Slow IE and automatic WU 0% for long time

Hi

I have already gone through a series of checks recommended by TomK in Malware Forum http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?sh…view=getnewpost

My problem is that IE is very slow, eg when I open a new tab it can take 20 seconds or so. Also to start MS Access takes much longer than on my slower laptop. One problem that I can see but can't fix is that the yellow WU notification icon pops up but it will never go higher than 0%, after a while it disappears and then comes back again and still won't get the updates. If I start Microsoft Update in IE and manually walks through the process it will function properly. I have read "How to repair Windows Update if it stops working, Windows Made Easy" an tried the solutions in there but it didn't change this problem.

Can you guide me through some other tests to see what is wrong?

Many thanks in advance

Mats

Hi Mats.

Have you tried resetting IE8 to default (Installed) state? If not, read here: http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/4084/ie8-re…fault-settings/

If that doesn't help then you can try uninstalling IE8 from Add or Remove Programs, just click the Show Updates box at the top then scroll down to Internet Explorer 8 and uninstall it. That will restore your previous browser which is most likely IE7. See how that works.

Hi Ztruker Many thanks for helping me! Resetting IE8 to default speeded things in IE up. The other problems still remains. Extremely slow start of many programs, specially MS Access which I use frequently. Automatic updates of windows and office still doesn't work. Have any solutions for me to try for these? Best regards Mats

Mats, how does Access behave if you boot to Safe Mode (Press F8 when you see the Manufacturer's logo during boot)?

Hi Ztruker Many thanks for helping me! In safe mode I was asked to activate MS Access on start. I choose cancel since I had no access to the Internet in safe mode. I could still open an Accessdatabase in read only mode and it was much quicker than usual. Best regards Mats

Try booting to Safe Mode with Networking, that should give you internet access. Then see if Access works correctly. If yes, then something is starting when you boot your computer normally that is causing the problem. Here are some steps to follow to figure out what it is:

Use msconfig to determine what is causing the problem.

These are good tutorials on using msconfig in XP or Vista:
How to use msconfig in Windows XP
How to use msconfig in Windows Vista

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, boot to Safe Mode again, start msconfig and click on the Services tab.
Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system.
Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.
Enable everything else you disabled.

Hi Ztruker Many thanks for helping me! Starting MS in safe mode takes ca 3 seconds. If I disable all on startup tab it takes ca 9-10 seconds. If all is enabled it takes 10-11 seconds so no big difference. It is hard for me to pinpoint excatly when it runs very slow. One thing that is extremely slow is Windows Search 4. It has been indexeing for weeks in the background and still hasn't don much (4000 out of 120000 files). Best regards Mats

How often do you actually search your hard drive? If you're like most of us, it's seldom. I would uninstall Windows Search, then turn off indexing. When you need to search the hard drive, it will take longer, so what? To disable indexing, open My Computer, right click on your hard drive then uncheck Allow indexing at the bottom. Do you have a Windows XP install CD?

Hi Ztruker Many thanks for helping me! I use results from windows search rather often, mainly for searching in old mails. I was getting some funny answers and choos to rebuild the search index. This is taking all this time. Yes I have a XP install CD. Why do you want to know this? Best regards Mats

It would be good to run System File Checker (SFC), see if any system files are missing or corrupted.

Click on Start then Run, type sfc /scannow and press Enter.

You will probably be prompted to put the XP CD in the drive. DO so then let it complete. You will not get any notice of what has happened, it will just close when done (one of Microsoft's less stellar interfaces).

The following is a long list of tips I've collected to fix Windows Update problems. Read through them and try them, especiall the ones near the bottom on re-registering Windows Update components:

If you are having problems with Microsoft's Windows Update, see this web site for some excellent tips and troubleshooting ideas:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144

Good information available here: http://winhlp.com/?q=node/36

This article on Help2Go.com has some excellent fixes for Windows Update problems.

Following posted by sdlomi2 here: http://help.wugnet.com/windows/Windows-upd…pict585188.html

Re-register the Windows update dll as suggested by the following post from http://forums.vnunet.com/message.jspa?messageID=870658

Also re-register the windows update components. This may help fix a
corrupt installer

1. Click on Start and Run,
2. Type "REGSVR32 WUAPI.DLL" (without quotation marks) and press Enter.
3. Should get the message "DllRegisterServer in WUAPI.DLL succeeded", Click OK.
4. Repeat for each of the following:

REGSVR32 WUAUENG1.DLL
REGSVR32 ATL.DLL
REGSVR32 WUPS2.DLL
REGSVR32 WUCLTUI.DLL
REGSVR32 WUPS.DLL
REGSVR32 WUWEB.DLL
REGSVR32 WUAUENG.DLL

5. Reboot

If not better, you can download the latest installer from MS and see if this helps: http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/wininstallnt.html

Hi Ztruker Many thanks for helping me! I have followed all instructions in your last post and also uninstalled Windows Search. Still same behaviour of computer though. Best regards Mats

Lets get a look at your system. Please do a PcPitStop Full Test. You need to register but it's free. When it finishes, please post the URL for your test here (the HTTP:// stuff).

I forgot yo mention that you need to use Internet Explorer for this test.

Hi Ztruker

Many thanks for helping me!

http://pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?conid=22643161

Mats

There are only a couple of things shown in the PCPitStop summary that I'd like you to fix. Click on the link and it will tell you how to fix it. Change Internet Receive Buffer Reduce System Restore Capacity Enable Internet HTTP 1.1 See if that makes any difference.

Hi Ztruker

Many thanks for helping me!

I have fixed the three things you suggested. At the same time there was a Windows update icon in the tray saying updates are being retrieved 0% (same problem as before). I went to MS Update and downloaded the updates but two of them failed to install (SIlverlight and Outlook junkfilter). I went back to your earlier post on Update and started to go through that stuff again. But when trying to open http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144 IE close down and automatically restores the page and closes down and restores….. endless loop. I remember I installed some Windows Script 5.6 from some of these pages last time. I now see that this is an old version. Can this be the problem.

Mats