I have a little problem.

This is my system:

• Broadband via wireless card, CD RW, CD-Rom, OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
• Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 Build 2600
• OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
• System Name RODJANEORR
• System Manufacturer VIA Technologies, Inc.
• System Model P4M266-8233
• System Type X86-based PC
• Processor x86 Family 15 Model 1 Stepping 3 GenuineIntel ~1697 Mhz
• BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG, 13/06/2002
• SMBIOS Version 2.2
• Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
• System Directory C:\WINDOWS\System32
• Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
• Locale United States
• Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920)"
• User Name RODJANEORR\Owner
• Time Zone E. Australia Standard Time
• Total Physical Memory 256.00 MB
• Available Physical Memory 88.91 MB
• Total Virtual Memory 768.67 MB
• Available Virtual Memory 484.48 MB
• Page File Space 545.18 MB
• Page File C:\pagefile.sys
  

I’ve been running the above system for around 18 months and it's been running well. We used an external modem dial-up and a couple of months ago moved to broadband via a wireless card that connected with a friend next door. It all ran well. About 10 days ago I noticed the system was running slower when connecting to websites and working within websites, I also noticed retrieving email [4 different email address] was a lot slower. I'd downloaded upgrades for Norton Anti-virus [4.6M], Zone Alarms [5.3M] and an XP driver for a new scanner I'd purchased [14.4M]. They each took an unreasonable length of time [that is Norton and Zone Alarm upgrades each took 35 minutes and the XP driver 3 and one half hours!! needless to say I didn’t down load the new driver]. I went next door to down load the scanner XP driver and it downloaded onto a Zip drive in two minutes across the net. This confirmed that something was not correct with my system.

I considered what Id been doing over the last week apart from the down loads. The only thing that I can remember was that Id copied a CD Rom of music from the CD to the spare HDD that I use. This hard drive is F on my system, its 10 gigs and separate from the 30 gig HDD that has C [operating and program files] 10 gigs and D [data files] 30 gigs. I’d played the music about 3 times on different occasions.

On Sunday, I used Norton System Works to clean up C drive, Registry using Norton Disk Doctor and Win Doctor. I have a copy of Ashampoo and ran a couple of cleanup programs for the hard drives. I then ran a performance check and the system ran well. I went into a website and noticed there was no difference in performance in connecting to the website or within a website. I’ve scanned with Norton Anti-Virus and a couple of Spyware programs I have and nothing out of the ordinary was found.

I went into System information yesterday and noticed

Total Physical Memory 256.00M
Available Physical Memory 88.91M
Total Virtual Memory 768.67M
Available Virtual Memory 484.48M

This would indicate that about two thirds of the physical memory is being used and over half the virtual memory AND nothing is running on the system other than the start up programs. I went to MSCONFIG and deselected programs that I knew were not of use and started the computer again, checked a website and NO DIFFERENCE. Went and reset MSCONFIG.

I have concluded that somehow, perhaps, the music program [it came generically with XP Home as I’ve not added any other music program], is loading into memory each and every time I switch on the desktop.

When I used 98SE I was able to come out of Windows back to C prompt and go through the load sequence one by one [that is program by program] and they loaded and check out what was loading.

XP Home edition... I cant see how I can get out of the operating system back to C prompt to check out what is loading.


Questions.

1. Is my assumption correct that the music program is loading into memory and causing the slow-down as the memory is in overload?
2. How do I get out of Windows XP and back to C prompt?
3. Will a step by step process allow me to see what is being loaded?
4. Will I be able to stop the program from loading into memory?
5. Or do I need to adjust something within the registry. I’m a bit above average user and don’t have too much worry about moving into registry. I take a back up of the registry before I dabble around

Look forward to hearing from you as I'd like to get my system running WELL and FAST again. Thanks.

Rod Orr, Oxenford, QLD

That was a rather long story alright, and here’s a short, sharp answer to it!

1. I doubt it very much
2. On start up, press <F8> before you get to the Windows Logo screen. You’ll get options for various startup methods, including Safe Mode and Selective Startup. Investigate the Knowledge Base on Microsoft’s website for information about them before ‘jumping in’ and using them!
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. I doubt it.

I’ve noticed lots of reports lately about people who’ve installed updates for Norton products and suffered a system slowdown afterwards. Although there’s been no official statement to the effect, I suspect that one or more of their updates is a bit suspect. Some people have reported that the problem was corrected by reverting to an earlier version, and some have reported that it was corrected by a later update. There’s been no definitive pattern to it that I’ve seen. There have also been quite a few problems reported on various internet sites regarding the use of Norton AntiVirus and ZoneAlarm together.

My suggestion would be to dump Norton! NOD32 is a better AntiVirus program anyway, in my view. It’s available as a trial product either by download or on our Cover CD, and subscription prices are inexpensive. There are no ‘slowdown’ problems when using it together with ZoneAlarm either!

I’d also suggest you bung another 256M of RAM in that system. Give Windows XP more room to breathe!
The memory usage figures you’ve indicated don’t seem too far out of the ordinary, as Windows XP allocates fairly hefty amounts of memory for its use, even though few or no programs are actually running. The system I’m writing this answer on has more RAM installed, and more programs operating, but the proportional amounts of RAM reported as ‘in use’ are consistent with what you’ve reported. Windows XP ‘eats up’ as much RAM as you can throw at it, and I’d personally consider 512M to be an acceptable amount to have installed for good performance, and 1G for systems which get heavy and demanding usage.

If you’ve thoroughly checked your system for viruses and malware with up to date tools, and received ‘clean’ reports, you can double check what is loading at startup by choosing:

Start, Run, msconfig, Startup

Scan through the list for suspicious entries. Use Google to search for information about worrisome looking entries, and if you decide to deselect any of them, do so one by one, rebooting and testing afterwards that your system functions correctly after disabling any entry. You can always re-enable any that you incorrectly disable.

Oh well, that was ‘short and sharp’ by my standards, anyway. I never could work out why my old Uni lecturers all seemed to think I have a “tendency to loquacity”!

Cheers Rod,

Terry O'Shanassy