dell computer slowing down

[Serori]

hey guys, my computer is about 1.5 years old now... which is getting close to upgrade time, but that doesnt explain this to me..

its a Dell... 2.4 Ghz P4, 512 533mhz RDRAM, ATI Radeon 9700 128MB (its their tuned down version unforunately, 263 mhz/263 mhz.. if i try to overclock it at all with Rage3dTweak it resets the VPU every 5 seconds.. i had to sys restore from safe mode to stop it)... well over the past 3 months primarily its slowed down tremendously... where it once oppened IE so quick you'd blink and miss it changing and when the initial "Dell" screen when you start booting up literally barely flashed on the screen... it is now even going to Monitor standby waiting for the screen to come back after going from the "Dell" screen (which now takes about 3 seconds) to the "Windows XP" loading screen. Then again it takes another few seconds for the list of users to pop up and then another 10 seconds or so for the desired user to load. This all used to be almost a flash, and where some things had absolutely no delay, they now have a few seconds delay.... I don't really understand why.

I've run RegClean, ive gone through a couple "Windows Optimization" guides, I've removed all the spyware I can, I've tried closing down all nonessentials and running everything in XP barebone graphically... and still I get this creeping lag... it sort of was more noticeable after I installed a moviemaker (dont remember the name), but I've uninstalled basically everything I dont use and defragged and done the whole nine yards.. I have like 75 gigs out of 110 available.. I dont really get what the deal is... my task manager tells me that I have between 350-390 megabytes of RAM ready to play with.. this just really bothers me that a relatively new system is starting to chug along at the same things (not updated) it used to fly with... my schools computers, which are more dated (significantly) but recently reformatted run faster! I don't get why this slows down so much... I don't want to have to reformat, but what else can I really do?

All I'm atleast looking for is someone to shed some led on why this is happening... its really frustrating... I haven't been able to find anything in the forums about a "slow computer".. i dunno why.. im sure its common so sorry if this is a repeat.

Thanks guys,
-Dave

 

[bamacre]

Open your case, and clean out all the dust, especially in the cpu and gpu fans.

 

[badnewcastle]

Seems like that would be a common thread, I have almost the exact system that is 1.5 years old... It ran games for a while pretty descent and like you said it was real fast at first then went down hill. I used a vacuum to clean all the dust out and reformatted the thing and it still seemed slow to me except for a few weeks after I reformatted the system. It still runs slower then it did in the begining and I don't really know why except that I know the mobo can only handle pc2100 (SLOW!!!!!) and thats a major contributor to its slowness.
My Dell Sys. Specs.
2.0 Ghz P4
1 gig pc 2100 ddram
ATI 9700 pro
60 gig wd hd
windows xp home

To fix my problem in built the rig below and still run the dell for school work and web surfing. Both are hooked up tot a KVM switch so I can do homework while waiting to respawn!!!

 

[mechBgon]

That's a good idea ^^ and also try unplugging the IDE cable from the hard drive to see if the Dell screen now pops up quickly at POST. Maybe your HDD is . Of the used space on your HDD, how much of it is System Restore files, incidentally? I had a co-worker bring me her Dell to work on, a recent one with an i865G chipset, and darned if it didn't have about 40 gigabytes of System Restore files.

:frown:

I suppose SR has its uses, but dang. If I were you, I would bail the accumulated SR files, although I can't see how that would directly cause hardware slowness down to the POST level like you're seeing. Just... strange. Bad RAM or motherboard perhaps?

 

[badnewcastle]

Do the system restore files really drag up the system...
I bet that was my problem too, although they did save a ton of school work for me!

 

[GregANDTCH]

I worked on my niece's computer with WinME & a 30gb hd.
She was short on room, so I reformatted after saving important files.
While saving the files I noticed that the system restore files were using up 10gb of space!
Maybe you should turn off system restore,
then delete the files, then reboot & turn it back on.
Might speed up the restore saving process.

 

[oldman420]

you mentioned removing all of the spyware you could system tweaks etc. axactly what spyware and tweaks are you refering to?
i have discovered that after about 9 months most installs of xp become bloated with trash ,bad regestry entries spyware and other stuff including system restore. i see a reformat and reinstall of xp on the horizon .
some spyware and addware will slow down the machine as it initializes try looking at msconfig to see whats in the startup rutine at boot
http://www.overclockinghq.com/articles/junkware1.php

 

[Serori]

Yeah, I went into my case... it barely has any dust in it at all, where it is on my desk keeps it pretty clean i guess.. i cleaned up some excess around the vents, but other than that there wasnt much at all....

Its really really annoying, it doesn't seem like anything i can do can clean it up.. and i dont like the idea of reformatting... number one because i cant find some of my games like half life around here anymore.. and number two because ill always forget to back up something i want and then its gone..

With sys restore.. couldnt you just go back to the factory point... wouldnt that in effect treat it like a reformat? sys restore as i understand it puts in a new registry and everything from that point... has that been tried?? (i dont have that point... but i was just wondering)

well thanks for all the responses so far guys.. im feeling doomed haha... oh well

-Dave

 

[bamacre]

I would really suggest a format and a re-install of the OS. Even Microsoft will suggest that gets done once a year. Plan for it, try to find some of the games you said were missing. Remember to back up some things people often forget, e-mail, favorites, etc.

 

[helpmeout]

I'm using a Dell 4600 with 2.40, and 512 RAM. I've found that at about 6 months or so it starts slowing down similar to what you describe, even though I keep it very clean with weekly maintenance. So I continue as I did with 98SE, a format and reinstall about every 6 months. I do think it's a good idea to run the disk cleanup (advanced tab) weekly and delete all but the latest restore point. That's the next best thing to disabling sys restore.

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: bamacre
I would really suggest a format and a re-install of the OS. Even Microsoft will suggest that gets done once a year.

Please point me to that; I'd *really* like to see that.

(Microsoft recommends no such thing!)

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: helpmeout
I'm using a Dell 4600 with 2.40, and 512 RAM. I've found that at about 6 months or so it starts slowing down similar to what you describe, even though I keep it very clean with weekly maintenance. So I continue as I did with 98SE, a format and reinstall about every 6 months. I do think it's a good idea to run the disk cleanup (advanced tab) weekly and delete all but the latest restore point. That's the next best thing to disabling sys restore.

Another idea might be to look at your computer and try to see what is actually causing the slowdown - whether it's malware/spyware that does it, a bad application, bad drivers, or whatnot. Reformatting is like burning down a forest to save a tree.

 

[GregANDTCH]

With sys restore.. couldnt you just go back to the factory point...

I believe you would loose most of your files that way.
I think System restore keeps track of .exe files too.
They would be erased.

delete all but the latest restore point.

I thought System restore was incremental?
Seems like it wouldn't save all the information it needed that way.
Thats why I was thinking it would be better to delete the SR files & then
turn it back on & let it create a new System Restore starting point.
YMMV
Just a guess

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Serori
hey guys, my computer is about 1.5 years old now... which is getting close to upgrade time, but that doesnt explain this to me..

its a Dell... 2.4 Ghz P4, 512 533mhz RDRAM, ATI Radeon 9700 128MB (its their tuned down version unforunately, 263 mhz/263 mhz.. if i try to overclock it at all with Rage3dTweak it resets the VPU every 5 seconds.. i had to sys restore from safe mode to stop it)... well over the past 3 months primarily its slowed down tremendously... where it once oppened IE so quick you'd blink and miss it changing and when the initial "Dell" screen when you start booting up literally barely flashed on the screen... it is now even going to Monitor standby waiting for the screen to come back after going from the "Dell" screen (which now takes about 3 seconds) to the "Windows XP" loading screen. Then again it takes another few seconds for the list of users to pop up and then another 10 seconds or so for the desired user to load. This all used to be almost a flash, and where some things had absolutely no delay, they now have a few seconds delay.... I don't really understand why.

I've run RegClean, ive gone through a couple "Windows Optimization" guides, I've removed all the spyware I can, I've tried closing down all nonessentials and running everything in XP barebone graphically... and still I get this creeping lag... it sort of was more noticeable after I installed a moviemaker (dont remember the name), but I've uninstalled basically everything I dont use and defragged and done the whole nine yards.. I have like 75 gigs out of 110 available.. I dont really get what the deal is... my task manager tells me that I have between 350-390 megabytes of RAM ready to play with.. this just really bothers me that a relatively new system is starting to chug along at the same things (not updated) it used to fly with... my schools computers, which are more dated (significantly) but recently reformatted run faster! I don't get why this slows down so much... I don't want to have to reformat, but what else can I really do?

All I'm atleast looking for is someone to shed some led on why this is happening... its really frustrating... I haven't been able to find anything in the forums about a "slow computer".. i dunno why.. im sure its common so sorry if this is a repeat.

Thanks guys,
-Dave

Does your event log have any unusual system or application events in it, any warnings, or any errors?

Boot in safe mode, and then run MSINFO32. File/Save the information to an NFO file and then mail that file to me.

Boot in normal mode and run NTBACKUP. Back up your system state to a file, like C:\backup.bkf. When that finishes, delete c:\backup.bkf, and then mail me your c:\windows\repair\system and software files. Zip them first. Might be best to mail them seperately; the software key can be big, even zipped.

Information you send remains confidential.

I can't help with what happens before Windows loads - the pause at the Dell screen doesn't make any sense to me. But I can look at what's going on in Windows and if you have any unusual drivers / devices running.

Do you have any files in c:\windows\minidump? Anything made recently, in the last week or so? Are crashes/reboots an issue?

 

[Serori]

dclive,

I have looked at my computer and basically uninstalled everything i dont use, tried defrag, reg cleaning ive adaware and norton 2004 to detect and delete spyware..

have you ever reformatted your drive? or do you just search through it and delete til it seems like its better?

-Dave

 

[Serori]

dclive,

whats in those files thats of use anyway? just curious , i will likely email you this stuff.. reformatting is my last resort but i dont like the way my computer is running now that it is becoming more and more likely.. thanks man

-Dave

 

[Serori]

oh and the NTBACKUP doesn't work.. it says its not found.. eh??
if you have aim, try gettin me at c4mp3rstrik3

-Dave

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Serori
oh and the NTBACKUP doesn't work.. it says its not found.. eh??
if you have aim, try gettin me at c4mp3rstrik3

-Dave

XP Home doesn't have NTBACKUP installed by default, so install it from your XP Home CD. (It's on there...somewhere....)

 

[Serori]

alright sent you the stuffa bout my event logs to u in a pm, dclive...

Anyway i did all that back up stuff.. wahts the point of backing it up and deleting it? what kinda information is in those files?

-Dave

 

[dclive]

Originally posted by: Serori
alright sent you the stuffa bout my event logs to u in a pm, dclive...

Anyway i did all that back up stuff.. wahts the point of backing it up and deleting it? what kinda information is in those files?

-Dave

That's your registry. I haven't gotten any files from you yet; when you run NTBACKUP and do a system state backup it overwrites c:\windows\repair's sam/software/system/security (ie your registry) with the version you're currently using; I asked you to send me the software and system hives (files) so I can look at them.

I can't PM you back, because you have that feature turned off.

Please send me an MPS Reports .CAB file on your machine.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cebf3c7c-7ca5-408f-88b7-f9c79b7306c0&DisplayLang=en

Download the Setup-Perf version, 693KB in size.

Run it, say yes to the EULA, say yes to include MSINFO32 information, and then let it run. Might take 5-10 mins. Send me the resulting CAB file to the e-mail in my SIG.

Thanks.

DCOM errors are a problem. DHCP and W32Time, less so.

 

[Ryoga]

There's two programs that come to mind to install and use:
1. CachemanXP (non-expiring non-nagging shareware): Optimizes a huge number of things. The Auto-optimize feature is, unfortunately, what you have to pay to get to, but there's quite a few things in there that deastically seem in increase performance, IMX. This is the only performance enhancer for XP I've ever seen work.
2. Sysinternals PageDefrag: At boot time, this will defragment your registry hive and your page file. IMX, the registry hive (especially SOFTWARE) builds into several hundred fragments.