Fast - Slow Computer

My computer that I am running has been operating fast, and then brutally slow. It has been eratic, and there is no specific time that it does this. Furthermore, on reboot the computer sometimes takes 20 - 30 minutes to complete the boot process. I suspect malware, but according to Spybot it comes up clean. The computer is a Sony Vaio 2GHz P4, 256MB RAM, 60GB HDD. I operate Windows XP Professional. I realize the specs may be a little light, but it is the inconsistency that is frustrating. Any help would be appreciated. Regards, Andy

Hi there aramage,

I have a few PC's here and one of them is only a P3 running XP. To have it run well with XP when I changed it over from 98SE I doubled it's RAM to 512mb.(max for that P3). It runs very well, but I have to cut it some slack and be very careful about what programs I load and especially what programs are in the startup menu so it doesn't take forever to boot up.
Following that sensible course of action it's a little desk rocket and it serves all my business requirements quite adequately. My dual OS beef PC handles all my main PC requirements and another my Linux experimentations which I'm a newbie at.

If you are running XP with half the RAM on your P4 as on my P3, you have to walk delicately. I'm a bit intrigued that you PC goes from rocket to a slow sprocket willy-nilly.

It does sound like you maybe have too many programs loaded into you startup menu and maybe some programs that really shouldn't be on a P4 with only 256mb of RAM. Ideally (especially as you are running XP) you should double your RAM to 512mb regardless. 1GB if your P4 allows it as 256mb of RAM is a bit thin on the ground for XP regardless of what you are running.

First off, it might be a good idea to run Autoruns . Run the program and click on the the "Logon" tab which will tell us what is in your startup menu. Save the output (File / Save) then zip the AutoRuns.arn file and upload here so we can see what you are running. Use the Browse and Upload buttons below the message input area to upload (don't use quick reply).

Before you move to the next step – Click on Start / Programs / Accessories / Systems Tools / Disk Cleanup and run it.

Second off, Go to:
http://www.pcpitstop.com/pcpitstop/default.asp

Please Run the PCPitstop Full Tests (it's the Overdrive test you want), here: PCPitstop Full Tests

You must use Internet Explorer as it needs to install an ActiveX program.

Note: Vista/Windows 7 users with UAC must first Right-click IE - Select "Run as Administrator"

If you haven't already registered, Click - Sign up now! (left hand column in User Login)

Register and create a password
Accept the ActiveX component to allow your machine to run the Full Tests
Registering and accepting the ActiveX are both SAFE and FREE.

The Full Tests take less than 5 minutes for most machines.

Once you have your Results, please post the URL (the http:// stuff) back here into this thread for review.

Note: Vista/Windows 7 users, please close your instance of IE "Running as Administrator" after you are finished reviewing your Results.

Caution: During the testing of Video Adapter, a variety of patterns, shapes, colors and text are “flashed” onto the users monitor screen. In the many thousands of daily uses of the PCPitstop Full Tests over several years, two individuals who suffer epilepsy experienced discomfort and temporary dizziness when viewing the flashing patterns.

If you know that you are susceptible to photo driven seizure, please look away from your screen during the Video Adapter testing sequence.

Note: The PCPitstop Full Tests Results is a free service, but is supported by various paid product advertisements for utilities that "could" remedy the OP's problem.

Since this site is a "free-help" forum, we do not recommend or endorse purchase of automated utilities, and will assist you in manually correcting any problems and settings necessary to optimize your machine's performance. Ask your questions here. We'll help you walk through any necessary steps.
————————————————————-
canned Pitstop instructions courtesy of Rich
————————————————————-

See how you go.

Cheers,
Lee

Further to Lee's advice, I recommend………

A good (free) utility for removing junk from your system is CCleaner. It also performs a "clean-up" pass on the registry.
http://www.ccleaner.com/download/
(Click on Download from FileHippo……, in the PayPal box)

Alternate Download;
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4191.html

When the next window opens, click "Download Latest Version" on the right of the page.

Once you download and install it, open the program then click on (left hand side) OPTIONS, then COOKIES. Any cookies you want to save (trusted sites, places you have usernames/passwords), highlight them in the left column, then (using the directional arrows between the panes), move them to the right hand column under "Cookies to keep".

Still under Options, click on Advanced. Remove the check mark from the box for "Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 24 hours".

Leave all other settings at the default.

Then click on Cleaner (on the top left). When that window opens, click on Run Cleaner (bottom right of the window.)

When it finishes, close CCleaner, and restart your machine. (Some files will not be deleted until a restart is performed.)

I do not advocate running CCleaner on each boot. I run it once or twice a week.


📎DanPennyRegseeker.txt

Dan, we don't advocate the use of any registry cleaners at WTT. Site policy. I removed the RegSeeker info you posted and added it as an attachment for now.

I know there are a lot of opinions on registry cleaners, so please don't take offense. The same thing would happen if I suggested using one.

Thanks. I will do both suggestions, and be adding the additional RAM tonight.

For now I have attached the Autoruns result, and below is the PC Pitstop Result:

http://www.pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?c…820&report=

Thanks for your help.

Andy

Sorry aramage, the autoruns file needs to be saved as a a text file. In autoruns make sure you have selected the "logon' tab and then click on save / save as / text. Apart from Google Earth being unsuitable for a PC with 256mb of RAM, I don't see anything in your Pitstop results that screams "problem" ! It could be that your startup menu just has too much in it. See how you go with the increased RAM as it might fix your problems. Cheers, Lee

Lee, I have attached the correct Autoruns.txt file in zip format. Thanks, Andy

To lighten your program resource load, I would recommend that you remove Abode reader and replace it with Foxit Reader. It functions exactly the same but without all the Abode bloatware. If you do install Foxit, choose custom install and untick any extras like toolbars or homepages etc.

This is your starup menu
[attachment removed]

You have no 3rd. party firewall it seems (?).

No reader needs to be in your startup menu so that is the first thing to untick. In fact I can't see anything that needs to be there except AVG.
You should now experience a much faster boot-up. If you don't, I'm suspecting an AVG issue. See how you go.

Cheers,
Lee

Hi Lee, I have replaced Adobe Reader with Foxit. I haven't added the RAM yet, but will this weekend. The computer is working better, but is still a little sluggish when I play some video. Thanks again, Andy

You could also replace AVG bloatware with MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials).

If you do decide to remove AVG do not attempt to remove it with "Add and remove programs". Go here and download a special AVG removal tool.

Cheers,
Lee

Lee, you can open the Autoruns.arn file aramage posted in Autoruns. Actually easier to work with that the .txt file. Aramage, you could also disable: Address Book 6 and Microsoft Outlook Express 6. No need for them to be starting at boot time. intu-qt2009 and intu-tt2010. Again, no need for them to start at boot time. mso-offdap JQSIEStartDetectorImpl Class Windows Messenger GoogleUpdateTaskMachineCore.job GoogleUpdateTaskMachineUA.job gupdate JavaQuickStarterService Any of the Movie Maker processes unless you use Movie Maker often. All these show: File not found: C:\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\xxxxxxxxx catchme Chasnger i2omgmt lbrtfdc PCIDump PDCOMP PDFRAME PDRELI PDRFRAME All you are doing is disabling them. Try it and see how the computer runs and if there is any problem. If not, leave them disabled. If yes, re-enable as needed.

Thanks for the help Rich

Hi Lee, Sorry for the late reply. I have added 512MB RAM to my system. The system has improved immensely on boot-up, and general opertion. I cannot find the references that Rich listed that need to be disabled. I will replace AVG with MCE and see what happens. What third-party firewall do you suggest? Thanks for all your help. Andy

Glad to hear the extra ram has improved your PC performance.

Aramage, you could also disable:

Address Book 6 and Microsoft Outlook Express 6. No need for them to be starting at boot time.
intu-qt2009 and intu-tt2010. Again, no need for them to start at boot time.
mso-offdap
JQSIEStartDetectorImpl Class
Windows Messenger
GoogleUpdateTaskMachineCore.job
GoogleUpdateTaskMachineUA.job
gupdate
JavaQuickStarterService
Any of the Movie Maker processes unless you use Movie Maker often.

All these show: File not found: C:\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\xxxxxxxxx
catchme
Chasnger
i2omgmt
lbrtfdc
PCIDump
PDCOMP
PDFRAME
PDRELI
PDRFRAME

The Address Book 6 and Outlook Express 6 are in the Autoruns file under the "Login" tab and anything else Rich mentioned not under that tab should be under the "Everything" tab. Untick them.

My choice in Firewall is Online Armore (see link below in my signature). It's a little 'noisy' at first but once it knows your system it settles down very nicely. The freeware version is a great firewall but it comes down to personal choice. AVG is just too bloated for my tastes.

Cheers,
Lee

The computer is 100% better. I am in the process of replacing the AVG "bloatware" with MCE. Once completed, I will do a scan. Thanks for your help.