Windows XP VERY Slow (back to 98)

[elzmaddy]

I upgraded from 98 SE to XP Pro on a HP Pavilion 6730. It is a 600MHz, 192MB RAM, 10GB disk, integrated sound and video (intel 810 motherboard i believe) Everything looks alright except for a strange slowdown. I noticed that while I was installing applications, the process was unusually slow. Also, my TV Tuner software takes 95% of the CPU. While the video card is only 4MB, it was working fine under '98. I am running in 16 bit color mode 1024x768. If it is a driver problem, I am probably out of luck since the XP native drivers are the only ones available -- there isn't any XP support for this HP model. I uninstalled Service Pack 1 but the condition persists.

Any ideas? Uninstall more hotfixes? Suggestions appreciated.

Edit: Back on Windows 98. See update below.

 

[LiLithTecH]

Did you try running BOOTVIS?

BOOTVIS

(you need to reapply SP1 before running)

 

[mechBgon]

More RAM would help... 192Mb is a little skimpy. Also, check to see if your primary and/or secondary IDE controllers are operating in PIO mode (if so, switch them to Ultra DMA).

According to HP, the onboard video is the one built into the i810 chipset (specs list at HP), so try installing Intel's video drivers from here. I see this is eating another 11Mb of your system memory, so consider grabbing a 256Mb module to go with your 128Mb. Crucial modules for HP Pavilion 6730

You might also want to install the Intel INF's for your motherboard, they're found here. Good luck!

 

[WarCon]

The 4mb video card is most likely your biggest problem. XP's native interface has many textures and has many 3D effects. Go to Control Panel and then Performance and Maintanence/Adjust visual effects and set it to adjust for best performance.

You might even just go to display properties and under the Appearance tab/Windows and Buttons, switch to Windows Classic mode.

(Just buy a cheap 32meg video card to take the work load off the processor, would be my suggestion - like a ASUS V7100 PRO 32MB GeForce 2 MX-400 for $23 from newegg).

 

[elzmaddy]

Great suggestions, thanks. I could have tried them, but the system needed to be done today, so I used HP recovery disk to put Windows 98 back on. So I'm confident this operating system has been thoroughly tested by HP and any problems that show up would have their root elsewhere. I installed the TV Tuner software, and it works like a champ.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: LiLithTecH
Did you try running BOOTVIS? BOOTVIS (you need to reapply SP1 before running)

Good point! You get an installable version of bootvis.msi that works. I did it yesterday and it fixed a slowdown caused by one of the last two critical XP security updates. A tech friend got the slowdown with an AMD powered machine, and this patch fixed that as well.

Bootvis

 

[MrYogi]

right click on my computer then properties
then advanced then settings in Performance and then click on adjust for best performance

 

[elzmaddy]

I spoke too soon...

We're back on Windows 98 with the same issue, the TV tuner taking up 95-100% CPU. I would have to guess it's one of these:

1. Weak video card. However, other people say they do fine with similar cards.
2. buggy tv software and/or drivers (I'm using the latest, should I try an older version?)
3. Try a different PCI slot