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IMB R31 - Working extremly slow


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#1
Largo65

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Hi. Iīve been trying to fix a:

IMB 2656 - R31 laptop.
Intel Celeron 1.07 GHz, 120 MB ram,
8,25 GB HD, Windows XP Pro SP2

Ok, it had XP Home in the beginnig, but I think the problems started when Windows XP Professional was put in it. It takes a long time to start, everything works slow. I donīt think itīs a virus, I have McAfee virus scaner (up to date), and SpyBot. When I try running 3D applc. it works extremly slow, and I get the message "Windows Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low". When Iīve tried running it in SafeMode it workes fine. Is there a way to fix this problem or can someone tell me if itīs possible to format the computer safely, there is no data of value in it anymore ...

Can anyone help?:whistling:

Edited by Largo65, 15 July 2006 - 06:13 PM.

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#2
Retired Tech

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Click start

Right click My Computer

Click properties

Click advanced

Click settings for performance

Click advanced

Click change for virtual memory

Put the dot in system managed

Click set

Click OK

Reboot

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#3
Largo65

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Thanks for your reply:). I followed your instructions, but I can see very little difference in the preformance ...:whistling:

Edited by Largo65, 15 July 2006 - 08:32 PM.

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#4
Retired Tech

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Is the Ram Memory figure correct?

Click start, all programmes, accessories, disc clean up, click more options, click clean up restore points, confirm, reboot
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#5
Neil Jones

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Your problems stem from the fact that the laptop has far too little memory for what its using. Ideally it needs at least 256Mb, whether this is possible depends on how upgradable that laptop is.

XP Home is lighter to run on a system than XP Pro but not by too significant a margin.
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#6
Largo65

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It is set to 178 MB, and it says "recommended: 178MB" .... is that normal?. And Iīve already done the disc clean up ...

And yes, I know itīs an old machine, with far too little memory. But it used to work at least ok with old 3D applic. that I am trying out...
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#7
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Clean up restore points would free some space, which would give system managed more to work with

If you had set it to system managed it would not show a set size
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#8
Largo65

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Ok, I cleaned up the restore points, and rebooted, but nothing has chanced.... there are 3GB of 8GB free ...
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#9
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This should help determine incorrect entries, obsolete software etc, though it is mainly down to insufficent Ram Memory so you may want to look at upgrade options

http://www.crucial.com/

Items in blue which are underlined are clickable to give more information about the process

Click start then run, type prefetch then press enter, click edit then select all, right click any file then click delete, confirm delete

Click start, all programmes, accessories, system tools to run disc clean up, then from system tools, run disc defragmenter.

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD and Windows File Protection will show a blue onscreen progress bar, when the bar goes, reboot

If you do not have an XP CD you can borrow a same version as was originally installed XP CD, if you downloaded SP2 then you need an SP1 XP CD

Click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.

Windows will appear to load normally then either the monitor will show progress or the screen will go blank, do not disturb this.

This will take an hour or so before it gets to the desktop.

Download and install Tune Up 2006 Trial

Run Tune Up Disc Clean Up

Run Tune Up Registry Clean Up

Click Optimize and Improve to run Reg Defrag, which will take a few minutes and need a reboot. You should disable the antivirus programme to run this and check it is running after the reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to optimize the computer, select computer with an internet connection from the drop down menu, this also requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to accelerate downloads, select the speed just above your actual connection speed, this requires a reboot

After the reboot, click optimize then system optimizer to run system advisor

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#10
Largo65

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Ok, Iīve done all the list, exept:

Click start then run, type sfc /scannow then press enter, you need the XP CD and Windows File Protection will show a blue onscreen progress bar, when the bar goes, reboot

If you do not have an XP CD you can borrow a same version as was originally installed XP CD, if you downloaded SP2 then you need an SP1 XP CD

Click start then run, type chkdsk /f /r then press enter, type Y to confirm for next boot, press enter then reboot.


Because I donīt have the XP cd, and when I enter the "Chksdsk /f/r" in run, the screen got wierd, so I had to shut down. But ok, I can now see the preformance is better :help: . But running old 3D appl. still is slow. When I looked in the TuneUp Process Manager, I saw that there is an applic. called "Generic Host Process for Win32 Services", and there six of them! :whistling: , and I saw in the Memory TuneUp that free mem is only 27% when nothing is running, so the meter was always in yellow and red .... is this normal? :blink:

Edited by Largo65, 16 July 2006 - 04:10 PM.

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#11
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For chkdsk /f /r (with the spaces)

It should have shown a screen which said it could not run because the volume was locked (in use) type Y to confirm for next boot, so having typed Y pressed enter and rebooted, it would then either show you the progress in stages 1 through 5 or it would go blank, in either case, the important thing is not to disturb it. It would have indicated it had run when it loaded the desktop, and not before

For Tune Up, that has highlighted the ram memory deficiency, you can set it to auto recover, though this is optional

If you check with crucial.com you should find upgrading the ram memory to 256 or even 512 is not overly expensive, however, this is also optional
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#12
Largo65

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The computer is working much better now.
Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it :whistling:
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#13
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Thank You for letting me know
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