Slow computer

[Guest]

My computer (OS XP HOME) is painfully, and I mean painfully slow. It was
sudden and as I see it unprovoked. I have Ad-Aware and have run no less than
four full system scans on the very latest update in the last 24 hours, all to
no avail. I have tried system restore with every available restore point
(more than 30 in the last four months) and every time, it just says:
'Restoration was not possible' (no reason in typical microsoft style).

As an example of just how how slow it is. I timed exactly how long it took
to load my homepage after start-up. 7 minutes and 24 seconds. It took over 35
minutes to reach this page. I'm not joking.

If anyone out there has a single suggestion other than the following list of
things I have already tried (and short of chucking it in the bin and buying a
mac), please let me know a.s.a.p.

Already tried:

- System Restore
- Ad-Aware full system scan (found one tracking cookie once and nothing since)
- Disk cleanup (no change)
- Defragmenter (not necessary, apparently)
- Deleting anything and everything on the add/remove programs list
- Deleting unnecessary startup programs as suggested by another of these posts

Thanks in advance

Williamsdm

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My computer (OS XP HOME) is painfully, and I mean painfully slow. It was
sudden and as I see it unprovoked. I have Ad-Aware and have run no less than
four full system scans on the very latest update in the last 24 hours, all to
no avail.

I can't be sure, of course, but a sudden slowdown is *very* likely to
be a result of malware infestation.

Having run AdAware, no matter how many times, is no guarantee that you
are not infected, for two reasons:

1. AdAware checks for non-viral malware only. You could have a viral
infection.

2. You could even be infected with non-viral malware. Neither AdAware,
nor any other spyware scanner is anywhere near perfect. Note what Eric
Howes, who has done extensive testing on Anti-Spyware products,
states:

"No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the
best-performing anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one
quarter of the "critical" files and Registry entries" See
http://spywarewarrior.com/asw-test-guide.htm

The first thing to do is make sure that your system is malware-free. 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.

 

[Young]

Hello Williamsdm:

There are a couple of more things that make a computer painfully slow, and
are fixable. System restore may aggravate the issue of virtual memory!

It "sounds" like you have done many of the proper things:

You are running an anti virus, you are using a spyware removal software. I
agree you should use more than one anti-spyware, and you should follow Ken
Blake's recommendations!

However, most folks do not do these two things:

1. Defrag you hard disk. Do it when you have time, and do it thoroughly!
No matter what the computer says. do a defrag. You can force a thorough
defrag by changing your virtual memory to 0, then re-boot. then do a
defrag. Then do step two below.

2. Increase the size of your virtual memory. Set the minimum and maximum
the same. Make them at least as large as 2x your RAM. Experts have told me
that 4x is acceptable. I would not go any more than 4x. I personally use
3x. Do not change your virtual memory until you have defragged your hard
drive.

I personally like to see a hard drive no more than 50% full! Make certain
you have turned off automatic indexing by older Microsoft Office software!
I've seen a good computer slow to a crawl when it is being scanned by
corrupt antivirus software. (Norton and MacAfee are really bad about
getting corrupted installations. They are almost impossible to fix without
some help. I'm told that Norton has re-written their code, and the new
version runs much better. You might want to invest an a new CD. Do not
download the new Norton software. Make certain it is the newest version!)

You deserve a better running system! Good Luck!

Cordially yours,

Young

 

[Young]

Hello Williamsdm:

Humm, I just re-read your post, and maybe I did not pay enough attention.

You are complaining about a slow computer, but your wrote about a slow
internet connection.

Turn off your modem! Unplug the power to the modem. Make certain the modem
lights are off for at least 15-minutes. Then turn it back on.

Let us know if that doesn't fix the problem?

Cordially yours,

Young

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

2. Increase the size of your virtual memory. Set the minimum and maximum
the same. Make them at least as large as 2x your RAM. Experts have told me
that 4x is acceptable. I would not go any more than 4x. I personally use
3x. Do not change your virtual memory until you have defragged your hard
drive.

There is no need to set the minimum and maximum the same. You should
set the minimum low, and the maximum high, so it can expand as
necessary.

The more RAM you have, the *less* page file you need. Any amount based
on a percentage of your RAM is wrong. Read here for more information:
"Virtual Memory in Windows XP" at http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm/

I personally like to see a hard drive no more than 50% full!

That may be your preference, but it's entirely unnecessary to limit
your usage to that. The amount of disk space you use has almost no
effect on your performance.

 

[Guest]

Hello and thanks to both of you for your advice.

However, I still have a few problems. I do not know how to change the
virtual memory (whatever that is) and secondly, I do not have a disc backup
feature in the system tools list. Any ideas where it might be? Without, all
of the advice from Ken Blake in your first message is useless.

Thanks

Williamsdm

 

[Gerry]

William

Start, Control Panel, System., Advanced, Performance, Settings,
Advanced, Virtual Memory, Change. Makre the change click on Set, OK and
any Apply. restart the computer for the change to take effect.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Backing_Up

--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Guest]

My computer (OS XP HOME) is painfully, and I mean painfully slow. It was
sudden and as I see it unprovoked.

Added to the good advices and notes from Ken Blake and Young, is it possible
that one - in case you have two or more RAM-chips installed - could have
failed without given other symptoms like BSOD etc? If so; then may performing
a RAM-test would be an idea. See: http://www.memtest.org/

Regards,
Ka2H

 

[Gerry]

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?

How large is your hard disk and how much free space. Right click on
your C drive in Windows and select Properties to get this information.

What is your CPU processor speed? How much RAM memory? Right click on
your My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties to get
this information.


--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Daave]

My computer (OS XP HOME) is painfully, and I mean painfully slow. It
was
sudden and as I see it unprovoked. I have Ad-Aware and have run no
less than
four full system scans on the very latest update in the last 24 hours,
all to
no avail. I have tried system restore with every available restore
point
(more than 30 in the last four months) and every time, it just says:
'Restoration was not possible' (no reason in typical microsoft style).

As an example of just how how slow it is. I timed exactly how long it
took
to load my homepage after start-up. 7 minutes and 24 seconds. It took
over 35
minutes to reach this page. I'm not joking.

Please clarify. Is it that your PC that is slow, or is it your Internet
connection? If the latter, is it just the Web, or is it other parts of
the Internet, too?

 

[Guest]

Total 277280
Limit 2500644
Peak 314136

Hard disk capacity 52.8 GB
Used space 37.8 GB

Processor speed 1.70GHz
0.99 GB of RAM

Is this bad?

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hello and thanks to both of you for your advice.

However, I still have a few problems. I do not know how to change the
virtual memory (whatever that is)

Unnecessary. It's highly unlikely that it will help your problem.

and secondly, I do not have a disc backup
feature in the system tools list. Any ideas where it might be?

XP Home Edition? Backup is installed automatically on XP Professional,
but not on XP Home. If you have the complete XP Home CD, find backup
on the CD, in \ValueAdd\MSFT\NTBACKUP and install it yourself by
doubleclicking the file ntbackup.msi.

If you don't have an XP CD, you can download ntbackup.msi at
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/software/ntbackup.msi Also see
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=302894

However, as backup software goes, the included Windows backup program
is probably the poorest product available. I recommend investing in a
better backup solution, such as Acronis True Image.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Added to the good advices and notes from Ken Blake and Young, is it possible
that one - in case you have two or more RAM-chips installed - could have
failed without given other symptoms like BSOD etc? If so; then may performing
a RAM-test would be an idea. See: http://www.memtest.org/

Highly unlikely that that's the problem. A failed RAM chip would
almost certainly cause much more severe symptoms than a slowdown.

 

[Gerry]

William

No but this figure "0.99 GB of RAM" is an odd way to describe RAM
memory!
RAM is measured in mb. Are you saying you have 990 mb or thereabouts?

Have you looked at Error Reports in Event Viewer?

Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in the
System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot. No
Information Reports please.

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.

--

Hope this helps.

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

 

[Young]

Hello Ken:

Thank-you for the fine work you do helping folks with their computer
performance issues!

I attempted to go to your referenced site and the address was confused.
Here is how I got there:

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php


The site has a lot of excellent information about virtual memory, and is
very helpful!

Cordially yours,

Young

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hello Ken:

Thank-you for the fine work you do helping folks with their computer
performance issues!

You're welcome. Glad to help.

I attempted to go to your referenced site and the address was confused.
Here is how I got there:

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php

Yes, sorry for the error in the URL

The site has a lot of excellent information about virtual memory, and is
very helpful!

That *page*, written by the late MVP, Alex Nichol, has a lot of
excellent information about virtual memory. The rest of the site,
www.aumha.org, also has a lot of other excellent information.

 

[Young]

Microsoft has long known of issues with svchost.exe - the process that runs
services of DLLs (dynamic link libraries). There are many symptoms
associated with the problem. Among the most common is a drastic slowdown of
computer performance as svchost.exe consumes memory and CPU cycles.

The cause of the issue turned out to be the service that provides Automatic
Updates. In response, many users began disabling Microsoft Update, an
enhanced version of the more-limited Windows Update.

To read the entire article and the cure (fix):


http://windowssecrets.com/comp/070621/

Cordially yours,

Young

 

[Guest]

Pacific Bell disclosed this message below, you can no longer hook up at
56Kbps speed, the most will be 33.6 but I operate at 26.4kbps with no hopes
in the future of obtaining high speed internt
City 14.4, 28.8,
33.6 or x2 Modems K56flex, v.90
Modems ISDN LAN ISDN

Dial-In Locations where there are Different 56K and 33.6 Kbps Dial-In Numbers
If you have a modem with 33.6 speeds or less, or if you have an x2
technology 56K modem, you must continue to dial into the current 33.6 Kbps
dial-in number. The reason for this is that our 56K modem pools have been
optimized for K56flex or v.90 modems only. Users who attempt to dial into our
56K modem pool and who do not have a K56flex or v.90 modem will not see
speeds associated with 56K and may experience significant connection and
performance difficulties. Go to the 56K FAQ for help on finding out what kind
of modem you have.

Ed

such file or directory