Re: Slow performance

Wonderful: I replaced my original 256 mg ram with 1- 512, so from what you
tell me, I should be able to simply add another 512 mg to expand up to 1 gb.

I think I need to clear up something. I am not having this slow performance
problem all the time, with everything. Just with some things at times when I
should not. I do not have slow performance problems when working with the
photo software, once the program opens up. Generally, the problem is slow
opening of programs, but once open, puter pretty much kicks ***. For
example, I frequently have problems with the "Start" menu. Sometimes, when I
click on the start button, the start menu takes longer than usual to open,
but once it opens, - no problem. At other times, the start menu will open
instantly when I click on the start button, but when I click on "Programs" it
may take a long time for the program list to open, or the blank screen may
open up right away, but the actual list takes a very long time to fill in.
This can happen when I have no other programs running except my voip, and
sometimes when I don't even have it open.
However, there is one program that ALWAYS takes a long time to open, and
that is my iWin Games Manager, and it also takes a long time to shut down as
well. Once the Games Manager is open, the games themselves may take a long
time to open, but once open, they scoot right along. I un-installed it and
re-installed it to see if that would help, but it didn't.
And my Incredimail program used to open up real fast, but now, sometimes it
takes awhile. Individual e mails open fast, but are slow in the deleting
process.
Internet explorer is generally fast, but every once in awhile, it hangs up
when I try to open it. Once open, it is fine. Problem is too inconsistant to
find a pattern. Sometimes I can have 5 or 6 different things open with no
problem, other times with only 1 think open I get the message that virtual
memory is too low. The only thing that seems consistant is that high Page
File Usage, even when cpu usage is almost "0". The inconsistancy acts like
something is running in the background, like a spyware or Live One scan, but
when they are running, I can tell by the icon in my notification area, and
know what is causing the slowdown.

I have been using the "Speed up my PC" for a long time, as well as the
Windows Live Once Care, and I usually notice improvement after I run the
"Speed up my PC" routine, and after My WLOC tune up, but this problem just
started recently and it's driving me mad.

I think I know what the problem is!!! I must have picked up some
poltergeists or gremlins.


"Gerry" wrote:

Magsmom

Your computer has the capacity to have a maximum of 1 gb RAM. The
computer has two memory slots so to achieve 1 gb you need to install 2 x
512 mb. This could mean you need to replace your existing memory, if
your existing 512 mb is made up of 2 x 256 mb.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim2350/specs.htm#1107033

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim2350/replace.htm#1183874

Your latest post includes another hint as to what is might be causing
slow performance. Your photography. Graphics programmes require
considerable amounts of memory, especially when editing images. The
programmes incorporate undo features, which create the high demand for
memory. Saving at intervals could reduce the demand. You should also
restart your computer at the end of a session. Running disk defragmenter
after restarting might also help because graphics programmes handle
large files, which will both fragment and cause other files to fragment.

Windows Live OneCare is a composite and I am not a fan of all in one
solutions. You could look at the time activities are scheduled to ensure
that they only occur at times when you are not otherwise using your
computer. My employer has two computers with CA Anti-Virus. However, my
own set up consists of AVG 8 Anti-Virus, Spybot S& D, Windows Defender
and the Windows Firewall. All are free.

I have only just noticed your reference to "Speed Up My PC". This type
of programme is generally not recommended in these newsgroups. I would
uninstall the programme. Registry Cleaners and RAM optimisers can do
harm and in overall terms do not help.

Something else I have not so far suggested. A visit to Event Viewer.

Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in the
System and Application logs in Event Viewer relating to the last boot in
normal mode . 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.

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.



--



Hope this helps.

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


Magsmom wrote:
Gerry: WOW- You are full of info; Appreciate the time you put into
your answer:
Re: System is Dell Dimension 2350, originally only 256 RAM but I
installed 512 awhile back. I expected to see a difference in
performance then, but I didn't notice any improvement. But I really
wasn't having any trouble before that. I just decided to update
since a lot of the new programs require a minimum of 512.

I realize that the pagefile usage is excessive and I need to reduce
memory usage, but I can't figure out what is using up so much memory,
or why. The programs that I have running should not be using that
much.

I don't restart puter every 24 hrs. but I do restart it fairly often.
Maybe 3 times a week or so. VOIP is no problem, it just takes awhile
for everything to load back up again.

Re: Windows Live One Care - I just don't get it. As I mentioned, I
have used it for years with good results and little problems. What
is it about the program that makes you think it is "poor"? I have
tried a number of other security systems and just about went crazy
trying to decipher them. I use Time Warner Road Runner Broadband and
they offer CA (Computer Associates) Security Suite software for free.
What do you know about their program?

My disk drive is pretty full right now, mainly due to fact that I just
returned from a 10 day vacation out west and took a ton of digital
photos and video which I am going through and culling out the bad
ones. That's also the reason the recycle bin is so full. I usually
keep it emptied out better than that. When I get my photos and
videos the way I want them, I will be moving them to CD storage.

Temporary Internet Files allocation is set at the recommended minimum
of 50 MB History is set at 10 days
Default allocation for recycle bin is already set at 5%.
All uninstall folders in Windows are already compressed.
Dr. Watson did have the check in the "Append to" box, so I fixed that.

EVENT VIEWER:- WOW - When I went in to reset the maximum size
settings for each log from 512 to 128 per your suggestion, I found
the maximum setting for the MSFWSVC log was set at 15360 K. Don't
know how that got set that way. I've never messed with those settings
before.

I use the Systems Tools/Disk Clean Up frequently between the Live One
Care scheduled clean ups

I'll get the recycle bin emptied and run the clean up and de frag and
let
you know if it makes any difference. If you get any further ideas
based on the above, please let me know.


"Gerry" wrote:

Magsmom

The system is heavily reliant on using the pagefile, which will
result in poor system performance. This is obvious as both the Total
and the Peak are greatly in excess of the installed RAM. You need to
add RAM and / or reduce memory usage.

What is your computer make and model?

pctsSvc.exe = Spyware Doctor

MsMpEng.exe =Windows Defender a component of Windows LiveOneCare.

IncMail.exe = Incredimail

Leaving your computer on 24/7 means that if any programme has a
memory leak the memory does not get released even if the programme
is closed. This could be a significant cause of your problem. I do
not know what affect restarting your computer would have on VOIP. It
is the act of restarting your computer that releases memory. Thus
you only need your computer to be shutdown for a minute or two every
24 hours.

Norton and McAfee both have a major impact on system. However, just
because you have chosen to follow your friends example is hardly
justification for picking another example of poor software.

The Disk Defragmenter report shows you have minimal free disk space.
Ideally you should 20% to 25% free. You most likely can improve the
situation but eventually you should consider adding a further drive
to increase capacity.

The default allocation to System Restore is 12% 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.

A default setting 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.

The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change
to 5%, which 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.

If your drive is formatted as NTFS another potential gain arises with
your operating system on your C drive. 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, System
Information, Tools, Dr Watson and verify that the box before "Append
to existing log" is NOT checked. This means the next time the log is
written it will overwrite rather than add to the existing file.

The default maximum size setting for Event Viewer logs is too large.
Reset the maximum for each log from 512 kb to 128 kb and set it to
overwrite.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us


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.

Please let me know whether these suggestions help reduce the Total
and Peak fures in Task Manager. If not you we need to explore
further ideas.


--



Hope this helps.

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



Magsmom wrote:
CPU is Pentium 4 - 2.20 Ghz
Ram is 512 MB

Commit charge is:- Total 940,028 - Limit 1,263,628 - Peak 1,210,880

Here are the top 6 Memory using processes:
Peak VM size
iexplore.exe 167,184 49,308
Svchost.exe 164,568 25,914
pctsSvc.exe 164,108 178,220
MsMpEng.exe 153,692 91,694
IncMail.exe 64,612 35,692
iexplore.exe 59,472 48,528

Yes, I leave my computer on 24/7 due to having VOIP

Re: Windows Live One Care:- I have been using it for a number of
years and I love it. Never had these slow performance problems
until recently. In fact, although my computer is older and has a
slower process, my computer functions much faster than my friends
computer, which is the same brand, but she uses Norton. Also,
Windows Live One Care does not include a registry cleaner.
However, they do have a registry cleaning function in the Windows
Live One Safety Scanner, so you may have the two confused.

I also have Spybot and Spyware Doctor programs, but I do not let
them run automatically. Only when I manually run a scan.

Here is my Defrag analyse report:-
Volume (C:)
Volume size = 55.84 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 46.78 GB
Free space = 9.06 GB
Percent free space = 16 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 4 %
File fragmentation = 7 %
Free space fragmentation = 1 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 168,177
Average file size = 436 KB
Total fragmented files = 1,982
Total excess fragments = 12,374
Average fragments per file = 1.07

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 755 MB
Total fragments = 4

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 18,081
Fragmented folders = 72
Excess folder fragments = 178

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 201 MB
MFT record count = 187,280
Percent MFT in use = 90 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
584 42 MB \Program Files\Java\jre6\lib\rt.jar
378 1.16 GB \Documents and Settings\Love
Goddess\My Documents\My Videos\Sony video clips\Cheeko\Cheeko 6.avi
364 43 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{B37680B2-BA0A-4E5D-BF30-83E44C588624}\RP1339\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
280 43 MB \System Volume
Information\_restore{B37680B2-BA0A-4E5D-BF30-83E44C588624}\RP1336\snapshot\_REGISTRY_MACHINE_SOFTWARE
.