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How to speed up my XP notebook

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  • C Chris Maunder

    Uninstall what you don't desperately need, clean up the drive and degrag. Other than that I'd say acrificing a chicken is probably as helpful as anything. The only thing that ever really works for me is a clean reinstall.

    cheers, Chris Maunder

    CodeProject.com : C++ MVP

    B Offline
    B Offline
    Brady Kelly
    wrote on last edited by
    #5

    I'm having a very nostalgic time. I've got ABBA songs stuck in my head, and it's been ages since the last chicken.

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    • B Brady Kelly

      It's been over a year since it's last clean install, and its screen is broken so I hesitate to install again right now, so I was hoping someone could advise me on services to unload etc. to get a little responsiveness out of the old dear. I've been working solely on my 2.13GHz desktop for about a month, and now my notebook seems sooo slow. I know it can be faster than it is, unencumbered.

      An Apple for Eve, A button for Steve, It never ends. . . bramster on Worse Than Failure

      F Offline
      F Offline
      Farhan Noor Qureshi
      wrote on last edited by
      #6

      Stopping unnecessary applications from loading at startup makes a good impression. Some services can be disabled or set to start manually, it depends on which services you can work with out. Mostly following services are not needed in all situations: (but be careful) - Alerter - Application Layer Gateway Service - Application Management - COM+ Event System - COM+ System Application - Distributed Link Tracking Client - Distributed Transaction Coordinator - Error Reporting Service - Fast User Switching Compatibility - Fax - FTP Publishing - HTTP SSL - Human Interface Device Access - IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service - Indexing Service - Logical Disk Manager - Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service - Messenger - Messenger Sharing Folders USN Journal Reader service - MS Software Shadow Copy Provider - Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service - NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing - Network DDE - Network DDE DSDM - Network Provisioning Service - NT LM Security Support Provider - Performance Logs and Alerts - Portable Media Serial Number Service - QoS RSVP - Remote Access Auto Connection Manager - Remote Access Connection Manager - Remote Desktop Help Session Manager - Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator - Removable Storage - Routing and Remote Access - Roxio Hard Drive Watcher 9 - RoxMediaDB9 - Smart Card - Themes - Uninterruptible Power Supply - Universal Plug and Play Device Host - Visual Studio 2005 Remote Debugger - Volume Shadow Copy - Windows CardSpace - Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) - Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) - Windows Installer - Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions - Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service - Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0 - WMI Performance Adapter Phewwwwwww. Note: you may not have all the services mentioned above. You may have additional ones too. Safest bet would be to set "startup type" of one service to Manual and go from there.


      Farhan Noor Qureshi

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      • B Brady Kelly

        It's been over a year since it's last clean install, and its screen is broken so I hesitate to install again right now, so I was hoping someone could advise me on services to unload etc. to get a little responsiveness out of the old dear. I've been working solely on my 2.13GHz desktop for about a month, and now my notebook seems sooo slow. I know it can be faster than it is, unencumbered.

        An Apple for Eve, A button for Steve, It never ends. . . bramster on Worse Than Failure

        M Offline
        M Offline
        Mike Dimmick
        wrote on last edited by
        #7

        I have a hypothesis that the registry gets internally fragmented over time which contributes to it taking longer to retrieve given keys and related keys if they were added at different times. There is no way to defragment the registry on-line, but it is possible to save and restore the registry by either: - Backing up System State with Windows Backup (or another compatible tool such as Backup Exec) and restoring it; - Using REG SAVE and REG RESTORE. As I say, it's just a hypothesis, but could help. Still, I'd probably take a full system backup before trying it, and ensuring you have everything required to reinstall the system in case it goes wrong.


        DoEvents: Generating unexpected recursion since 1991

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        • B Brady Kelly

          It's been over a year since it's last clean install, and its screen is broken so I hesitate to install again right now, so I was hoping someone could advise me on services to unload etc. to get a little responsiveness out of the old dear. I've been working solely on my 2.13GHz desktop for about a month, and now my notebook seems sooo slow. I know it can be faster than it is, unencumbered.

          An Apple for Eve, A button for Steve, It never ends. . . bramster on Worse Than Failure

          A Offline
          A Offline
          Anthony Mushrow
          wrote on last edited by
          #8

          Step One: Go get CCleaner. Step Two: Run CCleaner. Step Three: Get CCleaner to clean up your registry Step Four: Repeat step Three until it stops finding errors Step Five: Use CCleaner to uninstall all that crap that built up Step Six: Use CCleaner to see all the useless stuff that runs everytime you log on, remove all the stuff that isn't necessary Step Seven: delete any old files you don't need, or back them up on a separate drive. Step Eight: Defrag, there is some decent defraging software that is made by the same people as CCleaner, so you may as well get it while your there. But you can use whatever you prefer Step Nine: Defrag again, it'll probably find more stuff to move Step Ten: Restart. There's probably more stuff you can do as well, but that should make a noticable difference.

          My current favourite word is: Waffle Cheese is still good though.

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          • C Chris Maunder

            Uninstall what you don't desperately need, clean up the drive and degrag. Other than that I'd say acrificing a chicken is probably as helpful as anything. The only thing that ever really works for me is a clean reinstall.

            cheers, Chris Maunder

            CodeProject.com : C++ MVP

            P Offline
            P Offline
            Pete OHanlon
            wrote on last edited by
            #9

            Chris Maunder wrote:

            I'd say acrificing a chicken is probably as helpful as anything

            Sacrificing the chicken is always good. If the fix doesn't work you've still got the makings of a good meal.

            Deja View - the feeling that you've seen this post before.

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            • B Brady Kelly

              It's been over a year since it's last clean install, and its screen is broken so I hesitate to install again right now, so I was hoping someone could advise me on services to unload etc. to get a little responsiveness out of the old dear. I've been working solely on my 2.13GHz desktop for about a month, and now my notebook seems sooo slow. I know it can be faster than it is, unencumbered.

              An Apple for Eve, A button for Steve, It never ends. . . bramster on Worse Than Failure

              R Offline
              R Offline
              realJSOP
              wrote on last edited by
              #10

              Brady Kelly wrote:

              now my notebook seems sooo slow

              When you're dragging it behind your car, drive faster.

              "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
              -----
              "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

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              • R realJSOP

                Brady Kelly wrote:

                now my notebook seems sooo slow

                When you're dragging it behind your car, drive faster.

                "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
                -----
                "...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001

                J Offline
                J Offline
                Joe Programm3r
                wrote on last edited by
                #11

                John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                Brady Kelly wrote: now my notebook seems sooo slow When you're dragging it behind your car, drive faster.

                ... or throw it harder ...

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                • E Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

                  Install Linux? Ok sorry , couldn't resist. (Uninstall virus scan, and gain 30%)


                  Need a C# Consultant? I'm available.
                  Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know. -- Ernest Hemingway

                  D Offline
                  D Offline
                  DaveX86
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #12

                  Have you checked it for spyware and/or viruses?...that slows things down a lot.

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                  • C Chris Maunder

                    Uninstall what you don't desperately need, clean up the drive and degrag. Other than that I'd say acrificing a chicken is probably as helpful as anything. The only thing that ever really works for me is a clean reinstall.

                    cheers, Chris Maunder

                    CodeProject.com : C++ MVP

                    J Offline
                    J Offline
                    Jim Crafton
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #13

                    I've found using a small goat in lieu of a chicken to be more successful, and as a last resort there's always the Psychic Friends Network[^].

                    ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog

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                    • M Mike Dimmick

                      I have a hypothesis that the registry gets internally fragmented over time which contributes to it taking longer to retrieve given keys and related keys if they were added at different times. There is no way to defragment the registry on-line, but it is possible to save and restore the registry by either: - Backing up System State with Windows Backup (or another compatible tool such as Backup Exec) and restoring it; - Using REG SAVE and REG RESTORE. As I say, it's just a hypothesis, but could help. Still, I'd probably take a full system backup before trying it, and ensuring you have everything required to reinstall the system in case it goes wrong.


                      DoEvents: Generating unexpected recursion since 1991

                      S Offline
                      S Offline
                      SassenFrassenRassen
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #14

                      I would try PageDefrag for this. It'll defrag your regsitry files and you pagefile at boot time. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/pagedefrag.mspx Enjoy.

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                      • J Jim Crafton

                        I've found using a small goat in lieu of a chicken to be more successful, and as a last resort there's always the Psychic Friends Network[^].

                        ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog

                        D Offline
                        D Offline
                        Douglas Troy
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #15

                        Jim Crafton wrote:

                        as a last resort there's always the Psychic Friends Network[^].

                        I totally knew you were going to say that! :->


                        :..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
                        Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

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                        • D Douglas Troy

                          Jim Crafton wrote:

                          as a last resort there's always the Psychic Friends Network[^].

                          I totally knew you were going to say that! :->


                          :..::. Douglas H. Troy ::..
                          Bad Astronomy |VCF|wxWidgets|WTL

                          J Offline
                          J Offline
                          Jim Crafton
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #16

                          I'm just trying to help...

                          ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog

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                          • J Jim Crafton

                            I've found using a small goat in lieu of a chicken to be more successful, and as a last resort there's always the Psychic Friends Network[^].

                            ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog

                            E Offline
                            E Offline
                            El Corazon
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #17

                            Jim Crafton wrote:

                            and as a last resort there's always the Psychic Friends Network[^].

                            He said "hey, slow down, relax!" I said "Oh Wizard, oh wise one, I've come so far to find the truth of life" He said "Hey, son, slow down, relax. To tell you the truth, son..." I said "Wizard, that's what I've come to find is the truth" He said "no, son, you've got me all wrong. To tell you the truth, son, how can I tell you this? Uh, I've been in this field of poppies a long time, myself, and I've come to find, son, that the only truth in life is right here in this bottle." I said "WIZARD!!!?!??!?" He said "No, truly, son, in fact, I'd rather have this bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy!" How profound, Wizard! Some girl with psychic powers, she said "T-bone, what's your sign" I blink and answer "Neon," I thought I'd blow her mind. She's reading Moby Dick, by some fruitcake named Herman. She's chomping of some knockwurst Are the [indeciperable] really German? You ask so many questions, what answers should I choose? Is this really Butte, Montana or just existential blues?

                            _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)

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                            • J Jim Crafton

                              I'm just trying to help...

                              ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! Real Mentats use only 100% pure, unfooled around with Sapho Juice(tm)! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! VCF Blog

                              E Offline
                              E Offline
                              El Corazon
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #18

                              Jim Crafton wrote:

                              I'm just trying to help...

                              You forgot California Psychics, they've been advertising a lot locally. Though why they would advertise in NM is beyond me.... I guess they figure we're all smoking peyote and enjoying a grand old time out here....

                              _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • B Brady Kelly

                                It's been over a year since it's last clean install, and its screen is broken so I hesitate to install again right now, so I was hoping someone could advise me on services to unload etc. to get a little responsiveness out of the old dear. I've been working solely on my 2.13GHz desktop for about a month, and now my notebook seems sooo slow. I know it can be faster than it is, unencumbered.

                                An Apple for Eve, A button for Steve, It never ends. . . bramster on Worse Than Failure

                                D Offline
                                D Offline
                                Dan Neely
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #19

                                someone has to say it so... Take it to the roof of your building. Hold it over the edge. Let it go. It'll briefly accelerate at 9.8m/s. If you're in a short building it will then promptly decelerate several dozen to several hundred times as fast. IF you're in a tall building it'll temporarily stall at terminal velocity before doing the same. :laugh:

                                -- If you view money as inherently evil, I view it as my duty to assist in making you more virtuous.

                                M 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • B Brady Kelly

                                  It's been over a year since it's last clean install, and its screen is broken so I hesitate to install again right now, so I was hoping someone could advise me on services to unload etc. to get a little responsiveness out of the old dear. I've been working solely on my 2.13GHz desktop for about a month, and now my notebook seems sooo slow. I know it can be faster than it is, unencumbered.

                                  An Apple for Eve, A button for Steve, It never ends. . . bramster on Worse Than Failure

                                  C Offline
                                  C Offline
                                  codemunkeh
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #20

                                  Open "msconfig" or preferably "services.msc" from the Run command. Using msconfig you can disable the services at startup although the services manager is better. Things I never use like the print spooler (my printer is broke, so...) I set to load manually. When I want to print things I start the service rather than waiting on it at load time. Basically, go in and set things to load automatically but not at system startup. This improves boot time, but when you first run a program using these services it'll be a tad slower. As an example, I set the: Print Spooler, Help/Support, Fast User Switching, Indexing Service (disable if you don't need search), Removable Storage & Smart Cards, Task Scheduler, Windows Installer and the Wireless Zero Config (since I'm on an ethernet connection). Oh, and if (Norton != null) { delete Norton; } [Update] OK, missed an earlier post listing the services more definitively. Damn.


                                  Ninja (the Nerd)
                                  Confused? You will be...

                                  B 1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • B Brady Kelly

                                    It's been over a year since it's last clean install, and its screen is broken so I hesitate to install again right now, so I was hoping someone could advise me on services to unload etc. to get a little responsiveness out of the old dear. I've been working solely on my 2.13GHz desktop for about a month, and now my notebook seems sooo slow. I know it can be faster than it is, unencumbered.

                                    An Apple for Eve, A button for Steve, It never ends. . . bramster on Worse Than Failure

                                    L Offline
                                    L Offline
                                    Lost User
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #21

                                    A couple of things worth doing though they may seem a waste of time. System Properties Click System Restore tab Check Turn Off System Restore Click Apply Uncheck Turn Off System Restore Click Apply Change Disk space to use to be 2 - 3% Click OK Windows Explorer Delete everything in C:\Windows\Prefetch Delete everything in C:\Windows\Temp Delete everything in C:\Documents and Settings\Brady\Local Settings\Temp Internet Explorer Properties Delete All Cookies and Temporary Internet Files Change Temporary Internet File size to around 128MB Install CCleaner[^] and let it clean out pretty much everything it can, use the advanced settings as well. Do not click Post Message when you mean to click Italics.

                                    Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004

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                                    • C codemunkeh

                                      Open "msconfig" or preferably "services.msc" from the Run command. Using msconfig you can disable the services at startup although the services manager is better. Things I never use like the print spooler (my printer is broke, so...) I set to load manually. When I want to print things I start the service rather than waiting on it at load time. Basically, go in and set things to load automatically but not at system startup. This improves boot time, but when you first run a program using these services it'll be a tad slower. As an example, I set the: Print Spooler, Help/Support, Fast User Switching, Indexing Service (disable if you don't need search), Removable Storage & Smart Cards, Task Scheduler, Windows Installer and the Wireless Zero Config (since I'm on an ethernet connection). Oh, and if (Norton != null) { delete Norton; } [Update] OK, missed an earlier post listing the services more definitively. Damn.


                                      Ninja (the Nerd)
                                      Confused? You will be...

                                      B Offline
                                      B Offline
                                      Brady Kelly
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #22

                                      Ninja-the-Nerd wrote:

                                      Oh, and if (Norton != null) { delete Norton; }

                                      Not Norton, but Trend. I think it's slightly better, but my laptop is very seldom online. I think I can mitigate the risk there.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • B Brady Kelly

                                        It's been over a year since it's last clean install, and its screen is broken so I hesitate to install again right now, so I was hoping someone could advise me on services to unload etc. to get a little responsiveness out of the old dear. I've been working solely on my 2.13GHz desktop for about a month, and now my notebook seems sooo slow. I know it can be faster than it is, unencumbered.

                                        An Apple for Eve, A button for Steve, It never ends. . . bramster on Worse Than Failure

                                        R Offline
                                        R Offline
                                        RoninRa
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #23

                                        Check out Tweaktowns guides. I've used them the last few years and they work really great for me ;) Tweaktown[^] Also I would recommend using Sysinternal's Process Explorer[^] to find what hogs down your system. Incredibly nice tool to find processes running that you don't use. And under the properties of all the items you can even check which services the process uses if any ;) Have fun tweaking ^^

                                        1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • B Brady Kelly

                                          It's been over a year since it's last clean install, and its screen is broken so I hesitate to install again right now, so I was hoping someone could advise me on services to unload etc. to get a little responsiveness out of the old dear. I've been working solely on my 2.13GHz desktop for about a month, and now my notebook seems sooo slow. I know it can be faster than it is, unencumbered.

                                          An Apple for Eve, A button for Steve, It never ends. . . bramster on Worse Than Failure

                                          W Offline
                                          W Offline
                                          wsoutherland
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #24

                                          1. Set the page file to a flat size like min 2000mb max 2000mb. That way Winders don't have to try to manage it (stupid Winders). 2. Under the Performance options, set it to Adjust for Best Performance, but then check use Visual Styles on Windows and Buttons (Can't live wo/ Luna :))). 3. Remove Firefox, ITunes, Java Runtime and all other spyware/viruses.

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