I don't know where this belongs

[kimokalihi]

I can't seem to find the right place for this question so I put it in here because this category has the most traffic. Feel free to move it.

AMD Athlon 2400XP(it's old, I know)
Shuttle AN35Nultra
2X512MB PC3200
9800 Pro
Sound Blaster Audigy Pro 2
Maxtor 7200 120GB
Seagate 7200 80GB

My computer used to be a lot faster than it is now. No matter what I do I can't seem to get it to perform the way it used to. I've used system mechanic pro 6 to defrag the drives and deep clean the system to get rid of any junk/temp files and defrag/recover the ram to free up some performance, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I also used spybot search and destroy and run kaspersky antivirus because norton blows and REALLY slowed down my computer.

I was wondering if lack of free drive space is slowing me down? The Maxtor has about 11.5GB free space and the Seagate has 20GB freespace. I didn't think it would slow me down if there was that much space available but I'm not an expert so maybe.

Thanks

 

[1Tanker]

I can't seem to find the right place for this question so I put it in here because this category has the most traffic. Feel free to move it.

AMD Athlon 2400XP(it's old, I know)
Shuttle AN35Nultra
2X512MB PC3200
9800 Pro
Sound Blaster Audigy Pro 2
Maxtor 7200 120GB
Seagate 7200 80GB

My computer used to be a lot faster than it is now. No matter what I do I can't seem to get it to perform the way it used to. I've used system mechanic pro 6 to defrag the drives and deep clean the system to get rid of any junk/temp files and defrag/recover the ram to free up some performance, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. I also used spybot search and destroy and run kaspersky antivirus because norton blows and REALLY slowed down my computer.

I was wondering if lack of free drive space is slowing me down? The Maxtor has about 11.5GB free space and the Seagate has 20GB freespace. I didn't think it would slow me down if there was that much space available but I'm not an expert so maybe.

Thanks

Yeah, i agree with Jack. A fresh install of Windows should perk things up. GL

 

[kimokalihi]

So you don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I've filled my hard drives most of the way up?

It runs very smooth and the internet goes much faster right after I install windows but at this point I would like to steer away from formatting.

I'll just tough it out, it's not THAT bad. It still plays CS Source and NFS Most wanted with decent graphics settings. Could be all the games that are installed...8 right now.

 

[1Tanker]

So you don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I've filled my hard drives most of the way up?

It runs very smooth and the internet goes much faster right after I install windows but at this point I would like to steer away from formatting.

I'll just tough it out, it's not THAT bad. It still plays CS Source and NFS Most wanted with decent graphics settings. Could be all the games that are installed...8 right now.

Number of apps doesn't matter, it's more the amount of space left that matters. Microsoft generally says that your hard-drive should have ~15% free space to perform properly(for swap-file/defragging). So, yes, the Maxtor is getting up near the limit. If you don't feel like a reinstall, try burning some stuff to CD/DVD to free up some space(shoot for ~20%+), and then defrag. If that doesn't help, then a reformat is likely in order. GL

If you don't want to burn to media, just transfer the stuff over to your secondary drive(temporarily) then defrag C: If it works, you know that you have to lose some stuff, or get a bigger HD. Don't forget to delete the data from the slave drive, and defrag it as well, once you know the answer.

 

[kimokalihi]

Thanks, that's what I figured.

It ran fine a couple months ago when I have like 80GBS of free space. I've been burning a lot of stuff lately on DVDs. I just hate burning movies because they take an hour and a half to convert and burn the movies.

 

[RyanMicah]

Chances are you still have spyware or a virus. They can be impossible to get rid of without a fresh install. I don't mean just reinstalling Windows, I mean reformatting (deleting partition). Adding anti-virus software isn't a solution, in fact I don't even use ANY anti-virus software. I think it's a hoax. The same companies that sell the software could just as easily find holes. It's like a mechanic that tinkers with your car so you have to come back in a month. Virus software just uses up system resources, and can actually slow your computer down more than the virus itself. For this reason, I recommend getting a small raptor drive and using it for your OS, and then using 7200rpm drives in either a RAID+0 for speed, or singly as an install/storage drive. You can always use your boot drive to back up/store important files too until you need to reformat it. Make sure you have enough ram. Defrag can help, but odds are you're seeing a decrease due to adware or something running hidden in the background. If you've installed/uninstalled lots of apps over time your registry can get clogged too, so a complete wipe may be just what the doc ordered. I'd say go ahead and invest in a good fast average sized drive. Shop around and get a good deal. 7200rpm drives with 16mb buffers can be had for under $80.

 

[endyen]

My wife is stuck with an old xp2500. It is still as perky as the first time I ran it. I ascribe that to two things. The only thing in here start up is her av, and her system drive is a 40 gig, with only windows files on it. I find that hdds begin to slow once they have more than about 20% on them, so all my systems have an os drive, and an everything else drive. I think it may have something to do with the fact that the drive sees ~4X the data per revolution on the outside of the disc, than it does on the inside.
Run "msconfig", click startup tab, and unclick everything but av. See what that does.

 

[yakyb]

I have a similar system to that that still chugs along nicely however i (like probably most people on this forum) do a fresh reinstall at least every two months. this makes sure that everything is running just as it did when you bought it. so my advice to you would be to clear up as many files as you can, backup to second drive CD/DVD whatever. then download the Latest version of a Free AV program (AVG is good) and drivers and stick the installers on your second drive, then remove your internet cable. Reinstall os after a full reformat. then install your drivers restarting after each driver install then going into MSconfig after each restart and clear up any bloat that come with the drivers then install the AV program, restart. and once you stick the network cable back in im sure you'lll think that the process (should only take a couple of hours) was well worth it. then reinstall any games and enjoy

 

[WR]

Switch from FAT32 to NTFS if you haven't. Monthly defragging on an 80% filled 320GB FAT32 drive (16kb clusters) took like 15 hours on a modern dual core system. The same volume under NTFS with 512byte clusters (you'd think that's a handicap) defrags in a half to one hour. The problem with FAT32 is that overall it slows down as you add more files.

Other than that, check the registry and Start Menu folder for unnecessary startup programs and monitor the task manager now and then to see what odd processes are taking up unusual CPU time.

I've never reinstalled Windows for software reasons, even when spyware got through my IE security settings and hooked itself up to Explorer. Though it was a headache, I'd have spent more time re-configuring a fresh install. I do also run an older (2003) version of Norton Antivirus which automatically renews virus defs. Perhaps the newer versions are resource hogs, but I don't notice any performance impact from the 2003 version.

Additionally, once in a blue moon I'll use Diskkeeper to perform a command-line defragmentation. You set it up to run like CHKDSK before Windows starts up, and it defrags everything including the page file and directory files that can't be moved within Windows.

 

[Doughbuy]

Eh, machines, like people, never get faster after they pass their prime. They might get fatter, might forget more things, and have more quirks, but never faster. Re-formatting would help, but thats pretty much delaying the inevitable... just keep going on it until it reaches the point of no return (i.e. where your just fed up with it) and get a new system. You can try all the suggestions above, it would most likely help, but like I said... it all boils down to age in the end...

And about needing 20% on HDD's... psh, thats overrated. Just cram all you can on your HDD's like me... when you hit max, just buy a new HDD!

But I just use them for storage and never anything that requires performance :?

 

[still_life]

Well i just defragged my hdd (120g full...and i mean full)..i made 20g of space by deleting old crap i dont use any more and it runs a lot quicker now.

Also, how old is your drive? A newer bigger hdd will probs perform better and they are pretty cheap.

 

[avarice]

Most of this thread contains really good advice - I would parrot the sentiment of performing a new install - preferably on a new - big hard drive if possible.

Additionally, buy a can of compressed air - take the box out to the garage and blow all the dust bunnies out. If you havn't done this in the recent past - it is possible that a thermal condition is causing the sluggish behavior. Although, this would be somewhat rare.

Cheers.

 

[RyanMicah]

Well there you have it. Fresh installs are best, along with a dedicated OS drive. Fresh installs are easy if you have all your drivers on one re-writeable (so you can update them). Put them in the best order that you can. Hard drives shouldn't slow your system down all that much, especially if your file system is in order. More than likely your system is trying to run too many programs at once, and the only sure way to fix that is a fresh install. If your system was performing to your standards before and you don't feel you need to shell out big bucks just yet, maybe consider a secondary drive. Get a small fast one for your OS, and use your old one for everything else.