I havee a Dell Latitude D600 that lately has started running slower than I like. I am running win XP with all the latest updates. I have taken all uneeded programs off the startup menu (in fact, only zonealarm is left). and that has helped a little.


It seems like when I run anything like itunes, windows media player, etc the processer maxes out at 100% very quickly and everything runs slow. It has only done this the last few weeks, but I didn't make any changes in that timeframe. System restore does not fix it.

It is a pentium M 2.0GHZ with 2.0GB of ram.

Invest in good anti-virus programs?

get a good anti-virus program


get some good anti-spyware programs. I use AdAware and Spybot S&D, which are free, and do a good job.

Quoted: Invest in good anti-virus programs?

That will just slow it down.

Re: Anti-virus programs

A good AV program's impact on performance will be negligible.  The impact by some piece of shit like Norton or McAfee will be clear as day when your shit is running like a quadrapalegic on a treadmill.

I have Symantec AV and I don't see much change when I disable it, and use Adaware and Spybot.

CONTROL-ALT-DELETE

How many processes are running??

You could also dl 'performance test' from majorgeeks.com and see what score you get.

It's gotta be some program running, taking up CPU time.
If your drivers are all updated and you know you are clear of malware and spyware, then it's gotta be a program you installed intentionally.
For that:
Go to [control panel] - [administrative tools] - [services],
Change the status of anything you know you don't need all the time to "manual".
Change anything you know you don't need to "disable".

If you don't know if you need a service or not, just enter its filename into Google to find out what it's associated with.
~

Quoted: It's gotta be some program running, taking up CPU time. ~

bingo

find out what programs it is.  ctrl alt delete and look under processes and then the cpu and memory tab and see what program is using the most of both.  

install ewido  

run

tag

I've gone through all the services, at idle it runs between 4 and 9% CPU usage.

The damm thing shows it is a 2.0ghs CPU running at 179MHZ when I click on system on the control panel, could the CPU be throttling back for some reason? Where can I adjust this at?

Quoted: I've gone through all the services, at idle it runs between 4 and 9% CPU usage. The damm thing shows it is a 2.0ghs CPU running at 179MHZ when I click on system on the control panel, could the CPU be throttling back for some reason? Where can I adjust this at?

Newer processors do this automatically to save power.  It kicks back up as soon as it's needed.

A 2.0GHz with 2GB RAM should not have these issues, sounds like some program in particular is misbehaving.

tag

Back up all data and format, reload

Quoted: Quoted: I've gone through all the services, at idle it runs between 4 and 9% CPU usage. The damm thing shows it is a 2.0ghs CPU running at 179MHZ when I click on system on the control panel, could the CPU be throttling back for some reason? Where can I adjust this at? Newer processors do this automatically to save power.  It kicks back up as soon as it's needed. A 2.0GHz with 2GB RAM should not have these issues, sounds like some program in particular is misbehaving.

It is not kicking back up any time I run an application that it should. Itunes, viewing a video clip, or any combination of small stuff.

Hmmm, does it report itself as 2.0GHz in the BIOS? (Not sure if you know what that is but when it starts up you usually press Del or F2 or something to get into it).

Backup, format, reload.

.

Quoted: Backup, format, reload.

That is always may favorite option.

I beleive there is a setting in the BIOS you can set it so the processor never throttles down if you want. (It will eat battery life, but if you are like me and always plugged in anyways, it doesn't matter)

Right click my computer
Choose properties
Choose advanced
Choose performance
Choose the option
Choose the option adjust for best performance.
Click apply

This seems to give good results on laptops, takes 10 seconds, does not cost a thing and can be easily undone.

Note: If you have problems this will not fix a thing but it frees up the CPU and RAM from being monopolized by windows to make XP pretty.

Les

Backup any/all data files that you would like to save.

Format your hard drive by REINSTALLING WINDOWS.

Load a security suite onto your system (ie. McAffee, Norton, etc.)

Re-load all your saved data files.

Re-install ONLY necessary software/programs.



You now have a 'virtually' new computer.

I did exactly what I stated above and made a 5 year old computer run like I just bought it yesterday.

right click MY COMPUTER goto properties goto ADVANCED click on PERFORMANCE SETTINGS click on adjust for best performance.  It cuts out alot of visual enhancements (big deal) and will improve you performance.

Use your Dell for target practice, open your wallet, buy a real computer!

Start > Run > MSCONFIG

Go to the Startup tab and uncheck any unneccessary crap that might be starting up.  

Need to turn off all the BS services.

Quoted: CONTROL-ALT-DELETE How many processes are running?? You could also dl 'performance test' from majorgeeks.com and see what score you get.

Whats the site that identifies what the programs are that are running? I used to have that site bookmarked but don't anymore. Theres so much stuff running on my desktop, and I don't recall what all of it is.

Most processes that run under your username can be stopped besides explorer and taskmanger.

I really don't recommend you disable any services under the
"services" area just to be safe.

I can usually get my XP at idle around 175MB of ram after I'm done with getting my processes and services trimed down.

Then again I do have 2gigs of DDR450 @ 2.5-3-2-5 timings in 1T mode so getting my XP as small as possible really doesn't matter at that point but its a nice touch.

download hijackthis and goto geekstogo.com find the forums and post your hijackthis log in the right place. You will find all the links and instructions you need there. Someone will be along shortly and tell you what you need to do to get it back up and running good as new. I have done this on mine and other family members computers.

tag

There can be any number of reasons the computer is running slow, However the most common reason (besides virus / spyware /adware) is from the lack of cleaning the computers temp files and not rebooting the computer every so often. (keeping the PC on 24x7)

Ill be honest, In the time it would take me to type out all the areas that need to be looked at I could fix the computer remotely… given you have a broadband internet connection.

But anyway, here is a quick list off the top of my head to look into. Rather than typing out how and where everything is, ill let you know what to do and if you need help feel free to email me.

C:/ settings: (I suggest doing these last and in this order)
Run disk cleanup
Uncheck allow indexing
Run Defrag

Internet settings:
Delete cookies
Delete files (and offline content)
Set history to 0 days
Change temp internet file space to around 256
Clear history

(First make sure you can view hidden files and folders)
DEL contents of following folders: (or make sure they are empty)
(C:\Documents and Settings\YOURUSERNAME\Local Settings\)
TEMP
TEMP Internet files
History
(C:\Documents and Settings\username)
Recent folder

Check your Windows folder
You should see a lot of windows uninstall folders in blue and shaded out (compressed and hidden) You can DEL all but the latest one (looks something like $uninstall something.

DEL anything from startup you don’t need running
Either via msconfig and/or regedit in your run folders under current user and local machine

Change the space allocated for the recycle bin to 1-2% of drive space.
Set virtual memory to about 1.5X  your installed memory (ex 1GB mem, set to 1536)


These are just some of the steps I take when building a new computer for someone.
SO this is just my 2 cents. You may or may not want to change some of the options (for example, you might want to have 30 days of past history saved for your internet)

I don’t know, there is so much more that can be done but this is a good start.
Hope that helps - I gotta get back to work.

tag