Question on XP slow operatoin

[Don.]

I'm running Win98SE on this machine and it's 10 times faster than on my
wife's machine. Her XP installation came from a "friend" who installed
it in April.

I just used her computer to write an e-mail and it took most of 5
minutes to bring up 3 applications from a Batch file. When done with one
e-mail I then hung up and closed all 3 applications. That took another
5 minutes. :-(

After my first Defrag took 30 minutes I commented to "friend" who told
me I don't need to Defrag XP.

Is that true?

Thanks...

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I'm running Win98SE on this machine and it's 10 times faster
than on
my wife's machine. Her XP installation came from a "friend"
who
installed it in April.

Are you complaining that XP runs slower than Windows 98? If both
machines are Windows 98-era machines, that's not surprising. XP's
hardware needs are much greater than 98's. In particular, for
almost everyone, unless you have at least 256MB of RAM, XP won't
run at acceptable speeds.

 

[Don.]

In



Are you complaining that XP runs slower than Windows 98? If both
machines are Windows 98-era machines, that's not surprising. XP's
hardware needs are much greater than 98's. In particular, for
almost everyone, unless you have at least 256MB of RAM, XP won't
run at acceptable speeds.

Thanks for the QUICK reply, Ken. You are faster than her XP! ;-)

I'm not shure how much RAM she had, I think it's 256MB and it was a
WinME machine.

I see you snipped the question about Defragging an XP machine, does
that mean you aren't familiar with that feature?

Thanks again...

 

[Phillips]

defrag Xp... if you want more, try Diskeeper from Executive Software.
For XP, you need 512MB RAM and a 7200rpm drive - for desktops.
Michael

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Thanks for the QUICK reply, Ken. You are faster than her XP!
;-)

I'm not shure how much RAM she had, I think it's 256MB and it
was a
WinME machine.

Please check and report back on her complete hardware
configuration.

I see you snipped the question about Defragging an XP machine,
does
that mean you aren't familiar with that feature?

Sorry, I didn't notice that question. Can you repeat it?

Thanks again...

You're welcome. Glad to help.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

defrag Xp... if you want more, try Diskeeper from Executive
Software.

It's very unlikely that that's the problem. If XP was installed
in April--only three months ago--it's very unlikely that the
drive is so fragmented as to make its performance as bad as he
describes it.

If the hardware is adequate for XP, I'd suspect spyware
infestation.

For XP, you need 512MB RAM and a 7200rpm drive - for desktops.

Nonsense! Although it nice to have a 7200rpm drive, it's
certainly not *needed*. And how much RAM you need depends on what
apps you run. For many people running an average mix of business
applications, 256MB works fine; for others who run more
memory-intensive apps, 512MB may be needed. For those who do
things like edit large photographic images, even 512MB is
probably not be enough.
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.

 

[Don.]

In



Please check and report back on her complete hardware
configuration.






Sorry, I didn't notice that question. Can you repeat it?




You're welcome. Glad to help.

I'd tell you her hardware configuration if I knew how. I'm not sure what
you'd like to know other than:
23 GB HD, 3.5" floppy drive, USB 1.1, read only CD unit.

I also was told by "friend" that you don't need to Defrag an XP system.
First time I did it took about an hour.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I'd tell you her hardware configuration if I knew how. I'm not
sure
what you'd like to know other than:
23 GB HD, 3.5" floppy drive, USB 1.1, read only CD unit.

The most important things are the speed of the CPU and the amount
of RAM.

The other issue which I mentioned in another reply in this thread
is the possibility of spyware. What anti-spyware programs are
run?

I also was told by "friend" that you don't need to Defrag an XP
system.

There are differing points of view on this. Personally I defrag
about once a month. Since I never notice a performance increase
after doing it, I could get away with at least doing it less
often.

First time I did it took about an hour.

Yes? Are you complaining about that being a long time, or
thinking it shorter than you expected?

 

[Don.]

In



The most important things are the speed of the CPU and the amount
of RAM.

The other issue which I mentioned in another reply in this thread
is the possibility of spyware. What anti-spyware programs are
run?






There are differing points of view on this. Personally I defrag
about once a month. Since I never notice a performance increase
after doing it, I could get away with at least doing it less
often.






Yes? Are you complaining about that being a long time, or
thinking it shorter than you expected?

When I can defrag this Win98SE machine (1.2GHz) in 10 minutes, once a
month, then 30 minutes for a (850 MHz) machine seem like a rediculously
long time. AND performance didn't improve as you experienced.

BTW, my computer has 5.4GB worth of files and she has 7.5 GB.

She runs F-Prot for AV and Zone Alarm Pro for a firewall. We are both on
a dialup.

Thanks to your questions this is the first time I've made such
comparisons and now I'm starting to wonder if the 2 operations aren't to
be expected.

We have to go somewhere in a few mintues so I'll do the usual
Scandisk/Defrag while we are gone.

Thanks for your help, and we'll tell "friend" he's not up to date on his
knowledge of XP. ;-)

 

[Yabbadoo]

My experience with original XPHome on Athlon 1800+ with 256mb - worked fine
for about a month, then excruciatingly and progressively slower, and
shut-down took forever. Added 512mb RAM chip - probs solved immediately!
And I wasn't running anything special (no games, just Office). That was 3
years ago - system still running at "normal" speed, (am now on XPPro) though
just starting to experience slow shut-down - I suspect the beta MSSpy-thingy
is the culprit.

Re - defrag. 40 gig disk, 50% full, defragged in about 20-25 minutes.
Totally agree with recommendation - Executive "Diskeeper" is a dream - "set
it and forget it" feature means defrag in the background, and never more
than a couple of % fragmentation ( and, a manual defrag in about 2 minutes!)

HTH - Len.

 

[Don.]

My experience with original XPHome on Athlon 1800+ with 256mb - worked fine
for about a month, then excruciatingly and progressively slower, and
shut-down took forever. Added 512mb RAM chip - probs solved immediately!
And I wasn't running anything special (no games, just Office). That was 3
years ago - system still running at "normal" speed, (am now on XPPro) though
just starting to experience slow shut-down - I suspect the beta MSSpy-thingy
is the culprit.

Re - defrag. 40 gig disk, 50% full, defragged in about 20-25 minutes.
Totally agree with recommendation - Executive "Diskeeper" is a dream - "set
it and forget it" feature means defrag in the background, and never more
than a couple of % fragmentation ( and, a manual defrag in about 2 minutes!)

HTH - Len.

I guess you've convinced me that I do need to defrag. I tried to
download Diskeeper for 4 different sites but no go. Either nothing
happned but a bunch of pages about <yadda/yadda>, pulled from site, or
operator error. ???

I guess I'll keep trying, but I couldn't even find a price, etc. from
Diskeeper site itself. :-(

 

[Ken Blake]

In

When I can defrag this Win98SE machine (1.2GHz) in 10 minutes,
once a
month, then 30 minutes for a (850 MHz) machine seem like a
rediculously long time. AND performance didn't improve as you
experienced.

BTW, my computer has 5.4GB worth of files and she has 7.5 GB.

No, you can't compare like that. When it comes to defragging, the
CPU speed isn't the most important factor. What determines how
long it takes is how much there is to defrag (almost twice as
much as yours in her case) and how badly fragmented it is.

She runs F-Prot for AV and Zone Alarm Pro for a firewall. We
are both
on a dialup.=----

An AV program and a firewall are two of the three kinds of
software you need to protect yourself. I had suggested the
possibility of her being infested with spyware, and since you say
nothing about her running the third kind of software
(anti-spyware), my guess that she's infected with spyware becomes
much stronger.

 

[Terra Prime]

I'm running Win98SE on this machine and it's 10 times faster than on
my wife's machine. Her XP installation came from a "friend" who
installed it in April.

I just used her computer to write an e-mail and it took most of 5
minutes to bring up 3 applications from a Batch file. When done with
one e-mail I then hung up and closed all 3 applications. That took
another 5 minutes. :-(

After my first Defrag took 30 minutes I commented to "friend" who told
me I don't need to Defrag XP.

Is that true?

Thanks...

After reading all of the replies to this thread, I thought I would add my 2
cents.... some parts are just reiterating what Ken Blake and Yabbadoo said,
but there are a couple other possible solutions which may or may not help
you.

1. Make sure that your fans are working properly. Especially the fan on your
processor's heatsink. The fans should also be dust free as well as all
peripheral cards and the expansion slots themselves. If necessary, remove
the fan and physically clean the blades. The heatsink for your processor
(and the one on your video card if you have one) should also be dust free.

2. Make sure your computer is not in a room that is unusually warm during
the day. If it is hovering around 30°C (86°F), consider moving it to a
different room or find a way to keep the room cooler.

3. Perform a hard drive defrag. (Despite what your friend told you,
computers running Windows XP do need to have their hard drives defragged
approximately every 3 months or so depending on how much you use your
computer. The more you use it, the more often you will need to do a defrag.)

4. Do a full virus scan with your antivirus program. This can be the cause
of a slow system (not usually, unless you have a VERY badly virus infested
computer) but is never a bad idea.

5. Use these spyware scanners to erraticate your spyware problem:
*Make sure you check for spyware definition updates for all of these
scanners before using them.


Spybot Search & Destroy 1.4
http://www.safer-networking.org

Ad-Aware SE 1.06 Personal
http://www.lavasoftusa.com

Spyware Blaster 3.4
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html


Spy Sweeper 4.0.3 Build 405
http://www.webroot.com

XoftSpy 4.15
http://www.paretologic.com

CWShredder 2.15*
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html

* = Use the standalone version of CWShredder.

 

[Don.]

After reading all of the replies to this thread, I thought I would add my 2
cents.... some parts are just reiterating what Ken Blake and Yabbadoo said,
but there are a couple other possible solutions which may or may not help
you.

1. Make sure that your fans are working properly. Especially the fan on your
processor's heatsink. The fans should also be dust free as well as all
peripheral cards and the expansion slots themselves. If necessary, remove
the fan and physically clean the blades. The heatsink for your processor
(and the one on your video card if you have one) should also be dust free.

2. Make sure your computer is not in a room that is unusually warm during
the day. If it is hovering around 30°C (86°F), consider moving it to a
different room or find a way to keep the room cooler.

3. Perform a hard drive defrag. (Despite what your friend told you,
computers running Windows XP do need to have their hard drives defragged
approximately every 3 months or so depending on how much you use your
computer. The more you use it, the more often you will need to do a defrag.)

4. Do a full virus scan with your antivirus program. This can be the cause
of a slow system (not usually, unless you have a VERY badly virus infested
computer) but is never a bad idea.

5. Use these spyware scanners to erraticate your spyware problem:
*Make sure you check for spyware definition updates for all of these
scanners before using them.


Spybot Search & Destroy 1.4
http://www.safer-networking.org

Ad-Aware SE 1.06 Personal
http://www.lavasoftusa.com

Spyware Blaster 3.4
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html


Spy Sweeper 4.0.3 Build 405
http://www.webroot.com

XoftSpy 4.15
http://www.paretologic.com

CWShredder 2.15*
http://www.intermute.com/spysubtract/cwshredder_download.html

* = Use the standalone version of CWShredder.

Thanks for the very detailed information. We have SpySweeper and keep
it the signature files up to date as well as Zone Alarm Pro and F-Prot.

As noted earlier in this thread I did a Defrag but now can't find the
Defrag OR Scandisk on the HD! ??? That system has me running in
circles. Luckly about all my wife does with it is play solitare games
and work with Word Perfect and occasional e-mail and browsing, but very
little of the latter. While on for myself I'm all over the Internet with
my genealogy research, process about 20 e-mails a day (guarded with
MailWasher) and the same AV & Firewall she has. Here in Coeur d'Alene,
ID the house temps haven't reach more than about 80F and her's sits on a
desk very much in the open.

I was about to try to find an XP defragger on the Internet for her
machine. I use a WindowsME version of it that runs well under Win98,
maybe on hers as well, but I hesitate to try it without some reassurance
it won't rip her HD to shreads. ;-)

Thanks very much for your 2c worth, it is very much appreciated. Right
now I'm also considering tossing that 4 year old 800MHz computer and
buying a new one with a CD burner for BU, for me to use. ;-)

Don

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Thanks for the very detailed information. We have SpySweeper
and keep
it the signature files up to date as well as Zone Alarm Pro and
F-Prot.

Unfortunately, relying on a single anti-spyware program isn't
good enough. None of them do a good-enough job and you should use
several. I recommend Spyware Blaster, Spybot Search and Destroy,
and Adaware, all free.

As noted earlier in this thread I did a Defrag but now can't
find the
Defrag

You can just type defrag at the Start | Run line.

OR Scandisk on the HD! ???

There is no Scandisk in Windows XP. That's a Windows 9X program.
The XP equivalent is CHKDSK.

 

[Don.]

In



Unfortunately, relying on a single anti-spyware program isn't
good enough. None of them do a good-enough job and you should use
several. I recommend Spyware Blaster, Spybot Search and Destroy,
and Adaware, all free.






You can just type defrag at the Start | Run line.






There is no Scandisk in Windows XP. That's a Windows 9X program.
The XP equivalent is CHKDSK.

Thanks Ken. I'll CHK on CHKDSK. ;-) Possibly even get SpyBot.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Thanks Ken. I'll CHK on CHKDSK. ;-) Possibly even get
SpyBot.

You're welcome, Don. Glad to help.

 

[Phillips]

Avoid relaying on CD's for long term backups - they lose quality (the ink
oxidizes), or simply get lost or mixed up etc. For $50 you can buy a 80-160
GB hard drive and save on that one - copy&paste rather than backup. For $20
or so more you can buy an external USB2.0 enclosure for the harddrive - so
that you can carry it around
Michael