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How to speed up my XP notebook

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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)

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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

        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
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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

          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.

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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 ^^

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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.

                  T 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

                    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

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                    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

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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

                        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
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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

                          T Offline
                          T Offline
                          twinscythe12332
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #28

                          well, I used to use a program called system mechanic from iolo. fixed registry screw ups, could choose which apps i wanted running at start up, delete data permanently (military strength something or other) had a shiny looking super defrag that took 2 to 3 days, and a bunch of other nice little checks and optimizers.

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                          • L Lost User

                            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 Offline
                            T Offline
                            Tom Delany
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #29

                            Michael Martin wrote:

                            Delete everything in C:\Windows\Prefetch

                            Not a good idea. This can actually have the opposite effect: http://askbobrankin.com/windows_prefetch.html[^] http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000619.html[^] Cheers,

                            WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated.

                            L 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • W wsoutherland

                              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 Offline
                              T Offline
                              Tom Delany
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #30

                              wsoutherland wrote:

                              Remove Firefox, ITunes, Java Runtime and all other spyware/viruses.

                              You consider Firefox and Java to be spyware/viruses? :omg::wtf:;)

                              WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated.

                              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
                                mbender
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #31

                                There are some good tips at http://tweakxp.com/performance_tweaks.aspx

                                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
                                  Mike Lang
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #32

                                  1)Clean the registry. There are alot of free registry cleaning tools. Here is the last one I tried: http://www.eusing.com/free_registry_cleaner/registry_cleaner.htm[^] 2) system tool - Disk Cleanup (also pick option to remove all but latest system restore) 3) system tool - disk defrag 4) A spyware removal tool, such as spybot S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/[^]) or Ad-Aware (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/[^]). I'd recommend doing all of these things at least once a month.

                                  Michael Lang (versat1474) http://www.xquisoft.com/[^]

                                  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

                                    D Offline
                                    D Offline
                                    DigitalRacer
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #33

                                    Go to Start|Run, type "msconfig" in the box and press "Enter". Go to the "Startup" tab and search online for every item listed in the "Startup" tab and deselect everything you possibly can. Navigate to the "Services" tab and do the same thing. Uninstall all unnecessary programs, install an anti-spyware utility (I like Zero Spyware but YMMV), make sure your anti-virus software is up to date, make sure you have 25% disk remaining, defragment, check your Event Viewer and clean it out and then check it often. Turn off auto updating of all software (MS, Norton, etc.) and make sure you make it part of your weekly routine to manually update. I recently went through this song and dance on my Dell 8250 with XP Pro and 512MB of memory and was able to claim some performance back (make it usable). Good luck, DR

                                    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

                                      T Offline
                                      T Offline
                                      Tim Yen
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #34

                                      Theres a reg key to stop updating the date modified time. This is supposed to decrease disk access a bit. I think fresh ui has it as a checkbox somewhere if i remember correctly http://www.freshdevices.com/ Tim

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                                      • T Tom Delany

                                        Michael Martin wrote:

                                        Delete everything in C:\Windows\Prefetch

                                        Not a good idea. This can actually have the opposite effect: http://askbobrankin.com/windows_prefetch.html[^] http://www.edbott.com/weblog/archives/000619.html[^] Cheers,

                                        WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated.

                                        L Offline
                                        L Offline
                                        Lost User
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #35

                                        Tom Delany wrote:

                                        Not a good idea. This can actually have the opposite effect:

                                        Well I have cleaned it out on many systems and have yet to run into a problem. I recently cleaned out 117 items on my computer at home. Looking at it now Windows has put back 50 items and alhough it could be a figment of my imagination my computer boots faster now than it did a week ago.

                                        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
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                                        • L Lost User

                                          Tom Delany wrote:

                                          Not a good idea. This can actually have the opposite effect:

                                          Well I have cleaned it out on many systems and have yet to run into a problem. I recently cleaned out 117 items on my computer at home. Looking at it now Windows has put back 50 items and alhough it could be a figment of my imagination my computer boots faster now than it did a week ago.

                                          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 Offline
                                          T Offline
                                          Tom Delany
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #36

                                          Ok. I was just passing on a couple of items I had read that said "Don't do that." I admit, I personally have not tried it (mainly because I found those links before I ever did). If it helps your system, then go for it. Thanks for the information. Have a good one. :)

                                          WE ARE DYSLEXIC OF BORG. Refutance is systile. Your a$$ will be laminated.

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