Re: Service Pack 2 SP2 PC Speed Slowdown

From: John Cottam (john_at_sale-items.com)
Date: 08/29/04 

Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2004 08:49:10 -0700

Well I had a lot of posts, thanks and thanks Gerry on the large amount of
advice, but I am fairly technical and do have Adaware (& Spybot) installed
too, regularly (daily?) remove all rubbish (offline web pages, cookies etc.
etc.) and generally keep my PC in pretty good order.

My Machine has only had XP Pro on for 1 month and from new (new PC, disk
etc.) . It has NEVER been slow .. it is ONLY when I have installed SP2 that
this problem occured. (I have also kept it regularly updated with all windows
updates prior to SP2).

I defrag my disk regularly and it is 99% defragged at the moment, and have
about 110MB free.

So the answer is not that simple, (too me anyway) and it is not very clever
to say 'I have installed it on 20 PCs and they work correctly' - not very
helpful !

I will probably take 'a bloke's' advice and uninstall as this is pretty poor
and makes my system unstable ...

If anyone has heard any more on this problem I would welcome a 'realistic'
suggestion.

Cheers
John.

"Gerry Cornell" wrote:

> John
>
> After installing SP2 have you carried out housekeeping? Note the action
> regarding System Restore and Disk CleanUp.
>
> Poor system performance can be the result of a single problem or a
> combination of factors. Listed
> below are issues, which you may wish to examine if you are experiencing poor
> performance after
> the boot process has completed. Some items may help with slow starting of
> Windows XP but the
> list has not been prepared for tackling that problem. Work through the list
> until you achieve an
> acceptable result.
>
> Regular and effective housekeeping is essential. What you do and how often
> you do it will depend
> on how you use your computer. A suggested routine may include:
> 1. In Outlook Express empty your Deleted Items folder.
> 2. In Outlook Express run File, Folder, Compact All whilst OFFLINE.
> 3. Run Disk Cleanup. Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk
> Cleanup with
> Temporary Internet Files, Offline Web Pages (optional), System Restore (
> more Options tab )
> and Recycle Bin selected for deletion. If you have more than one drive /
> partition you may
> need to do this operation for each drive / partition.
> 4. Remove Cookies. Start, Control Panel, Internet Options, General, Delete
> Cookies.
> 5. Run Disk Defragmenter.
>
> Check whether you could reduce the number of days the History of sites
> visited is retained. Start,
> Control Panel, Internet Options, General, History.
>
> Spyware causes many problems. If not installed download Adaware and / or
> update Reference file
> from http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/ and use it to remove
> parasites. If Spyware
> persists as a problem try a Hosts file.
> http://www.accs-net.com/hosts/what_is_hosts.html
>
> Slow performance resulting from insufficient memory, causing over reliance
> on virtual memory,
> may be especially noticed by those upgrading to Windows XP from an earlier
> version of Windows.
> Windows XP will run with 64 MB of RAM memory. However, a minimum of 256 MB
> is
> recommended and many users will recommend 512 MB. You may check on pagefile
> (virtual
> memory) usage with Page File Monitor for XP:
> http://www.dougknox.com/
>
> Check how much free space you have on the hard drive / partition where your
> pagefile is located.
> You need a minimum of 15% but 20% or more is better.
>
> Check your setting for the Indexing Service. Start, Administrative Tools,
> Services, Indexing
> Service. The default setting is Manual. Check that it is not running. More
> information here:
> http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#Indexing_Service
>
> You can have too many programmes running in the background. Close
> programmes/windows after
> use. Check whether all the programmes loading when Windows is started are
> really necessary.
> http://aumha.org/a/loads.htm
>
> Check whether you can identify slow performance with a particular programme.
> Look in Google to
> see whether others have encountered the same problem and found a solution.
> http://groups.google.com/
>
> Are there any error messages in Event Viewer? You can access Event Viewer by
> selecting Start,
> Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning of the
> error, information
> regarding Event ID: and Source Description is important.
> HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308427&Product=winxp
>
> ~~~~~~
>
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Gerry
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> FCA
>
> Stourport, Worcs, England
> Enquire, plan and execute.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
> "John Cottam" <john@sale-items.com> wrote in message
> news:BD26D8A8-CAD1-4DDB-91C3-0D014C497FC7@microsoft.com...
> > Hi
> >
> > I installed SP2 the other day and have had a severe slow down in
> performance.
> >
> > I use Zonelarm Firewall and McAfee Virus Protection & K9 Spam Blocker,
> other
> > than that it's mainly Microsoft & MacroMedia Applications.
> >
> > I have a Standard 2.0 GHz Intel P4 in an IDeq 200T PC with 512 of Corsair
> > Memory. It worked very nicely BEFORE the update.
> >
> > I have Elisa ADSL 512 (Finland's main telephone company).
> >
> > Is it worth uninstalling and re-installing or is this a general problem.
> >
> > The main gripes are
> > - Internet Explorer is slower (opening and browsing).
> > - Most applications (e.g. Macromedia Fireworks, Outlook, Word) open and
> > operate much slower.
> >
> > Does anyone else have the same problems or is it just me or my PC?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > John.
> >
> > --
> > John Cottam
> > Finland
> > 00358 407250439
>
>

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