XP Insane slowdowns - Any ideas?

[Hodgkinson]

Ah, that might be a point. At the moment every setting under the sun is turned up full in the AV - If I think on I'll try a search (Next time I need to find something) with and without the on-access scanner and see what happens ;-)

Hodgkinson.

[Hodgkinson]

What do you use to clean up your registry?

[Hodgkinson]

Manually cleaning up the registry? (Brrr shudder, or at least from what I've heard...). Any suggestions for automatic ones?

I've taken the precaution of keeping the main PC non-internet connected, so hopefully that should help to reduce any problems.

[Hodgkinson]

Thanks for the post!

I've actually just installed CCleaner (On a recommendation) from http://www.piriform.com/products

It's got a registry cleaner, file cleaner (Eg, empties cookies, cache, temp file folders, etc) and easy to access pages for the startup programs and to uninstall programs.
So far I've only tried the file cleaner section, but it looks like a very useful free tool!

I've also been and deleted some of the unused hidden devices in device manger (Registry hack) recently.

Hodgkinson.

[Hodgkinson]

Again, many thanks for all the tips, folks.

Just been and checked the system/application logs and it would seem that a DLL required by AntiVir has been axed recently from the system (I’m assuming by CCleaner...). A reinstall of AntiVir's fixed the problem.

Agreed, a full clean system re-install is often the most effective way to go, but with University in only a short time a full rebuild is a bit further than I'd like to go at present - A slightly slow PC is better than a box that only serves to hold the table down to the floor :lol:

Never used device manager to install drivers before (Unless the drivers don't come with an .exe) Why is it preferable to use device manager?
I always thought it was better to use the .exe's as some of the more *major* devices tend to install various other bits of code to go with the hardware (Cameras and scanners in particular).

I’m probably more concerned than I should be, but I use the AV scanner predominantly to reduce the risk of file-deleting viruses, as opposed to those that slow the system down. (Granted, the on-access scanner does tend to slow things down a bit, but if I know I need processing power I can just go and turn it off temporally…).

As a matter of fact I've got a 6.3GB HDD bolted, unconnected, in the bottom of the tower with an original Ghost image of the system on it. Mind you, some of the drivers installed might be a wee bit unapplicable for the current hardware (Few, errm, actually many hardware changes here and there)

I guess avoiding the Admin login is a safety measure?

Unrelated question: What is the internal speaker of a system capable of? Usually all it does in it's life is the POST beep, but somehow AntiVir manages to use it to provide a multi-tone audible warning of a detection through it (And that’s in XP!).
A old version of the game "The Incredible Machine" (DOS Version, I think) always refused to make use of the sound card in my old Win98 PC and played the music via the case speaker; and every so often it actually (Somehow) played it at a decent quality for a matter of seconds, before suddenly reverting to bloops and bleeps for the music tones.

Hodgkinson.