Windows XP

[Farmageddon]

Sup steam?

i have the feeling my windows xp is getting worse, the updates are making no sense to me and my pc has been noticeably slower then when i got it half a year ago

starting up takes around 2-3 minutes (it took like 40 sec. 2 months ago) explorer freezes randomly, when i first start firefox its takes like 30 sec. (2nd and after time its there in a flash)

the start menu has been slow/laggy as hell, its to slow thats its annoying, it can stay up for 30 sec after i selected my program

these are just some examples, i could go with more

i dont suspect its my pc, these are my specs:
intel core2quad Q8200 @ 2.33ghz
3.25 gig (out of 4 gig) @ 800mhz DDR2
msi geforce N9600GT (650mhz core 1600mhz shader 1800mhz memory)
winxp home edition sp3: 40 gig partition on 80 gig hdd @ 7200rpm (all my games are on a external hdd)

im also (and mainly) running linux on a 5400rpm hdd
this hdd is 7 years old, but linux is running/booting way faster then winxp, its also working way faster then winxp

edit: my winxp is a retail version, it wasnt pre-loaded on my pc

[_I_]

jambutty77 eredeti hozzászólása:

You can also try chaning your boot time in msconfig from 30 seconds to 3 (3 being the lowest it will go)

Another thing you can try is setting all the visual effects in windows to 'best performance'

that setting is only used when multiple os's are installed

and chaning visual effects will not speed up the hdd

if the drive is full it will take much longer

[jambutty]

Have you tried a custom pagefile size? If you want to go into more scientific detail: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/take-control-of-the-windows-xp-pagefile/
Also just wondering have you got any errors in event viewer?

*Edit
You can always use autoruns to see what's running in depth on your PC.

[Wampum Biskit]

optimizing depends on how much data it has to move and how much room it has to move it , less empty space means it may have to move it a few times to get it where it needs to be , it's not like defragging a drive..

[Farmageddon]

_I_ eredeti hozzászólása:

and chaning visual effects will not speed up the hdd

but it will speed up windows

jambutty77 eredeti hozzászólása:

Have you tried a custom pagefile size? If you want to go into more scientific detail: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/take-control-of-the-windows-xp-pagefile/
Also just wondering have you got any errors in event viewer?

*Edit
You can always use autoruns to see what's running in depth on your PC.

the website doesnt show any pictures, probably my browser blocking though

pagefile is set to default: startingsize: 2046mb maximum size: 4092mb
my pc isnt in english, so i dont know the exact translations

they say i should change it to 1,5x the amount of ram i have, so that would be:4875mb
but is this the starting size or the maximum size? and what would the other one be?

also processor is set to: programs and ram is also set to programs, should i put ram on system cache?

[_I_]

your page setting is fine at 2048-4096m
keep both radial buttons set to programs

[Barnose]

I used windows XP a long time. When things go bad, they are hard to get back to normal. Disabling all those services is a pain.

Before I would of disabled all the starup items in msconfig. Uninstalled all the programs. Use Ccleaner, Registry cleaner and Advandced system care. Use Registry Cleaner to defrag registry, Ccleaner for registry and hdd space. The best thing on advancded system care is you can scan your processes and remove them right there, toobars and crap you didn't even know you had.

But now, I would just get windows 7. I loved windows XP, Vista was garbage but Windows 7 is so great. Windows 8 is like XP to Vista for me. Don't bother with windows 8 unless you need all those features.

You can buy Windows 7 online for a decent price; But don't get scammed..

Goodluck!

EDIT: Would just be better to format the pc, even if you're still going to use windows XP. Start fresh, you won't regret it. If Windows XP installs real quick after formatting the drive, you know your drive isn't bad, it might even fix it.

And yeah you can try a disk check on boot up. That helped me a few times.

[Farmageddon]

i let bootvis run for over 9 hours, still stayed at ''optimizing for boot performance''

[[UFO] rad87gn]

XP has had more patches than any OS I've seen in my decades long career of IT (and I'm from the DOS days and proprietary stuff since Apple I and TRS-80 model I. Even my one of 4 banks of the world that I work for has moved on to Win 7 64. It's time to upgrade.

XP is the OS of amazing. But it's been sooooo hacked and fixed beyond anything. Win 7 is the new version and is server based and works with all games.

Skip it, move on, and game on. Don't make things any harder than it really is. You seriously can be lost for years trying to hack fix it. It's impossible.

And if/when you upgrade to Win 7-64. Keep it pure. Don't mess with a thing. Uber clean install = perfection. You start hacking it and you will pay the price. Patch as required and leave it alone.

And I'm sorry to say it but upgrade your hardware. It only lasts so long. You've got more things you are trying to run on it than the man above himself would try.

I'm a UNIX, Linux, Windows, network, hardware, programming, and DBA engineer and I have no idea why you would honestly think all that would work right and be 100% reliable.

[Rove]

I think you might be hacked.

See what happens if you do a clean XP install and do not go online and do not install Steam or anything else?

Does it stay stable and usable?

The problem, hack or virus might actually be attached to Steam or your account or another cloud service program that you download after reinstall.

Alternatively try using Linux + Wine because many hacks working on Windows will not work on Linux.

[[UFO] rad87gn]

Upgrade and move on....

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/endofsupport.aspx

Sounds like a perfect time to refesh your OS anyway.

[Farmageddon]

Rove eredeti hozzászólása:

I think you might be hacked.
The problem, hack or virus might actually be attached to Steam or your account or another cloud service program that you download after reinstall.

I really doubt that, im pretty secure with my pc, using antivirus,spybot and a custom firewall
i scan everything i download, everything that wants certain permission in my pc is blocked by my firewall, in addition: i use a scriptblocker in my browser which includes flashblock

i recall the first time i installed winxp (had to do a reinstall in december due to dead hdd), it was slow as fcuk, after installing SP3 it was still slow only tweaking (services,msconfig,ccleaner,visual options,etc) made it faster
on the hacking: ive never messed around with cmd or critical components, that wasnt worth it for me. the only thing i could consider hacking is forcing windowed mode in a game.....

Except steam, i dont have any cloudprograms (but when steam ran the first week, it slowed down my entire pc, making it almost unusable, but it appears to be running normal now, guess that was due the old version of steam that came with my retailgame)

rad87gn eredeti hozzászólása:

Upgrade and move on....
Sounds like a perfect time to refesh your OS anyway.

after all this bs i really dont feel like getting another windows os that will do the same after some years -sigh-, this is because i tweak my xp until i like it and dont do anything afterwards, so it makes me wonder why it suddenly goes in snail mode without doing ♥♥♥♥, could it be windows update?, doubt it, i only installed some games and steam (all games are legal, i dont want pirated software on my pc)
and rarely software: only AV, msoffice 2003 and msi afterburner (graphics card is being loud, i wanted to know whats wrong, but its just the fan making noise due to the design)
even weirder: all those games (and steam) are on a external hdd, which i only turn on when playing games, so it is turned off during regular work/booting up

On the tweaking: i did most in msconfig and some in services.msc, the software i used: Ccleaner, advanced systemcare 6, wisecare 365 (quite common and rated programs, i dont think they could have caused because it was on my pc since installation)

xp has shown some signs of recovery since this thread started, i'll keep running it for a while and decide what to do...
i COULD make a full switch to linux, i only need a couple things sorted out on that..., like if vmware could be a solution for games that wont run on wine etc....

[[UFO] rad87gn]

Your loss. ;-) And to what you are saying is very incorrect. Don't ask if you already know the answers. I'm just trying to save you time and give you happiness. Good news is my PC and laptop run awesome. ;-) And my OS is supported way past 2014 and has way less than decades of patches on top of patches. But what do I know.

You make things sooo over complicated. You want to game or be a OS engineer? That is a question you need to answer for yourself.

I personally deal with all the uber high end of technology at work day in and day out that has to run 24/7 365 days a year but when I go home I want a stable gaming system to enjoy so I can relax. And I know exactly how to do that.

[_I_]

Kammer eredeti hozzászólása:

i let bootvis run for over 9 hours, still stayed at ''optimizing for boot performance''

how full is the hard drive?

[Farmageddon]

_I_ eredeti hozzászólása:

how full is the hard drive?

the entire drive? or the partitions? (the ones windows can see or all?)

@rad87gn:Funny, i have considered being a software/server engineer for college, but i chose something else in the end, i enjoy working on pc's, but they change way too fast for me
Maybe i am being too overcomplicated, but there is nothing more satisfying then getting such a thing fixed, i've been with ♥♥♥♥ like this before, but now im at a loss to how to fix this issue, so im asking the community, since there are some skilled people here

i was very happy with xp and had a pc that was awesome, i just hope xp can be brought back to it's normal(fast) speed that it used to have
im also not afraid of the EOL thingy, 3rd party AV and apps and suchs will stick with it for a while i guess.., i can always switch to linux if things turn bad for xp, but im hoping the best for good ol' xp

[[UFO] rad87gn]

I respect you wanting to hang with XP. If you want to game...for now I'd wait on Linux...which is amazing...just because not enough games available for it yet. But it is coming.

Good luck with your XP adventure.