Correct me if I am wrong about Windows XP slowing down

[Monkeyspank111]

First off I just want to say I would consider myself a mid-level power user. I am the IT guy in my close family and friends circle how unfortunate sometimes. I look forward to hearing people that are experts regarding the Windows operating system.

My mother-in-law is having issues with her Dell desktop computer. Rather than list the specs of the machine. I will post a link to the specs I found on Cnet:

http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-dime...7-31594474.html

We never added more RAM to this machine and right now it is running 504 megs of RAM. The issue at hand is that it is slow very slow. I use it from time to time when I come to visit and just used it today and I can firmly agree with her. I told her about the system directory gets files from other programs that put their own files into this directory and also the system registry gets fragments from programs that don't completely remove themselves from the hard drive. I knew this would get over her head. What is the best respectful way to tell this to close family and friends but still tell them in easy terms. Also am I right when I mention the system directory and the buildup of the system registry?

We only have one program running at startup and is the firewall. I am running Comodo Firewall Pro by the way. I looked thru her Add/Remove applet in Control Panel and counted 110 programs on that list. I defragged this drive about a week and a half ago with a great free defragmenter. She does not have any Norton antivirus or firewall installed on this computer. She is running free firewall, antivirus, antispyware and antirootkit. She uses the computer for basic use. Office applications, Internet, Family History search, and her financial programs.

Is this just the nature of the beast? Just the design of Windows? Is this what causing the slowdown of this computer. I just want to let you know that I hear the hard drive a lot. When it boots up from a cold start. I almost forgot to mention that I have ccleaner installed too. I really love this program by the way. So what are my options?

1. Should I completely format the computer and reinstall everything for her to get a fresh start.

2. Tell her to buy some more RAM. 2 gigs would be optimal in my opinion.

3. Or both?

The computer is running good just slow as molasses right now. I can't think of anything else that would cause this slowdown. I hope somebody here can help with this situation right now. How would you deal with this situation. I bet knowing this website and forum. A lot of people have run into this same situation.

JC0481

p.s. I wish there was a truly great registry cleaner that would make the computer run like new. Is there a program out there like that or am I just dreaming?

[abcdefg]

Windows rot

No known cure other than complete reinstall. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

[DaTech]

I first culprit I was thinking was hdd but it's 7200 rpm and probably 16 cache so it's probably very good

I would say just do the ram get 2 gigs and should be fast as can be...

unless there is a defect somwhere... o ya you should probably do a complete format and reinstall windows fresh

o ya make sure bios options weren't messed with accidently eithier like cache options just make sure they are set to default.

[Monkeyspank111]

I first culprit I was thinking was hdd but it's 7200 rpm and probably 16 cache so it's probably very good

I would say just do the ram get 2 gigs and should be fast as can be...

unless there is a defect somwhere... o ya you should probably do a complete format and reinstall windows fresh

o ya make sure bios options weren't messed with accidently eithier like cache options just make sure they are set to default.

I read this and right away checked the BIOS. Nothing changed there everything is set to default. Ahhhhh Windows. The OS everybody loves to hate.

[+BudMan MVC]

First off lets getting something straight --> Windows Rot is a MYTH!! there is NO SUCH THING!

I am running XP that was installed

Original Install Date: 8/8/2004, 9:10:42 AM

System Up Time: 13 Days, 19 Hours, 26 Minutes, 13 Seconds

And it runs as fast now as it did back on 8/8/2004

And it's no where near a rocket ship, p4 2.4ghz with 1 gig ram, using ****tyass pata drives (raid 0 mind you) but still ****ty slow compared some modern drives.

Installed programs that are not running do not slow down anything.. Nor does left over pieces of programs in your registry.. Unless maybe if its trying to load stuff that no longer exist, etc.

Registry cleaners are more likely the cause of most users pain.

Normally users machines get slower as they get more an more infected with malware, are running more an more nonsense proccesses, tray apps, printer monitor software, camera monitoring programs, etc. etc.

How many processes are running? Take a look your task manager "processes"

What type of noises are the drive making? If it is having issues it can really slow down your machine. If you machine is having to swap to disk due to too many processes running eating up memory -- sure that can slow it down quite a bit too.

When you look at the processes -- is there some process eating up CPU time, or is it sitting at 99% idle? If you have some process eating up cpu, or too many processes running eating up memory that requires it to swap, then sure the machine can become a dog.

I would look to malware is the most likely cause of the machine being slow. 1/2 gig should be enough for light use, but sure bump it up to a gig if you want. More ram is sure not going to slow it down ;)

post your hijackthis log so we can talk look see.

[CrispCreations]

First off lets getting something straight --> Windows Rot is a MYTH!! there is NO SUCH THING!

I am running XP that was installed

Original Install Date: 8/8/2004, 9:10:42 AM

System Up Time: 13 Days, 19 Hours, 26 Minutes, 13 Seconds

And it runs as fast now as it did back on 8/8/2004

That rings true for me too

Running XP, installed

Original Install Date: 13/08/2004, 23:31:03

System Up Time: 31 Days, 14 Hours, 59 Minutes, 12 Seconds

Mine runs my dev server (hence the constant uptime) and has had, over the course of the last 3 and a half years, ridiculous amounts of software thrown at it, none of which has contributed to a slow down. It's even suffered a new MOBO and CPU without skipping a beat.

One thing I have noticed as a consistent factor is the uptime (and BudMans lengthy uptime sorta confirms it). Just once in a while, leave the PC on, disable the screen savers and any other processes you have running, and just let Windows get on with all the maintenance tasks it likes to perform in the background when the system's idle. Too often people boot, do what they have to and turn off, leaving Win with no chance to get those tasks done. I do this with all my home systems (4 of them) and none suffer the so called 'rot', can't be a coincidence surely?

Other than that, as BudMan already said, malware, unnecessary processes and services at startup, they're the other real culprits of slow systems.

[+allan MVC]

Much as I try not to agree with BudMan, sometimes I have to ;). I run a lot of systems, most of which use XP. The newest is three years old, the oldest 8 years. None have ever been reformatted and all run just fine. In your case I would say more ram and trimming unneeded services would certainly help (you'll notice a difference if you go to 1 gb - over that the noticeable performance increase will not be as obvious).

[+BudMan MVC]

Right back at ya buddy ;)

[Lt-DavidW]

1. Uninstall the programs you do not use

2. Start > Run > "msconfig" > Startup > Remove anything you don't need to run on startup

3. Disable any redundant services

4. Delete all the update uninstall folders in C:\Windows (They begin with "$unin" and are hidden)

5. Run Disk Cleanup

6. Run CCleaner, and also run it's Registry Cleaner

7. Run Disk Defragmenter

Let me know if you're still having problems.

[+allan MVC]

Right back at ya buddy ;)

Oh, I know - believe me :D

1. Uninstall the programs you do not use

While this will certainly add room on the hd, uninstalling unused programs will not improve performance. On the other hand, I'm a big fan of "good housekeeping" so there's certainly no harm in following your advice just to keep things nice and neat :)

[+BudMan MVC]

3. Disable any redundant services

WTF is a redundant service?? Give an example please.

[Lt-DavidW]

WTF is a redundant service?? Give an example please.

A redundant service is a service that you personally do not use. This will be different for everyone.

For example I personally do not use System Restore, Shadow Copy, Error Reporting, Media Centre, or Security Centre.

[Dick Montage]

Agreed that Windows Rot is pure BS. It's a nice term for lazy people to use who let their installation become a mess.

I installed last in , what eyar are we, 2008? So that would be 2005/6 I last installed. Still runs as well as it did on the day I ejected that CD.

[4CxbqFxVnstmA Veteran]

I used to suffer from Windows slowdown (not virus/spyware related) and did a reinstall to get things fast again. Even now I 'support' a cousin and and an uncle's Windows XP machines and one of them has suffered from the slowdown (not virus/spyware relate). The other has not. I don't know that Windows 'rot' happens always but I have seen it a lot. It could be the problem here.

Or as you say it could be trojans or spywares or other malware slowing things down. There are ways of 'hardening' the machines of novice Windows users against these threats but sometimes even then something gets through. And one spyware can secretly download others and bork the whole system.

In this case, I say backup all data and reinstall from scratch. You're pretty much guaranteed a new burst of speed from XP doing that. If you detect spywares/viruses then probably this is the best approach too as no antivirus/antispyware solution out there is 100% effective. That is just my view, what I would do in this case. Clearly others disagree and they may be right. :)

[zhangm Supervisor]

Windows slowdown over time is a dinosaur from back in the Win98 days. A properly maintained, updated installation of XP or Vista can serve you well for many years. The only reason the concept still exists today is because Microsoft updates its operating systems faster than people update their conceptions.

[RobC]

There is an option for Windows to index files (for faster searches). Switch it off.

Office (Word ?) has an Indexing feature, Switch it off.

Run Task Manager and sort the cpu usage to get the biggest at the top. See what is hogging cpu.

Then sort by Memory usage, and see what is hogging memory.

Whenever the system is worse than usual, check those again.

Keep it running in the systray, as it shows when cpu is busy.

Some programs have memory leakage, which the above will help detect.

If a program has 'leaked' try closing it and reopening it.

Or if it is stubborn, restart Windows.

Set your swap file to have the same minimum and maximum, to deter it from thrashing around resizing itself.

[James123]

First off lets getting something straight --> Windows Rot is a MYTH!! there is NO SUCH THING!

Agreed, on my secondary (which used to be primary) system I've only installed XP twice, once when it was first released (2001) and once when SP2 came out (2004) it runs just as good now as it always did. Only things I did/continue to do is disable unnecessary start-up & background processes and auto-defrag once a month.

[4CxbqFxVnstmA Veteran]

This is a good site that discusses sources of 'rot': http://www.monstersandcritics.com/tech/fea...lower_over_time

I see lots of people say the rot is a myth. Yet I have read threads on Neowin where people complain about it and where they offer solutions to this 'inevitable' problem.

It would be interesting to see a poll here on the subject: who believes it, who does not, and why. I experienced it a lot and just thought it was normal. Are those who haven't had this problem the lucky few? Or the majority?

[Aldur82]

The only thing that would cause windows 'rot' would be installing and uninstalling badly made programs that either mess with the registry, leaving behind redundant entries, or that change stuff they aren't supposed to change.

Also, using the 'msconfig->disable unused startup crap' you get a lovely annoying screen popping up when you restart, which distracts you from the reason you did that in the first place. Startup CPL is a better alternative, and actually makes sense with the information it provides. But I would recommend looking at those entries, as anything that has been uninstalled incorrectly may have left behind bogus entries.

Another thing that can slow down windows is that the %temp% folder doesn't get cleared out as well as it should for one reason or another. Over time, it can lead to a lot of files sitting in there filling up the allocation table that windows has to search through.

If you do end up doing a format->reinstall, once it's done and windows is updated I'd recommend making a ghost image of the windows install (maybe partition the drive to have personal documents on a different partition) so if you have to do this again it'll only take minutes instead of hours to get back up and running.

[+BudMan MVC]

You want the reason people complain about their systems becoming slow over time. It has nothing to do with installing and uninstall software I assure you - as one of the items on that link you provided suggests :rolleyes:

Every single machine I have ever looked at (1000's of them) because the user has said it was slow.. Has been infected with crapware/malware, or has 173 tray icons/proccesses running for crap they do not need, or use maybe once month, etc. And guess what their hard drive has never once been defragged.

I have seen them running 2 different virus scanners, 2 different firewalls -- all at the same time -- real great for performance btw ;) And yet still infected with crap!

And then most of they time they jack it up even more by running every reg cleaner/tweaker they can get their hands on. Why? because they read crap about having to clean your registry and installing/uninstall software leaves stuff behind you need to clean up, etc. Or their so called computer expert buddy tells them too.. Where did he get it from --> "Because he read it on some forum last night"

Will a format and clean install fix your slow down.. Sure more than likely yes, unless you have a real hardware issue like a hard drive problem. Why hmmm lets see ---> because your no longer infected with crap, your not running 173 useless process yet, etc.. Which just perpetuates the nonsense of windows rot, and that only way to fix is a clean install, etc.

[CrispCreations]

^^^ what BudMan said (Y)

(couldn't have put it better myself)

[Monkeyspank111]

Here is a screenshot of my Task Manager that I took just minutes ago. It has a total of 37 processes running right now. I hope this helps. I am not sure why I have so many svchost.exe running. Hopefully somebody can explain this to me.

[+BudMan MVC]

And are you the only user account running processes on the box currently? Check that checkbox at the bottom.

[hvy]

Assuming you aren't running PaintDotNet full-time, my usual first suspect would be the antivirus program, then the firewall. If things might have slowed down after installing these, you could try backing up your AV and FW settings, uninstalling them both briefly and seeing if things speed up.

[jokeripa]

Its strange seeing so many people saying that this 'Windows Rot' doesn't actually exist. I've always had this issue, and so has most other PC's I've used. No spyware, no unused processes, very little and lightweight programs running all the time (uTorrent etc..), but I do install and uninstall a hell of alot of stuff and alot of the time this will leave a few folders/files/regkeys behind and I find that this is the problem. I format about everything 6 months to keep things clean and fast, wouldn't be happy with my PC if I didnt.