[Gregg123]

Hi,
Rather than hijack another Post I started my own. My problems are quite similar (although in most cases not as severe) to the ones experienced here:Very Slow Windows.

The fantastic advice given by Broni prompted me to ask for his help again .

My laptop has become increasingly slow, OK I don't help things myself and often go days without a restart but I want to have things checked out

The laptop itself is a Toshiba A25 - S279, and I must have had it now for over 5 years. I think most things are pretty up to date, and I try to keep things clean but to be honest I don't really know what I am doing!

At someone's suggestion I will download various programs including anti-virus etc. to the point there probably is quite a bit clogging up resources and maybe some conflicts or programs that do me no good.

I now have IE8 (I have another problem with this which may be connected on a different thread) but even though I removed a load of start up entries and have run every Clean Up tool I can find, the start up is still pretty slow and I have this problem with hanging. For example, I will click on My Computer, and sometimes it can take 20 seconds then spring into life. This happens with a lot of programs. I think that the laptop has stopped, but then all the processes start to catch up at the same time.

Anyway, give me a starting point of what info you need and lets take it from there. Please, nothing too technical, you could lose me quite quickly!

Thanks in advance.

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Download and install EVEREST
Open it.
1: In left pane expand Computer folder.
2: Click once on Summary
3: In upper menu, go Report
4: [And then to b]Quick Report-Summary[/b]
5: Save it in text file, and paste it in your next post.





Don't include anything under the line Debug - PCI

[rshaffer61]

Download and install EVEREST
Open it.
1: In left pane expand Computer folder.
2: Click once on Summary
3: In upper menu, go Report
4: [And then to b]Quick Report-Summary[/b]
5: Save it in text file, and paste it in your next post.





Don't include anything under the line Debug - PCI

[Broni]

Also...

Download, install, and run Whats Running.
Click on Take snapshot in the left pane.
New pop-up window will open.
Click on Save snapshot, and save the file as snap (.xml extension will be added automatically) to know location.



Zip the file, and attach it to your next reply.

[Gregg123]

OK - Everest first:

--------[ EVEREST Home Edition © 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer GREGGLAPTOP (Notebook)
Generator Gregg
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2009-05-10
Time 18:32


--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name GREGGLAPTOP (Notebook)
User Name Gregg

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 2800 MHz (21 x 133)
Motherboard Name TOSHIBA Satellite A25
Motherboard Chipset ULi/ALi M1672 CyberALADDiN-P4
System Memory 480 MB (SDRAM)
BIOS Type Toshiba (05/19/03)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter Trident CyberALADDiN-P4 v6.4612.22ICD_SE_NP (32 MB)
Video Adapter Trident CyberALADDiN-P4 v6.4612.22ICD_SE_NP (32 MB)
3D Accelerator Trident CyberBlade XP-Ai1
Monitor Toshiba Internal 1024x768 Panel

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter ULi/ALi M5451 AC-Link Controller Audio Device

Storage:
IDE Controller ALi M5229 PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller A8GYWTYV IDE Controller
Disk Drive HITACHI_DK23EA-60 (60 GB, 4200 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-R2412 (DVD:8x, CD:24x/10x/24x DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 57231 MB (26551 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse Logitech-compatible Mouse PS/2

Network:
Network Adapter Atheros AR5001X+ Wireless Network Adapter (192.168.1.64)
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
Modem TOSHIBA Software Modem

Peripherals:
Printer Casino
Printer Fax
Printer HP Deskjet 960c Series (Tatiana)
Printer HP LaserJet 4250 PCL 6
Printer Microsoft Office Document Image Writer
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Printer WorkCentre M15 Series copy 1
Printer WorkCentre M15 Series
USB1 Controller NEC uPD720101 USB OpenHCI Controller
USB1 Controller NEC uPD720101 USB OpenHCI Controller
USB2 Controller NEC uPD720101 USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller (v1.0)
Battery Microsoft AC Adapter
Battery Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery


--------[ Debug - PCI ]-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Broni]

System Memory 480 MB (SDRAM)

You need more RAM, for starters.

[rshaffer61]

Ditto Broni on the Ram

[Gregg123]

Whats Running - download here, is this OK?:

Snap

[Gregg123]

Re the RAM, I remember in the Office a few months ago I hiked up the RAM on my Office PC (well I didn't the IT guy did!) and we had some left over. He was going to put it in my laptop but there were no slots available???

As a guide, how much have you guys got? If nothing else gives me an idea when I upgrade.

Edited by Gregg123, 10 May 2009 - 12:55 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Go HERE and run the Crucial online scanner.
This will give you the exact memory configuration for your system. You do not have to buy the memory from there, but write down the information and if you need assistance in purchasing the upgrade memory GTG can assist with suggestions also.

With Xp or Vista you barely have enough to run it not counting running any other programs. I would suggest going to a gig of memory as that seems to be the sweet spot for memory.

[Broni]

As for the RAM: http://crucial.com/s...o... A25 Series

Maximum Memory: 1024MB
Each memory slot can hold DDR PC2700 with a maximum of 512MB per slot ($34.99 a piece).

All you need.

I don't see too much from your log.
You have only few startups. I'd recommend disabling SpybotSD TeaTimer, which is known for hogging computers.
System Idle Process stays at 96%, which is good.

It looks like low amount of RAM is your main issue.

I'd....

1. Download ATF Cleaner by Atribune.

Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
Under Main choose: Select All
Unselect Cookies.
Click the Empty Selected button.

If you use Firefox browser
Click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
Unselect Cookies.
Click the Empty Selected button.

If you use Opera browser
Click Opera at the top and choose: Select All
NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.
Unselect Cookies.
Click the Empty Selected button.

Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.

2. Defrag.

[Gregg123]

All finished, thanks for that. I have just been searching around again, looking at various things - I still feel that something is not right.

For example, when I did the Defrag I had virtually nothing else open. It took an age - plus I found the CPU Usage almost constantly at 100%.

Now, I have this window open plus an internet radio site, nothing else. The CPU Usage keeps spiking - one second it is 2-3% then suddenly goes to 100% and stays there for a few seconds. I guess this spiking must be causing the hanging.

So, my question is even if I need the extra RAM surely I should be able to have these two small things open without problem? Especially after everything should now be pretty clear and cleaned, or is there something I don't know about draining it?

I have had previous problems with the internal fans almost constantly on, but it appeared to be getting better - could this be a factor?

[Broni]

Even with your amount of RAM, CPU shouldn't be spiking like that.
Nothing was shown in What's running, but we can test couple more things.

1. Download, and install SpeedFan: http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php
Post your computer temperatures:



Provide processor info (hold Windows logo key, and hit Pause/Break key to find out).

2. Download Process Explorer: http://technet.micro...s/bb896653.aspx
Unzip ProcessExplorer.zip, and double click on procexp.exe to run the program.
Click on View > Select Colunms.
In addition to already pre-selected options, make sure, the Command Line is selected, and press OK.
Go File>Save As, and save the report as Procexp.txt.
Try to save the file, when you notice any CPU spike.
Attach the file to your next reply.

Edited by Broni, 10 May 2009 - 08:29 PM.

[Gregg123]

Hi,
1. I already had Speed Fan installed, I downloaded it once because I was concerned - only problem was I had no idea what the results meant!

I have SF 4.37 and it shows the following temperatures:

Local Temp: 44
Remote Temp: 46
HD0: 43
Temp1: 46

At the moment though, after I have left the laptop off all night & I don't really have anything running, the CPU Usage is only reaching a maximum of 40%, usually a lot less. Do you want readings when it is spiking?


2. I have spent most of the day working on getting a good reading here. Certainly when I logged on and during most of the the day there is a marked difference in performance & CPU usage. No spiking like last night, the difference I think has been the removal of that Tea Timer which only became noticable after the restart this morning - maybe that was the problem.

I spent a long time watching the Process Explorer and I saved a few reports during today. The Reports are here: Procexp

Procexp.Txt I saved early around the same time as the Speed Fan readings. There was no spiking everything was relatively normal. I tried to save when CPU Usage was high - but I think I was a bit slow with this one!

Procexp2.Txt The first spike of the day. As I said, as things were relatively normal early on I started to run many programs & then saved this report.

Procexp3.Txt Later on in the day, I saved this report after things were starting to slow down, and although not as bad as last night there was some spiking around this time. Plus, internet radio had interruptions.

Procexp4.Txt This was the final Report of the day. The Laptop has now been on for about 15 hours, had been running normally then the whole thing slows down dramatically. It took me a few minutes to actually log into Process Explorer but I think I managed to get a good snap shot of the situation.

One thing I have noticed during the course of the day, is the Physical Usage never really dropped below 80%. When I had the real slow down (Report 4) this was peaking at around 92%, also the Commit Charge made a considerable spike around this time (93%). After being stable all day, this was a marked difference.

Also, the fan has been quiet most of the day!

Couple of questions:
What exactly does the Commit Charge tell me?

I think even if you can see something here, that an increase in RAM will make a difference. As I said, all day the Physical Usage rarely dropped below 80%. My question is at what point (in % terms) could I expect my laptop to slow down? For example what percentage does your Physical Usage reach?

Thanks again!

[Broni]

Let's start with your questions.
Commit Charge is the percent of total RAM and virtual memory that is being used by all running programs and Windows itself.
I'm not sure what do you mean by Physical Usage. CPU usage? If so, then it depends on number of running programs. On my system, except for situation when I use some heavy programs, like video converting programs, CPU usage never exceed 20%.

Now, looking at your logs, I can see a problem.
1st log reports System Idle Process (NOT used CPU) at 86.98%, which is perfectly normal.
Next three report abnormal CPU usage by Internet Explorer (iexplore.exe): 88.24%, 87.25%, and 88.57%, respectively.
Something is wrong here.
Either some really bad add-on, or some infection.

First....
Start running Process Explorer.
Close IE.
Go Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools, and click on Internet Explorer (no add-ons).
Run IE in this mode, using it for a while, and keep checking Process Explorer on CPU usage by iexplore.exe.
Report on findings.

[Gregg123]

One thing I noticed is that there appears to be 2 iexplore.exe processes running but only 1 shows up when I save the report!

Spikes still happen, but if anything they are much quicker if that means anything! This report was 100% CPU when I clicked Save but was dropping rapidly.

Also, these spikes seem only to happen when I ask the page to do something. In this example I have one page open only, and I had clicked to log into Facebook:


Process PID CPU Description Company Name Command Line
iexplore.exe 5968 58.42 Internet Explorer Microsoft Corporation "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" SCODEF:5620 CREDAT:14337
avgnsx.exe 5936 22.77 AVG Network scanner Service AVG Technologies CZ, s.r.o. avgnsx.exe
avgrsx.exe 1260 6.93 AVG Resident Shield Service AVG Technologies CZ, s.r.o. avgrsx.exe
procexp.exe 1628 4.95 Sysinternals Process Explorer Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com "C:\Documents and Settings\Gregg\Desktop\Process Explorer\procexp.exe"
iexplore.exe 5620 1.98 Internet Explorer Microsoft Corporation "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -extoff
System 4 0.99
svchost.exe 1292 0.99 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs
services.exe 980 0.99 Services and Controller app Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
Interrupts n/a 0.99 Hardware Interrupts
DPCs n/a 0.99 Deferred Procedure Calls
winlogon.exe 936 Windows NT Logon Application Microsoft Corporation winlogon.exe
wanmpsvc.exe 540 Wan Miniport (ATW) Service America Online, Inc. "C:\WINDOWS\wanmpsvc.exe"
ViewpointService.exe 1360 ViewMgr Viewpoint Corporation "C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Common\ViewpointService.exe"
ViewMgr.exe 3276 ViewMgr Viewpoint Corporation "C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Viewpoint Manager\ViewMgr.exe"
TPWRTRAY.EXE 2832 TOSHIBA Power Saver TOSHIBA Corporation "C:\WINDOWS\system32\TPWRTRAY.EXE"
System Idle Process 0
svchost.exe 1716 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k imgsvc
svchost.exe 1232 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost -k rpcss
svchost.exe 1156 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost -k DcomLaunch
svchost.exe 1328 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k WudfServiceGroup
svchost.exe 1508 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalService
svchost.exe 1940 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalService
svchost.exe 348 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k HPZ12
svchost.exe 3692 Generic Host Process for Win32 Services Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k HTTPFilter
spoolsv.exe 1856 Spooler SubSystem App Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
smss.exe 864 Windows NT Session Manager Microsoft Corporation \SystemRoot\System32\smss.exe
SMAgent.exe 1264 SoundMAX service agent component Analog Devices, Inc. "C:\Program Files\Analog Devices\SoundMAX\SMAgent.exe"
searchindexer.exe 840 Microsoft Windows Search Indexer Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\system32\SearchIndexer.exe /Embedding
ObjectDock.exe 5528 ObjectDock Stardock "C:\Program Files\Stardock\ObjectDock\ObjectDock.exe"
msimn.exe 3080 Outlook Express Microsoft Corporation "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe"
MDM.EXE 300 Machine Debug Manager Microsoft Corporation "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\VS7DEBUG\MDM.EXE"
lsass.exe 1000 LSA Shell (Export Version) Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
KService.exe 1168 Delivery Manager Service Kontiki Inc. "C:\Program Files\Kontiki\KService.exe"
jqs.exe 340 Java™ Quick Starter Service Sun Microsystems, Inc. "C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\bin\jqs.exe" -service -config "C:\Program Files\Java\jre6\lib\deploy\jqs\jqs.conf"
GtDetectSc.exe 1696 GtDetectSc OptionNV "C:\Program Files\Orange\ICON 225 USB Connect\GtDetectSc.exe"
explorer.exe 3012 Windows Explorer Microsoft Corporation Explorer.exe
DVDRAMSV.exe 1632 Service of RAMAsst for Windows XP Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. C:\WINDOWS\System32\DVDRAMSV.exe
cvpnd.exe 816 Cisco Systems VPN Client Cisco Systems, Inc. "C:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\VPN Client\cvpnd.exe"
ctfmon.exe 3988 CTF Loader Microsoft Corporation ctfmon.exe
csrss.exe 912 Client Server Runtime Process Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\system32\csrss.exe ObjectDirectory=\Windows SharedSection=1024,3072,512 Windows=On SubSystemType=Windows ServerDll=basesrv,1 ServerDll=winsrv:UserServerDllInitialization,3 ServerDll=winsrv:ConServerDllInitialization,2 ProfileControl=Off MaxRequestThreads=16
CDANTSRV.EXE 724 C-Dilla RTS Service C-Dilla Ltd C:\WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\CDANTSRV.EXE
avgwdsvc.exe 564 AVG Watchdog Service AVG Technologies CZ, s.r.o. C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgwdsvc.exe
avgtray.exe 2916 AVG Tray Monitor AVG Technologies CZ, s.r.o. "C:\PROGRA~1\AVG\AVG8\avgtray.exe"
AOLacsd.exe 324 AOL Connectivity Service America Online, Inc. C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\AOL\ACS\AOLacsd.exe
alg.exe 2316 Application Layer Gateway Service Microsoft Corporation C:\WINDOWS\System32\alg.exe
a2service.exe 180 a-squared Service Emsi Software GmbH "C:\Program Files\a-squared Free\a2service.exe"