Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. The Lounge
  3. How to speed up my XP notebook

How to speed up my XP notebook

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
comperformancetutorialquestion
38 Posts 29 Posters 2 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • 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.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • 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.

      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

        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

        J 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • 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 ...

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • 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.

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • 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

              D E 2 Replies Last reply
              0
              • 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.

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • 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

                  J 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • 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

                    E 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • 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)

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • 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
                            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

                              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

                              T 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • 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
                                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

                                  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
                                  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

                                    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.

                                    T 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

                                      M Offline
                                      M Offline
                                      MrPlankton
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #25

                                      image it into vmware, load image on dell precision with vmware and use your xp to RDC to image on vmware server

                                      MrPlankton

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • D Dan Neely

                                        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 Offline
                                        M Offline
                                        MrPlankton
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #26

                                        ahhmmm ahhmmm, excuse me, there is no such thing as deceleration, only negative acceleration. Sorry, feeling like a troll today

                                        MrPlankton

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • 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

                                          K Offline
                                          K Offline
                                          keeleyt83
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #27

                                          There are programs to clean up the registry and defrag it. Check download.com. It made quite a difference for me. Also, check out tweakXP. Something else to do would be to change the performance and visual settings.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
                                          0
                                          Reply
                                          • Reply as topic
                                          Log in to reply
                                          • Oldest to Newest
                                          • Newest to Oldest
                                          • Most Votes


                                          • Login

                                          • Don't have an account? Register

                                          • Login or register to search.
                                          • First post
                                            Last post
                                          0
                                          • Categories
                                          • Recent
                                          • Tags
                                          • Popular
                                          • World
                                          • Users
                                          • Groups