Aaaaaargh I'm Sloooooooooooowed!

Ok so over the last few weeks I've noticed XP is getting slower, and my Vista install with SP1 is now quicker than XP

I've tried all the usual, cleaned my registry using RegClean, emptied out all the temp files, got rid of unnecessary startup programs and services etc. but it hasn't had an impact.

I don't think I have a virus as I've ran AVG 8, Spybot and Kaspersky Internet Security and they found nothing...

The main concern is that explorer.exe is very slow to respond and sometimes even keeps "not responding" on me - for example, I open a folder up and it takes a number of seconds (enough to notice) before I get to see if there is anything in it...

So does anyone have any suggestions, other than a clean install - I have loads of stuff that I don't want to go about having to re-install?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice

 

run all the tuning utilities with tuneuputilities:
http://www.tune-up.com/products/tuneup-utilities/
if its just a problem with explorer.exe, you could try a different shell. Blackbox or sumthin...

 

How is disk space? Is the paging file fragmented (run PageDefrag)?

John

 

I have to ask: Is it XP that's getting slower or vista that's getting faster? While it't probably something with XP, if you have a new vista install, it takes a while for it to properly speed up.

 

even with superfetch, no way is vista gonna be faster than xp.

 

Another Vista vs XP debate? Noooooo...

 

Are you comparing an XP install with the Vista install on the same machine?

Btw, here's a couple of tips that might work. It worked for me.

1. Download ccleaner from www.ccleaner.com. The Crap Cleaner will clean both junk files that visible or hidden and free up quite a chunk of wasted space. It can also clean up your registry by deleting a lot of unlinked or unused entries.

2. Be sure to have you XP installation disk handy. Go to the command prompt and run the following command "sfc /scannow". It will scour your system files for any corrupted or modified system files and prompt you for the XP install disk if there's a need to replace those files.

You should notice an improvement in your system's performance.

 

I see........

 

Nope I'm comparing my XP installation to how it was up until the last few weeks, specifically the problem I seem to be having with explorer.exe (sometimes the icons don't even show on the desktop properly, I get that icon where it can't find the program instead because it either can't find the icon or just can't load it and pressing F5 to refresh the screen doesn't solve the issue)

1. Yeah done that, I do that on a weekly basis.

2. Sorry forgot to mention I'm running XP Home SP2, when I try that command it says I'll need a XP Pro SP2 disk? EDIT: Well I'll be, they didn't change the wording, my XP Home SP2 disks works fine for that command

@jisaac - What do you mean by trying a different shell?

@John Ratsey - I have 1.90 gb free, posisbly the problem so I'll look at freeing up some space, but I'll also try that PageDefrag you mentioned as well.

I have 4gb of RAM on the boards, although XP only recognises 3 of those 4, would it be worth turning the pagefile off?

 

I wouldn't turn off the pagefile but you may be able to reduce it. I always have a fixed size (currently 3GB) to sop it getting fragmented when Windows resizes it.

If you have 3GB on board RAM then the pagefile should get much use, but in my experience Windows will use it because it is there.

Also, a general defrag with proper defrag software wouldn't go amiss. In fact, the Windows defragger might not work if the free space is limited. I think it likes 15% free space.

John

 

You didn't mention defragging; have you defragged Windows?

 

Yep, I have diskeeper installed and I've done a manual defrag with it.

I've done the sfc /scannow thing and it was reading the disk alot so I'm assuming there were a few corrupted files, plus I used the PageDefrag app as well...

XP seems to be running a bit better now, although I've not really used it alot since to really test it out...

Thanks for the advice guys, if anyone has any further suggestions they'd be most appreciated.

 

if you have xp and more than 1gb of ram.
switch off the Page file where xp uses HDD as memory.
well if you have loads of memory switch it off you don't need it.it was an old default that windows loaded that todays PC/Laptops don't need.
if you have a C:/D: partition switch it off on both as the PF system is trying to write to both partitions.
my system runs far better without it

EDIT: it also means your using the HDD less. so less wear and tear on your HDD

 

And why is that?

 

sort of different gui that replaces explorer.exe..
e.g.
a super fast shell (takes up far less memory):

and the one i'm currently waiting to be released:

sorry i cant scale down the images

 

That is so stupid, it's unbelievable. It's stupid to do this in XP, with 3GB ram, much less with 1GB. Do this, and watch your computer crash, when it needs to allocate some memory. Instead, set it to a low amount, like 128MB or something (if you have more than 2 GB ram), and let it dynamicly be abe to grow to, say 1GB or more.

 

well i have 2gb ddr2 and no crashes or freezing, but i do clean out all junk,stop services i never use and have slipstreamed xp down to what i need and not what Mr Gates thinks i need.
so it may be stupid for you but on my machine it loves it

EDIT: would like to know why you think its stupid if you have the ram ?

 

No its not stupid.

If you have enough ram you can safely turn it off. Vista will allocate memory has it needs. I have 1.5 and i have the thing off becuase it only waste HDD and good space.

 

Oh well then, I have 4gb of RAM on the boards (although only 3 is recognised by XP, the whole 4 is recognised by Vista SP1...) so I guess I can turn the pagefile off...

Anyway I'm glad to report that XP is back up and running at a reasonable pace, Vista SP1 is still faster, probably because I haven't got a lot installed on it, and XP seems to have issues with running Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 and AVG 8.0 (I think both were causing the slowdown more than anything) but all is good again after I ran PageDefrag and did the sfc /scannow thing.

Thanks guys, much appreciated

 

It's said not to turn off the pagefile due to it writes backups in case of a crash and more chance of recovery. What's 4gb or so of HD space if your hard drive still have tons of space left? Some programs uses pagefile to run more efficiently.. Photoshop CS3 for example. For example, I have a 240gb HD and with all the programs I've installed I still have 184gb left. There's no real benefit of turning off the Pagefiles.. a milisec of speed isn't enough to justify a potential crash.. RAMs do fail.

 

Yeah I know that, I was attempting to be sarcastic, due to people arguing over whether or not turning the pagefile off was a good idea. Anyway all is good with XP now, and Vista is working great.

My mates Compaq on the other hand...

 

Look below