Extensa 5420 ... Snappy Except For ...

Got this lappy at BB this week, 1.9Ghz, Core 2, 2Gb ram. After removing all the trialware it boots up to the desktop in an impressive 1 min 10 secs.
One thing it is slow at though - if I make a folder on the desktop and then delete it, it takes way too long to complete the task, like more than 15 seconds. Same thing if I create a shortcut icon on the desktop and then move it to another folder on the desktop, Vista Home Premium seems to have to go through a lot of gyrations before doing the move. Same for deleting even the smallest file.
I have a desktop with Vista Home Premium and a lowly Celeron 1.8Ghz and 512mb ram (that Acer has 2Gb of ram) and doing the above things is as quick as in XP.
I looked at System Settings and they are the same in the Acer as in my Celeron desktop .... any idea where else to look to fix this?

Happy New Year to all.

 

There is a bug in Vista that is causing slow file operations. Microsoft is aware of a problem and a fix is available only to those who contact them. You could also download it from http://thehotfixshare.net/board/index.php?automodule=downloads&showfile=83 (assuming you are using 32-bit Vista).

Otherwise you could wait until Vista SP1 comes out in Q1. Personally I've tried the fix and it does nothing.

 

Thanks for the link ... but, like you, it didn't work for me either. I'm sorely tempted to put XP on this lappy. With Vista it takes about 20 seconds to delete an empty folder and about the same time to empty the Recycle Bin of that folder.
What I'm curious about, though, is that the Vista Home Premium on my desktop system does not have this problem. I'm wondering if it is a Windows update that this Acer has that is causing it. On my desktop system I've turned off Updates ever since I install Vista back about 4 months ago.

 

Well its a hit-or-miss with the patch, on some systems it works, some it doesn't. One time I put it on my Acer and it fixed the problem, but then I reformatted and applied the patch again, didn't work. I think it may have something to do when I apply the patch (first update applied, or after programs and other updates).

It could also be that you have a lot of programs running and its slowing your system down. Acer, like most laptop manufacturers pre-install a lot of programs that many people consider bloatware and slow down the system, and with Vista being resource heavy and having flaws, the bloatware doesn't help. It might help to remove any unnecessary programs. I don't know how much bloatware the Extensa line has, but if its anything like some of the Aspire and TravelMate models then I'm not expecting a lot.

 

I made sure to remove all the crapware, trialware, and bloatware before I did anything else - Norton was the first to go followed by Office Trial. Then I went through the Add/Remove program list and cleaned that out too. I also checked the msconfig Startup items and pared that down to less than half of the items that were there.

The laptop actually boots up to the desktop in a respectable 1 min 10 secs. That file processing problem is the only annoying "feature" I've encountered so far. In fact large files, like the order of 100mb, seem to act normally during moving, copying, deleting, etc.

I'll keep trolling the web to see if there are any other solutions. Thanks for your input.

 

Simplest solution. Best solution. Windows XP.

I have a 5620G preloaded with XP - this lappy flies - no WAY would I change it for Fista.

 

I hear ya, brutha ... believe me, I'm "this" close to putting XP on it.

 

Be sure to make your recovery CD's if you do decide to put Windows XP on it.

It is probably also a good idea to make a backup of your entire hard drive (all partitions) just incase.

 

Yes, I've already made the factory restore DVDs. And I plan to make an Acronis True Image backup of it (as it is now - all cleaned up) before I attempt to put XP on it.

 

Update. I got a spare hard drive and installed the Vista Home Premium that I bought for my desktop which does not have that delay. It got rid of the delay, which, btw, I found out is called Vista's Long Goodbye on several Internet forums. But now I cannot get the Crystal Eye webcam to work. I downloaded and installed a driver for the 5420G from Acer's site - they didn't have the 5420 specifically listed, (I have a 5420, anyone know what the G means?) but that didn't get the camera going.
Any suggestions?

 

Chutsman, I got this Acer last night from Bestbuy as a swap out of a low end Gateway we got on black Friday 2005. I was a little confused when I opened it and didn't see the "recovery disk" that other computers I purchased come with. Usually you have an XP disk, sometimes a drivers disk and sometimes a program disk. I didn't get any discs with the Acer???

I have True Image 8 so I guess all I need to do is make a image to DVD-R. But, assuming I didn't have True Image and I needed to do a clean install of Vista (like I've done a clean install of XP on other computers in the past), how do you do it without the disc.

Probably a stupid question, but if anyone could let me know I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm feeling like the Vista OS disc is missing from the contents of my box, but I know that can't be the case.

 

You have to make your own Factory Recovery disks. If I remember, it is in the eRecovery icon that Acer has on the Desktop or if not it should be in the Control Panel. I don't have the Acer with me to check.

 

One other question. . . after reading about this particular Acer I've seen numerous complaints that the screen randomonly goes black requiring a complete repower on to get the unit running again.

Have you experienced this?

Here's a detailed thread talking about it:

http://thoughtsfrommylife.com/article-663-Acer_Extensa_5420_Black_Screen_On_Startup

There are others (its even mentioned by some on the reviews of the product on the Best Buy site). Just hoping my doesn't do this.

 

No black screen here <knock wood> and I've even solved the "Long Goodbye" problem by doing the Factory Restore - for the umpteenth time. Don't know why the restore worked this time, but I'm not going back to find out.

In between trying to solve the "Long Goodbye" problem, I even tried XP, but there were too many devices that I couldn't get the drivers for.

 

Glad to hear no black screen issues.

I did lie when I said "one other question" but you only have your helpful knowledge to blame. . .

I don't want to start blindly deleting programs to get rid of the junk extras that come on new computers. What I have deleted was:

- the Office 2007 60 day trial (and installed my own copy of Office 2007);
- Norton Internet Protection

Is there anything else you know of that can and should be safely removed (or have removed yourself)?

 

Those were the only two. I also removed anything to do with Symantec ... I think there was an "Update" something. Instead of Office 2007, I still use Office 2000 and it works on Vista. I saw Office 2007 on another system and didn't like how the features were changed around. Plus 2000 does the job for me.
I left Windows Defender on ... still not sure about it, but so issues so far.

 

Thanks for the info. No complaints about the laptop yet except, boy I have the sound at 100% and it is still pretty quiet. I guess I'm used to my old Gateway laptops sound. I've checked the settings and it definitely looks like the volume is all the way up.

 

Try this discussion for driver links, there is USA site for drivers but the euro version seems to be better and has ftp site.

Also info on camera... try vista driver else microsoft generic driver... more info in link.

Great info from CharredPC.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=190581

Also, I had contacted acer... no longer provide recovery media nor will they provide xp media, even if pay, supposedly as per their microsoft licensing agreement.

I also removed norton and trial office... still deciding on acer empower, etc. although may be moot point as thinking of installing xp dual boot with vista.

 

Hello. I just bought the extensa 5420. I am about to make a recovery disk. So let me see if I got this straight. If I reinstall with th recvery cd the long goodbye bug will disappear? I am also planning to install windows xp on the other partition which will be not as easy as many say. Iam also installing ubuntu.

 

If you just bought it, you probably got it with Vista's Sp1 and I have a feeling that the "long Goodbye" doesn't exist anymore with SP1. So before you reinstall check the system as it is first. When I reinstalled with the Recovery CD which I had to make, it seemed to me that that is when the bug disappeared - I'm not really sure if it had to do with uninstalling all the crapware. And when I reinstalled, it was to another hard drive.

Good luck with the triple booting ... I don't even do dual boot.

 

i just got mine from the source and there is this bar that says "process: 2/25 PreSystem Please wait..." and its been stuck at this point for the past 3 hours what should i do? ps restarting has no effect on it