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    <title><![CDATA[Discussion on Five lesser-known problems that can slow down a PC ]]></title>
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    <lastBuildDate>2013-05-18T09:39:36-07:00</lastBuildDate>
             

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        <title><![CDATA[!!!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-2306277]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Not a flame, just a piece of advice.Please!  For the sake of your reputation, not to mention your readers, use some punctuation, &amp; check your spelling.EDIT: should have rechecked MY spelling before posting ]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-2306277]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[manwethegreat@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 22 Aug 2007 21:06:34 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[MSCE vs Scientific thinking + Curiosity]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-2021699]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Interesting side discussion here....The genuinely good teachers in public schools are distressed by current education policy (&quot;No Child..&quot;) which allocates funding based on standardized test scores -- causing principals to force them to &quot;teach to the test.&quot;  They realize that it's creating students who never learned how to think.  That is exactly the problem with MSCE's -- teaching to the test.  I own a computer shop. I do not have an MSCE or A+.  But I do have a Ph.D. in an experimental science (not computer science), and 26 years experience with PCs.Getting the Ph.D. gave me rigorous training in solving difficult problems using the &quot;scientific method&quot; -- identifying &amp; isolating variables, etc.  , which is very useful in fixing PC problems.  On the side, separately from my scienfitic career, driven by curiosity, I started tinkering with PCs (before IBM &amp; Microsoft) -- the experiences of those early days (when, e.g., one had to do low-level disk edits in hex) gave me some useful understandings that few younger folks have today.   Curiosity, when confronted with something it doesn't understand, is driven to do whatever necessary to gain understanding, which usually involves a LOT of reading &amp; research.  So my library of computer-related books is by now rather enormous. When given a PC with a problem (such as the present topic - slowness), I get to the root of it and fix the actual problem, thanks to the above experience and method of solving problems.In contrast, my local competitors, some of whom boast MSCE's or A+ certs, don't seem to have a clue as to how to fix problems.  All they seem to know how to do is reformat a HDD and reinstall the OS -- telling the customer &quot;Here ya go, it works now; Sorry about all your data being gone; go home &amp; re-install all your software, and Good Luck!&quot;  (i.e., we'll see you back here in a couple of weeks).  And they can run packaged software, such as automatic &quot;registry fixer&quot; utilities, where the intelligence (such as it is) is in the software, not in their heads. They can also wield screwdrivers well enough, so they can add memory, replace HDDs and motherboards (which may not need replacing), after reinstalling the OS did not fix the problems.  And, they can throw together parts to build a new, replacement PC, if the foregoing failed to fix the problems.  After going through this procedure, the customers eventually end up at my shop, where their problems actually get fixed.Before you fire off a nasty reply, I am not saying that the MSCE is worthless, or that all MSCEs are like the local ones here.  I'm in a rural area where literacy and education levels are below average - the local MSCEs have only high school educations and their PC experience prior to becoming &quot;techs&quot; was primarily PC gaming.  When I've been in their shops, I wondered - where are  the books?However, what I AM saying is that MSCE/A+ certification is insufficient to make a competent technician.  I maintain that the essential ingredients of highly competent computer technicians are (1) the personality trait of high curiosity (which implies having an above-average IQ, and also implies the tendency to have a lot of books around), and (2) the habit of solving problems by use of the scientific experimental method (whether one knows it's called that or not).   I am not sure how people get (1), but it is likely an accident of genetics &amp; neurology &amp; growing up in a family environment which somehow managed not to destroy it.   As for (2), some of us get that with the help of formal education, but there are some who seem to have gotten it otherwise.  There are some incredibly good car mechanics and computer techs with no education who &quot;intuitively&quot; solve problems by using the scientific method.  Without those two things, no amount of &quot;teaching to the test&quot; is going to make you a good diagnostician/technician.  With those two things, additionally getting MSCE/A+ certs MIGHT add some value to you, but most likely you will have already read far more books (and better ones) than the tests require.   Jon Koerner, Ph.D.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-2021699]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[jonkers]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Sun, 28 May 2006 12:28:46 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Virus]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1847265]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Most people forget to close ports using firewall software and not monitor Denial of service attacks they can bring computer to a halt in matter of minutes. I was running a system using IIS sever and had an instructor in college told him that my system was secure he could not hack in he set a denial of sevice attack at every port while I was trying to close the ports I forgot it sap the computer resources and let in a torgan and he had full control of my computer the lesson I learn is if you are getting attack disconect it from the network is the only reliable option and regroup better run to fight again than to be taken over and no control]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1847265]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[bea94457@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 15 Sep 2005 06:34:13 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Security Updates]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1782710]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[An accumulation of security updates may also have an effect. Some are just OS programming changes, but this also takes more room in the registry; indexing and stack heap may be increased, and so on.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1782710]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sportz]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 03 Jun 2005 06:28:47 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[......USEFUL TIPS.....]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1717940]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[if after cleaning the system of spywares virus and startup programs the system continues slow check this:first of all look at the mainborad.does it have an amr slot?remove anything connected to it,these nasty cards can really slow down a pc,replace it by a &quot;real&quot; card if possible.look for a bios update,if you cant find it then clear the cmos and reconfigure it.check te hard drive cables to see if they have 40 or 80 wires.check the cpu temperature.install the most recent drivers from the manufacturers site.do not install softmodems.if you have a celeron you can try to overclock it but whatch the temperature.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1717940]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[hugo_barbedo@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 14 Feb 2005 03:43:32 -0800</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[I see what the problem is (rejourner)]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1514662]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[There are many reasons why you will get a blue screen. If your equipment is on the HCL you should not have to reapply any manufacturer's application for boards or HDD, only when dealing with specific hardware raid arrays.By the way why do most of you guys hit on MCSEs. I don't hear that much complains from accountants about CPA etc. MCSEs are not hardware technicians. These are people trained to plan, implement, and maintain IT infrastructure as well as provide cost effective computing solutions for a business. With two equally qualified person to choose from, I'll pick the one with MCSE.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1514662]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[rdolopei@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 20 Aug 2003 07:22:46 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[A good memory tip]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1513655]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[From TechRep's own tips newsletter:KEEP THE NT EXECUTIVE IN RAMWindows systems are designed with a paging file. Information aboutactive applications is kept in the system's RAM, while inactive applicationsare placed in this file.To increase the performance of your system, keep the Windows NT kerneland drivers in RAM at all times and only page out the other contents. Thismeans the system data, known as the NT Executive, is always immediatelyavailable.Here's how to prevent the system from swapping the NT Executive to thepaging file:1. Start the Registry Editor (Regedit).2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory Management.3. Change the DisablePagingExecutive value to 1. The default value of 0indicates that the system is allowed to page the NT Executive out todisk, but a value of 1 prevents this behavior.4. Exit the Registry Editor and reboot the server.Microsoft recommends that you have at least 16 MB more RAM availablethan the system needs for its workload. Adequate RAM is a prerequisitebefore disabling this feature.NOTE: Editing the registry is risky, so make sure you have a verifiedbackup before saving any changes.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-1513655]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Backdoor Man]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 18 Aug 2003 07:01:44 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[What a Crock]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-788430]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Certs show a demonstration of knowledge.  While I would not rule out someone who didn't have one and neither would I automatically select someone who has a cert, they do have an important place in the IT world.  For those who aren't seeking a job position, they are good to demonstrate to yourself that you have the base core of knowledge.  My belief is that you need to keep up on your certs just as any other professional field does.  Testing helps to point out to yourself the areas in which you are weak in.  Does not having a cert mean you shouldn't get the job?  Heck no....it depends on past experience.  Having a working interview is way better for selecting an individual for the position then going by certs, the resume, and traditional interviewing.Are MCSE's arrogant?  Might be.....but the same kind of generalization could be said for those who don't have the cert....they are ignorant lazy buggers who don't have the drive to be their best.  Bottom line is a good IT professional is going to do all he/she can to be his/her best....this includes getting the appropriate cert.Submitted by one MCSE who is working on his 2003 cert. ]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-788430]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[transit_Admin]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2003 07:12:00 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Yea!  for contiguous Page/Swap files]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779762]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I am a firm believer that contiguous Page/Swap files are the best practice when using MS Windows xxxxx.  IMHO Norton Speed disk is the best product for defragmenting and optimizing the Page/Swap file location.The 2.5 x Total physical RAM for thebeginning size is okay as long as your HDD has plenty of free space.  Definitely much easier to set up when your PC is new.  With newer motherboards and chipsets driving total addressable RAM into the 4GB range I would be inclined to set up a new system with 2.5 x Total physical RAM.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779762]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[menehune22]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 06 Jun 2003 02:45:04 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[At last -- someone's got it right!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779181]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[That's right; you do NOT want to let Windows manage your VM. As Abitec mentioned, you want your pagefile to be as contiguous and unfragmented as possible. Nor do you want to take the performance hit of windows having to grow its pagefile as it needsit.And if the machine in question is one of many customer workstations, you definitely want to make sure that you specify a ?minimum? file size. Unless you have lots of time to check every customer's computer frequently, you don't want to take the chance of the pagefile's host drive becoming full. How much free drive space they have, is something most end-users aren't even aware of (or care about). So you have to ensure that an adequate amount of space is reserved for your pagefile. And as mentioned before, if you don't feel comfortable with second guessing the upper limit needs of a particular machine -- then don't specify one.So the bottom line: Let Windows management your swapfile?  Just say No!]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779181]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[PixelPusher]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2003 04:49:23 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Worth some value]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779158]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[After reading the article, and quite a few comments, I can say that this article can be of value to some.  Albeit, I don't use network cables that I haven't tested, I've seen a bad cable and/or bad mapped drive cause delays.  A hot processor(bad fan) has been known to slow down or freeze a box.  Low virtual memory was usually attributed to a full hard drive in the past, but with 100+G hard drives, it's a problem relegated to older boxes.  Most MoBos now have AUTO everything, making BIOS setup abreeze.  BUT it's nice to know about other possible fixes just in case you run into that box from hell that's keeping you from your dinner.  And for that, I put worth to this article.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779158]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[ITRFGUY]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2003 04:11:10 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[How about a poor termination?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779066]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[If you have a poorly terminated cable then you may have intermittently open connections or signal paths at the wrong impedance.  The wrong impedance will cause signal reflections within the cable and adversly affect data transmission.  The poor termination could be at a patch panel or within the RJ45 plug.  Strain on the patch cord if the plug is improperly crimped could impair the connection.  Here I'm writing about open connections.Regardless ... a short is a short.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779066]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[David O]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2003 02:33:17 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Linux / KDE MUCH SLOWER than Win 98]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779037]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I have a 450 MHz machine at home with 256 MB of RAM. I'm dual booting Win 98 and SuSE Linux. The Linux boots MUCH more slowly than the Win 98 and responds so much more slowly that sometimes I inadvertently start two instances of something (like YAST2) because it's taken so long to start that I think I must have missed the button or something. The Win 98 OS responds at a very usable speed - the only time I've seen much slowdown was in something very resource intensive, like embedding an Excel 2000 graph into a Word document.I'm not at all against Linux or pro-MS just because I like MS or something - this is just an observation. I do, though, get tired of reading so many posts from the Linux zealots...]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-779037]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nabil Mish]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2003 02:04:02 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Go TWITCH !!]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-778935]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Right on mate ...I've worked in a number of industries and IT has by far the largest number of anal retenetive, smug, arrogant, elitist know-all tw*ts that I've ever encountered.  RgdsMuff.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-778935]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[MerchantBanker]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2003 00:27:50 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[It may not be short, ...]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-778919]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[Maybe 'short' is the wrong word, but the article's tip that it can be the cable is quite useful. I remember crimping up a cable and then noticing that the PC response was surprisingly slow. I put a commercial cable on, and it was normal. I swapped it back and forth several times - cables can make for slow systems!]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-778919]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[lcallander@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 05 Jun 2003 00:06:54 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Another one - Registry Size Limit]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-778755]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I've seen PCs slow down a few times because their registries had grown to their maximum size limit (specified in virtual memory settings along with paging file) especially on PCs with not much RAM.I even once found a couple of PCs with the registry size limit set to &quot;0MB&quot; after they were installed from an image by an IT dept!I generally just set the limit to double the actual registry size as registry files are relatively small, I don't know if there is a rule of thumb for this or not.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-778755]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[_Nobby_]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 04 Jun 2003 19:15:27 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Memory Hole 15-16MB info WRONG]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-768789]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I don't know who this person is, but enabling &quot;Memory Hole 15-16MB&quot; in BIOS absolutely does NOT disable all memory above 16MB, that's just stupid.  Now there are a certain few (read: poorly implemented BIOSes) that this will cause, but 99.999% of boards will not get memory disabled this way.  See here:http://www.rojakpot.com/showBOG.aspx?bogno=78Kyle]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-768789]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[KyleSchroeder]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2003 00:07:53 -0700</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[What is it like to be perfect]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-717087]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[WOW!  What a post.Can I stand in your shadow?  What it must be like to never make a mistake!]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-717087]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[william.baker]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Wed, 12 Feb 2003 00:39:09 -0800</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[Yes...what is with the attitude?]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-714165]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[I am grateful for all the information provided here. I am not certified OR degreed, but I am able to comprehend quite a bit of what is discussed here and put it to good use. Amazing, huh? I think giving off a nasty attitude toward someone giving helpful advice is just not helpful in this forum. Thank you to everyone who provides all the great tips and information.]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-714165]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[pjunkel-pcmind@...]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Thu, 06 Feb 2003 21:54:01 -0800</pubDate>
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        <title><![CDATA[As per MS]]></title>
        <link><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-711425]]></link>
        <description><![CDATA[By default, Windows places the pagefile on the boot partition where the operating system is installed. To determine the size of the pagefile multiply the amount of physical RAM by 1.5 to a maximum of 4095MB. However, placing the pagefile on the bootpartition does not optimize performance because Windows has to perform disk I/O on both the system directory and the pagefile. Therefore, it is recommended that you place the pagefile on a different partition and different physical hard disk drive so that Windows can handle multiple I/O requests more quickly. This KB can be found @http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q197379]]></description>
        <guid><![CDATA[http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/12-100826-711425]]></guid>
        <dc:creator><![CDATA[PESK, mbcs, mcse, mcitp, sts]]></dc:creator>
        <pubDate>Mon, 03 Feb 2003 19:23:47 -0800</pubDate>
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