Extremely slow xp machine

Over an extended period my XP machine has gotten slower and slower.

Is there a suite of free utilities that I should use to clean the machine?

I have started with CCleaner Pro, which seems to be only a start.

I am a Firfox user and frequently get a "script not responding" error - which usually results in the machine getting locked up and quite unusable.

System Internals "process Explorer" seems to be a way that I can clean out the tasks competing for resources and i have made some progress at identifying tasks that should not be loaded at startup. I don't have much success with juggling the priorities of the various active tasks - but some help, like setting Firefox priority to high.

I do not wish to shell out any money for the magic cures that are offered on the web.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

 

So far, noone has replied to my post

However, I have been making some progress. i will document a suggested procedure that uses freely available utilities and comments on their ease of use and value provided. this will require someone who is trying to clean up and speed up an XP machine to understand the purpose of each step.

 

A script not responding is the website not your browser.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/warning-unresponsive-script

One of my extensions, I do not remember which one was causing this.

also, when this did happen to me after a few minutes the internet would be responsive again and I would just cancel that website and go on.

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use the following to clean up pc, I do this at least once a month, and I clean out my restore points quite frequently also:

Advice from Shenan Stanley:

Probably will want to clean up that machine...

Check for malware:
Download, install, run, update and perform full system scans with the following two applications:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/


Removing everything they find. Rebooting when needed. (You can uninstall one or both when done.)
Then perform an online scan with the eSet Online Scanner.

The less you have running all the time, the better the things you want to run will perform:

Use Autoruns to figure out what all is starting up when your computer does/when you log on. Look up anything you do not know about usingGoogle (and/or ask here.) You can hopefully figure out if there are things starting when you computer does (or you logon) that you do not need and then configure them (via their own built-in mechanisms is the preferred method) so they do not start up - using your resources without reason.
You can download and utilize Process Explorer to see exactly what is taking up your processor/CPU time and memory. This can help you recognize applications you might want to look into alternatives for and/or get rid of all together.

Do some house cleaning and dust off that hard drive:

You may wish to free up some disk space (will also aid in getting rid of things you do not utilize) by going through these steps:

Windows XP should take between 4.5 and 9GB *with* an Office suite, Photo Editing software, alternative Internet browser(s), various Internet plugins and a host of other things installed.

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm

( Particularly of interest here - #4 )

( Alternative: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, and click Power Options).
-
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the "System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the hiberfil.sys file.
-
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

2. Click the System Restore tab.

3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on the "Settings" button.

4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)

5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a size between 64MB and 128MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS - Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to something between 64MB and 128MB. (It may be MUCH larger right now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents" (the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10 minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet Explorer.
-
You can use an application that scans your system for log files and temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/

( just the disk cleanup - don't play with the registry part for now )
Other ways to free up space..

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used. Then you can determine what to do.
After that - you will want to check for any physical errors and arrange everything for efficient access"

CHKDSK

How to scan your disks for errors
* will take time and a reboot.
Defragment
How to Defragment your hard drives
* will take time

======================

what is your antivirus??

do you have any other scanners installed??

 

Thank you, elizabeth23

Your comprehensive reply promises to be very useful.

I will work through it and apply to my machine.

Will post my comments within a day or two.

Many thanks,

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mopepom
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Okay, will check back

 

Computer Clean Up Procedure (Draft 2)

Attention Elizabeth 23

Here is a text rendition of a procedure that I put together, for my own use. I relied heavily on your earlier post and I wish to acknowledge the value of that post.
.
I don't know if the txt formatted document is readable. The original is in Word - too large to send to the forum.

Here it is in raw txt mode:

=============================================================

Computer Clean Up Procedure (Draft 2)

OBJECTIVES

to detect and remove unwanted and/or dangerous software from an XP machine;
and
to speed up the machine.


PROCEDURE

01. Boot the machine into XP.

02. Load the Standard Operating Environment (SOE) Desktop screen




03. Check the list of processes displayed in the Process Explorer window on the right, to eliminate all unnecessary non-core processes. These should be terminated, 1 by 1.

Right _Click on Named Process -> "Kill Process" -> Respond OK to message: "Are you sure you want
to kill Named Process

04. (a) Load key core processes needed for the rest of this procedure (e.g. Firefox.exe, which is useful for searching for and downloading the various utility programs to be included in the Standard Operating Environment.)

04. (b) Set appropriate priority for each key process.

(e.g. Go to SOE desktop screen -> Internet Programs -> Mozilla Firefox).

Each such key processes should be assigned priority using the sequence:

Right_Click on Named Process -> "Set Priority" -> Above Normal 10", as appropriate.


04. (c) Key core processes may include:
Ccleaner Pro - boosts speed, repairs problems, cleans-up & protects privacy and safe to use;
Wise Registry Cleaner 8.12 - recommended by MajorGeeks.com, a free Windows utility to repair & replace damaged files and security settings (includes System Tuneup and Registry Defrag);
Malawarebytes - a free scanner that detects and removes malware like worms, Trojans, rootkits, rogues and spyware;
SuperAntiSpyware - Recommended by MajorGeeks.com, a free Windows utility to repair & replace damaged files and security settings;
ESet Online Scanner - Online Virus Scanner which does a free, one-time scan, activated manually, to detect and remove threats;
Search & Destroy, 2.3, System Scan - a comprehensive, effective but slow scan for malware, that is worth doing; and
Autoruns by MS - a utility that shows what programs are configured to run during system boot-up or login and shows entries in the order Windows processes them. Autoruns may be configured to show other locations, including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications and auto-start services. Autoruns goes well beyond the scope of the MSConfig utility.
05. Great care should be exercised in the use of the following utilities and actions, that have given this user confusing results:
CHKDSK, Disk Cleanup, 360Amigo,Turning off Hibernation under Power Options, adjusting memory allocated to System Restore, and Temporary Internet Files.
05. Disable Selected Microsoft Services:
Click Start.
Click Settings.
Select Control Panel.
Double click Administrative Tools.
Double click Services.
Scroll down and highlight the service you want to adjust.
Right-click on it, and choose Properties.
Click the stop button.
Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar

06. Services to Disable:
Smart Card / Smart Card
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service - Unless you run NetBIOS on your system, you do not need this service.
Uninterruptible Power Supply
Remote Registry service
Error Reporting Service
Wireless Zero Configuration - Unless you use wi-fi, you can safely stop this service. If you use wi-fi, this is actually a useful service.
Alerter.
Clipbook
Computer Browser - If you are on a LAN, keep it enabled. If not, stop it. It allows you to see the other computers on your network.
FastUser Switching Compatibility - If you keep multiple users/logins on your current computer, you should leave this enabled. If you always log-in the same way as the same person, you should disable this.
Messenger Service
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Service - If you do not use NetMeeting, you should stop this service.
Network DDE/Network DDE DSDM
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Service This should not be enabled unless you use it.
Telnet Service - a security risk, so do not keep it enabled unless you use it.

07. Frequency. This procedure should be performed at least once monthly. Allow at least one hour to conduct the procedure. Test results carefully.

 

I would use ccleaner and uninstall wise registry, you do not need both, nor do you even need to do any registry cleaning.

====================

what is this??

==============

for services you want to check with the Black viper site:

http://www.blackviper.com/service-c...32-bit-service-pack-3-service-configurations/

never do more than one service change at a time and then check to see if you like it, always write down what you changed for future reference.

================

what kind of conflicting results did you get??

checkdisk is to check the state of your drive for bad sectors, if you have any kb in bad sectors then your drive is failing.

disk cleanup does just that, with the option to clear out all but the last restore point.

360 Amigo should be uninstalled, it is not necessary, most "speed up" programs are just doing the normal cleaning of temp files and if you use ccleaner that is all you need.

 

I have to say that all sites, including Blackviper, tend to be out of date or suggesting you leave on services only needed for networking. As a Home user, I don't network.

I've been through a number of similar sites, collecting advice from each on the various services. This is the configuration I am now using.

My set up is XP desktop, printer, DVD recorder, 2 drives and connected to the net through a router. Share router with my wife. I surf, play games and listen to YouTube

Right click My Computer, click Advanced tab, then Performance button. Unclick everything. All eye candy and you don't need any of them.

Next turn off Automatic updates. Obsolete + anything M$ wants to give now should be treated with caution.

Switch off Windows firewall. Hardware is better by a long way. If you don't have hardware firewall, there are many better ones out there. Zone Alarm for example. Test yours with ShieldUp from Gibson Research.

I also switch off System Restore, but up to you. If you keep it on, remember to keep System Restore in the services at Auto

Click on My computer and right click on your HD then select properties. Now, Remove the ticks from Compress Drive to save space, (it doesn't save very much and does slow your machine) and Indexing Service. Another resource waster, more important for major drive sharing.

Next, open Services in Administrative Tools and look at each of these settings. The first column is the name of the service, the second is the default setting, the third is the recommended setting for a machine similar to mine.

I have been using all of these successfully for a while now. I've written in short descriptions against some. Some will be listed on your machine, specific to your hardware and software. Graphics drivers, Zone Alarm, Adobe Flash for example.

The ones left on are needed. If no details then they are vital. Rule is, if you're not sure, leave it.

In all I have 13 listed here remaining on, the rest are not needed. Some such as IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service, Logical Disk Manager, Logical Disk Manager Administrative, Plug and Play, Print Spooler, Windows Image Acquisition are equipment I use. Not needed if you don't use these.

One minor issue. After turning off Application Layer Gateway Service the little TV icon on the bottom right of your screen will disappear. No big deal for me. This service uses quite a lot of resources.

http://www.blackviper.com/service-c...32-bit-service-pack-3-service-configurations/

http://forums.cnet.com/7723-6121_102-99164/windows-xp-services-that-can-be-safely-disabled/

http://billmullins.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/turn-off-unnecessary-services-in-xp-speedup-your-pc/

Those with *** after them are left on.
Apologies for the appearance of this list. This site seems to remove spaces.

 

Erratum

Where I wrote:

One minor issue. After turning off Application Layer Gateway Service the little TV icon on the bottom right of your screen will disappear. No big deal for me. This service uses quite a lot of resources.


I should have written

One minor issue. After turning off Network Connections and Windows Firewall/ICS, the little TV icon on the bottom right of your screen will disappear. No big deal for me. This service uses quite a lot of resources

 

Thanks to Elizabeth 23 & Jojo

Your comments are much appreciated.

I will review them carefully and get back to the forum in a couple of days.

My reference to "confusing results" mean only that I was confused and need to do more work on these utilities and tasks.

With some luck, I can produce a next draft that makes sense to you both.

Thanks very much.

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Mopepom
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@Jojo,

what about rootkit updates??

there have been 2 so far that I know of, even if you do disable automatic updates, you should go there and do a custom scan just to see if any rootkit updates are available.

NOTE: on services everyone's pc is different, always check out the pc after a service change to see if what you disabled or changed to manual/auto will make a difference in the way your pc operates.

Note: on performance, I like some of the eye candy. as for a slow pc, it depends on what you have running and what you have installed. All pc's differ. Knock on wood but I have no problems at this moment and I use windows firewall. I have a good antivirus and run malware scans and surf safely and so far so good no infections.

 

The last update I took from M$ was something which interrupted my computer to bring me an important bulletin. Buy a new OS. (Thank you M$!)

Some might question the wisdom of trusting M$. As an OS, it's the best of the bunch. As a company, .....

As for other, nonM$ updates, these are unaffected by the services. Each has their own update service.

Rootkits and other malware are better taken care of using standard, proven software. Personally I have the most up to date version of Malwarebytes, 2.0.2.1012, CCleaner, and Zone alarm. And for stubborn stains, AdwCleaner.

What I was demonstrating is that most of the services in XP can safely be turned off for the average home user. Sites such as Blackviper, excellent though they are are aimed at network users. Many of the services he suggests leaving on are either obsolete or for networking.

But it takes some research on each individual service. I have done this and listed most of the details, briefly, next to each service.

However, it would in insane for anyone to simply take my word. You must each do your own research. If you have net access and a decent computer, (and you evidently have both) then that research is not difficult. It pays dividends in speeding up your machine.

I made the point that this configuration is for my computer. I think the implication of Eye Candy was pretty obvious. Preference, not necessity.

I was not attempting to prescribe what should and shouldn''t be turned off.

 

I agree each one has to set for their own preference. .