Re: Computer running very slow

Kathy

You may have other problems but what is immediately obvious is that you
have totally inadequate free disk space. You can run on 15% free space
but really you need around 25%. Your problem is a little surprising
given the size of volume C. Do you have any other drives or partitions?

I have some suggestions for creating more space, which should help.

Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced Settings and
verify that the box before "Show hidden files and folders" is checked
and "Hide protected operating system files " is unchecked. You may need
to scroll down to see the second item. You should also make certain that
the box before "Hide extensions for known file types" is not checked.
Next in Windows Explorer make sure View, Details is selected and then
select View, Choose Details and check before Name, Type, Total Size, and
Free Space.

It is likely that an allocation of 12% has been made to System Restore
on your C partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb.
Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select System
Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings but this time
find the slider and drag it to the left until it reads 700 mb and exit.
When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit.

The default allocation for the Windows Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. 5%
should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor on your
Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and move the
slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get too full as
if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will bypass the
Recycle Bin and be gone for ever.

Another default setting on a large drive which could be wasteful is
that for temporary internet files especially if you do not store
offline copies on disk. The default allocation is 3% of drive.
Depending on your attitude to offline copies you could reduce this to
1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer select Tools, Internet Options,
General, Temporary Internet Files, Settings to make the change. At the
same time look at the number of days history is held.

In the Windows Directory of your C partition you will have some
Uninstall folders in your Windows folder typically:
$NtServicePackUninstall$ and $NtUninstallKB282010$ etc. These files may
be compressed or not compressed. If compressed the text of the folder
name appears in blue characters. If not compressed you can compress
them. Right click on each folder and select Properties, General,
Advanced and check the box before Compress contents to save Disk Space.
On the General Tab you can see the amount gained by deducting the size
on disk from the size. Folder compression is only an option on a NTFS
formatted drive / partition.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

Now let us see what affect that has had on fragmentation of files. It
should look a lot better. Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse.
Select View Report and click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt
in your My Documents Folder and post a copy. Given the size of the files
containg the recorded TV shows these may not easily defragment. You may
need to run Disk Defragmenter a number of times and even then some may
remain fragmented.

You have already identified another cause of your problems. The
retention of recorded TV shows on your hard disks. These are taking up a
collossal amount of space. You need to decide whether you are going to
retain them after viewing or delete them at intervals. If you are to
keep them you need somewhere else to put them. You could add a large
second hard drive or backup them up to removable media. As I said
earlier you need to maintain 25% free disk space on your C volume
(partition).

You need not bother with Clean booting and Event Viewer now as we have
identified a major reason why your computer could be running slowly.
Lets see what impact the measures suggested above have on your system
performance.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Recycler29 wrote:
Gerry,
I ran the defrag and just as before, it tells me I don't have enough
memory (need at least 15% but I only have 3%) but I told it to go
ahead and run it anyway trying to follow your instructions. Here is a
copy of the results: Volume (C:)
Volume size = 228 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 220 GB
Free space = 8.38 GB
Percent free space = 3 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 43 %
File fragmentation = 85 %
Free space fragmentation = 1 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 111,462
Average file size = 3 MB
Total fragmented files = 61
Total excess fragments = 57,237
Average fragments per file = 1.51

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 1.50 GB
Total fragments = 1

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 10,607
Fragmented folders = 1
Excess folder fragments = 0

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 150 MB
MFT record count = 123,402
Percent MFT in use = 80 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Files that cannot be defragmented
416 1.51 GB \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Rules of
Engagement_WSPA_12_11_2007_21_31_02.dvr-ms
291 1.56 GB \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Documents\Recorded TV\'Til Death_WHNS_26_09_2007_20_30_02.dvr-ms
213 1.72 GB \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Two and a Half
Men_WSPA_12_11_2007_20_58_02.dvr-ms 74 1.77 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Samantha
Who-_WLOS_15_10_2007_21_31_02.dvr-ms 1,125 3.12 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Burn
Notice_USA_13_09_2007_17_00_02.dvr-ms 3,921 3.12 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Burn
Notice_USA_13_09_2007_13_00_02.dvr-ms 182 3.13 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\The
Closer_TNT_15_10_2007_22_00_02.dvr-ms 2,912 3.13 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\The
Closer_TNT_22_10_2007_22_00_02.dvr-ms 1,882 3.13 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\The
Closer_TNT_12_11_2007_22_00_02.dvr-ms 119 3.13 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\The
Closer_TNT_05_11_2007_22_00_02.dvr-ms 94 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Burn
Notice_USA_14_09_2007_23_00_02.dvr-ms 391 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded
TV\Monk_USA_23_09_2007_20_00_02.dvr-ms 40 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Boston
Legal_WLOS_23_10_2007_22_00_03.dvr-ms 19,015 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\The
Closer_TNT_27_11_2007_22_00_02.dvr-ms 41 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Boston
Legal_WLOS_09_10_2007_22_00_03.dvr-ms 12,242 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Boston
Legal_WLOS_13_11_2007_22_00_02.dvr-ms 41 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Saving
Grace_TNT_22_10_2007_23_00_02.dvr-ms 168 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Boston
Legal_WLOS_06_11_2007_22_00_02.dvr-ms 1,383 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Saving
Grace_TNT_15_10_2007_23_00_02.dvr-ms 201 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Saving
Grace_TNT_05_11_2007_23_00_02.dvr-ms 582 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Saving
Grace_TNT_12_11_2007_23_00_02.dvr-ms 397 3.28 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Boston
Legal_WLOS_02_10_2007_22_00_02.dvr-ms 141 3.29 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Private
Practice_WLOS_26_09_2007_20_58_02.dvr-ms 132 3.38 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Burn
Notice_USA_15_09_2007_16_58_02.dvr-ms 437 3.39 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\The
Closer_TNT_08_10_2007_21_58_02.dvr-ms 44 3.59 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded
TV\Monk_USA_20_11_2007_21_58_02.dvr-ms 49 3.64 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded
TV\Monk_USA_30_10_2007_21_58_04.dvr-ms 75 6.36 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded
TV\Nova_WNTV_13_11_2007_19_58_02.dvr-ms 9,342 6.50 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Burn
Notice_USA_20_09_2007_20_58_04.dvr-ms 596 6.50 GB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\Recorded TV\Burn
Notice_USA_22_09_2007_16_58_02.dvr-ms

I see in the list of files that cannot be defragmented, that they
appear to be the TV shows that I have programmed to record.

Other than that, I went to Task Manager, Performance Tab, Commit
Charge and the Total=566848; Limit=2517452; Peak=595388.

I went to the article about the "clean boot" but I don't understand
what
that is going to tell me and I'm a beginner and am basically afraid
I'll screw something up! I understand the article and that I can get
guided help, but I don't understand what it is that I will gain from
doing this. Should I always start my computer in a selective startup
or if errors occur, go back to the normal startup? And the events
manager that you mentioned is way over my head and I really didn't
understand much about that. So, hopefully this information will give
you some insight into my computer and perhaps you will think I should
just take it to a computer repair place?!?! Thanks for all your time,
Kathy

"Gerry" wrote:

Kathy

What are your anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangements?

Open Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy.

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

Have you tried this approach?
How to configure Windows XP to start in a "clean boot" state
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353/en-us

Also look for Error Reports in the System log in Event Viewer.
Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in
the System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot. No
Information Reports or Duplicates please. Indicate which also appear
in a previous boot.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and
double click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which
appears is a button resembling two pages. Click the button and close
Event Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the
body of the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting
from Event Viewer.

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties,
Hardware,Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Recycler29 wrote:
I have a Dell XPS 400 with Windows XP Media edition Professional
5.1.2600. The main memory installed is RAM 1024MB. There is an Intel
Pentium dual processor CPU 2.8GHz. Processor speed 2.73 GHz. NVIDIA
Geforce 7300LE video card. I am not a total beginner but can
understand some things concerning the computer. The computer runs
extremely slow with the fastest available cable internet connection.
Ever on booting the computer, it takes more and more time each day.
I have run spybot and ad-aware constantly. The computer came with
Trend Micro PC-cillin security software that is up to date.

I was told to look at what was running in the background by doing a
ctrl-alt-delete and found that I have 55 processes running and only
2-3% CPU usage. I don't know what this means and was hoping someone
could tell me what I need to do to speed this up a bit. the compute
ris not but 1 yr. old. Should I buy more memory? Thanks for any
guidance or advice! Kathy


.