Guest debzee Posted July 31, 2007 Posted July 31, 2007 Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? Is there anyway to overcome this? I have done the usual: ie compacting drives, various registry cleaners etc. but nothing helped so I am beginning to wonder if it is XP rather than anything else. All help or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Guest Ron Badour Posted July 31, 2007 Posted July 31, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW More than likely, you have a ton of stuff being started at boot and maybe some malware as well. To cut back on the number of programs starting at boot, check the programs themselves for an option not to load. You might have to double click an icon in the tray (others might require a right click) and then look for preferences or options. If you cannot find an option, look for the program in one of the following start up points and remove the reference to it: Start up folder on the start menu, the load= and run= lines in the win.ini and these registry run keys (use regedit.exe): 1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run 2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run 3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce 4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce 5. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices 6. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce 7. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\Setup You can use msconfig.exe, startup tab, to disable programs; however, by doing so, you may lessen its value as a troubleshooting tool. There might be some double entries in msconfig--leave those for your AntiVirus program alone as they may be required. If you disable an entry in msconfig or remove it from the start up point and the program loads again after a reboot, that is an indication that you missed an option on the program itself. If you don't know what an entry is, check here: http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm or use Google.com to search for the item. If you don't already have them, I recommend you download and use AdAware or Spybot (or both) on a regular basis and consider removing everything these programs identify. Be aware that there are frequent updates to these programs and you need to check for them before every use including the first time. AdAware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php Spybot: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html/ -- Regards Ron Badour MS MVP 1997 - 2007 "debzee" <debzee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:9A02CD1D-1594-43F0-94A3-7388AABB75E8@microsoft.com... > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? Is > there anyway to overcome this? I have done the usual: ie compacting > drives, > various registry cleaners etc. but nothing helped so I am beginning to > wonder > if it is XP rather than anything else. All help or comments would be > greatly > appreciated.
Guest JS Posted July 31, 2007 Posted July 31, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW You need to find the specific process or application that's taking all the CPU resources and slowing down your PC. To do this try Process Explorer: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx Once you have Process Explorer installed and running: In the taskbar select View and check 'Show Process Tree' and 'Show Lower Pane' options. (This will provide the detailed info you need) Next click on the CPU column to sort processes by %CPU usage. Then click on the process that's using most or all the CPU %, once it's highlighted, right click and from the options listed select: Search Online This should display what out there on the web about that process. Note: some entries like Explorer and svchost may need to be expanded to show the detail, (sub processes), in this case click on the + located to the left of the entry. Still another tool is What's Running http://www.whatsrunning.net/whatsrunning/main.aspx JS "debzee" <debzee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:9A02CD1D-1594-43F0-94A3-7388AABB75E8@microsoft.com... > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? Is > there anyway to overcome this? I have done the usual: ie compacting > drives, > various registry cleaners etc. but nothing helped so I am beginning to > wonder > if it is XP rather than anything else. All help or comments would be > greatly > appreciated.
Guest John Posted July 31, 2007 Posted July 31, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW debzee wrote: > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? Is > there anyway to overcome this? I have done the usual: ie compacting drives, > various registry cleaners etc. but nothing helped so I am beginning to wonder > if it is XP rather than anything else. All help or comments would be greatly > appreciated. What is the spec of your laptop? John.
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted July 31, 2007 Posted July 31, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 09:10:03 -0700, debzee <debzee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? Is > there anyway to overcome this? I have done the usual: ie compacting drives, > various registry cleaners etc. but nothing helped so I am beginning to wonder > if it is XP rather than anything else. All help or comments would be greatly > appreciated. Since *many* people run Windows XP without performance problems, the problem is clearly not Windows XP, but something specific to your system. You've given us very little information to go on. How slow is "so slow"? Has it always been this, or is it a recent phenomenon? What speed processor do you have? How much RAM do you have? What do you mean by "compacting the drive"? If you mean defragging, that's fine. But "various registry cleaners" is not fine. Not even a single one is fine. I strongly suggest you avoid using any registry cleaning program. Cleaning of the registry isn't needed and is dangerous. Leave the registry alone and don't use any registry cleaner. Despite what many people think, and what vendors of registry cleaning software try to convince you of, having unused registry entries doesn't really hurt you. The risk of a serious problem caused by a registry cleaner erroneously removing an entry you need is far greater than any potential benefit it may have. Assuming that your problem isn't caused by inadequate hardware (and it certainly could be) and further assuming that you haven't made things much worse with your "various registry cleaners" (and that too is certainly possible), the two most likely culprits are 1. Performance-robbing background programs starting automatically with Windows. 2. Spyware infestation. These days, spyware infestation is rampant, and that would be my guess. The most common reason for such problems these days is malware infestation. I recommend that you go to Malke's Malware Removal site at http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and follow the instructions there. -- -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest Gerry Posted July 31, 2007 Posted July 31, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak? How large is your hard disk and how much free space. Right click on your C drive in Windows and select Properties to get this information. What is your CPU processor speed? How much RAM memory? Right click on your My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties to get this information. Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter. -- Hope this helps. Gerry ~~~~ FCA Stourport, England Enquire, plan and execute ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ debzee wrote: > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with > XP? Is there anyway to overcome this? I have done the usual: ie > compacting drives, various registry cleaners etc. but nothing helped > so I am beginning to wonder if it is XP rather than anything else. > All help or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Guest Plato Posted August 1, 2007 Posted August 1, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW =?Utf-8?B?ZGViemVl?= wrote: > > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? Is Many laptops are sold to this day with not enough ram to properly run XP. You want at least 1 gig ram on a laptop to properly run XP. -- http://www.bootdisk.com/
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted August 1, 2007 Posted August 1, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW On 1 Aug 2007 00:16:10 -0500, Plato <|@|.|> wrote: > =?Utf-8?B?ZGViemVl?= wrote: > > > > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? Is > > Many laptops are sold to this day with not enough ram to properly run > XP. You want at least 1 gig ram on a laptop to properly run XP. I completely disagree! How much memory someone needs for acceptable performance with Windows XP depends on what apps he runs, laptop or not. It's true that some (not all) laptops have onboard video, and that decreases the amount available, but to say that that therefore means that you need 1GB is an *enormous* exaggeration. Even if the laptop has onboard video, 512MB is sufficient for most XP users. My laptop, for example, with onboard video, runs XP just fine. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest debzee Posted August 1, 2007 Posted August 1, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW thanks for reply. it is a toshiba satellite 2410-601 pentium 4 "John" wrote: > debzee wrote: > > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? Is > > there anyway to overcome this? I have done the usual: ie compacting drives, > > various registry cleaners etc. but nothing helped so I am beginning to wonder > > if it is XP rather than anything else. All help or comments would be greatly > > appreciated. > > What is the spec of your laptop? > > John. >
Guest Ron Badour Posted August 2, 2007 Posted August 2, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW My Inspiron with 384 mb and a 2 GHz CPU chugs right along--sends email and IMs with the best of them :-) -- Regards Ron Badour MS MVP 1997 - 2007 "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.am.invalid.domain> wrote in message news:hdn1b3temfbcnuk05bhpurilkujcr8p201@4ax.com... > On 1 Aug 2007 00:16:10 -0500, Plato <|@|.|> wrote: > >> =?Utf-8?B?ZGViemVl?= wrote: >> > >> > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? >> > Is >> >> Many laptops are sold to this day with not enough ram to properly run >> XP. You want at least 1 gig ram on a laptop to properly run XP. > > > I completely disagree! > > How much memory someone needs for acceptable performance with Windows > XP depends on what apps he runs, laptop or not. It's true that some > (not all) laptops have onboard video, and that decreases the amount > available, but to say that that therefore means that you need 1GB is > an *enormous* exaggeration. > > Even if the laptop has onboard video, 512MB is sufficient for most XP > users. My laptop, for example, with onboard video, runs XP just fine. > > > -- > Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User > Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest Uncle Grumpy Posted August 2, 2007 Posted August 2, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@this.is.am.invalid.domain> wrote: >> Many laptops are sold to this day with not enough ram to properly run >> XP. You want at least 1 gig ram on a laptop to properly run XP. > >I completely disagree! As you should. Plato is an ass.
Guest Jimboexrad Posted August 3, 2007 Posted August 3, 2007 Re: SYSTEM SLOW I don't know if debzee ever got sorted out, but you've certainly helped me. I had solved a really bad problem (on this site) but ended up with my computer running really slow. Took your advice in this post and it now runs faster than ever. Thanks. Jimbo "Ron Badour" wrote: > More than likely, you have a ton of stuff being started at boot and maybe > some malware as well. > > To cut back on the number of programs starting at boot, check the programs > themselves for an option not to load. You might have to double click an > icon in the tray (others might require a right click) and then look for > preferences or options. If you cannot find an option, look for the program > in one of the following start up points and remove the reference to it: > > Start up folder on the start menu, the load= and run= lines in the win.ini > and these registry run keys (use regedit.exe): > > 1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run > 2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run > 3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce > 4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce > 5. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices > 6. > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce > 7. > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\Setup > > You can use msconfig.exe, startup tab, to disable programs; however, by > doing so, you may lessen its value as a troubleshooting tool. There might > be some double entries in msconfig--leave those for your AntiVirus program > alone as they may be required. > > If you disable an entry in msconfig or remove it from the start up point and > the program loads again after a reboot, that is an indication that you > missed an option on the program itself. If you don't know what an entry is, > check here: > http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm or use Google.com to search > for the item. > > If you don't already have them, I recommend you download and use AdAware or > Spybot (or both) on a regular basis and consider removing everything these > programs identify. Be aware that there are frequent updates to these > programs and you need to check for them before every use including the first > time. > > AdAware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php > > Spybot: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html/ > > -- > Regards > > Ron Badour > MS MVP 1997 - 2007 > > > "debzee" <debzee@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:9A02CD1D-1594-43F0-94A3-7388AABB75E8@microsoft.com... > > Why is my laptop so slow. Does anyone else have this problem with XP? Is > > there anyway to overcome this? I have done the usual: ie compacting > > drives, > > various registry cleaners etc. but nothing helped so I am beginning to > > wonder > > if it is XP rather than anything else. All help or comments would be > > greatly > > appreciated. > > >
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