Slow performance after Windows Updates

[jwbink1500]

Hi,

I didn't know what exactly to search for for this problem so I thought I'd
just post and go from there.

Recently, I ran Windows Updates and now my computer is super slow.(compared
to what it was, anyway)

It takes over 20 seconds just to open Internet Explorer 8.0. I upgraded to
8.0 after having the same problem with IE6. Even Firefox Browser opens
slowly. Boot ups of XP seem to have slowed. The weirdest thing is after I
minimize all windows, the desktop refreshes from top to bottom over a period
of about a second. I hope that's a good explanation. (That's what i didn't
know what to search for) It does this constantly. Everthing is running at
about 50% of normal speed.

I tried uninstall recent updates but I get the message "The handle is
invalid" and the "The was not installed" (i know there's nothing between the
and was, that's what it said.) I get that message on each uninstall I try.

Even in my computer, when I try to access the 2nd hard drive labeled f:, it
takes10 seconds before it finally open after double click.

Does this sound like a hardware problem such as a failing power supply?
Most of the problems showed up after the updates I believe.

Where should I go before backing up data and doing a fresh install of XP on
a wiped drive?

My system specs are:
Windows XP home SP2
Dell 8200
1.8gHz P4
768 mb memory
Ge force Fx5700 Ultra
Creative Audigy LS Soundcard
Maxtor 80 gb harddrive 38 gb free
Seagate 80gb Harddrive 18 gb free

I would like to get back to better performance without a fresh install if
possible. I have intermediate knowledge with computers so I'm comfortable
performing most repairs myself.

Any help in anyway is greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I didn't know what exactly to search for for this problem so I
thought I'd just post and go from there.

Recently, I ran Windows Updates and now my computer is super
slow.(compared to what it was, anyway)

It takes over 20 seconds just to open Internet Explorer 8.0. I
upgraded to
8.0 after having the same problem with IE6. Even Firefox Browser
opens slowly. Boot ups of XP seem to have slowed. The weirdest
thing is after I minimize all windows, the desktop refreshes from
top to bottom over a period of about a second. I hope that's a good
explanation. (That's what i didn't know what to search for) It does
this constantly. Everthing is running at about 50% of normal speed.

I tried uninstall recent updates but I get the message "The handle
is invalid" and the "The was not installed" (i know there's nothing
between the and was, that's what it said.) I get that message on
each uninstall I try.

Even in my computer, when I try to access the 2nd hard drive
labeled f:, it takes10 seconds before it finally open after double
click.

Does this sound like a hardware problem such as a failing power
supply? Most of the problems showed up after the updates I believe.

Where should I go before backing up data and doing a fresh install
of XP on a wiped drive?

My system specs are:
Windows XP home SP2
Dell 8200
1.8gHz P4
768 mb memory
Ge force Fx5700 Ultra
Creative Audigy LS Soundcard
Maxtor 80 gb harddrive 38 gb free
Seagate 80gb Harddrive 18 gb free

I would like to get back to better performance without a fresh
install if possible. I have intermediate knowledge with computers
so I'm comfortable performing most repairs myself.

Any help in anyway is greatly appreciated.

Download an install the latest hardware device drivers from the hardware
manufacturer(s). In this case - Dell. Visit their Support site, go to
their Drivers and Downloads section and put your Service Tag into their form
to find the downloads for your machine for Windows XP.

Do not get driver (Optional Hardware) updates from Microsoft. I doubt they
made much (if any) of your hardware.

Uninstall Internet Explorer 8, reboot, install Internet Explorer 7. Don't
update to 8 for now. Get Firefox 3.11 if you want an alternative - but
either way - nix IE8 for now.

Run "MalwareBytes" and "SuperAntiSpyware" against your system - perform FULL
scans.

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

What AntiVirus software are you running?

Are you using the default Windows XP firewall?

Can you get very specific about the version of Windows XP you are running,
please?

Start button --> RUN --> type in:
winver
--> Click OK.

The picture at the top of the window that opens will give you the general
(Operating System name) while the line starting with the word "version" will
give you the rest of the story. Post both in response to this message
verbatim. ;-)

Uninstall programs you *do not* use and/or that you do not use now (and
don't polan on using for a while_) that you have installation media for and
the proper licensing information.

How to change or remove a program in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307895

Download and run "Belarc Advisor" to get a better idea of your system
information. Print it and put a copy of it with your CD/DVDss and product
keys and other stuff - safe place...

Belarc Advisor
http://belarc.com/free_download.html

Use the following programs/instructions to clean up your hard disk drive/etc
(in order given)...

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312
(Erase all but the latest System Restore Point as well - don't compress
anything.)

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/
(I suggest the 'slim' version: http://www.ccleaner.com/download/builds )

How to scan your disks for errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265

How to Defragment your hard drives
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848

After you have updated everything above - consider updating your System's
Update Facility and installation Engine.

Reboot.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemRoot%\system32\net stop wuauserv
--> Click OK.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemRoot%\system32\regsvr32 %SystemRoot%\system32\wups2.dll
--> Click OK.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemRoot%\system32\net start wuauserv
--> Click OK.

Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the root
of the C:\ drive, do the following:

Close all Internet Explorer windows and other applications.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
--> Click OK.

(If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...

Reboot.

Download/Install the latest Windows Installer (for your OS):
( Windows XP 32-bit : WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe )
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/...6F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4&displaylang=en

Reboot.

Log on as an user with administrative rights and open Internet Explorer and
visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and select to do a CUSTOM scan...
(Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.)

Once the scan is done, select just _ONE_ of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.

Reboot again.

If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
time.

The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
against the "Windows Search" one and any of the "Office Live" ones for
now. I would completely avoid the Optional Hardware updates. Don't do
Internet Explorer 8 for now either.

Consider getting SP3 now - reboot before you do it and follow these general
rules:

With proper preparation - you are unlikely to have problems - and if you
have been performing proper maintenance all along - even if you do - you are
only out a short period of time (restoring from the backup/drive image you
made wisely before diving in...)

A place to get FREE support for SP3 installation issues *from Microsoft*...
http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?ln=en-us&prid=11273&gprid=522131

WinXP SP3 - Read all prerequisites for a successful installation
http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldro...requisites-for-a-successful-installation.aspx

Steps to take before you install Windows XP Service Pack 3
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950717

Suggestions:

1) Download the full SP3 installation file and/or burn the ISO download to
CD.
2) Ensure (as well as plausible) you have no spyware/malware by doing a full
scan with SuperAntiSpyware and MalwareBytes.
3) CHKDSK
4) Defragment
5) Ensure your hardware drivers are up to date (from the hardware
manufacturer's respective web pages.)
6) Reboot right before you try to install SP3.
7) Disconnect from the internet before installing (physically.)
8) Disable your antivirus and antispyware applications when you are about to
install SP3.

Some (if not all) of that is covered in the above links.

Come back - let us know how the cleanup of your computer goes and answer the
appropriate questions.

 

[Bob Harris]

A few thoughts and ideas:

(1) Open the XP task manager and try to see if anything is using an
abnormal amount of CPU. Beside parts of XP itself, antivirus software can
sometimes go wild in a contiunuous scan mode.

(2) However, it is normal for a PC with XP to be somewhat unresponsive for
several tens of seconds after the desktop first appers. XP is not really
ready at that point, and user programs may also startup during this time
period. But after a few minutes all that startup stuff should be over.

(3) You might try selectively stopping processes to see whether things
improve. However, be very careful with any Microsoft processes. I
accidentally turned off one related to activation and my PC became
un-activated. Worse, turning it back on did not fix things, neither did
rebooting. I finally reloaded an image of the hard drive from the previous
day. (I learns back in the days of Windows 98 that disk or partition images
were a good investment, since one never knows when something unpleasant may
occur to a PC.)

(4) Try setting the video mode to VGA and see whether that helps. I once
had some odd behaviour that was caused by a failing video card. It could do
VGA, but not higher modes, and blue-screened if I tried DirectX or similar.

(5) Run CHKDSK C: /R and reboot. Watch the screen for errors and
corrections. Especially watch for anything other than zero bad blocks.

(6) Try booting the PC form any one several free "live" LINUX CDs. These
run LINUX directly from the CD, without writing to the hard drive. They
completely bypass XP, XP drivers, etc. If the problem still exists under
LINUX, then suspect hardware (RAM, CPU, power supply, video, etc). If LINUX
runs fine, but XP does not, then problem is likely software. Of course,
software could be XP, any driver, any program, etc. The KNOPPIX CD is
pretty reliable and auto-detects most hardware, better than XP, in fact:
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html Other live CDs are available
at: http://www.livecdlist.com/

(7) Try a diagnostic/benchmarking utility such as AIDA32, Everset, etc.
See the following links for some tools, many free:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads4.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads7.html

(8) If nothing seems obviously wrong, but the PC is not perfomring, you
might try one of several XP built-in fixes. The least dramatic is the
system file checker's scannow option. With no other user programs running,
open a command prompt and type "SFC /SCANNOW" without the quotes. This
should check key system files against those in a cache and replace any that
are corrupt. Next might be to do a "repair" installation of XP. That
should replace all XP files, and will effectively remove all updates and
service packs later than what is on the XP CD. It should not affect user
data or user programs. It will not fix registry problems, since it has to
leave the registry alone to allow installed programs to continue working.
Finally, there is a clean install, which erases everything on C:. Some
links that might help:

http://www.updatexp.com/scannow-sfc.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341



http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm



http://www.extremetech.com/print_article/0,3998,a=23979,00.asp



http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Repair-Windows-XP-t138.html

 

[Gerry]

Have run Disk CleanUp ( or better still cCleaner ) and then Disk
Defragmenter. This should be a matter of routine after significant
changes.

Have you checked to see whether your system is error free?

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.

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.

How reliant is your system on the pagefile?

What is the CPU and how much RAM does the computer have? Right click on
the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties to get this
information.

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?

Are you multi-tasking over much? This statement in your post "after I
minimize all windows" suggests this might be creating problems.

--


Hope this helps.

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