Winxp performance issues

  • Thread starter Thread starter DL
  • Start date Start date
D

DL

Winxp sp3, AMD 3800+ dual core, 2gb dual Corsair ram (tested, its not value
ram) 160gb Sata (Tested) NVidea 8600GT, Large Pwr supply from a decent
source, though I would have expected obvious drive problems if Pwr was an
issue.
No heat issues, No malaware, trojans or virus, plenty of free space
No Event errors, chkdsk has been run without issue, drive is defragged.
System runs 24/7 & has done for the last 3 years or so since a new hardware
clean install, BSOD a rarity - cannot remmber the last -
No Games, Mainstream Office type programs only.
Certain MS programs, eg Outlook on occasions show a lag if any screen
refresh is required - no its not an issue with the outlook data files, or OL
configeration - ; MS Office Accounting Pro is so bad in this that the
application is unuseable - MOA Tech have been unable to offer a solution or
reason. All other Office 2007 components are fine, allthough Word tends to
open slowly.
Acrobat full version, various heavy weight accounting apps all run fine.
Today I opened Exporer, its window wasnt fully formed, rt side missing?
Occasionally I open say Control Panel and note that the icons are generic,
but then slowly refresh one by one.
I've used msconfig to disable all start ups, hidden all non MS and disabled
the rest, rebooted and its still the same. No mapped network drives
Vvidea drivers have been updated, bios & Chipset updated
Typical commit of 778936 with peak of 815496

Can anyone offer any clues / insite as to what might be going on?
Thanks
 
#1: A process that's loading down your CPU:
It could be a sub-process or application that's running in the background
and taking all the CPU resources, which could be the cause of your PC
running slow.
To find and display what could be the problem try Process Explorer:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/ProcessExplorer.mspx

Note: Once you have Process Explorer installed and running:
In the taskbar select View and check 'Show Process Tree' and
'Show Lower Pane' options.
Then expand the process named 'Explorer' (click on the + sign)
In the column on the left named 'CPU', look for any high CPU usage.
Next click on the CPU column to sort the processes by %CPU usage
(Highest to Lowest).
Move the mouse cursor over any process, you should see a popup with some
detailed info.
Then mouse over the process that's using most or all the CPU %.
Then click on that process to highlight it,
Now that it's highlighted, right click and from the options listed select:
'Search Online'
This should display what out there on the web about that process.
You can also double click on any process to open up a more detailed
'Properties' window.
Note: some entries like Explorer, System/Services, and
Svchost entries may need to be expanded to show the detail (sub processes),
in this case click on the + located to the left of the entry.

An alternate method using Process Explorer is to double click
on the Graph just below the Menu bar.
This will open the 'System Information' window, which has a larger display
of all three graphs.
Move your mouse over any spike in the CPU Usage graph to see what
process/application or service was the cause of the spike.

#2: Stuff that loads during boot or logon and then is always running in the
background:
If you want to list and explore what may be the cause then:
Try Autoruns from the MS Windows SysInternals site:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx

AutoRuns will show/list all apps/etc. that load/run when you first boot
(Boot Execute tab),
when you logon (Logon tab) and other programs that load
(grouped by labeled tabs) for easy viewing.
It also provides the ability to selectively allows you to stop any program
(use with care) that you don't want to load.
You can undo any changes you have made.
Note: To get additional details on an item in the list you may need to
highlight the item (right click) and use the 'Search Online' option to get
the details, especially useful for the more obscure items in the list.

#3: Viruses
Viruses and malware can also cause your PC to slowdown or malfunction.
Malke has an excellent set of instructions on what to do:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

#4: To much crap on the hard drive:
Take a look at CCleaner as a tool to remove Internet history info, cookies,
temp files, auto complete and other junk.
In the 'Windows' tab listing check the item types you want deleted.
Note: Do not use the registry cleaning option!!!
Also available is customization, see Options/Custom to add any
other/additional folders you want files deleted from.
http://www.ccleaner.com/

#5: Defragment your hard drive.

JS
 
1) Can occur with cpu useage at 10%
2) Tested with all background apps & non MS services out of the equation -
no change
3) Virus / Malaware clean
4) Not applicable
5) Allready done so not applicable
 
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