My new e1705 is dog slow

Ok, so I got my brand new e1705 a couple of days ago, here are some specs:

T7200, 2*1gb, 7900gs, 100gb (5400rpm), vista home premium

Anyway, right off the box I've noticed the machine crawls, it take forever to load, yeah there's lots of crapware dell put on it, but I don't think that should slow it down that much. It takes forever to unzip files, slow file transffer over the net (home network), same with reading cd-roms, and loading programs. something's up and I don't know what.
I've got a 4.5 on the windows test, I don't know if its good or bad. Anyone has any ideas what's up?
I never thought a brand new computer with these specs should/could be THAT slow. Thoughts?

 

I must be the software. So, since your computer is new (I assume you don't have a lot of stuff on it yet) you can try formatting your harddrive and reinstalling windows if you have a windows DVDrom/CDrom. That should help.

 

Try to disable the Anti-virus.Also go to the BIOS settings.Make sure the HDD is on DMA and not PIO.Try killing off the bloatware.

 

Format and install winxp

 

Clean installation of Windows is a must for DELL inspirons. They are loaded with bloatware beyond recovery

 

Thanks for all the prompt help. Some elaboration needed on:

1. how do I check/change the BIOS config you mentioned.
2. I have ALL the dvd's from dell (including MD-3), how do I reformat, and make a clean install? I saw the guide for a new installation from windows, but not for a full reformat.
3. I own a win-xp pro, one of you said I should install that, should I install it right away, or give a fresh vista install a try first? (meaning anything will be usless on vista right now)

Thanks guys.

 

Agree with several posters that crapware loaded in each new dell is a cause for the slow performance also, if you have mcfeces you might want to remove that in favor of trendmicro, kaspersky or avast that are significantly better and consumes less resources.

 

The method described below doesn't delete the MD3 partition which is less of a headache. I did it this way and MD3 worked after completing all the steps.
You can choose to wipe all partitions and re-create the MD3 partition using the MD3 CD provided first.

1. Download latest drivers for your laptop from Dell site. Burn to CD (after extraction).
2. Boot with Dell Vista DVD.
3. Wipe all partitions EXCEPT the MediaDirect partition.
4. Recreate a single partition (or 2) using the free space.
5. Re-install Vista.
6. Re-install all drivers using CD you made.
7. Install any Vista supported apps you may have.

There's also a Bluetooth installation instruction somewhere on this site which tells you the correct steps to re-install/enable the BT on your laptop (if you have it built-in).

That should be it, after doing this my laptop ran much faster and booted up quicker.

By doing this, you must realize that you will lose the Recovery partition which takes approximately 10GB of space. I removed this because if I ever need to reload, I will do it from scratch, since the Recovery image includes all the bloatware that you've just spent a couple of hours removing (by fresh install method).

Here are more detailed instructions:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=109447

 

I personaly couldn't find in my BIOS any setting called DMA/PIO for HDD. Can you explain how to get there, like under which tag I should look for it?

 

There are no such settings in your BIOS. The OP meant to say you should check your IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers in your device manager and make sure your primary and secondary controllers are configured to use "DMA if available". Open your device manager, look in the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers section, and double click your Primary IDE controller; look under advanced settings and look for "DMA if available" next to transfer mode. Do the same for the secondary controller.

In the BIOS settings, there's a section where you can configure your drive's overall speed. I don't recall exactly where it is, but it involves selecting quiet mode or something like that. I have mine enabled for performance, but I honestly didn't notice any difference for either setting.

 

Wipe the Media Direct partition aswell, it's useless IMO.

 

try run model as admin: - type msconfig - Disable those unnessary software in the start up, that will prove a lot. My is ASUS G1, almost same spec of yours. super fast.

 

I just got my Inspiron 9400 today and I'll follow the advice given here and format the hard drive.

1. I don't see the MD partition anywhere, I only have C: and D: (recovery)

2. Should I install the dell support, dell whatever software or is that also bloatware?

3. Which driver should I use for the 7900 GS?

 

1) The MD partition won't show up in windows explorer, but if you go into the administrative settings or whatever, you'll see that there's a partition there.

2) I'm not sure what software you're referring to there.

3) Drivers for me were a hit/miss. The ones directly from Dell (on the website) are pretty decent, and reliable, but they may not be the fastest. Nvidia hasn't released an official driver for vista and the 7900GS in forever, but websites like laptopvideo2go have drivers you can try out. Currently, I'm running forceware 160.03 drivers from laptopvideo2go and they've been working well. YMMV

 

I chose not to wipe my hard drive completely. I just uninstalled all the Dell Stuff and made it so nothing that's un-needed (like quicktime) doesn't start every time. It's ok when booting, but once it's running it's faaaast! I'm using the 9X. whatever drivers from laptopvideo2go. I don't remember the numbers, but it works.

 

to the OP (mikledet),

I should be getting my e1705 today (actually should have gotten it yesterday but my stupid apt complex doesn't sign for packages, argh...) When I configured it, I made sure to have them NOT pre-install as much software as possible b/c I knew that most of it would be bloatware. Things like the "trial entertainment package" or "ISP" software. HOPEFULLY this will deter my system from performing like poo upon starting it up initially (like the OP's did). I also chose to have Norton AV installed in lieu of Macafee, as I've had better /more enjoyable past experiences with Norton products. My parents had a dell desktop that came with trial Macafee software and still to this day (at least 2 yrs after purchase), it still comes up with a damn macafee text box whenever during boot up asking you to renew it. And of course, I've tried to uninstall it multiple times with no avail. If it was my comp, I simply would've just deleted the folders from windows explorer. Anyways, I'm done w/my macasuckass rant now.

 

Some of you guys seriously need to quit being lazy and just reformat. It takes 30 minutes but removes a lot of the headache. I don't understand why anyone would not reformat!