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System Performance Terrible, what to do?

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by penguinsrule 2 views

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Hi,

My computer system performance is terrible, and I could use some help with what to do. I am running Windows XP. Here is a list of things I've already done:

I upgraded my memory to 1 GB
I increased the size of the pagefile to 2048/4096 from 384/892
I went to msconfig and I tried to remove anything from the startup that I didn't think belonged there, and there's still quite a few processes, but almost all of them have to do with either the system, Norton, or HP (which is my scanner, and my all-in-one printer/fax/copier/scanner - both HP devices are must haves and I can't work without them.) I'm running Norton Anti-virus, Internet Security (but the internet security subscription expired a while back), and Norton Utilities.
I've removed anything from the system tray that I didn't have to have.
I've cleaned up my disk the best I can, I'm about 80% free. I run the defragger on a regular basis.
I've run the Norton Utilities routines that fix the disk and windows problems.
I've run Ad-Aware to remove any Spyware.

I think that's it, I've done a lot already. It still runs terrible, and the system is only about a year and a half old, so it isn't a really old system. Any ideas are certainly appreciated.

Thanks!

Rick

27 replies

by penguinsrule

Just plain SLOW, Super SLOW - compared to how I think the computer should run I guess, I don't know how to describe this I guess. But this doesn't help me, Answer #2 gave me lots of things to try.

by oz_media

When you say it runs terrible, what do you mean exactly, it crashes, it hangs, it starts slow, it is just SLOW?

Personally, other than what you HAVE done already, I despise Norton anything and would ditch it for something more resoucefuil and efficient such as the FREE AVG antivirus, it doesn't expire and auto updates on schedule. You MAY have a trojan or worm in your PC still that is undetected. A good trojan scanner is always a good idea, or your browser may be hijacked.

AVG FREE Antivirus: (You'll never buy Norton again.)
http://www.grisoft.com

Protect against a browser hijack:
Hijack Blaster: http://tinyurl.com/2jd42

Also I would suggest performing some of the free online trojan scans (simple search for "Trojan removal"). Most scanners will scan for free but everyone expects you to pay for trojan tools as they are a big hit right now. Just identify the trojan and the search for the name with 'removal' after it. IE: "name of trojan removal"

You will get many options free cleaners and removal instructions.

by oz_media

Firewalls: Zone Alarm used to be the way to go but the free version is nothing but a major ass pain now, unless you don't mind spending all that time training it and hoping it will not further slow your system as it usually does.

There used to be quite a few with good free versions but I haven't seen one worth my while in some time without paying for Pro versions.

I find the easiest way with a home PC is just to go and buy a cheap router $100.00 and use Port Address Translation or a built in hardware firewall. PAT has worked fine on my utility boxes for gaming surfing garbage etc. I wouldn't recommend it or other retail offerings on a server but for general home computnig where you are not storing documents for the White House, there's no real problem with hackers as there is with spyware and trojans. A simple PAT programmed router will stop most trojans being effective and will mask you IP from outsiders for the most part.

Many people go overkill with the whole hacker paranoia, but if YOU were hacking would you bother wasting time to get into some highly infected white box in somebody's basement unless you KNEW there was data you wanted?

by ptreadway

Go to www. blackviper.com and check out windows xp services,the list will show a lot of services that are not needed.After that go to www.majorgeeks.com,click on miss. and download Boot VIS,this will speed up the start up.

Hope this helps.

by thorbjorn.fredh

I think there is spyware or adware in your machine. Try to download and run adaware, pestpatrol, spybot or something else. You will find them at download.com

by compudoctor

You may have a hardware conflict. Go to System Properties>Hardware>Device Manager, and see if there are any question marks/exclamation marks/red x's. If not, try downloading the latest drivers for all your periferal devices and reload them.

by goanna

Well you seem to have done everything you can, i suggest you take the advice of answer 2 and get rid of norton, I have friends who swear by it but most including myself find that it works ok to start with and then everyyhing starts to slow down or worse
Ron

by otl

First open DEFRAG -> analyze and annotate where your system files are located.

Goto Start -> program files -> accessories -> cmd prompt

At the DOS window type; chkdsk/r
will give you a message that can not run right now but is scheduled for next reboot.

Reboot and allow chkdsk run.

Goto defrag -> analyze, if system files have moved dramatically you had HD problems not software. Keep an eye on it for more problems to arise.

BTW - I have to run chkdsk about every 3 monthes on office laptop.

by tcstombar

Windows XP is a very good system. If it's running poorly, there is usually an external problem.

I would check you hardware first. Check the memory and the hard drive. You can download a very good memory checker from http://www.memtest.org/ This will let you know if your memory is good. Bad memory will make your computer run slowly or freeze. Check your hard drive by pressing Start> Run and then typing cmd. At the prompt, type "chkdsk /r /v" with spaces in front of the slashes. It will tell you that the hard drive will be scanned the next time that the computer starts. Restart the computer and let the scan run. You can check the results later by going to Start /Control Panel /Administrative Tools /Event Viewer. Check to see if there are any bad sectors. This will slow a computer down a lot. Check the system and CPU fans to see if they are clean and turning. Overheating will slow down a system. Check you drivers to make sure that they are current. Occasionally old or wrong drivers will slow down a machine.
If the hardware is alright, you should check the software. First, if you dump all the Norton stuff, you will notice about a 30% increase in speed immediately. They are all considered to be pretty doggy. You don't have to uninstall them to test this. Just change the options so that non of Norton is running at startup and see the difference. AVG and Zone Alarm are very good alternatives with little or no performance hit. Click on Start /Run and type in Msconfig. The startup section will show you what programs are being loaded on startup. There are only a few necessary programs here. The rest are optional. You know which ones are the HP files and should be able to recognise what some of the others are. Disable the ones that you don't recognise and see how the computer runs. Then enable them one by one or in groups until the computer becomes slow again. Then you know which one is the culprit. Trace it to the installed program and uninstall it.

by penguinsrule

Hi, Between getting rid of Norton and doing the chkdsk my speed is a lot better now!

I still have a few problems in my error log..
For Some reason I cannot start the Server, DCOM, ICF/ICS and LexBce services

Can someone suggest a good pop up blocker?

All of you have been GREAT, and I'm adding points to this question to reward you in some small way for all your help.

by pazz9

1.why did you increase the page file? increasing virtual memory is not the way to go for speed. in effect, you are telling the OS that its okay to go drive hunting. less page file memory forces windows to use ram, of which you have a lot.
so lower it.
2.spybot is a very good ad and other nuisance proggy cleaner and its free. its the best in my opinion. get it.
3.go to the system devices where you can see your devices and from the menu do 'show hidden devices', there you will see other norton remnants that need to be deleted. that thing just creeps into your system like a octopus. ;)
4. the main windows tweak site for users is a very helpful site along with this one. check it out and see if there is any thing else you can accomplish.
http://www.tweakxp.com/performance_tweaks.aspx

good luck!

by tcstombar

I understand that Google has a Toolbar that blocks popups. Probably a better alternative is to install the free version of ZoneAlarm. I use the Pro version and like it very much.

by laquangthong

1 - You said: "I upgraded my memory to 1 GB I increased the size of the pagefile to 2048/4096 from 384/892" . Try set the page file size to 0, or let windows configure your page file size. I would set the page file size to 0, as 1 GB = too much of memory already.

2 - Stop Norton System doctor from running automatically, and stop all the windows service that you don't need.

by penguinsrule

I finally replaced my monitor with an LCD monitor and found that this resolved the majority of my performance problems, apparently there was a conflict with the graphics device that I was using before. thanks for all your help. RIck

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