Slow and unresponsive system

Immortal · Post by **Immortal** » Mon May 31, 2004 1:01 pm

Hi all,
Ive been using my system and it seems ungodly slow.
It takes forever for something to load, openin word takes around 40 odd seconds, same with Mozilla, sometimes it plain doesnt want to react, like clicking icons, it stalls. Things commonly dont respond, even switching between open windows is slow, i got this rig for speed, this sure as hell isnt speed!

Using Windows 2003, donno what the problem is, im in the process of aquiring another HDD and bakcing stuff up for a complete re-build of the RAID array and stuff. (as a side note what cluster size shuld i use).

Any ideas what i can do short of reformatting and starting up?

Thnx all,
Immortal

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Mon May 31, 2004 2:47 pm

Do you install and uninstall a lot of software. there is a chance that youy registry has goten overly bulky. Windows does not like to deleate old information from the registry so when it gets filled up it can cause your system to dog. I use a program called Registry First Aid to keep my registry clean. Its kinda like spybot for the windows registry. I dont know if it works on win03 or not though.

Immortal · Post by **Immortal** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 3:47 am

il have a look into it, thnx.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 6:25 am

Another great program is Ace Utilities. I use that and it helped alot, does thee registry thing as well as cleaning your whole system.
I recently have had a problem with Windows taking up to 5 minutes to shut down. I have read alot about Prefetch etc, and now I regualarly clean out my prefetch folder. My system boots faster, but still takes forever to shut down. I didn't like Registry First Aid because once in awhile it would delete registry settings that were needed and caused problems, sometimes it wouldn't delete some things and would just keep shutting down. Another thing you might want to try if you haven't already is Diskeepeer 8.0 I know it made a huge difference on my system, it is a super defragger, and can be used as a boot time defragger which runs chkdsk and defrags your paging file. give it a shot as well.
As to cluster size, I haven't messed with mine, but just finished reading an article where they tested cluster sizes. they said the best results came from smaller clusters, 16-32K, it said if your set to default that you should try to set it to minimum instead.

Immortal · Post by **Immortal** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:05 am

Im alreayd using diskeeper, it is a fantastic utility, Registry FA was good aswell, found tonnes of unused stuff!

It seems to have gotten faster, but still slow compared to my other slower systems....

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:10 am

I hate to say it but there is noting better than a fresh install for speeding up a system.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:17 am

I totally agree. I bought Norton Ghost about a month ago, still haven't used it, but that is going to change real quick. i have heard that it is a really good idea to do an image after a fresh install.
My big problem is my Plextor Premium just destroyed my WinXP Pro disk. Decided to take it upon itself to spin at 52X, way too much, heard a strange vibrating sound, then a horrific crash, now I have a useless CD, that is spiderwebbed. $200 down the tubes.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 9:45 am

Thats what i would suggest do a fresh install with your core programs like Office, brwoser ect. then do a ghost of that. make sure you can restore from it.

And capper try calling MS see if they will replace the disk its was faulty. and you alredy paid for their software

Bio-Hazard · Post by **Bio-Hazard** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 10:35 am

MS will normally replace disks as long as you can prove ownership ........they have a place on their web site to order replacement disks.........

T-Shirt · Post by **T-Shirt** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 11:27 am

Correct! Shipping is about $19.95 but the disk is free. Don't toss the old disk, cause occasionally they ask for something as proof of purchase, but mostly all the ask for is is the CD key plus shipping and billing Info

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Tue Jun 01, 2004 11:41 am

Just to post a correction. Called MS, it is $23 to replace a copy of WinXP Pro, plus $5 S/H and any applicable taxes. So about $30 altogether, which is alot better than the $299 I paid at a Staples 2 1/2 yrs ago.

T-Shirt · Post by **T-Shirt** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 2:42 pm

Must be inflation, I haven't had to replace any disks for a while

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Wed Jun 02, 2004 5:29 pm

Another correction. I just called MS to place the order, and because I was so nice and patient, they sent me the replacement disk at no charge. He said typically it is $230 plus tax and shipping, but that they have the ability to waive charges if the people are nice.
So the next time you need something from MS, try to hold it in and talk in a jovial tune, it seems to help.