XP slowdown

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May 3rd, 2006, 06:49 AM
hotmale

XP slowdown

I consider myself intermediate to advanced when it comes to dealing with XP, but I can't seem to figure out why it has been so slow since the last Windows re-installation. Tried defrag, registry cleanup, disabling services and unwanted apps but it's still unbearable; small apps like WordWeb take 15-20 seconds to start, even Notepad takes 10 seconds. I've got 2.4GHz and 0.5GB RAM, so any suggestions? BTW, I thought ZoneAlarm SS or Azureus could be the culprits, but turning them off doesn't solve my problem.
May 3rd, 2006, 20:31 PM
FastGame

Check in bios and make sure everything is set right, I've had a fault before that set bios to safemode...CPU @900mhz instead of 2000mhz :(

Device manager, make sure IDE/SATA controllers initiated drives to UDMA, not PIO mode.

What security software are you using ?
May 4th, 2006, 15:28 PM
hotmale

:D Thanks for the suggestions.

Unfortunately, I checked and couldn't find problems with BIOS or Device Manager.

I'm using ZoneAlarm Security Suite which I guess can be a little demanding sometimes. But I tried turning it off or switching to Kaspersky (crap BTW). So I don't think it's ZA's fault.
May 4th, 2006, 15:38 PM
rik

How about in safe mode? Are they slow to open there?
May 26th, 2006, 20:33 PM
hotmale

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't try that yet actually. I'll see.
May 30th, 2006, 05:03 AM
Nosferatu3211

get more ram
June 18th, 2006, 22:22 PM
hotmale

rik, sorry for the late reply. It works fine in safe mode. It's also fast in normal mode right after booting. But after a few minutes, it becomes very slow again. I know a slight slow down is normal, but this is too much; like I said opening regular apps like MS Word, Hearts, WordWeb... takes up to 20 seconds. And if I use keyboard shortcuts to start programs, it's even slower.

I look at CPU and memory usage and most of it is unused :confused: Apart from the needed Windows services, all I have running most of the time is ZoneAlarm Security Suite, a couple browser windows and perhaps one P2P client.
June 18th, 2006, 22:50 PM
MartyW

Check for registry errors with something like systweak
June 18th, 2006, 23:11 PM
hotmale

I use Registry Mechanic, doesn't it do the same thing?
June 19th, 2006, 10:38 AM
MartyW

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotmale

I use Registry Mechanic, doesn't it do the same thing?

Not heard of that one, but does it scan the whole registry and report and then fix all the errors it finds?
June 19th, 2006, 18:50 PM
hotmale

Yes, I believe it's the best-known registry cleaner.