Restoring performance?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Goomba
  • Start date Start date
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Goomba

It's a couple of years old, and my Dell Inspiron 6000 (with Service Pack 3)
has become sluggish opening files and accessing the Internet (100MBPS
connection). I frequently run Disk Cleanup, Defrag, error checking, and the
machine is malware & virus-free. I even uninstalled a half-dozen never used
programs. My C drive shows 28.5 GB used, 42.1 GB free space. Is there a
simple way, which requires no knowledge of the Registry, to restore
performance?
 
It's a couple of years old, and my Dell Inspiron 6000 (with Service Pack 3)
has become sluggish opening files and accessing the Internet (100MBPS
connection).  I frequently run Disk Cleanup, Defrag, error checking, and the
machine is malware & virus-free.  I even uninstalled a half-dozen neverused
programs.  My C drive shows 28.5 GB used, 42.1 GB free space.  Is there a
simple way, which requires no knowledge of the Registry, to restore
performance?  
Click to expand...

You don't say how much memory you have. If it is less than 2GB that
may be a concern. You could also run msconfig and check what is being
loaded at startup. There is probably a few items there that don't
absolutely need to be running all the time. If you find something you
can't identify, Google it and you'll find out. If you've never done
any registry checking, I can say confidently that using CCleaner has
caused me no harm yet, but YMMV. Read the instructions and backup your
registry before making any changes.
 
#1: A process that's loading down your CPU:
It could be a sub-process or application that's running in the background
and taking all the CPU resources, which could be the cause of your PC
running slow.
To find and display what could be the problem try Process Explorer:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Note: Once you have Process Explorer installed and running:
In the taskbar select View and check 'Show Process Tree' and
'Show Lower Pane' options.
Then expand the process named 'Explorer' (click on the + sign)
In the column on the left named 'CPU', look for any high CPU usage.
Next click on the CPU column to sort the processes by %CPU usage
(Highest to Lowest).
Move the mouse cursor over any process, you should see a popup with some
detailed info.
Then mouse over the process that's using most or all the CPU %.
Then click on that process to highlight it,
Now that it's highlighted, right click and from the options listed select:
'Search Online'
This should display what out there on the web about that process.
You can also double click on any process to open up a more detailed
'Properties' window.
Note: some entries like Explorer, System/Services, and
Svchost entries may need to be expanded to show the detail (sub processes),
in this case click on the + located to the left of the entry.

An alternate method using Process Explorer is to double click
on the Graph just below the Menu bar.
This will open the 'System Information' window, which has a larger display
of all three graphs.
Move your mouse over any spike in the CPU Usage graph to see what
process/application or service was the cause of the spike.

#2: Stuff that loads during boot or logon and then is always running in the
background:
If you want to list and explore what may be the cause then:
Try Autoruns from the MS Windows SysInternals site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx

AutoRuns will show/list all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot
(Boot Execute tab),
when you logon (Logon tab) and other programs that load
(grouped by labeled tabs) for easy viewing.
It also provides the ability to selectively allows you to stop any program
(use with care) that you don't want to load.
You can undo any changes you have made.
Note: To get additional details on an item in the list you may need to
highlight the item (right click) and use the 'Search Online' option to get
the details, especially useful for the more obscure items in the list.

#3: Viruses
Viruses and malware can also cause your PC to slowdown or malfunction.
Malke has an excellent set of instructions on what to do:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

#4: To much crap on the hard drive:
Take a look at CCleaner as a tool to remove Internet history info, cookies,
temp files, auto complete and other junk.
In the 'Windows' tab listing check the item types you want deleted.
Note: Do not use the registry cleaning option!!!
Also available is customization, see Options/Custom to add any
other/additional folders you want files deleted from.
http://www.ccleaner.com/

#5: Defragment your hard drive. Which you have done!

JS
www.pagestart.com
 
GrtArtiste said:
You don't say how much memory you have. If it is less than 2GB that
may be a concern.
Click to expand...

For Windows XP??? I don't think so!
(Make that less than 512 MB, and you might be correct, however).
 
Goomba said:
It's a couple of years old, and my Dell Inspiron 6000 (with Service
Pack 3)
has become sluggish opening files and accessing the Internet (100MBPS
connection).
Click to expand...

Did you notice the sluggishness before or after you installed Service
Pack 3?
I frequently run Disk Cleanup, Defrag, error checking, and the
machine is malware & virus-free.
Click to expand...

What anti-malware and antivirus software do you run?
 
As others have picked up you do not say how much RAM memory is
installed. The minimum for a Dell Inspiron 6000 Laptop is 256 mb and the
maximum is 2 gb. You can check what is installed by right clicking on My
Computer and selecting Properties.The information is on the General tab.
Adding RAM is not too expensive.

If you have insufficient RAM this leads to the system becoming more
reliant on using the pagefile. Using the pagefile is slower than using
RAM which could be why you are seeing slower performance. The solution
is either to reduce the demand for memory or to increase the RAM memory
available. However, there are other reason why system prformance can
slow. You need to determine the extent to which your system is reliant
on the pagefile.

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 6 processes using the largest amounts?

Do you leave the computer on 24/7?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
GrtArtiste wrote:

For Windows XP???    I don't think so!
(Make that less than 512 MB, and you might be correct, however).
Click to expand...

Just because the unit typically comes with 512MB doesn't mean that is
enough, especially when the OP does not state what apps he/she is
running. I admit to preaching the gospel that more memory is usually
better than less, and with mem prices being what they are currently
there are few reasons not to add some...especially if you have the
minimum and are complaining about performance.

GrtArtiste
 
What Anti Virus program are you running? These things are notorious system
resource hogs.
When I'm not on the internet or just checking the sites I'm sure are safe
(Banking, Financial etc...) I turn the damn thing off.
I use AVG free anti virus which, until it's last incarnation (ver 8) was
very light on system resorces.

-Kevin
 
How many processes are you running? Also I will use spybot and adaware for
maintence also. Both free and both good. Make a donation if you can, freeware
or not it is appreciated
 
GrtArtiste said:
Just because the unit typically comes with 512MB doesn't mean that is
enough, especially when the OP does not state what apps he/she is
running. I admit to preaching the gospel that more memory is usually
better than less, and with mem prices being what they are currently
there are few reasons not to add some...especially if you have the
minimum and are complaining about performance.
Click to expand...

The point is that although more RAM *may* help without knowing what is
being run on the computer no one can say for sure if it will and a broad
statement that less than 2GB of RAM may be a concern is one that is made
without any justification. Few users need that much RAM to run XP
properly and in fact for many users 512MB of RAM is often or usually
sufficient for what they do with their computers. Without proper
information we don't know if more RAM is needed and adding more RAM may
just be a waste of money, the additional RAM may go unused. More often
than not the reason why computers slow down over time is simply because
there are way too many processes running in the background for nothing
and adding more RAM is not really the proper fix for that.

John
 
John

I agree with all you say and have a couple of points of my own to add to
what you have said.

Not all computers have the capability of taking 2 gb of RAM. The Dell
mentioned in this thread has a minimum of 256 mb and a maximum of 2 gb
( 2 x 1gb modules). Therefore if the existing RAM installed is 256 mb to
512 mb (plus possibly 1 gb if 2 modules) to go to 2 gb is not adding
RAM; it is replacing RAM with a consequential higher cost.

Adding RAM without regard as to what other performance bottlenecks exist
is pointless. Situations arise where you can add RAM but it will make no
difference to performance because the limiting factor is the CPU
processor. This may not apply here because the computer was designed to
take up to 2 gb of RAM.

Sensible choice and use of programmes can provide real performance
improvements with no monetary outlay.

--
Regards.

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