XP Slower on 1.7 GHz than 98 on 400 MHz????

[bluenoser337]

Just upgraded office computer to XP on new 1.7 GHz from 98 on 400 MHz (both Celerons). Running same software including Norton Antivirus and Personal Firewall (both always active). 1.7 is no faster...in fact it seems slower. Is there an easy way (or program) to analyse the processes I have running to see what is the problem? Thanks!!

 

[cdogg]

bluenoser,
Did you start from scratch and do a clean install of XP? Or did you use the same hard drive or image from the older 400MHz Celerons?

You want to start fresh. That way, you don't carry over hardware dependent drivers that won't work on the newer system and old, faulty registry keys. Also, the older hard drives from the Celerons are ancient. They're probably ATA/33 running at 4200RPMs at best!

Also, how much RAM do you have in the system. "The more the better" in XP. Actually 256MB is a minimum requirement for performance and 512MB is preferred.


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[bluenoser337]

It was all started from scratch...as I've done many times before in 95, 98 and 2000 never with problems like this. New computer with OEM XP. 256 Meg of RAM. Any way to see what's hogging resources...or whatever?

 

[34534534534555]

CTRL-ALT-DEL - brings up task manager here you can see all processes, and applications that are running. You can also access Task Manager by right-clicking in the system tray and selecting it from the list.

Start/Run/msconfig/startup - to see what apps are starting with windows. Please let us know what you think of posts, feedback is always appreciated as this will help to further our knowledge as well.
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All that's required for evil to suceed is for good men to do nothing.

 

[JennITChick]

XP is a memory hog... might want to put more memory in the machine and see if it helps. I know my Pro box here has only 256 on it and can run slowly, especially if I've had it up and running for a few days. Jennifer Sigman
STILL unemployed...

 

[magoo304]

Our son has a HP 1.7 GHz. WinXP with 256Meg of RAM. It was running real slow. So i went in and defraged first. Then I added more Virtual Memory. ( More RAM would be the better choice) Go to Control Panel, click System, click the Advanced Tab, then Performance click Settings, then the Advanced tab, in Virtual Memory click Change, then click the custom size button.
The default was set at 198Meg. i changed it to 400 and the Maximum size to 550. The computer is now noticeably faster.
I hope this helps. The best option though, if you can afford it, is to up your RAM to 512MEG.

 

[cdogg]

256MB should be fine for average performance, but it should not be slower than the 400MHz celeron. RAM alone won't cause that. There must be something else going on.

First of all, what type of system did you just purchase?
1) CPU make/speed
2) Hard Drive make/model/speed
3) Motherboard chipset make/model
4) type of RAM (DDR, PC133, RDRAM PC1066, etc)
5) Video Card make/model

Perhaps the problem is a cluttered or underpowered hard drive. Or, you might need to upgrade the drivers for your video card and motherboard chipset to resolve some conflicts. This has been a common problem with some Athlon and VIA chipset combinations.

The other possibility is that you have more apps/processes starting with Windows now than you did on the 400MHz celeron. Use msconfig to check what's starting with XP and perhaps minimize some of those.

Give us a detailed desscription of what you have and where the slowness occurs. Does it happen during bootup? Is it when you open/close apps?


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[firewolfrl]

Goto

http://www.tech52.com/

and download Maxtweaks
this program will noticable make XP faster
here is the best guide around for what services you can turn of in windows xp to free up resourses and go faster.

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm