XP is SO SO Slow!! Help!!

[jr]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

Hi,

Just bought new Dell with XP home. Every program I run on it, even Internet
Explorer is slow "to react". What I mean is that when I click a button to
either open a
program or click a button in the toolbar of an already open program, it
seems XP has
a long pause to think things over, with no apparent disk activity during the
pause, which is usually about 15/20 seconds. Extremely annoying!

I posted this message last week and people made a few suggestions about me
getting more memory or having unnecessary programs running etc. However, I
have loads of memory on the machine (512) and have disabled all unnecessary
programs in Startup.

Can anyone offer an explanation or more hopefully a solution (apart from my
going back to my old machine running Windows 98, 64k memory with no delays
whatsoever)?

Thanks,

JR

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

You should use Taskmgr, Processes (TAB) and add a few columns
to watch your system. From your description, it sounds like Priority
or CPU Usage that is causing the lag. This assumes that you've done
normal operations to eliminate Malware/Viruses/Trojans.
Along with normal data fields - I would add/monitor the following:
Mem Usage
Peak Mem Usage
CPU Time
Handles
Base Priority
and possibly I/O Writes to monitor disk activity.
Once TaskMgr is open & set to Processes (Tab), Click View,
Select Columns. After you get the fields set, you might slide their
headings next to each other to make viewing/monitoring easier.

"JR" <NOSPAMNOSPAM-js@trc.ie-NOSPAMNOSPAM> wrote in message
news:s38ze.2136$R5.492@news.indigo.ie...
> Hi,
>
> Just bought new Dell with XP home. Every program I run on it, even
> Internet
> Explorer is slow "to react". What I mean is that when I click a button to
> either open a
> program or click a button in the toolbar of an already open program, it
> seems XP has
> a long pause to think things over, with no apparent disk activity during
> the
> pause, which is usually about 15/20 seconds. Extremely annoying!
>
> I posted this message last week and people made a few suggestions about me
> getting more memory or having unnecessary programs running etc. However, I
> have loads of memory on the machine (512) and have disabled all
> unnecessary programs in Startup.
>
> Can anyone offer an explanation or more hopefully a solution (apart from
> my
> going back to my old machine running Windows 98, 64k memory with no delays
> whatsoever)?
>
> Thanks,
>
> JR
>

 

[steve]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

as this is a new machine from dell I would suggest that you speak to dell and
let them resolve your issues
--
there are no problems, just challenges


"JR" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Just bought new Dell with XP home. Every program I run on it, even Internet
> Explorer is slow "to react". What I mean is that when I click a button to
> either open a
> program or click a button in the toolbar of an already open program, it
> seems XP has
> a long pause to think things over, with no apparent disk activity during the
> pause, which is usually about 15/20 seconds. Extremely annoying!
>
> I posted this message last week and people made a few suggestions about me
> getting more memory or having unnecessary programs running etc. However, I
> have loads of memory on the machine (512) and have disabled all unnecessary
> programs in Startup.
>
> Can anyone offer an explanation or more hopefully a solution (apart from my
> going back to my old machine running Windows 98, 64k memory with no delays
> whatsoever)?
>
> Thanks,
>
> JR
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

"JR" <NOSPAMNOSPAM-js@trc.ie-NOSPAMNOSPAM> wrote in message
news:s38ze.2136$R5.492@news.indigo.ie...
| Hi,
|
| Just bought new Dell with XP home. Every program I run on it, even
Internet
| Explorer is slow "to react". What I mean is that when I click a button to
| either open a
| program or click a button in the toolbar of an already open program, it
| seems XP has
| a long pause to think things over, with no apparent disk activity during
the
| pause, which is usually about 15/20 seconds. Extremely annoying!
|
| I posted this message last week and people made a few suggestions about me
| getting more memory or having unnecessary programs running etc. However, I
| have loads of memory on the machine (512) and have disabled all
unnecessary
| programs in Startup.
|
| Can anyone offer an explanation or more hopefully a solution (apart from
my
| going back to my old machine running Windows 98, 64k memory with no delays
| whatsoever)?
|
| Thanks,
|
| JR

As there is no telling what a user may have done or allowed to be installed
to a system after opening the box that could cause these types of problems
it is difficult to say if this is a "user created" problem or a problem with
the computer itself.

New Dell computers come with a restore partition and utility that will put
the computer back to a "factory fresh" state with little hassle. I suggest
you make use of it.

(here's how
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1090151 )

-- same link shorter --

http://tinyurl.com/4ctq4

After restoring the computer and before going online or making any changes
or adding any software evaluate the machines functionality. If it continues
to have problems I would seriously consider returning it (provided you are
still in the "no questions asked" return period that Dell provides) as this
would indicate a problem with the computer itself. No point in starting out
with a lemon if the option to return it exists.

If the computer performs well after restoration take a look at your
computing and online habits to try and figure out what caused the problem.

I have several Dell computers with Windows XP and they have all performed
well "out of the box."

--
Doug

I'm not an MVP a VIP nor do I have ESP.
I was just trying to help.
Please use your own best judgment before implementing any suggestions or
advice herein.
No warranty is expressed or implied.
Your mileage may vary.
See store for details.

Remove shoes to E-mail.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

i have a dell as well, and as with most computers you need to make a few
tweaks here and there, as well as performing maintenance to insure the
computer continues to run properly. as has been mentioned already, it is
important that you do the following:
1.insure that malware/spyware/adware is not installed, this will for sure
slow your system down.
2.make sure that unnecessary programs are not in the startup.
3.make sure that unnecessary services are not running on startup.
4.make sure that temp files/cookies are deleted
5.make sure to run the defrag program.
6.by default winxp places regularly used programs at the head of the hard
drive every 3 days, but you can do this yourself by going to the command
prompt and typing the following: defrag c: -b (supposedly this does the same
thing as the bootvis program but i have found bootvis to shave more time off
of the startup time)
7.change your boot.ini file, in msconfig, by checking, "noguiboot" and
chaginging "time out" to 3 or 5 seconds.

all of these recommendations can be found by googling, hope this helps.
River~

"JR" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Just bought new Dell with XP home. Every program I run on it, even Internet
> Explorer is slow "to react". What I mean is that when I click a button to
> either open a
> program or click a button in the toolbar of an already open program, it
> seems XP has
> a long pause to think things over, with no apparent disk activity during the
> pause, which is usually about 15/20 seconds. Extremely annoying!
>
> I posted this message last week and people made a few suggestions about me
> getting more memory or having unnecessary programs running etc. However, I
> have loads of memory on the machine (512) and have disabled all unnecessary
> programs in Startup.
>
> Can anyone offer an explanation or more hopefully a solution (apart from my
> going back to my old machine running Windows 98, 64k memory with no delays
> whatsoever)?
>
> Thanks,
>
> JR
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.general (More info?)

I am not qualified to give advice. But my limited knowledge screams SPYWARE
or VIRUS any time I hear about a slow machine, new or not.
Do an internet search and download Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad Aware.
Update the programs after install and check system.
Gary Moore

"HillBillyBuddhist" wrote:

> "JR" <NOSPAMNOSPAM-js@trc.ie-NOSPAMNOSPAM> wrote in message
> news:s38ze.2136$R5.492@news.indigo.ie...
> | Hi,
> |
> | Just bought new Dell with XP home. Every program I run on it, even
> Internet
> | Explorer is slow "to react". What I mean is that when I click a button to
> | either open a
> | program or click a button in the toolbar of an already open program, it
> | seems XP has
> | a long pause to think things over, with no apparent disk activity during
> the
> | pause, which is usually about 15/20 seconds. Extremely annoying!
> |
> | I posted this message last week and people made a few suggestions about me
> | getting more memory or having unnecessary programs running etc. However, I
> | have loads of memory on the machine (512) and have disabled all
> unnecessary
> | programs in Startup.
> |
> | Can anyone offer an explanation or more hopefully a solution (apart from
> my
> | going back to my old machine running Windows 98, 64k memory with no delays
> | whatsoever)?
> |
> | Thanks,
> |
> | JR
>
> As there is no telling what a user may have done or allowed to be installed
> to a system after opening the box that could cause these types of problems
> it is difficult to say if this is a "user created" problem or a problem with
> the computer itself.
>
> New Dell computers come with a restore partition and utility that will put
> the computer back to a "factory fresh" state with little hassle. I suggest
> you make use of it.
>
> (here's how
> http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1090151 )
>
> -- same link shorter --
>
> http://tinyurl.com/4ctq4
>
> After restoring the computer and before going online or making any changes
> or adding any software evaluate the machines functionality. If it continues
> to have problems I would seriously consider returning it (provided you are
> still in the "no questions asked" return period that Dell provides) as this
> would indicate a problem with the computer itself. No point in starting out
> with a lemon if the option to return it exists.
>
> If the computer performs well after restoration take a look at your
> computing and online habits to try and figure out what caused the problem.
>
> I have several Dell computers with Windows XP and they have all performed
> well "out of the box."
>
> --
> Doug
>
> I'm not an MVP a VIP nor do I have ESP.
> I was just trying to help.
> Please use your own best judgment before implementing any suggestions or
> advice herein.
> No warranty is expressed or implied.
> Your mileage may vary.
> See store for details.
>
> Remove shoes to E-mail.
>
>
>