[A41202813]

Hello,

For About 15 Months I Had A Relatively Quick Machine.

In The Last 3 Or So, The Response Times Began To Degrade Very Noticeably.

I Ended Up Reinstalling The OS, But No Change.

Is It Possible That The Updates, To The OS Or AV, Are Forcing Users To Maximize Memory Or Buy A More Recent Machine, On Purpose ?

Thank You.

...

This post has been edited by A41202813: 17 October 2009 - 02:40 PM

[Flashorn]

A41202813, on 17 October 2009 - 02:36 PM, said:

Hello,

For About 15 Months I Had A Relatively Quick Machine.

In The Last 3 Or So, The Response Times Began To Degrade Very Noticeably.

I Ended Up Reinstalling The OS, But No Change.

Is It Possible That The Updates, To The OS Or AV, Are Forcing Users To Maximize Memory Or Buy A More Recent Machine, On Purpose ?

Thank You.

...

Hey A4 !!

Could you elaborate a bit on this. What are you running (OS) ? How many processes and programs are running in the background (use Task Manager and post the amount of processes and memory used)
How much Ram is installed and what size HDD and how Full ? All could contribute to slow downs.

FLASHORN.

[A41202813]

@Flashorn

I Forgot To Mention The Updates For The Office.

Pentium 4 3.2Ghz.

WINXPPROSP3 With 512Mb Ram (Plus Virtual Between 1Gb And 3Gb).
HDD 80Gb / 7Gb Free, But With 20Gb Free Was The Same.

OFFICE2003PROSP3.

MCAFEE VSE870.

44 Processes Now, Commit Charge: 531M / 1473M.

Right Now I Am Using Winamp, 2 Windows With FF, And The Task Manager.

Obviously The Machine Is Not Slow All The Time, But When It Is, Is Much Slower Than In The Past Year.

Thank You.

[Flashorn]

A41202813, on 17 October 2009 - 03:17 PM, said:

@Flashorn

I Forgot To Mention The Updates For The Office.

Pentium 4 3.2Ghz.

WINXPPROSP3 With 512Mb Ram (Plus Virtual Between 1Gb And 3Gb).
HDD 80Gb / 7Gb Free, But With 20Gb Free Was The Same.

OFFICE2003PROSP3.

MCAFEE VSE870.

44 Processes Now, Commit Charge: 531M / 1473M.

Right Now I Am Using Winamp, 2 Windows With FF, And The Task Manager.

Obviously The Machine Is Not Slow All The Time, But When It Is, Is Much Slower Than In The Past Year.

Thank You.

Hey A4 !!

Well, as I said , that HDD is actually slowing down the search and retrieve process. Ram at 512 is also Very low , no matter HowMuch Virtual you have.
McAfee is a HOG on XP with so little ram. My Daughter's notebook with XP and 1 Gig of ram , 100 Gig HDD and a 2Gig single core AMD was also slowing
down until I got rid of McAfee.

You could , if you don't need all of those programs, clean out the Hdd . It should not be more than 60 , 65 % full to retain some feel of speed.

So, one stick of Ram @1Gig , unload the HDD , get rid of McAfee , clean out the old restore points and Temps files then do a good defrag with JK Defrag.
MyDefrag-v4.2.3.exe . This new version has five processes in it . The first is for Slow Optimize (this is VERY slow) , the second is for Fast Update , the
third is for Fast Optimize and the fourth is Defrag and the last one is for Analyze. Use only the Second , Third and Fourth processes.

Now , once all of this is done , I would suggest you visit Black Viper to lighten up XP on the processes side. This will definitely help your boots and speed.
http://www.blackvipe.../servicecfg.htm
Scroll down a bit and look at what he suggests you do with some of those unnecessary processes (Do NOt disable unless you Really won't use them)
Also , WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU ARE DISABLING . this will make it easier if you want to re-enable those processes.

Whatcha think ? Do you really want a fast XP or not.

FLASHORN.

[rgreen4]

Flashorn, on 17 October 2009 - 03:47 PM, said:

Hey A4 !!

Well, as I said , that HDD is actually slowing down the search and retrieve process. Ram at 512 is also Very low , no matter HowMuch Virtual you have.
McAfee is a HOG on XP with so little ram. My Daughter's notebook with XP and 1 Gig of ram , 100 Gig HDD and a 2Gig single core AMD was also slowing
down until I got rid of McAfee.

You could , if you don't need all of those programs, clean out the Hdd . It should not be more than 60 , 65 % full to retain some feel of speed.

So, one stick of Ram @1Gig , unload the HDD , get rid of McAfee , clean out the old restore points and Temps files then do a good defrag with JK Defrag.
MyDefrag-v4.2.3.exe . This new version has five processes in it . The first is for Slow Optimize (this is VERY slow) , the second is for Fast Update , the
third is for Fast Optimize and the fourth is Defrag and the last one is for Analyze. Use only the Second , Third and Fourth processes.

Now , once all of this is done , I would suggest you visit Black Viper to lighten up XP on the processes side. This will definitely help your boots and speed.
http://www.blackvipe.../servicecfg.htm
Scroll down a bit and look at what he suggests you do with some of those unnecessary processes (Do NOt disable unless you Really won't use them)
Also , WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU ARE DISABLING . this will make it easier if you want to re-enable those processes.

Whatcha think ? Do you really want a fast XP or not.

FLASHORN.

Very true.

A41202813 - when you use the term "virtual memory" above 1 GB when you only have 512MB physical memory, the virtual memory is space on the hard drive. That is the slowest possible memory, even slower than a flash drive. The coupled with the fact that your HD is almost full, your disk activity light must be on most of the time as you use 1GB of the 7GB or so available as swap memory.

Then when you throw McAfee which along with Symantec security applications which are notorious for slowing down all machines. Your machine could definitely benefit from a larger HD and more memory as well as cleaning off McAfee and going with some of the better free anti-virus and anti-spyware tools. Security suites are tempting, but the problem is none of the suites are as effective as the best individual programs loaded individually. I use the free version of Avast! and have used the free version of SuperAntiSpyware, but upgraded to the paid version when they offered a lifetime subscription a while back. (It offers the opportunity for a scheduled daily scan, the free version requires that you scan manually).

If you post the make and model of the machine, we can give you some guidelines on memory and hard drive. Have you ever had your machine open?

[A41202813]

@Flashorn

@rgreen4


Thank You.

[Flashorn]

A41202813, on 17 October 2009 - 06:02 PM, said:

@Flashorn

@rgreen4


Thank You.

Hey A4 !!

It's our pleasure !

If you need any help , just post and ask. I'm sure we will be able to work something out.
You know, a one Gig stick of Ram would be very little expense to have your PC running better
than it is now. Coupled with the site suggestions and the program , you could possibly have
it running than new.

FLASHORN.

[LincolnSpector]

Flashorn, on 17 October 2009 - 03:47 PM, said:

then do a good defrag with JK Defrag.
MyDefrag-v4.2.3.exe . This new version has five processes in it . The first is for Slow Optimize (this is VERY slow) , the second is for Fast Update , the
third is for Fast Optimize and the fourth is Defrag and the last one is for Analyze. Use only the Second , Third and Fourth processes.

Hi, Flashorn. I decided to check out this program (which is now called MyDefrag, not JK Defrag). I can't find the five processes you mention. It comes with 7 scripts, but these don't correspond to your descriptions. They're:

• Analyze only
  
• Consolidate free space
  
• Defragment only
  
• Flash memory disks
  
• Optimize Daily
  
• Optimze Monthly
  
• Optimize Weekly

Any thoughts?

Lincoln

[Flashorn]

LincolnSpector, on 20 October 2009 - 02:29 PM, said:

Flashorn, on 17 October 2009 - 03:47 PM, said:

then do a good defrag with JK Defrag.
MyDefrag-v4.2.3.exe . This new version has five processes in it . The first is for Slow Optimize (this is VERY slow) , the second is for Fast Update , the
third is for Fast Optimize and the fourth is Defrag and the last one is for Analyze. Use only the Second , Third and Fourth processes.

Hi, Flashorn. I decided to check out this program (which is now called MyDefrag, not JK Defrag). I can't find the five processes you mention. It comes with 7 scripts, but these don't correspond to your descriptions. They're:

• Analyze only
• Consolidate free space
• Defragment only
• Flash memory disks
• Optimize Daily
• Optimze Monthly
• Optimize Weekly

Any thoughts?

Lincoln

Hey Lincoln !!

Yes , your right. The previous version , which is 4.1 was configured the way I explained. When I updated to version 4.2.3 ,(this week) they had changed the config. on me. But it works the same as it did with a more in dept
optimization . It does , however , take a little more time to complete. It used to take about one hour to : 1) fast update, 2) fast optimize, 3) defragment. Now, with this new version , I have noticed a little more than 80 minutes but, you don't have to manually choose the different optimization options. They are consolidated in one option. Also, I would refrain from defraging the D:// drive or Recovery Partition as we don't know the consequences.

So far , I have only used the the "Optimize Weekly" option but I intend to use the Monthly option which is a more comprehensive defrag, before installing Windows 7 (Inplace upgrade to see how it goes).

Have you tried it and if so, what do you think of this new version ?

By the way, JK Defrag was the previous name. It stands for Jeroen Kessels, the programmer of JK Defrag and MyDefrag. Here is the OLD version (3.36) http://www.kessels.n...frag/index.html which, you can still download if you so desire.

FLASHORN.

This post has been edited by Flashorn: 21 October 2009 - 01:57 AM

[LincolnSpector]

Flashorn, on 21 October 2009 - 01:50 AM, said:

By the way, JK Defrag was the previous name. It stands for Jeroen Kessels, the programmer of JK Defrag and MyDefrag. Here is the OLD version (3.36) http://www.kessels.n...frag/index.html which, you can still download if you so desire.

FLASHORN.

I tried it on my test PC, and liked it, but I didn't take the time to do a proper defragger test (which requires fragmenting a very full drive).


Lincoln

[dragon69]

TO ANSWER YOR TITLE QUESTION " Why is My Computer Slowing Down? "

it is because it's running a windoze operating system ( if you were running linux or a mac there would be no need to defrag the hard drive)

but the best way to speed it up again would be to run ccleaner then auslogics disk defrag (and a new feature is to optimize a drive which will help the most here) and select defrag and optimize ( yes the defrag does not take very long but the optimize will take forever on a big hard disk drive but it will be worth it just start it before you go to bed and it will be done when you wake up

if it is still slow after that then you fall into the other windoze weakness and have been infected by either a virus or spyware and will need to run one anti virus program and two different anti spyware program ( as no one anti spyware program gets rid of all the bad stuff it is best to run at least two different programs )

hope this helps you out

good luck and take care

[dragon69]

A41202813, on 17 October 2009 - 03:17 PM, said:

@Flashorn

I Forgot To Mention The Updates For The Office.

Pentium 4 3.2Ghz.

WINXPPROSP3 With 512Mb Ram (Plus Virtual Between 1Gb And 3Gb).
HDD 80Gb / 7Gb Free, But With 20Gb Free Was The Same.

OFFICE2003PROSP3.

MCAFEE VSE870.

44 Processes Now, Commit Charge: 531M / 1473M.

Right Now I Am Using Winamp, 2 Windows With FF, And The Task Manager.

Obviously The Machine Is Not Slow All The Time, But When It Is, Is Much Slower Than In The Past Year.

Thank You.

also you state that " HDD 80Gb / 7Gb Free, But With 20Gb Free Was The Same. "

and windoze requires a minimum of 10% but recommended 20% of free space to run properly so if you can not free up extra space you may need a new and bigger hard disk drive

also you mention an office update that might warrant checking out ( ie is office working good if not you might need to check to see if others are having trouble with any of the latest office updates and might have to un install some of them if questionable)

btw jkdefrag run good off of a usb ( with portable apps ) but does not have the optimize that auslogics disk defrag and that could help you out quite a bit in your present situation so skip jkdefrag and try out auslogics program and you wont be sorry

[Flashorn]

@ Dragon !!

""btw jkdefrag run good off of a usb ( with portable apps ) but does nothave the optimize that auslogics disk defrag and that could help youout quite a bit in your present situation so skip jkdefrag and try outauslogics program and you wont be sorry""

I guess you didn't read my reply properly so, I'll mention it Again :

What I said :

"" But it works the same as it did with amore in dept
optimization. It does , however , take a little more time to complete.It used to take about one hour to : 1) fast update, 2) fast optimize,3) defragment. Now, with this new version , I have noticed a littlemore than 80 minutes but, you don't have to manually choose the different optimization options. They are consolidated in one option.Also, I would refrain from defraging the D:// drive or RecoveryPartition as we don't know the consequences.""

PLEASE , read carefully .

FLASHORN.

[tek101]

A41202813, on 17 October 2009 - 03:17 PM, said:

@Flashorn

I Forgot To Mention The Updates For The Office.

Pentium 4 3.2Ghz.

WINXPPROSP3 With 512Mb Ram (Plus Virtual Between 1Gb And 3Gb).
HDD 80Gb / 7Gb Free, But With 20Gb Free Was The Same.

OFFICE2003PROSP3.

MCAFEE VSE870.

44 Processes Now, Commit Charge: 531M / 1473M.

Right Now I Am Using Winamp, 2 Windows With FF, And The Task Manager.

Obviously The Machine Is Not Slow All The Time, But When It Is, Is Much Slower Than In The Past Year.

Thank You.

Clean your pc ...: http://download.cnet.com/ccleaner/

[A41202813]

Aftermath:

Almost Sure, The Culprit(s) Were Some M$ Update(s).

[ElfBane]

A41202813, on 19 August 2011 - 05:13 PM, said:

Aftermath:

Almost Sure, The Culprit(s) Were Some M$ Update(s).

What's with the Thread Necromancy??? Be real... low RAM and a 90% full HDD caused these problems... which could have been avoided by an alert user.

[A41202813]

@ElfBane

After Almost 6 Months Of Hell, And Without Adding Any New Hardware, And With The Same HDD Usage, And After UnInstalling All The M$ Updates I Could Live Without, The Performance Went Back To The Good Levels I Was Used To.

If You Do Not Believe Me, I Can Do Nothing About That.

---

This post has been edited by A41202813: 20 August 2011 - 12:39 PM