Windows Performance Degrading

Basically as the title says, my Win XP install has just become so slow. It's not in starting up though, that itself seems to be fine. It's just in the actual performance. I would attribute it to my hard drive, but i'm running a 72GB Raptor and 200GB External combo which has never given me problems before. I've done spyware checks, virus checks, etc etc, and my system comes out clean. I can't figure it out.

Does anybody have a clue or a thought that would lead me in the right direction for restoring my performance?

PS, already checked disk defragmentation. I have a background defragmenter that runs (Diskeeper).

its windows it does this... i try to reformat every 3 to 4 months.... sometimes i let it go a 6 to 8 but thats when i dont have the time to reformat... i just back up all my stuff and then reformat... ya cant get around it windows just rots over time..

i just reformatted yesterday ... i got my 8800gts and was like ... eh winter break may as well.

nd4spdbh2 said:

its windows it does this... i try to reformat every 3 to 4 months.... sometimes i let it go a 6 to 8 but thats when i dont have the time to reformat... i just back up all my stuff and then reformat... ya cant get around it windows just rots over time..

i just reformatted yesterday ... i got my 8800gts and was like ... eh winter break may as well.

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Good advice nd4, also have you tried a defrag? That might help some, otherwise just back it up and start over fresh. Stupid Windows.

Femto said:

Good advice nd4, also have you tried a defrag? That might help some, otherwise just back it up and start over fresh. Stupid Windows.

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Midnight Dream said:

PS, already checked disk defragmentation. I have a background defragmenter that runs (Diskeeper).

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Ya, thanks for the recommendation though.

Femto said:

Good advice nd4, also have you tried a defrag? That might help some, otherwise just back it up and start over fresh. Stupid Windows.

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lol i delete temporary internet files, run Lavasoft spyware remove, defrag, and run tune xp ever week lol


ALSO if you guys are noticing that you hd space is being eaten up for no reason its because of system restore... easy way to delete thoes files is to...

Start > all programs > accessories > system tools > disk cleanup

start that up and de select everything in the main window that pops up... then click on the more options tab then in the system restore section click CLEAN UP. then yes. tehn ok

i just hate the idea of reformatting my main rig. XP64 is not known for its ease of getting it to work properly. When my new mb and cpu get here though it will be time. Sadly.

You guys are overlooking one really handy program though, the reason windows gets slow over time is beacause the registry gets full of junk, and it no longer optimized. I run registry mechanic on my rig and im on my 8th month on this xp install and i still get 1.5 loading bars and windows is still just as fast as the day i installed it. Clean your registry you will be amazed!

If you do format. Make an image when you get the install just the way you like it. Then if it gets all cranky. You will be back to a point where you are happy in a fraction of the time.

My setup the way it is. I have everything the way I like it. I image it. Then if something that I would rather not hunt and peck for a solution or is faster to reload. I am back in action in 15 minutes or less. It sure beats the day or longer than total fresh install everytime.

The disadvantage of imaging. Updates will be only upto the point of the last image. It is still faster the ndoing a full install and activation, program installs and the like. I install prorgams that Iknow are always installed. Games I tend to not add. I wait for the image to be done. though I do keep one game in my image. I always have that one game installed anyways.


If you plan ahead it is faster to reimage then figure out what is wrong. Not everytime, but sure is nice to have that in the bag.

I also give a vote for a reinstall. Then image it when you like that way it is set up. When there is wierd issues reload it in like 10 minutes.

liftedcj7on44s said:

You guys are overlooking one really handy program though, the reason windows gets slow over time is beacause the registry gets full of junk, and it no longer optimized. I run registry mechanic on my rig and im on my 8th month on this xp install and i still get 1.5 loading bars and windows is still just as fast as the day i installed it. Clean your registry you will be amazed!

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ya kno i NEVER thought of this... btw loading bars means nothing... it all depends on what drivers needed to be started for the board and perifs.

IAmMoen why are you runnin 64bit windows i heard it was much slower than the regular windows plus the whole needing 64 bit drivers and junk...

Registry isn't really that much of a viable answer in my case, because I have had my normal setup, and at most in the past 2 months, I have installed maybe 3 games. Registry doesn't really inflate by itself, not to a point that I get such serious system performance loss as I have.

well i have about 16 games on my computer, I use O&O defrag, registry mechanic and Ccleaner and my windows is like i said just as fast as the day i installed it. The drivers are all controlled from the registry so as long as the registry stay nice and clean then the drivers will lod faster on startup. Do this install windows. install all your programs and what not. defrag the drive. reboot the pc and note your boot times. then clean the registry with registry mechanic and then note the boot times, bet they will be alot faster. and you will have your desktop speed back too!

I've never understood needing to do frequent reformats. If you're relatively handy with hijackthis (it even has a log-submission page at hijackthis.de) and msconfig you can control what runs at startup, and if you run Firefox with NoScript and a light-weight software firewall there really shouldn't be any reason why your performance should degrade so quickly. I generally avoid messing with my registry at all (except after removing a large program and I'm not satisfied that it removed itself completely), and the only thing I have monitoring it is MS' *tiny* UPHClean service.

I rarely see a need to reformat and have only had a couple cookies show up in spybot in the last two years. I'm also not using brand-new hardware and I run windowblinds 5 and freaking symantec corporate of all things. There's really no reason why a full XP install can't run well over time if it's properly maintained and needless services like error reporting are nixed.


You can also reduce the HD space allotted to system restore (in system properties) and it won't devour the hard drive.

Its the windows stupid. Bill's invention I reinstall it every 5 months otherwise I can't even start it normally

If you haven't gotten your issue settled yet. May I offer some hints as to narrow it down. I going on the assumption you have ran the usual utilities for defrag and otherwise maintaining the install.


First off, get ready take the machine offline for a short time to do some testing. If you could, disable the firewall and virus scanner. Then run some basic benches. HD, RAM & CPU. See if if is faster or improves from having them running. A before and after for each. It will be easier to run the tests prior to disabling the security software. Then pull the RJ45 off the LAN card.

If this does not prove anything. I would suspect you would take it back online to do a in depth malware scan with some online scanners. (They prefer if your using IE)
Trendmicro
Panda
BitDefender


If nothing pops up, I would next suggest you further narrow it down. What I am suggesting. Is tp find out what is actually running slow. I would of hoped the benching would show if it is HD access or other subsystem giving an indication what is bottle necking you.

If you are still having issues narrowing it down. Think of each part of what your noticing what is running slow. i.e.- Explorer (can include right clicks), certain folders or specific shell/OS actions. Even if it seems difficult (which it can be.) To narrow what actions are actually slow. Then we can determine if it is a driver that is grumpy or what not .

Once you narrowed it down. Then we can start working on the system that is not responding to your liking.

I wouldn't see how reformatting would be the only way to fix the problem, never had such a problem myself with XP Pro. I would agree with this guy, follow these directions before having to reformat.

nd4spdbh2 said:

lol i delete temporary internet files, run Lavasoft spyware remove, defrag, and run tune xp ever week lol


ALSO if you guys are noticing that you hd space is being eaten up for no reason its because of system restore... easy way to delete thoes files is to...

Start > all programs > accessories > system tools > disk cleanup

start that up and de select everything in the main window that pops up... then click on the more options tab then in the system restore section click CLEAN UP. then yes. tehn ok

Click to expand...

Try this:
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=462591