Windows XP "bloating" ...

  • Thread starter Thread starter ryanm
  • Start date Start date
R

ryanm

Hi folks,

So here's the story ... you install a fresh copy of Windows XP. It's
very quick and speedy. Menus pop up instantly, screens re-draw
flawlessly and you hardly ever hear the hard-drive crunching away. Then
you install a couple apps (say Office and Firefox). It starts to slow
down a bit. Then you install a few more apps (say iTunes, Photoshop)
and the next thing you know, the machine has got this real bloated
feeling? It's always thrashing the hard drive, and things start to
churn like molasses. Can you identify with this story?

So here's my train of thought ... I first wonder if the apps I've
installed have put those silly system tray programs in place that would
take up RAM and CPU slices. So I go through and remove any of those
that are present. But guess what .. it's still slow.

So i ask myself .. other than the hard drive being a bit fuller (but
nowhere near capacity), what is the real difference between my machine
now and when i has first installed XP?

Increased registry size?
Fragmented hard drive?
Something else?

So does anybody have any thoughts on why Windows seems to get bloated
for no apparent reason other than the fact that you installed some apps
(but they aren't running)?

Any tips for avoiding this churn?

Are other people experiencing this?

Ryan
 
Depends on how/what you removed. Using Add/Remove, and did each apps
Uninstall remove everything it installed.
Cleaned out Startup folders? Did any of the apps added Services to the
system and not remove them ... so they are still trying to run?

Have you checked Event Viewer for errors. Clear the logs out, reboot and
immediately look at the logs ... Errors? Warnings?
Check all sections ... Applications, System, Security,...

How defragmented is your system ... run Defrag and use the Analyze.

Add any Antivirus apps, Security Suites?

Create a new Admin user, and login. Same speed? If not, the other Admin
user has stuff started that new user does not. Then remove new user.
 
ryanm said:
Hi folks,

So here's the story ... you install a fresh copy of Windows XP. It's
very quick and speedy. Menus pop up instantly, screens re-draw
flawlessly and you hardly ever hear the hard-drive crunching away. Then
you install a couple apps (say Office and Firefox). It starts to slow
down a bit. Then you install a few more apps (say iTunes, Photoshop)
and the next thing you know, the machine has got this real bloated
feeling? It's always thrashing the hard drive, and things start to
churn like molasses. Can you identify with this story?

So here's my train of thought ... I first wonder if the apps I've
installed have put those silly system tray programs in place that would
take up RAM and CPU slices. So I go through and remove any of those
that are present. But guess what .. it's still slow.

So i ask myself .. other than the hard drive being a bit fuller (but
nowhere near capacity), what is the real difference between my machine
now and when i has first installed XP?

Increased registry size?
Fragmented hard drive?
Something else?

So does anybody have any thoughts on why Windows seems to get bloated
for no apparent reason other than the fact that you installed some apps
(but they aren't running)?

Any tips for avoiding this churn?

Are other people experiencing this?

Ryan
Click to expand...
Perhaps you need an adware scan using e.g. Lavasoft Adaware.
Also press Crtl-Alt-Del to see what junk you've got running.
I certainly don't have any of those problems.
Regards Mike.
 
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I didn't mean I un-installed the
apps completely, I just meant I removed the system tray program
associated with the apps.

As for fragmentation, it seems ok.
 
Really? Because it seems that everybody I know has this bloating issue
when you install a bunch of apps to windows (in other words - make the
OS usable for you).
 
I don't have this 'bloating' issue with my Windows XP. "Everyone
that I know", certainly DOESN'T have this issue either.

I have hundreds of programs installed. My installation in a new
computer, is nearly a year old and is as frisky as ever. I wish
that I was as frisky.

Perhaps routine maintenance is not practised, gawd only knows.

Doug
-
 
How did you remove the system tray icons ... ?
Just because you had a system tray icon ... does not mean that is the only
thing running on your system at startup?
Many applications have no system tray when started.

Have you run msconfig and checked the Startup tab?
 
ryanm said:
Hi folks,

So here's the story ... you install a fresh copy of Windows XP. It's
very quick and speedy. Menus pop up instantly, screens re-draw
flawlessly and you hardly ever hear the hard-drive crunching away. Then
you install a couple apps (say Office and Firefox). It starts to slow
down a bit. Then you install a few more apps (say iTunes, Photoshop)
and the next thing you know, the machine has got this real bloated
feeling? It's always thrashing the hard drive, and things start to
churn like molasses. Can you identify with this story?

So here's my train of thought ... I first wonder if the apps I've
installed have put those silly system tray programs in place that would
take up RAM and CPU slices. So I go through and remove any of those
that are present. But guess what .. it's still slow.

So i ask myself .. other than the hard drive being a bit fuller (but
nowhere near capacity), what is the real difference between my machine
now and when i has first installed XP?

Increased registry size?
Fragmented hard drive?
Something else?

So does anybody have any thoughts on why Windows seems to get bloated
for no apparent reason other than the fact that you installed some apps
(but they aren't running)?

Any tips for avoiding this churn?

Are other people experiencing this?

Ryan
Click to expand...

Everything you have added has almost certainly included some startup
components that are loaded and running all of the time.

Use Start - Run - MSCONFIG

1. Look at the items in the Startup tab. Almost everything there is
an optional item that has been added by you since Windows was
installed.

2. Now go to the Services tab and click on the checkbox to "hide all
Microsoft Services". Everything listed there is the result of what
you have added since Windows was installed.

Now you see why your computer might be bogging down a bit?

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Hi folks,

So here's the story ... you install a fresh copy of Windows XP. It's
very quick and speedy. Menus pop up instantly, screens re-draw
flawlessly and you hardly ever hear the hard-drive crunching away. Then
you install a couple apps (say Office and Firefox). It starts to slow
down a bit. Then you install a few more apps (say iTunes, Photoshop)
and the next thing you know, the machine has got this real bloated
feeling? It's always thrashing the hard drive, and things start to
churn like molasses. Can you identify with this story?

So here's my train of thought ... I first wonder if the apps I've
installed have put those silly system tray programs in place that would
take up RAM and CPU slices. So I go through and remove any of those
that are present. But guess what .. it's still slow.

So i ask myself .. other than the hard drive being a bit fuller (but
nowhere near capacity), what is the real difference between my machine
now and when i has first installed XP?

Increased registry size?
Fragmented hard drive?
Something else?

So does anybody have any thoughts on why Windows seems to get bloated
for no apparent reason other than the fact that you installed some apps
(but they aren't running)?
Click to expand...
That just seems to be the nature of the Windoze eXPerience. The more "stuff"
you add to this toy operating system the less able it is to cope. Whether
it is the ever expanding registry size or the inability of Windoze to
properly handle additional services without bogging down, who knows? A more
general term for this phenomena is "bitrot". According to some Wintards
(Leythos sticks out), Windoze doesn't suffer from this malady although it
is such a common complaint that anyone not a Windoze Fanboy would readily
admit.
Any tips for avoiding this churn?
Click to expand...
Move to a real operating system. A toy operating system is OK if all you
want to do is avoid purchasing a dedicated game console and run computer
games on your PC. But, if you want to run serious computer programs and
services, XP just can't handle it without bogging down.
Are other people experiencing this?
Click to expand...
THE most common complaint about Windoze and why after a time, most Windoze
users end up wiping their drives and re-installing the "o/s" again from
scratch.
Ryan
Click to expand...

--
The ULTIMATE Windoze Fanboy:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2370205018226686613

View Some Common Linux Desktops ...
http://linclips.crocusplains.com/index.php
 
ryanm said:
Hi folks,

So here's the story ... you install a fresh copy of Windows XP. It's
very quick and speedy. Menus pop up instantly, screens re-draw
flawlessly and you hardly ever hear the hard-drive crunching away.
Then you install a couple apps (say Office and Firefox). It starts to
slow down a bit. Then you install a few more apps (say iTunes,
Photoshop) and the next thing you know, the machine has got this real
bloated feeling? It's always thrashing the hard drive, and things
start to churn like molasses. Can you identify with this story?
Click to expand...


No. It's not my experience at all.

So here's my train of thought ... I first wonder if the apps I've
installed have put those silly system tray programs in place that
would take up RAM and CPU slices. So I go through and remove any of
those that are present. But guess what .. it's still slow.
Click to expand...


First, note that that issue isn't with "system tray programs," it's with
programs running in the background. Some of those programs may manifest
themselves by an icon in the system tray, but by no means do all of them.

Second, some of them may be silly, but others can be very useful.

Third, some of them may take up significant RAM or CPU cycles, but others
don't. As a single example of this, I use a little background program called
AllChars; its purpose is to permit entry of special characters, including
non-English one like ñ. ü, and ç. It's invoked when you press particular key
combinations. Although it takes up virtual memory, because I need it seldom
it quickly gets paged out and it normally doesn't use real RAM at all, and
doesn't hurt performance, either with respect to increasing paging or
anything else.

Here's no standard advice on autosotarting programs:

First, note that you should be concerned with *all* programs that start
automatically, not just with those that go into the tray. Not all
autostarting programs manifest themselves by an icon in the tray.

On each program you don't want to start automatically, check its Options to
see if it has the choice not to start (make sure you actually choose the
option not to run it, not just a "don't show icon" option). Many can easily
and best be stopped that way. If that doesn't work, run MSCONFIG from the
Start | Run line, and on the Startup tab, uncheck the programs you don't
want to start automatically.

However, if I were you, I wouldn't do this just for the purpose of running
the minimum number of programs. Despite what many people tell you, you
should be concerned, not with how *many* of these programs you run, but
*which*. Some of them can hurt performance severely, but others have no
effect on performance.

Don't just stop programs from running willy-nilly. What you should do is
determine what each program is, what its value is to you, and what the cost
in performance is of its running all the time. You can get more information
about these at http://castlecops.com/StartupList.html. If you can't find it
there, try google searches and ask about specifics here.

Once you have that information, you can make an intelligent informed
decision about what you want to keep and what you want to get rid of.



So i ask myself .. other than the hard drive being a bit fuller (but
nowhere near capacity),
Click to expand...


How full the hard drive is has almost zero effect on performance.

what is the real difference between my machine
now and when i has first installed XP?

Increased registry size?
Click to expand...


No, that's not relevant.

Fragmented hard drive?
Click to expand...


Possibly, but fragmentation is usually not as serious a problem as many
people think it is.

Something else?
Click to expand...


Probably the single most common thing people run into these days is
infestation with spyware. And since the number of these tend to increase
with time, that's consistent with your report of constantly decreasing
performance. What antispyware applications do you run?
 
NoStop,
Why do you bother posting? Your post is totally useless to answering the
questions people ask.
 
Bill said:
NoStop,
Why do you bother posting? Your post is totally useless to answering
the questions people ask.
Click to expand...

Pot, kettle, carbon...except...

....he was on-topic for the thread when he criticized Windows, whereas
you were not when you criticized him.

What did your post add to the discussion, besides a personal attack?

--
Rhonda Lea Kirk

Insisting on perfect safety is for people
without the balls to live in the real world.
Mary Shafer Iliff
 
Perhaps you need an adware scan using e.g. Lavasoft Adaware.
Also press Crtl-Alt-Del to see what junk you've got running.
I certainly don't have any of those problems.
Regards Mike.
Click to expand...
Cleaning out some junk with Crap Cleaner might help as well. It is a
safe cleaner and will not remove anything essential.
 
Tom said:
What did your post add to the discussion, besides showing your skills
as a net nanny?
Click to expand...

My post added nothing to the discussion. OTOH, I felt that NoStop was
unfairly attacked, and I don't much like the whole "ad hominem in lieu
of content" type post very much, unless it's made with genuine
cleverness and humor.

<laughing> So does this mean you have a thing for me now, Tom? S'okay. I
don't mind. I've been stalked before. ;)

A "net nanny" is what you sic on your children. The word you're actually
looking for is "netkkkop," but it's kind of strong for this situation.

rl
--
Rhonda Lea Kirk

Insisting on perfect safety is for people
without the balls to live in the real world.
Mary Shafer Iliff
 
NOW NOW CHILDREN

Rhonda Lea Kirk said:
My post added nothing to the discussion. OTOH, I felt that NoStop was
unfairly attacked, and I don't much like the whole "ad hominem in lieu
of content" type post very much, unless it's made with genuine
cleverness and humor.

<laughing> So does this mean you have a thing for me now, Tom? S'okay. I
don't mind. I've been stalked before. ;)

A "net nanny" is what you sic on your children. The word you're actually
looking for is "netkkkop," but it's kind of strong for this situation.

rl
--
Rhonda Lea Kirk

Insisting on perfect safety is for people
without the balls to live in the real world.
Mary Shafer Iliff
Click to expand...
 
Hi folks - my intension in starting this thread was not to create a
flame-war or big philosophical debate about the quality of the windows
OS but I guess that's the risk you run these days ... :)

I do have to say though, that I can identify with what No Stop says in
his post about general performance churn being one of the most common
issues for Windows users. In fact, I would go out on a limb a bit and
say the following ... if you all are telling me that your windows
systems are running very slick even after installing a dozen apps or so
(and you're not running a super-high-end PC) then it's not that I don't
believe you, I do, but if you're telling me that yout didn't do
anything special to get it like that and it "just works like that", I
have a bit of a hard time swallowing that.

A quick google search turned up the following comments from other
sources:

"One of the most common issues with XP is its apparent decline in
performance as the computer is used."
http://www.tcs.org/ioport/may03/performance.htm

"I'm sensing a slight decrease in the speed of my system after about 6
months of running Windows XP"
http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=153877

"Windows startup seems to be taking a long time, and once it finally
stops churning, everything seems to run slower than it used to"
http://www.askbobrankin.com/make_windows_xp_run_faster.html

and many more.

Now I'm not trying to bash the operating system, I like XP, I am just
trying to make the assertion that performance seems to be a common
issue and I'm curious why many of you on this thread have not had this
issue.

Also, by the way, I appreciate many of your explantions about system
tray programs and such, but I do understand all of that. I am a
software engineer with 10 years of experience in the industry, so I
understand all the basics.

Thanks for all your thoughts folks!

R
 
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