PC Slow at Startup

I doubt that those few programs at startup are the issue with your speed. First thing to do is some basic housekeeping.

1. Run a anti-virus/malware scan (be sure to have it up-to-date).

2. Run the "Disk Cleanup" utility.

3. Empty your recycle bin.

4. From your web browser felet all cookies and temp files.

5. Run a disk defrag program (XP has one).

Once this is done then if there is no improvement check to see how full your hard drive is, in todays high speed internet coupled with programming methods used these days it is easy to fill small hard drives. If your hard drive has less than 2 gig of free space left start looking for things to delete such as programs that are no longer being used.

These few things fix most perceived speed/performance issues.

I have done them, and it is still slow. It has 512mb and 40gb free on the hard drive. It should be running faster than it is for 512 RAM...

What O/S? 512MB has a slower ring to it, you've written 40GB free but what size is the drive? What is this slow you speak of? Give a time frame please.

Win XP Home, 40GB free, 50GB drive, 1 and a half to 2 minutes to load firefox, 45 secs to load IE, about 5 mins to turn on and be ready, about 30 secs to right click desktop after it has had it's 5 min loading period/after a period of inactivity

De fragged every month

My first thought is your drive ratio is near critical. Is the data on this drive compressed? Suggest backup to external media until HD free space exceeds half of total HD capacity.

Otherwise the time frames seem close to normal in a less than 800MHz FSB system; I am assuming this is the case.

Do attend to that Hard drive before it malfunctions due the unbalanced ratio

Hope this helps...

None of the data is conpressed - of what I know (unless the system is compressed) The hdd is 80% free... it's a 1.4GHz system

You can go to start / computer / right click the drive and check if compress data is selected. You could select compress data in effort to save disc space but first do these few steps to ensure you are not compounding the issue.

Suggested course: copy enough files to reduce free space to less than 50% of Hard drive capacity first or

Proceed--

a. Have backup

b. delete all but most recent restore point, then reduce file size allowed in system restored to about 1500MB-2200MB try for the lesser.

c. go to start / right click Computer drive and select properties / Advanced / properties / advanced / performance / settings advanced / then reset the page file size to the minimum

**d. go to start / computer / right click C:\ / properties / select Disk Cleanup / check all boxes in the drop down pane and select yes / yes you want to cleanup these files.

**e. defragment

**d. & e. may take some time to complete. Hard drive compression will take considerable time, go on a picknic or weekend getaway

It won't right click on the start menu...

c. go to start / right click Computer drive and select properties / Advanced / properties / advanced / performance / settings advanced / then reset the page file size to the minimum

**d. go to start / computer / right click C:\ / properties / select Disk Cleanup / check all boxes in the drop down pane and select yes / yes you want to cleanup these files.

I don't see an instruction to right click on start?

c. go to start / right click Computer drive and select properties / Advanced / properties / advanced / performance / settings advanced / then reset the page file size to the minimum Oh, I thought you meant to right click my computer :S

Hey Bondy,

You are correct left clk start / left clk computer / right clk the main drive and select properties / Advanced / properties / advanced / performance / settings advanced / then reset the page file size to the minimum size the system will allow, if is too small it'll let you know

I cannot find an advanced tab on it. There is: General. Tools. Hardware. Sharing. Quota. :S

You're so right,

I duh! Okay R clk MyComputer; not the drive.

Uh-oh HD ratio is fine data compression not needed but if you've been gaming and surfing the web be better to defrag every week.

Have you changed the power management settings?

AVG loads on start; okay and the application stores lots of unnecessary stuff continuously. Maybe delete it reboot, defrag then reinstall.

I'm sure the maintainance evolutions you're doing will produce helpful results but other than the possibility the processor is heating up during start.

Try http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php and check temperatures and fan performance for free.

512MB is too little for XP, I would recommend at least 1GB, 2GB is better, if not more.....

I agree Andy. With little RAM, the computer has to make many reads and writes from disk, and this is a slow process. When I get a new computer, I stuff that sucker to the max with RAM. That way I know that it is doing the best it can.

Bill

avgtray (the AVG antivirus) is likely killing you

Check you AVG settings and tell it to run only those features that you really need. This should fix you, it worked for me.

If you surf a lot and do need serious virus protection, at least for your surfing activity you might i.e. try linux (likely dual boot). From what I hear, it's generally safer and quite the better choice for underpowered laptops too.

Yeah right, you've been getting spoiled using that tri-core hotrod

If is Soundman-Dancehall mp3 player drop it from the list then open when needed.

You probably have stuff running in the background like Adobe Air and various apple media programs and Real Player and Quicktime etc..they may start a few minutes after startup... Shut them down an open when needed.

If you have AVG set to make backups you may want to delete those more than 30 days old. Delete the cache or temporary internet files etc..

Download and run a scan with http://www.superantispyware.com then un-install it, you maybe surprised

At least on a monthly basis you should:

1.) Defrag your dirves

2.) Use scandisk to find and correct any problems

3.) Empty out your temporary folder(s) [you may or may not want to keep your cookies]

4.) Clean out your internet temporary files/cache

Not necessarly in that order, but it will help some. Also, consider deleting un-necessary files and or programs. Generally if Windows is managing your swap file, that's a good thing; but if you have multiple hard drives on your laptop - you may consider using the other drive as a "data drive" (especially if it's faster than your primary drive); and if your bold you may even consider managing your swap file by putting it on that other drive... Anyway - most people keep putting tons of stuff on their system not realizing that it really should be maintained.

I would say check for mallware or spyware that also slows down the PC also get something like CCleaner that helps also to clean unwanted files

Tried that... Sorry

Something not mentioned yet is that the Registry might need some attention- the Registry tends to accumulate errors with time. CCLeaner is a pretty good tool for tending to this, or there are others. Always make a back up of the Registry before making any changes!!! Then, when all else fails, switch to Linux. By the way, Firefox runs faster than MS Internet Explorer, and Chrome seems even faster yet- but Chrome has it's limitations (which is what you would expect from a faster system...)

The laptop is only 3 months old, so I don't think that the registry could already have errors.

Don't put much ado into registry cleaners, they do improve speed but it is measured in milliseconds.

I use Tuneup Utilities (they offer a free 30 day trial). There is a startup manager which shows which programs are enabled at startup. Each program when "clicked-on" has an explanation & recommendation. I've had good results using Tuneup Utilities (especially the registry function). After a Photoshop session I usually run the 1-click maintenance function (really finds and removes items).

Did I mentioned Advanced SystemCare? I think I did in another related thread. Advanced SystemCare Free ver. 3.2.0 (latest) is available from this site.

"Slow down, freeze, crash, and security threats are over. Advanced SystemCare Free is a comprehensive PC care utility that takes a one-click approach to help protect, repair, and optimize your computer. It provides an all-in-one and super convenient solution for PC maintenance and protection. All work will be done with 1 click and 1 minute. Compared with its nearest competitor, Advanced SystemCare Free provides the more essential and practical formula for Windows: Removing Spyware and Adware, Preventing Security Threats, Privacy Protection, Fixing Registry Errors, Temporary Files Cleanup, Startup Cleanup, Repairing Windows, Speeding up System and 1-click Mechanism."

There are several features of this freeware that's even better and not even available from some non-free utilities.

I've been using this utility together with Norton SystemWorks (run from CD) and have not experience any slowdown on my system.

On the hardware side though, you may want also to upgrade memory to at least 1 GB (price had gone down/affordable) and you will appreciate how much faster your computer will be.

Hope this helps.

willyap06,

All work will be done with 1 click and 1 minute. Compared with its nearest competitor, Advanced System Care Free provides the more essential and practical formula for Windows: Removing Spy-ware and Ad ware, Preventing Security Threats, Privacy Protection, Fixing Registry Errors, Temporary Files Cleanup, Start up Cleanup, Repairing Windows, Speeding up System and 1-click Mechanism."

Wow, what a concept that sounds great eh? Except it is highly unlikely any of these can be run adequately in any substantive manner individually in one minute. I don't understand how anyone could put their productivity in such jeopardy. Think about what is ocurring during each of these events:

1. Removing spy-ware and adware -- to effectively identify thousands of known types against each and every file in the average system takes about 1-2 hours. Removing any found is very quick.

2. Temporary files clean up -- Possibly if used every day this function can be completed in one minute only.

3. If ASC is preventing security threats why the need to fix registry errors and start up folder so often?

4. The best registry cleaner is only capable to increase speed about four to seven milliseconds, wrap your mind around that fact.

A word of caution about ASC, as part of the functionality it causes windows chkdsk to run each time ASC is used. It's not advisable to use chkdsk often about once every three months is okay.

caveat emptor!

"A word of caution about ASC, as part of the functionality it causes windows chkdsk to run each time ASC is used. It's not advisable to use chkdsk often about once every three months is okay."

...must have blamed cnet.com for their review and MS for not telling

Can you tell me then what problem with chkdsk when used often? thanks

Perhaps what was really meant was:-

"its not needed to run it so often"

...as I agree with anyone that says that it takes quite a time if you have a large HD(s) or a slow PC (or both!!).....and once every three months would be usually more than adequate to my mind....I personally probably only run it around twice a year....

But I must admit that I cannot see anything nasty happening if its run at every boot, other than the fact that the owner might "lose his rag" while waiting at boot every time!!! Though it can be interrupted in the first few seconds to stop it running if you are quick......

That version of Norton is known to slow down ANY PC, even ones with faster(er) CPUs....upgrade to the new version, they claim its much faster!! Part of their advertising...but I do not know that for a fact, sorry.....maybe someone else knows....

Hi Andy,

It's me. I forgot to log-in.

My notebook is Acer Aspire 2000 Pentim M 1.59GHZ with 64 MB ATI Mobility Radeon graphics, bought April of 2004 (5 years old), upgraded memory to 1.25 GB. I'm quite surprised my friends with the newer system were telling that it's fast and I agree with them. I usually have 5 active applications (include scanning) but it's not slowing me down even with several start-ups including Norton and Avast. And when (even with just a few applications) I sense it does, I usually run Norton SystemWorks 2006 (run from CD) & ASC and get me back to speed. One thing I can think of also that improves its speed is the pagefile (virtual memory) set to custom (4096-4096) advanced setting in computer properties.

I have experienced with Norton Internet Security 2005 & 2006, versions that are greedy with memory resources, slowdown the system (at start-up/minding others after that). So far not with ver. 2008 on my computer.

Dude buy a new computer.

Also, I dont think this is the place to fix other peoples computers with other peoples advice!!

Steve

His computer is only 3 months old, read post #16. Are you giving him another new one?... or will you not help him make the one he already have work better?

I guess he just has the worst luck with a pc than anyone I have ever heard of!

He posts pc problems like every other day.

Steve

Avast

It has fixed many things that AVG wouldn't touch

It has a boot scan that detects rootkits.

Steve

Good morning, Bondy,

Just a couple of quick questions: when you first bought the laptop, was the startup speed any quicker than it is now? Also, can you let us know more about the make, model, and other details about the hardware and resident software (especially what Service Pack is installed)? The more information we have (within reason, of course) the better the chance of success.

Good luck,

Logan

What brand and moldel is your laptop?

Try to do this

A)

1) Open the Regedit (start - Run: "regedit")

2) Open the following:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

3) Locate this option "MenuShowDelay" and change the default value from 400 to 0

Close the regedit.

B)

1) Also go to My Computer properties,

2) Select the advanced tab and click the performance setting option,

3) then select Adjust for the best performance option

C)

1) Go to Start

2) Select Run Option

3) Type msconfig command and press enter key

4) Select the services tab

5) turn off any service of programs that you know you don't need

like DVD player, burner, games, office source engine, etc, etc,

6) Do the same in the startup tab

Don't worry about this the programs will work when you run them selecting the icons programs in desktop or programs files

D)

1) Go to start/run then type %temp%

2) Then delete all temp files

3) Select the up icon in toolbar and select the temporary internet files folder

4) then open this folder "Content.IE5" and delete all folders and files

E)

1) Go to start/ run then type c:\windows\temp

2) then delete all temp files an folders

Restart the computer

I Hope this help you

I bought the laptop second hand(£20 what a bargain), with the hdd blanked (not going to even try to retrieve the data before anyone asks) and yes, it was significantly quicker. It's a Packard Bell Easynote R4622. It has XP home SP3. Stock with 256mb RAM, but previous owner upgraded to 512mb (2 x 256) It has AVG 8, MS office 2007, Firefox, chrome, IE7, Messenger (which doesn't start on start up) 1.4ghz celeron Page file space 1.1GB

The MS OFC 2007 has a side bar called Groove which runs in the background at start up though may not be listed in start folder; wierd. It will slooowww you down because it is invasive and greedy and I killed it with extreme predjudice; please excuse that I lost it abit.

You can use SpyBot S&D function to eliminate locked files

Groove is not running on startup - stopped it using msconfig

What is your PC spec? Processor and speed etc.....

Is it over 2 years old?

1.4Ghz Celeron Single core, 512mb RAM, more in #28 Yes, It is about 4 years old (I think)

The machine is intrinsically slow.

If the XP has been running for more than a year, buy it much more memory and re install your PC from a hard disk format......this will improve speed dramatically, windows loves a lot of memory......and a fresh install......!

I have only had the machine for 3 months, following a fresh install of XP home - was sold with home, converted into pro, and now back on home

I think your start folder is missing a few rundll32's and the machine will run 4GB RAM you should give this old soldier some authority.

Don't know if it will make a differance, but XP home was installed using a dell re-installation disk on a packard bell. Could that be the reason that it is slow?

Could be that some Drivers are missing or are conflicting

I'm with Epke in this 'missing drivers or conflicts'

Any ideas on how to get the applicable drivers?
Sorry if I don't reply for a few days, I'm going away, with no wifi nearby!

Unlikely I feel if as you imply that the machine was "fast" after the OS install......then it must be something that happened "after" the install......your call......

Try these on for size:

You don't have enough free RAM

Your hard disk is too slow - try optimizing it using Defrag

You have 850 fonts installed. If you can survive without all those fonts, try removing 600-700 of them to see if that makes a difference.

Here are some tips for finding support, drivers, updates, and other information for the various products you use with your computer. Usually, companies on the web can be reached by going to:

http://www.company name.com/

• Files NOT to delete:
• Anything in your SYSBCKUP directory.
• Your Registry (SYSTEM.DAT, SYSTEM.DA0, USER.DAT, USER.DA0), as well as SYSTEM.1ST, which you can use if the first four become corrupted.
• Any files in your root directory not mentioned above.

The $INPLACE.~TR and $WINDOWS.~Q folders are more-or-less garbage and can be safely deleted.

Check out http://www.annoyances.org

Even good antivirus software takes up quite a lot of PC power, the new Norton Symantec, (the old one brought the PC almost to a stand still!) is being advertised as not "loading up" the PC any more.....remember it is active all the time, checking up on everything!!

I personally still prefer Kasperky, just bought the new license......

Loading up with lots of software that automatically loads when you switch on is also a good reason for a PC to run slow, especially a slow PC as you have.....

There is software around that allows you to stop them loading automatically, there is also a way using Windows utilities, that I have used, but the method escapes me at this time, someone here will remember I am sure.....

How many Softwares are installed on your PC?

Try to uninstall unwanted programs.

Restart the machine.

Clear all Startup programs.

Restart the machine.

Increase the Cache memory to maximum.

This will solve your problem.

Then for better performance Increase your RAM to 1 GB atleast.

Hui Bondy111,

Here is a simple solution. Uninstll AVG antivirus from control panel.

1. Turn off your internet switch or connection.

2. Make sure you have no unknown icons on the bottom right corner of windows "start" bar. remove/uninstall if you do not recognize.

3. GO to C:/windows/prefetch and delete its contents.

4. Power off.

5. Restart and note the time. Also note the CPU performance using "Task Manager" and make sure its not going above 20% during start up or immdtly after that.

Using the above steps debug and see which application takes more CPU time and adjust or recalibrate that application ( For ex: For AVG)

There is a free test program (or better said, there is also a free version) calledSisoft Sandra. It will test your complete PC and give you performance relevant infos for most of the major components. The slow ones need replacing....!

It tests memory, CPU, graphics card and hard disk.

I do have a version somewhere but it may be in German, if you have problems finding it, just let me know and I will have a look around for an English version 4 U.

Hi Andy,

SiSoftware Sandra is

Available at CNET

Just dwnloaded it.

But on installation it says there is a corrupt file, and direct x will not install

Is the corrupt file associated with direct x?

What is the file name of the corrupted file?

Can't remember now, but I just pressed ignore, direct x failed to install also, and the prog seems to work :D

prog seems to work

That's the important part

Look for another download site...

or go here:-

http://sisoft-sandra-lite.softonic.de/

and pick your language....

It works :P

guru3d.com has the 2009 version.

Start / Run / type " %Temp% " click enter. Select all and delete.

You can search the web for startup processes and also delete one at a time using msconfig to see which ones you need at startup.