Opening My Computer is very slow

[Guest jeffareid]

When I open "My Computer", I get a slow moving flashlight image, and it takes

several minutes before I see partition icons. I'm not sure what triggrered

this delay. This is a relatively fresh install.

[Guest Tony Sperling]

Re: Opening My Computer is very slow

 

If you have SATA (and / or RAID) HD's and no IDE's, then you should disable

the IDE channel in the BIOS that serves the HD's (not theCD/DVD's!)

 

Over all, it's a good idea to disable everything in the BIOS that you are

not utilizing.

 

Don't know if this will help, but it will speed things up if left to the

defaults initially.

 

 

Tony. . .

 

 

"jeffareid" <jeffareid@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:57C1900C-7525-402D-961B-0E733B690C6E@microsoft.com...

> When I open "My Computer", I get a slow moving flashlight image, and it

takes

> several minutes before I see partition icons. I'm not sure what triggrered

> this delay. This is a relatively fresh install.

>

>

[Guest jeffareid]

Re: Opening My Computer is very slow

 

> If you have SATA (and / or RAID) HD's and no IDE's, then you should disable

> the IDE channel in the BIOS that serves the HD's (not theCD/DVD's!)

 

I have both, but it's not related to that. If I click on start run "c:\" or

any other partition, I get an instant response. It's only slow when opening

up the "My Computer" window. The issue is not related to hard drives or the

dvd-rom.

 

I only use X64 for Visual Studio 2005 64 bit projects, and backup of my

32-bit XP Pro partition.

 

I think I've narrowed it down to 3 things:

 

1. Backup, (compare), quick format, restore, (compare) of the OS partition.

2. HP X64 driver installaion for a HP C6180 all in one printer.

3. One or more Microsoft updates.

 

The only effect step 1 has is that the short file names of directories may

change, but previously this only affected some icons that used short file

name paths.

[Guest Tony Sperling]

Re: Opening My Computer is very slow

 

The slowness could be an indication that it is searching for something -

this could be a driver issue. What backup software are you using? Is it

native 64bit?

HP's drivers I think are quite good but the installation can be a bit

involved, if you suspect that remove it completely and re-install and don't

connect the printer to your machine untill the installation tells you to.

 

You wouldn't expect any delay when accessing partitions, the thing is that

SATA is an extension to IDE/ATA and if the connectors are active and not

used you might expect a delay when accessing general machine related info

that concerns these resources. It probably wouldn't affect everyone.

 

Personally, I've had no trouble with any updates, so cannot comment on that.

 

 

Tony. . .

 

 

"jeffareid" <jeffareid@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:8BBD5DB5-D9AC-4A9A-8952-38E7ED6D6E60@microsoft.com...

> > If you have SATA (and / or RAID) HD's and no IDE's, then you should

disable

> > the IDE channel in the BIOS that serves the HD's (not theCD/DVD's!)

>

> I have both, but it's not related to that. If I click on start run "c:\"

or

> any other partition, I get an instant response. It's only slow when

opening

> up the "My Computer" window. The issue is not related to hard drives or

the

> dvd-rom.

>

> I only use X64 for Visual Studio 2005 64 bit projects, and backup of my

> 32-bit XP Pro partition.

>

> I think I've narrowed it down to 3 things:

>

> 1. Backup, (compare), quick format, restore, (compare) of the OS

partition.

> 2. HP X64 driver installaion for a HP C6180 all in one printer.

> 3. One or more Microsoft updates.

>

> The only effect step 1 has is that the short file names of directories may

> change, but previously this only affected some icons that used short file

> name paths.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest John Barnes]

Re: Opening My Computer is very slow

 

What changes to, say, security settings, file or simple file sharing, BIOS

updates, did you make about the time this started to happen. If you

temporarily disconnect non essential drives does it change? Personally I

don't see how 1-3 could be involved. Most all of us keep up to date with

Microsoft updates and probably most have installed SP2.

You could delete the driver if you have the ability to restore it, which I

assume you do since you say it is a recent installation and you installed it

before.

 

"jeffareid" <jeffareid@hotmail.com> wrote in message

news:57C1900C-7525-402D-961B-0E733B690C6E@microsoft.com...

> When I open "My Computer", I get a slow moving flashlight image, and it

> takes

> several minutes before I see partition icons. I'm not sure what triggrered

> this delay. This is a relatively fresh install.

>

>

[Guest Carlos]

Re: Opening My Computer is very slow

 

Hi:

Also make sure you don't have CD/DVD in the drive(s) when opening My Computer.

Carlos

 

"jeffareid" wrote:

> > If you have SATA (and / or RAID) HD's and no IDE's, then you should disable

> > the IDE channel in the BIOS that serves the HD's (not theCD/DVD's!)

>

> I have both, but it's not related to that. If I click on start run "c:\" or

> any other partition, I get an instant response. It's only slow when opening

> up the "My Computer" window. The issue is not related to hard drives or the

> dvd-rom.

>

> I only use X64 for Visual Studio 2005 64 bit projects, and backup of my

> 32-bit XP Pro partition.

>

> I think I've narrowed it down to 3 things:

>

> 1. Backup, (compare), quick format, restore, (compare) of the OS partition.

> 2. HP X64 driver installaion for a HP C6180 all in one printer.

> 3. One or more Microsoft updates.

>

> The only effect step 1 has is that the short file names of directories may

> change, but previously this only affected some icons that used short file

> name paths.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest jeffareid]

Re: Opening My Computer is very slow

 

> I think I've narrowed it down to 3 things:

> 1. Backup, (compare), quick format, restore, (compare) of the OS partition.

> 2. HP X64 driver installaion for a HP C6180 all in one printer.

> 3. One or more Microsoft updates.

 

It was item 2, HP X64 drivers causing this problem. Installation goes fine,

but once I turn on the printer and it goes through the "new hardware found"

steps, the issue with "My Computer" occurs. It takes about 4 mintues for "My

Computer" to open.

 

I restored to a previous backup that doesn't have the HP drivers and it's

working fine.

 

Regarding item 1, the backup and restore, I have a second OS and hard drive

that I use to backup the X64 partition. I was using xcopy or drag and drop to

a folder, but since then I've created a file/directory copy program that also

copies the short names and all date / time stamp info.

[Guest Carlos]

Re: Opening My Computer is very slow

 

Did you follow HP driver installation procedure exactly?

I think that you have to:

1.- Unplug the printer

2.- Start software installation and wait till it prompts you to install the

printer.

3.- Plug the printer when prompted

4.- Finish software installation.

There is a very detailed instruction package in HP's web site.

Carlos

 

"jeffareid" wrote:

> > I think I've narrowed it down to 3 things:

> > 1. Backup, (compare), quick format, restore, (compare) of the OS partition.

> > 2. HP X64 driver installaion for a HP C6180 all in one printer.

> > 3. One or more Microsoft updates.

>

> It was item 2, HP X64 drivers causing this problem. Installation goes fine,

> but once I turn on the printer and it goes through the "new hardware found"

> steps, the issue with "My Computer" occurs. It takes about 4 mintues for "My

> Computer" to open.

>

> I restored to a previous backup that doesn't have the HP drivers and it's

> working fine.

>

> Regarding item 1, the backup and restore, I have a second OS and hard drive

> that I use to backup the X64 partition. I was using xcopy or drag and drop to

> a folder, but since then I've created a file/directory copy program that also

> copies the short names and all date / time stamp info.

>

[Guest jeffareid]

Re: Opening My Computer is very slow

 

> Did you follow HP driver installation procedure exactly?

 

Yes and that failed ...

> I think that you have to:

> 1.- Unplug the printer

> 2.- Start software installation and wait till it prompts you to install the

> printer.

> 3.- Plug the printer when prompted

> 4.- Finish software installation.

> There is a very detailed instruction package in HP's web site.

 

Step 3, if plugged in when prompted, then as the drivers are installed, the

virus like dialog box "NT/Authority is shutting down system in 60 seconds"

appears. Note that this is being done on a fresh install, with Java removed

(since it has a virus weakness).

 

So the steps are start and complete software installation with printer off

(the CP6180 won't appear unless it's on). At thsi point everything is OK.

System can be rebooted, and still no problems.

 

Next step, turn on printer. Drivers will auto-install, a few "new hardward

detected" balloons appear, and now the system is hosed up. Clicking on "My

Computer" after this point results in a 4 minute wait before the icons appear.

 

This is a dual boot system. The printer and drivers for 32-bit XP Pro work

just fine. The downloaded drivers for XP X64 are the problem.

 

The only thing I use X64 for is some 64 bit development (Visual Studio

2005), and to back up the 32 bit XP Pro partition (I copy that volume to a

directory on another drive).