What slows Windows down?

[Kaorichan2009]

>.> the upgraded WoW Will kill your computer's speed. I have a brand new computer and Lich King slowed me down. The Upgrade was a waste and its really really slow.

 

[pjamme]

Dead CDROM

I haven't read through the whole post as it is rather extensive, but one thing I have found in my work is a nonfunctional or dead CDROM will bring a computer to it's knees. It is also hard to diagnose unless you put a CD in there and find out it isn't being read or you run a diags with a CD in there.
Mapped network drives that are no longer there are also a common experience here, either from renaming a server or removing a share.

My two cents worth for AV programs, I have been using NOD32 at home as I still have dialup at home. (Love country living) NOD32 is usually finished updating before Outlook opens. Mcafee Suite took hours at 42kb

 

[rinpoche85]

I'm gonna go back and read that article but my windows is slow too. I'm thinking it is Verizon's Suite. I was told by Verizon tech support (which I'm not too confident with) that you can't have Verizon anit-virus and micro soft's running at the same time.

Also, thanks to Deb45 for her help. And, those others that responded to my screen problem back in Dec.

 

[BlindObject]

It's a good article, if you don't know how to use "msconfig."

 

[LNCPapa]

There's more to it than just taking things out via msconfig. Many things don't show up in misconfig. Some are in the Run key for local machine or current user as well as adding context menus which can slow the system down. Many people are surprised that their systems are much slower after installing that Font CD with 10,000 fonts they got from a friend. Now some of these people know why.

I hope you guys/gals have also followed the link where he updated the article to compare other/newer security suites to give a better baseline for his numbers. It's still quite an interesting read.

 

[God Of Mana]

The artile has been updated: atke a look:
http://www.thepcspy.com/read/what_really_slows_windows_down/5

 

[kimsland]

The artile has been updated:

Updated?

It says: Friday, 22nd September 2006
I'd say it's old. There's no mention of Windows 7 either

 

[God Of Mana]

Well I mean its been updated since this was posted.

 

[1941]

The list needs to be updated, CS2? CS4 is now out and as far as Norton goes, NIS 2009 is supposed to be better than it was 3 years ago.

 

[kimsland]

I'll agree that NAV2009 and NIS2009 is much better that what it was 3yrs ago, actually even their online scan is quite good.

But judging by the amount of Malware infested computers I have seen with having Norton installed as the sole defense, and then confirming that there is about 6 (or more) separate startups by Norton, compared to 1 or 2 maximum for other Antiviruses ie the excellent Avira Antivirus. Then I'd have to say that Norton is just as bad as what it was. Although I do agree that about 10 years ago it was the best, since then its just been rubbish.

Anyway, just one person's thoughts But then again the millions on Google results can't all be wrong Pretty sure most feel similar to me

 

[mattyp123]

Has anyone tried PageDefrag from MS to speed up windows start up/shut downs? If so, what kind of results have you got from it?

 

[ralphedison]

PC Tools Internet Security also uses a lot of resources though its really a good software. Just shut it down when you don't need it

 

[mflynn]

I totally agree with Kim in Post #111. I could not have said it better!

I feel for protection it is low in top 10 and most free Virus Scanners rank above it.

AND! What tops it off for me is the hundreds of files and disk space used that are hard to remove even after uninstall. Same for Registry but likely close to a thousand entries left after uninstall, and even after their own removal tools are run. Even then a registry search will find many left overs. And a disk search will also find these turds!

Mike

 

[jimsing59]

Too Many Start-up Programs.

Too many start-up programs and programs running in the background will slow your computer. Also bad registry entries and temp and junk files will slow your computer. When you get a new computer reinstall Windows and it will perform much better, New computers are loaded with third party junk.

 

[jcgriff2]

Symantec Endpoint can now be added to the ongoing list of Symantec/ Norton apps like NIS & 360. I have seen it appear in several BSOD threads - and it crashed my Vista x64 system as well. Foolish me.

 

[Eiger]

Just killed 80% of my running processes with WinPatrol Pro.

My computer is now going at mach 5 speeds.

 

[EXCellR8]

I'm still just using Spybot to deactivate startup entries... comp runs fine. oldschool > *

 

[kronbergk]

thank god i got rid of norton

 

[T77]

i use avast its pretty decent. its on-access and real time protection is nice.its also light on system resources.it supports 64bit too.

 

[T77]

i use ccleaner to clear out the crap from my computer
defraggler does a good job of only defragmenting the fragmented files.

 

[magemofo]

Ugh I never knew IM programs slow down your comp so much. And Norton is garbage.

 

[syde]

I have McAfee and Stopzilla but ive only been running Stopzilla for a good while now as to me it seems to catch crap whenever anything happens. Does any1 have a comparable chart of these 2 programs as to which takes up more memory to run. Also if one is better then the other or even if I should remove both and replace them with something else?

(always trying to get the most out of my PC for my gaming)

 

[Kotu2]

for stuff like KIS and Norton antivirus how bout just make them not start when u boot then start them?

 

[Kotu2]

As for my last post KIS 2009 does make it take like an extra 20 seconds to boot up my laptop.

 

[Arthurik_jan]

Great article!

I personally do the following:

1. Install Windows 7 and additional drivers
2. Install Firefox 3.5, Java Runtime, Flash Player, Microsoft Office, Photoshop, Skype, Daemon Tools Lite, K-Lite codec pack 5, Nero 7.7, Winrar, Foxit PDF reader.

- You really have to pay attention to what exactly you are installing while installing these programs, 'cause if you just press NEXT all the time you'll end up with UNBELIEVABLE amounts of different kinds of toolbars and extensions in all sorts of programs such as Microsoft Office, Firefox, Windows Taskbar and Windows Services.

Example with CCleaner:

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/4082/004mr.png

I uncheck everything and leave the shortcut on the desktop so that I can add this to my quick launch toolbar.

3. AVG Free Edition, Spybot, Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware, CCleaner, Defraggler.
4. Update Windows, Run AVG scan, Spybot Scan, Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware Scan, CCleaner sweap and have Defraggler defrag the hard drive(s)
5. Setup a schedule defrag in Defraggler for 0:00 am every day and the same thing for AVG but to 1:00 and Malwarebyte's AM to 2:00. Like this I just leave my PC on throughout the night once a week or so and let it defrag and scan itself for malware and viruses. I also swipe clean the TEMP folders with CCleaner every day or so (it just takes 5 seconds to do).
6. I go to START -> RUN (if you don't have this then just enable it in taskbar options or press WINDOWS KEY + R on your keyboad) and type MSCONFIG
7. Navigate to the STARTUP tab
8. Here I manage which programs start and which don't, I just disable everything that I don't need, like DEAMON tools, NERO, Photoshop, Java, Quicktime, MS Office, Adobe Updater, etc...

This is how it looks like after the cleaning:

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4748/003y.png

9. I open START -> Programs, extract the shortcuts that I need to the quick launch toolbar and subsequently delete everything that I do not need, like the folders useless Internet explorer shortcuts and so on.

The toolbar looks like this.
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/6228/005q.png

The start menu looks like this:
http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8690/006at.png

Although it is very tedious for some once you get the hang of it it shouldn't take more then 2-3 hours. I only do this ONCE and that's it. After all of the above I end up with a dramatic increase in booting speeds.

In any case I once again thank LNCPapa for the subject and everyone for contributing some of their know-how

Arthur