[madnessman]

Yeah my PC has been extremely slow. So slow that I had to install Unbuntu. It's so slow that it is practically unusable. I'm fairly sure that I don't have any maleware so I believe it's registry issues. How should I fix this? Thanks (in advance) for your help.

Basic Info:
Windows XP SP3
AMD 5200+
Nvidea 8500 GT
2gb RAM

It took me just over 10 and a half minutes to get from powering up to being logged in and having firefox open.

P.S. this is not related to my other topic on this forum. That's for a different computer.

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Lets take a look at the hard drive and see what you have.

Go to
1: Start
2: My Computer
3: Right Click on "C" drive
4: Click on Properties
5: In this field it will tell you total drive space and also free space

Please post results in next reply

[rshaffer61]

Lets take a look at the hard drive and see what you have.

Go to
1: Start
2: My Computer
3: Right Click on "C" drive
4: Click on Properties
5: In this field it will tell you total drive space and also free space

Please post results in next reply

[madnessman]

i've got a 250gb hdd which i partitioned into 3 parts... its like... 116gbx2 for windows and 20gb for linux. the 1st windows partition is almost full (20 gbs free space left), 2nd windows partition is almost empty (only like 10 gbs used). my linux partition is around 20% full. i don't htink its a hard drive issue.

edit: i ran a defrag about a month ago
edit 2: performance speeds up after the computer has been on for a while.

Edited by madnessman, 02 May 2009 - 09:07 AM.

[rshaffer61]

Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune.
Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
Under Main choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.
If you use Firefox browserClick Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.
NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
If you use Opera browserClick Opera at the top and choose: Select All
Click the Empty Selected button.
NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.


If this does not work then:

Go to:
Start and then My Computer
Right Click On "C" drive and then click on Properties
Click on Tools tab at the top
In the Error Checking field click Check Now


When that is done

In Defragmentation field click Defragment Now



Reboot and let me know how system is running now

[madnessman]

No significant improvement I'm afraid... I still don't think the problem is a simple HDD one. I think my registry is messed up somehow (but I'm no expert). What shall we try next? Thanks, Madnessman.

[rshaffer61]

Ok let's try the following to check the registry and fix any problems there.



Go Start and then to Run ("Start Search" in Vista),
Type in: sfc /scannow
Click OK (Enter in Vista).
Have Windows CD/DVD handy.
If System File Checker (sfc) finds any errors, it may ask you for the CD/DVD.
If sfc does not find any errors in Windows XP, it will simply quit, without any message.
In Vista you will receive the following message: "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations".

For Vista users ONLY: Navigate to C:\Windows\Logs\CBS folder. You'll see CBS.log file.
Usually, it's pretty big file, so upload it to Flyupload, and post download link.


If you don't have Windows CD....
This applies mostly to Windows XP, since Vista rarely requires use of its DVD while running "sfc"
Note This method will not necessarily work as well, as when using Windows CD, because not always ALL system files are backed up on your hard drive. Also, backed up files may be corrupted as well.

Go Start and then Run
type in regedit and click OK


Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries Values on the right hand side.

The one we want is called: SourcePath

It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, usually D and that is why it is asking for the XP CD.
All we need to do is change it to: C:
Now, double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up.
Change the drive letter from your CD drive to your root drive, usually C:
Close Registry Editor.

Now restart your computer and try sfc /scannow again!


Thanks to Broni for the instructions

[happyrock]

sounds like your hard drive reverted to PIO MODE...good guide here to check and reset to DMA MODE is here
if that helps get you booted in a reasonable amount of time...run chkdsk /r ... if it reverts to PIO MODE a second time your hard drive is on its last legs...so BACKUP any data you can't live without NOW while you still can...

Edited by happyrock, 03 May 2009 - 09:13 AM.

[catgreen]

used spaced 18,315,231,232 bytes
free spaced 21,676,044,288 bytes

capacity 39,991,275,520 bytes

i ran regcure and it found over 900 errors in my system. Is there any way you can help me clean it up
Thank you

[rshaffer61]

GTG does not advise to use any Registry cleaning or Optimizing programs as they can cause more harm then good.


Have you done as Happyrock suggested and if so what were the results?

Edited by rshaffer61, 03 May 2009 - 05:01 PM.

[DragonMaster Jay]

i ran regcure and it found over 900 errors in my system. Is there any way you can help me clean it up

RegCure does this as a marketing scheme. They try to scare you. Like Rshaffer61 said, Geeks to Go does not recommend the use of such programs. I have found most registry cleaning and optimization programs to be bogus/worthless. Registry programs always delete some good file that is needed. My experience with these programs is that my operating system performed much better without the use of a registry cleaner.

Lastly, disk defragmenter will take care of errors and some of your performance issue. Seeing how rshaffer61 has this under control, follow what he said!

[madnessman]

whao! i just got thread hijacked (kinda)! I'm not able to do any "checking" today as I have an AP (exam) tomorrow. Sorry! I'll try to get it done tomorrow (after my exams).

[rshaffer61]

Thanks for the update and we will monitor this topic and await your reply.

[madnessman]

I think the windows file protection thing found something. I don't have my Windows CD so I did what you said and ran it. I got this message after a while though...

Files that are required to run Windows properly must be copied to the DLL Cache. Insert your Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM now.

Should I track down my CD?

And I checked if my drive is in PIO or DMA and it's a little weird. I have two Primary IDE Channels and two Secondary IDE Channels. The first Primary IDE Channel is under PIO but the second Primary IDE Channel is under DMA Ultra 4. It says "Not Applicable" under Current Transfer Mode for both Secondary IDE Channels.

Should I do the uninstall thing anyway?

[happyrock]

I think the windows file protection thing found something. I don't have my Windows CD so I did what you said and ran it. I got this message after a while though...

Files that are required to run Windows properly must be copied to the DLL Cache. Insert your Windows XP Home Edition CD-ROM now.

Should I track down my CD?

YES...THEN RUN IT AGAIN

And I checked if my drive is in PIO or DMA and it's a little weird. I have two Primary IDE Channels and two Secondary IDE Channels. The first Primary IDE Channel is under PIO but the second Primary IDE Channel is under DMA Ultra 4. It says "Not Applicable" under Current Transfer Mode for both Secondary IDE Channels.

Should I do the uninstall thing anyway?
YES...UNINSTALL BOTH THE PRIMARY CHANNELS...THEN REBOOT

[madnessman]

YES! I'm on DMA Ultra 6 and DMA Ultra 4 for the two primary drives now. A very notable performance boost. I'll ask my uncle if he has my windows cd so I should be able to get that done this weekend.