256MB of RAM is what I consider the bare minimum of RAM needed to run XP.
Assuming that your system is free of viruses, Trojans and spyware I would strongly suggest you get another 256MB of RAM as that should result in less hitting of your hard disk page file and should increase your system's responsiveness and speed.
Many have reported a slight slowdown after installing sp2 but this usually goes away after a few reboots and defragmenting your hard drive.
The pagefile (in Windows 98/ME this was called your swap file) is the area of hard drive which is used as virtual memory. When you run out of free physical memory i.e. your RAM, the system will use part of the hard drive as virtual memory. This virtual memory is much slower than physical memory so that you get a thrashing of your hard drive when it is being used.
I'll look into more memory... please excuse my ignorance, but the slowdown I've been experiencing came about after installing service pack 2 - my system was running Windows XP quickly up to that point! Would Service Pack 2 make such a difference?
I've checked that I'm free of viruses etc., so I don't think it's related to those.
Bacillus, let me add a recommendation to your list. Sometimes when updating W-XP or even installing it, it will default the Harddrive to PIO only in Device Manager. This is just an item to check; go to My Computer, right click it and select Properties/Hardware/Device Manager. Click the plusmark for IDE ATA/ATAPIControllers and right click Primary IDE Channel, then click Advanced Settings and check both Transfer Mode Slots for DMA if Available. If they say PIO Only, reset them to DMA if Available. Then Apply and OK out, and power down the computer for 15 seconds, then reboot and go bak to the Advanced Settings Window and see if it took.
If on the first entry, they show DMA if Available but the Current Transfer mode shows PIO, Back out to Device Manager and uninstall IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, then reboot to let Windows put the controllers back. Check the same window again to see if that corrects the problem.
If on first entry, they show DMA If Available and Current Transfer Mode shows Ultra DMA Mode (?) then this is not the source of your problem
Bacillus: Thanks! Unfortunately I've had Service Pack 2 installed for around 9 months, so it's rebooted a lot since then! When it gets started, the system acts normally, it's just the slow startup.
leduke30, thanks for your help, I've checked this and it's just as it should be, so that's not the problem.
Has anyone got a comprehensive list of startup items to check mine against? I can only think it is something in that area... I don't like to alter the settings on the PC or tinker with the way it works (mainly because it all goes over my head!!!)
I have a C840 which takes a while to boot up, due to the antivirus checking behind the scenes, but as soon as the firewall shows in the task bar, everything is fine. Maybe???
The lengthy boot time may not be due to the number of startups, but they do like to multiply, and some are more complex than others. Perhaps there is a problem with a particular startup item, or a problem with Windows XP SP2 initialization processes, like recognizing your security software, or checking out your local network.
There is a lot of information in these links, including reference to a ntbtlog.txt and a discontinued M$ program called bootvis that may shed some light on exactly what is taking so much time.
bacillus
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September 7th, 2005 18:00
SadPootle
4 Posts
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September 7th, 2005 19:00
Hi!
I've just been to System Information (I'm not too technical, so please bear with me!). It says:
Total Physical Memory: 256.00MB
Available Physical Memory 83.88MB (it went down to 27MB when I had iTunes on)
Total Virtual memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual memory 1.96GB
Also, the processor is Intel 730 Mhz
I hope this is what you needed to know!
Thanks,
Pootle
bacillus
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14.4K Posts
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September 7th, 2005 20:00
Assuming that your system is free of viruses, Trojans and spyware I would strongly suggest you get another 256MB of RAM as that should result in less hitting of your hard disk page file and should increase your system's responsiveness and speed.
bacillus
2 Intern
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14.4K Posts
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September 7th, 2005 21:00
The pagefile (in Windows 98/ME this was called your swap file) is the area of hard drive which is used as virtual memory. When you run out of free physical memory i.e. your RAM, the system will use part of the hard drive as virtual memory. This virtual memory is much slower than physical memory so that you get a thrashing of your hard drive when it is being used.
SadPootle
4 Posts
0
September 7th, 2005 21:00
Thanks, Bacillus!
I'll look into more memory... please excuse my ignorance, but the slowdown I've been experiencing came about after installing service pack 2 - my system was running Windows XP quickly up to that point! Would Service Pack 2 make such a difference?
leduke30
2 Intern
•
4K Posts
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September 8th, 2005 00:00
Bacillus, let me add a recommendation to your list. Sometimes when updating W-XP or even installing it, it will default the Harddrive to PIO only in Device Manager. This is just an item to check; go to My Computer, right click it and select Properties/Hardware/Device Manager. Click the plusmark for IDE ATA/ATAPIControllers and right click Primary IDE Channel, then click Advanced Settings and check both Transfer Mode Slots for DMA if Available. If they say PIO Only, reset them to DMA if Available. Then Apply and OK out, and power down the computer for 15 seconds, then reboot and go bak to the Advanced Settings Window and see if it took.
If on the first entry, they show DMA if Available but the Current Transfer mode shows PIO, Back out to Device Manager and uninstall IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, then reboot to let Windows put the controllers back. Check the same window again to see if that corrects the problem.
If on first entry, they show DMA If Available and Current Transfer Mode shows Ultra DMA Mode (?) then this is not the source of your problem
SadPootle
4 Posts
0
September 8th, 2005 04:00
Thanks, Guys!
Bacillus: Thanks! Unfortunately I've had Service Pack 2 installed for around 9 months, so it's rebooted a lot since then! When it gets started, the system acts normally, it's just the slow startup.
leduke30, thanks for your help, I've checked this and it's just as it should be, so that's not the problem.
leduke30
2 Intern
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4K Posts
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September 8th, 2005 12:00
GreyMack
2.2K Posts
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September 8th, 2005 18:00
http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php