IE6 (XP Home SP2) sluggish while downloading

[newsrider3]

With IE6 (Windows XP Home SP1) and prior versions, I could open other web
pages fairly easy while downloading something. Not so with SP2. Attempting
to connect to a website (or a newsserver with OE6) usually fails. Sometimes
it will connect after trying several times.

I suspect this may be because the downloading process is set too high in
priority(?), or it might be a security issue(?). In any case, it means that
while I'm downloading something, my computer becomes fairly useless for any
other tasks.

Please note that I've seen this in several different SP2 installations, so
it isn't just my particular current installation at fault. I just
reformatted and reinstalled my op system a couple of days ago, and there is
no improvement from my prior installations involving SP2.

Any ideas how to fix this would be appreciated.

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP IE/OE]

With IE6 (Windows XP Home SP1) and prior versions, I could open other web
pages fairly easy while downloading something. Not so with SP2. Attempting
to connect to a website (or a newsserver with OE6) usually fails.
Sometimes it will connect after trying several times.

I suspect this may be because the downloading process is set too high in
priority(?), or it might be a security issue(?). In any case, it means
that while I'm downloading something, my computer becomes fairly useless
for any other tasks.

Please note that I've seen this in several different SP2 installations, so
it isn't just my particular current installation at fault. I just
reformatted and reinstalled my op system a couple of days ago, and there
is no improvement from my prior installations involving SP2.

Any ideas how to fix this would be appreciated.

From http://www.fjsmjs.com/OE/nolinks.htm

Open Windows Explorer.
Go to Tools | Folder Options | File Types.
Scroll down to URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol and select it.
Click Edit or Advanced, depending on your Windows version.
Select 'open'.
Click Edit.

"Application used to perform this action" should read:

"C:\PROGRAM FILES\INTERNET EXPLORER\iexplore.exe" -nohome
(Check the path to iexplore.exe to make sure that is correct and use the
double quotes.)

DDE should be checked and in the boxes below it you should have:

#1:
"%1",,-1,0,,,,
#2
IExplore
#3 (blank)

#4
WWW_OpenURL

URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy should be the same.

Sometimes it is necessary to uncheck Use DDE.

If that doesn't fix it, go to Start | Run and type

regsvr32 urlmon.dll

First eliminate any spyware.
What You Should Know About Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/devioussoftware.mspx

CAUTION!!!!! Before you try to remove spyware using any of these programs ,
download a copy of LSPFIX from any of the following sites:
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html
(if your OS is Win2k or XP) The process of removing certain malware may kill
your internet connection. If this should occur, this program, LSPFIX, will
enable you to regain your connection.

See
Dealing with Unwanted Malware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Note that AdAware and SpyBot S & D will each catch some things the other
won't. Also, each needs to be updated with the program's update function
before every use, even when just downloaded. There's also a lot more to do
than just those two programs. CWShredder is also available here:
http://www.intermute.com/products/cwshredder
**Post your HijackThis log to
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/ or the Spyware forum at
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert analysis, not here.**
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and CWShredder
may be found on this page:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.

See this link for information about malware:
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/malware.ars

If nothing there helps, please post back to this thread.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx

 

[newsrider3]

From http://www.fjsmjs.com/OE/nolinks.htm

Open Windows Explorer.
Go to Tools | Folder Options | File Types.
Scroll down to URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol and select it.
Click Edit or Advanced, depending on your Windows version.
Select 'open'.
Click Edit.

"Application used to perform this action" should read:

"C:\PROGRAM FILES\INTERNET EXPLORER\iexplore.exe" -nohome
(Check the path to iexplore.exe to make sure that is correct and use the
double quotes.)

DDE should be checked and in the boxes below it you should have:

#1:
"%1",,-1,0,,,,
#2
IExplore
#3 (blank)

#4
WWW_OpenURL

URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy should be the same.

Sometimes it is necessary to uncheck Use DDE.

If that doesn't fix it, go to Start | Run and type

regsvr32 urlmon.dll

First eliminate any spyware.
What You Should Know About Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/devioussoftware.mspx

CAUTION!!!!! Before you try to remove spyware using any of these programs
, download a copy of LSPFIX from any of the following sites:
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm
http://www.spychecker.com/program/winsockxpfix.html
(if your OS is Win2k or XP) The process of removing certain malware may
kill
your internet connection. If this should occur, this program, LSPFIX, will
enable you to regain your connection.

See
Dealing with Unwanted Malware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Note that AdAware and SpyBot S & D will each catch some things the other
won't. Also, each needs to be updated with the program's update function
before every use, even when just downloaded. There's also a lot more to
do than just those two programs. CWShredder is also available here:
http://www.intermute.com/products/cwshredder
**Post your HijackThis log to
http://www.spywareinfo.com/forums/
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/
http://castlecops.com/forum67.html
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/ or the Spyware forum at
http://forum.aumha.org/viewforum.php?f=30 for expert analysis, not here.**
Alternative download pages for Ad-Aware, Spybot, HijackThis and CWShredder
may be found on this page:
http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm.

See this link for information about malware:
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/malware.ars

If nothing there helps, please post back to this thread.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx

Thanks. I'll work my way through that long list (eventually) and report back
here if I discover anything.

I've just done a couple of things which helped. I am now able to connect to
other websites/newsservers while a download is in progress (so far). It's
still slower than normal, but at least it connects rather than
timesout/refuses.
(1) first I ran "ipconfig /flushdns" in a cmd window
(2) then I made the following two registry tweaks:
http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsXP/tune-24.html (adjusts DNS cache
settings)
http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsXP/tune-120.html (increases maximum
number of IE download sessions)
I suspect the HOSTS file is involved too, but don't know what to do about
it. I use the HOSTS file from the MVP website, adding a few of my own
domain blocks, and then replace all instances of 127.0.0.1 with 0.0.0.0
(except localhost). The latter avoids frame delays when using the IE "Back"
button.

 

[newsrider3]

Thanks. I'll work my way through that long list (eventually) and report
back here if I discover anything.

I've just done a couple of things which helped. I am now able to connect
to other websites/newsservers while a download is in progress (so far).
It's still slower than normal, but at least it connects rather than
timesout/refuses.
(1) first I ran "ipconfig /flushdns" in a cmd window
(2) then I made the following two registry tweaks:
http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsXP/tune-24.html (adjusts DNS cache
settings)
http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsXP/tune-120.html (increases maximum
number of IE download sessions)
I suspect the HOSTS file is involved too, but don't know what to do about
it. I use the HOSTS file from the MVP website, adding a few of my own
domain blocks, and then replace all instances of 127.0.0.1 with 0.0.0.0
(except localhost). The latter avoids frame delays when using the IE
"Back" button.

Nope. I spoke too soon. The inability to connect to other websites while
downloading soon returned. It's erratic, unpredictable. Sometimes it works
OK, sometimes not. It also looks like some websites may connect easier than
others, so I'm wondering if it's some kind of new website server software
that's been distributed in recent weeks? (Turning off my HOSTS file doesn't
help.)

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP IE/OE]

Nope. I spoke too soon. The inability to connect to other websites while
downloading soon returned. It's erratic, unpredictable. Sometimes it works
OK, sometimes not. It also looks like some websites may connect easier
than others, so I'm wondering if it's some kind of new website server
software that's been distributed in recent weeks? (Turning off my HOSTS
file doesn't help.)

I don't know whether or not this would apply:

WinInet Limits Connections Per Server
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/183110
How to Configure IE to have more than 2 download sessions.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282402

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com./athome/security/protect/default.aspx

 

[newsrider3]

I don't know whether or not this would apply:

WinInet Limits Connections Per Server
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/183110
How to Configure IE to have more than 2 download sessions.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282402

Both of those articles suggest the same fix. I already made those registry changes and it wasn't a cure. They used to work fine with SP1, but not SP2.

However rereading them gave me the idea to uncheck the "Use HTTP 1.1" box in IE Options/Advanced which is apparently optional, so I'll give that a try.

My other notion is to launch IE processes with different priorities (high, abovenormal, normal, belownormal, low) and I've played around with that a little. It may help. but I've had a couple of minor graphics glitches on my desktop, so I'm not sure if it's a good idea - it might cause system instability(?). Anyway here's how to do it...

Copy a IE shortcut somewhere, and change the properties to read as follows:
Target: C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /c start /abovenormal C:\Progra~1\Intern~1\iexplore.exe
Start in: C:\WINDOWS\system32
That method can be used to launch any application at different priority levels. (You could do the same thing with a batch file, but this is easier to setup-just modify a shortcut.) There doesn't seem to be much consequence to the abovenormal and belownormal levels, but they have an affect. For example if an application is using too much resources so you can't multitask, launch it at belownormal. At the extremes, I found that the low level is very slow, so you probably wouldn't want to use it, but the high level seems OK. I haven't tried the realtime level.

 

[Robert Aldwinckle]

....

I've just done a couple of things which helped. I am now able to connect to
other websites/newsservers while a download is in progress (so far). It's
still slower than normal, but at least it connects rather than
timesout/refuses.
(1) first I ran "ipconfig /flushdns" in a cmd window
(2) then I made the following two registry tweaks:
http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsXP/tune-24.html (adjusts DNS cache
settings)

Interesting information, thanks.

http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsXP/tune-120.html (increases maximum
number of IE download sessions)
I suspect the HOSTS file is involved too, but don't know what to do about
it. I use the HOSTS file from the MVP website, adding a few of my own
domain blocks, and then replace all instances of 127.0.0.1 with 0.0.0.0
(except localhost). The latter avoids frame delays when using the IE "Back"
button.

Do you have a reference for that idea?
I think that using 0.0.0.0 will imply a network access
whereas using 127.0.0.1 will be completely local.
The latter could be a problem if you actually have a local server
actually listening on 127.0.0.1:80 of course.

Also, if you are going to use a gigantic HOSTS file
I think perhaps you might want to do an

ipconfig /flushdns

after each boot. To check if this idea makes sense
try issuing these commands after a boot:

ipconfig /displaydns >displaydns.txt
notepad displaydns.txt

On second thought that probably doesn't do anything.
I suspect that as soon as the cache is flushed
it will be reloaded again from HOSTS;
so as long as dnscache is running you will
always have whatever overhead a gigantic HOSTS
file incurs (at least for day, according to your above
reference but I suspect that entries added from the
HOSTS file won't expire anyway).

Have you tried stopping the dnscache?
Then your lookups would be restricted to using entries
just from HOSTS before doing a real DNS lookup.

net stop dnscache

That might be worth a test anyway, because if it makes
your symptom worse it would provide stronger evidence
that your DNS is the cause of your problem.


HTH

Robert Aldwinckle
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