other things I can do

 

[DL]

If you used a registry cleaning tool, that could have caused / resulted in
all sorts of problems.
Boot the pc into safe mode, see how it runs then
And what size is the disk & how much free space is there? (doubel click My
Computer, what is shown for C?)

 

[Bob I]

I'd check the IDE interface in the Device manager. If the Primary IDE
Channel dropped to PIO (due to drive read error)instead of DMA you will
see a major slowdown.

(Device manager, IDE controller, Primary IDE Channel, Properties,
Advanced Settings) If PIO instead of DMA, Uninstall and then Scan for
Changes to reinstall it.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My wife's laptop has suddenly entered Slllooooowwwww mode. A Dell Inspiron
8600 with WXP Pro SP3 (and a 7200rpm hdd). It has been running fine until
the last couple of days, but now it takes as much as a minute to a minute
and a half to open programs that heretofore took only seconds.

I've cleaned and defragged the registry,

Exactly what did you do and what software did you use?

Registry cleaning programs are *all* snake oil. Cleaning of the
registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and
don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, and
what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
it may have.

Read http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000643.html

cleaned and defragged the hdd.

Exactly what did you do and what software did you use?

I
ran a virus/spyware scan (we're using ZoneAlarm Internet Security suite),
and I checked to make sure that the security wasn't set too high.

Is there something that I've missed, or are there any other things I can do

Assuming that no new software has been installed on purpose, it's
highly likely that it is infected with malware. The ZoneAlarm Internet
Security suite is not one of the better products to check for viruses
and spyware, nor is any single antispyware program good enough.

 

[R. McCarty]

If the PC is free of malicious infections an abrupt loss of performance
can sometimes be due to the Windows volume becoming "Dirty". This
is when the data structure becomes inconsistent. You can test this by
opening a command prompt window and invoking Chkdsk C: the scan
will post a summary on whether a more comprehensive Chkdsk C: /R
should be done.
*Note: Never run Chkdsk with a /Fix or /Repair qualifier unless your
personal data is backed up and verified.

 

[Mark]

My wife's laptop has suddenly entered Slllooooowwwww mode. A Dell
Inspiron
8600 with WXP Pro SP3 (and a 7200rpm hdd). It has been running fine until
the last couple of days, but now it takes as much as a minute to a minute
and a half to open programs that heretofore took only seconds.

I've cleaned and defragged the registry, cleaned and defragged the hdd. I
ran a virus/spyware scan (we're using ZoneAlarm Internet Security suite),
and I checked to make sure that the security wasn't set too high.

You did good starting with those basic acceptable maintenance tasks.

Check the hard drive's SMART to check if it may be suffering from some
marginal conditions, the free trial of HDDLife is good: http://hddlife.com/
.. I have personally encountered a severe slowing of a few laptops and soon
thereafter the hard drive died. I would also recommend immediately
performing a full hard drive backup.

Run the free MS Process Explorer to check if there may be a process
erroneously using a lot of cpu resources:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
My wife keeps her laptop hibernated most of the day. Many times after she
has resumed it, the mouse cursor would intermittently hang for a few seconds
and everything would slowly load. Process Explorer showed that right after
resuming, XP was trying to auto-download updates thus causing the slowdown.

The trial version of Everest can show if the cpu is running in a reduced
throttled mode, plus allow viewing of thermal conditions which can cause
reduced performance in some circumstances:
http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?ps=UE&lang=en&page=1

 

[SC Tom]

My wife's laptop has suddenly entered Slllooooowwwww mode. A Dell
Inspiron
8600 with WXP Pro SP3 (and a 7200rpm hdd). It has been running fine until
the last couple of days, but now it takes as much as a minute to a minute
and a half to open programs that heretofore took only seconds.

I've cleaned and defragged the registry, cleaned and defragged the hdd. I
ran a virus/spyware scan (we're using ZoneAlarm Internet Security suite),
and I checked to make sure that the security wasn't set too high.

Is there something that I've missed, or are there any other things I can
do

What version of ZA are you using? Have you updated it lately? If so, did you
do a clean or upgrade installation? If an upgrade installation was
performed, your best bet is to uninstall it and do a clean install (write
down your product key first). There are problems with the latest
patch/version upgrade that cause (including other problems) the same problem
you are describing.

If you haven't installed any ZA updates, you can try doing a System Restore
to a day or two before this problem started.

SC Tom

 

[Rob T]

--
Rob Taylor

If you used a registry cleaning tool, that could have caused / resulted in
all sorts of problems.

I've been using Uniblue Registry Booster for a long time with no problems
ever, but my wife hasn't been running it as often as she should; when this
slowdown occurred, it hadn't been run for over a year. I ran it now to try
to help the problem, but the speed up was minimal.

Boot the pc into safe mode, see how it runs then

I'll try that.

And what size is the disk & how much free space is there? (doubel click My
Computer, what is shown for C?)

60GB, 51% freespace. And FWIW the computer has 1.5GB RAM, and according
to System Info, there's just under a full GB available.

 

[Rob T]

--
Rob Taylor

I'd check the IDE interface in the Device manager. If the Primary IDE
Channel dropped to PIO (due to drive read error)instead of DMA you will
see a major slowdown.

(Device manager, IDE controller, Primary IDE Channel, Properties,
Advanced Settings) If PIO instead of DMA, Uninstall and then Scan for
Changes to reinstall it.

Ah Haaaahhhhh! I'd never have known about that. Thanks, I'm going to
check that immediately.

 

[Rob T]

--
Rob Taylor

Exactly what did you do and what software did you use?

Uniblue Registry Booster; did a registry scan and defrag, but understand,
I did this AS A RESULT of the slowdown, in an attempt to clear it, NOT BEFORE
IT HAPPENED

Registry cleaning programs are *all* snake oil. Cleaning of the
registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and
don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, and
what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of,
having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you.

The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously
removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit
it may have.

I'll certainly take your advice to heart, but as I said, the slowdown
occurred over the past couple of days, AN THEN I did the registry
clean/defrag, trying to clear it. Actually the improvement was minimal.

 

[Rob T]

Thanks. That's another one I hadn't thought of. I haven't used Chkdsk since
DOS.

 

[Rob T]

Thanks. I'm trying all of those.
--
Rob Taylor

You did good starting with those basic acceptable maintenance tasks.

Check the hard drive's SMART to check if it may be suffering from some
marginal conditions, the free trial of HDDLife is good: http://hddlife.com/
.. I have personally encountered a severe slowing of a few laptops and soon
thereafter the hard drive died. I would also recommend immediately
performing a full hard drive backup.

Run the free MS Process Explorer to check if there may be a process
erroneously using a lot of cpu resources:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx
My wife keeps her laptop hibernated most of the day. Many times after she
has resumed it, the mouse cursor would intermittently hang for a few seconds
and everything would slowly load. Process Explorer showed that right after
resuming, XP was trying to auto-download updates thus causing the slowdown.

The trial version of Everest can show if the cpu is running in a reduced
throttled mode, plus allow viewing of thermal conditions which can cause
reduced performance in some circumstances:
http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?ps=UE&lang=en&page=1

 

[Rob T]

--
Rob Taylor

What version of ZA are you using?

The latest update of version 7. Have you updated it lately?

No, because when I tried to go up to version 8, I had problems, so I
backed it off. When the subscription runs out, I'll upgrade to v 8
If so, did you

do a clean or upgrade installation? If an upgrade installation was
performed, your best bet is to uninstall it and do a clean install (write
down your product key first). There are problems with the latest
patch/version upgrade that cause (including other problems) the same problem
you are describing.

If you haven't installed any ZA updates, you can try doing a System Restore
to a day or two before this problem started.

Thanks, I'll give that a try also.

 

[Unknown]

Have you run 'disk cleanup'?

--
Rob Taylor




I've been using Uniblue Registry Booster for a long time with no problems
ever, but my wife hasn't been running it as often as she should; when this
slowdown occurred, it hadn't been run for over a year. I ran it now to
try
to help the problem, but the speed up was minimal.

I'll try that.


60GB, 51% freespace. And FWIW the computer has 1.5GB RAM, and according
to System Info, there's just under a full GB available.

 

[Rob T]

Yup! the first thing I did. Read my original post?

 

[Rob T]

EUREKA! I found it! Rechecking the active processes in task manager, I found
a "spoolsvcs" process that was using from 90% to 97% of the cpu cycles.
Checking further, in Printers and Faxes there was a doucment stuck in the
spool queue of a printer that's not currently connected, and it wouldn't
cancel. I cancelled the process in Task Manager, rebooted (maybe that wasn't
necessry, but oouldn't hurt) and the computer took of like a shot.

Thank you one and all for your help and suggestions. I really learned a lot
from them.

 

[Unknown]

Yup! But you made no mention of HOW you cleaned the HDD.

 

[SC Tom]

Ain't it great when it's something simple and easy to fix?
Glad it's working for you now.

 

[Unknown]

Didn't read where he said it is working?????????

Ain't it great when it's something simple and easy to fix?
Glad it's working for you now.

 

[Alister]

Didn't read where he said it is working?????????

No? well you quoted it!