Speed of Vista

[Hedy Keller]

Hi everybody,

now I have installed additional 1024 MB of RAM to my former 512 MB, so I now
have 1.5 GB RAM.
But the result is disappointing: starting any applications (Excel, Word,
Mail) does not show to be faster than before.

Here my performance data:

Processor: 3.6
RAM: 4.4
Grafik 1: 2.4
Grafik 2: 3.6
HDD: 3.9

What could I do to improve the system? Since it is a Notebook, I cannot
change the grafic device.

Thank you in advance
Hedy

 

[Dana Cline - MVP]

Couple of questions for you. Which laptop do you have? Which CPU? Did it
come preloaded with Vista? If so, have you uninstalled all the junkware they
included? Have you done any tweaking with TweakVI or Microsoft's Autoruns?
What are you using for antivirus?

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

 

[Hedy Keller]

"> Couple of questions for you. Which laptop do you have? Which CPU? Did it

come preloaded with Vista? If so, have you uninstalled all the junkware
they included? Have you done any tweaking with TweakVI or Microsoft's
Autoruns? What are you using for antivirus?

My Laptop is a LG LS70.

The CPU is a Intel Pentium M 1.73 GHz

No, it came with Windows XP prof. The dealer said: "... not designed for
Vista". But "MS Upgrade advisor" delivered the result: good for Vista
Business. I have home premium installed.

Any junkware is not installed.

No tweaking.

I use "AntiVir" as antivirus-software. (By Avira). This brings much less
load to the machine than avast, Kaspersky, avg, ... and is very well
accepted here in Germany.

 

[Dana Cline - MVP]

OK, more questions then. Did you upgrade to Vista, or do a fresh install and
reload all your applications? That would certainly help make it faster, as
would the previously-mentioned Autoruns or TweakVI. If you have an SD card
slot and a spare 2Gb SD card, you can use that with ReadyBoost to speed it
up some. Otherwise, with a Pentium M 1.73Ghz, you probably shouldn't expect
too much. Generally most things will be slower than on XP...

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

 

[Hedy Keller]

OK, more questions then. Did you upgrade to Vista, or do a fresh install

and reload all your applications? That would certainly help make it
faster, as would the previously-mentioned Autoruns or TweakVI.

It's a fresh install.

If you have an SD card slot and a spare 2Gb SD card, you can use that
with ReadyBoost to speed it up some.

I tried ReadyBoost with a 1 GB-USB-stick when I had only 512 MB of RAM and
this really accelerated everything. Then, I expected to achieve significant
performance increase with the additional 1 GB RAM (not using ReadyBoost).
And I didn't like the stick beeing in my laptop all the time.

But yes, I have an SD-slot and I shall buy an appropriate SD-card.
What size do you recommend? Is 2 GB sufficient (with 1.5 GB RAM) or would 4
GB be better?

Otherwise, with a Pentium M 1.73Ghz, you probably shouldn't expect too
much. Generally most things will be slower than on XP...

Okay, I accept that.
I also agree with Scissor (see next posting) to accept a lower speed but to
have the benefits of Vista.


Thanks + greetings

Hedy Keller

 

[Dana Cline - MVP]

I've heard that if you have 2Gb of RAM, you won't notice the effects of
ReadyBoost, but you will if you have less. I guess it's worth a try if you
have the SD slot and don't use it much for anything else. I'd get a 2Gb just
because they're cheap. Visit newegg.com and search for "2gb SD" and you'll
find a bunch. Look for one with a speed of 150x - should be several under
$25.

My laptop is pretty fast, and has 2Gb RAM, so I'm not sure I will do this
soon, but probably will eventually...

More info at www.MediaCenterStuff.com in the Vista and Software topics...

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

 

[Milhouse Van Houten]

I thought upgrades were handled differently in Vista so that it would be a
non-issue. Isn't an "upgrade" now really a clean install with the user's
programs then glommed on top of that? That's very different from the
XP-and-before days, where you inherited everything that came before,
including a Windows itself that may be sagging under its own weight with
years of use.

 

[Jim]

Hi everybody,

now I have installed additional 1024 MB of RAM to my former 512 MB, so I
now have 1.5 GB RAM.
But the result is disappointing: starting any applications (Excel, Word,
Mail) does not show to be faster than before.

Don't know how you measure system performance. If you just look at app
start up time, you won't see much improvement by adding RAM. The hard
drive is always going to be the slowest link whether you have a laptop
or desktop. However, the system should be "more responsive" as you use
the apps because of the added RAM.

BTW, if you have 2 identical or very similar sticks of 512MB ram or 2
sticks of 1GB, the system may be able to run dual-channel on the RAM.
One 512MB and one GB will prevent the system to go into dual channel mode.

 

[Hedy Keller]

Here my latest experience:

Yesterday I ordered a 2 GB SD-card to make use of ReadyBoost.
This morning I made my regular maintenance out of my XP-partition including
defragmentation. XP told me that the Vista-partition had to be defragmented.
Although I thought to have defragmantation set automatically within Vista.

Well, after the defragmantation of my Vista-partition, and working with 1.5
GB RAM, my Vista now runs like hell. Starting applications is sufficiently
fast. The dealer where I had ordered the SD-card agreed to cancelling - I
see no use for ReadyBoost any longer.

Does this meet any other user's experience?
Thanks for all your contributions

Hedy

BTW: the only problem left is, that I can't use my multifunction device
(printer, scanner, copier, fax) because there is no appropriate driver.
I shall open another thread with that question.

 

[Dana Cline - MVP]

You defragged your Vista drive from XP? How bizarre...I'm not sure I'd do
that because I'd have no idea if it might screw anything up or not. Sounds
like, in your case, it helped. Well, glad that worked...

As for the multifunction device, is it recent enough that the manufacturer
will make Vista drivers for it, ever?

Dana Cline - MCE MVP

 

[Hedy Keller]

You defragged your Vista drive from XP? How bizarre...

Oh yes, it appeared quite simple: if I open the defrag under XP, I am shown
all my partitions and I can select any partition for defragmentation. On
partition C, I have XP. On partition V, I have Vista, and my third partition
X is empty at the moment.

As for the multifunction device, is it recent enough that the manufacturer
will make Vista drivers for it, ever?

The manufacturer (Philips / Sagem) simply stated, they wouldn't offer a
driver for Vista. So I tried the XP driver. The driver software could be
installed without any problem, but the little rest stays unsolved: when I
connect the apparatus to my PC, I get the message "... device not
recognized..." Installing the driver then again does not solve it. I have
the feeling, there cannot be much which has to be done - but what?

What might help?

Hedy

 

[Dana Cline - MVP]

I'm not sure what will happen with unsupported hardware - garage sales,
mostly, I'd think. I know my two newest printers are supported in Vista, but
not sure about the wife's Brother all in one or my 7-yr old HP LaserJet.

Dana Cline - MCE MVP