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From: General Mailbox on 31 Mar 2010 21:49
Greetings.
I have a 10yr old HP8705 800Mhz CPU, 512MB RAM that has slowed down
noticeably in opening programs, ect. I have been using this computer
consistantly on the ballpark of 6hrs a day for 10 yrs. You can count on two
hands any significant issues I've had with this and less than a dozen
warnings of viruses in its life so far. Processes at fresh bootup run
between 28 and 34. I have these MS newsgroups to thank for these 10yrs of
helping me keep the machine running well. It had to happen sometime I
suppose. Something is giving out causing memory access to fall below
average benchmark levels. All 3 DIMMs were changed out in guessing it might
be one or more of the memory chips, but did not change anything. My CPU is
showing 797MHz (800Mhz) (6x133), so that hasn't slowed down. In my opinion,
the temperature has always been a bit elevated for the CPU (114F avg) never
exceeding 120F. My readings from Everest Report is:
Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 3

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 800 MHz (6 x 133)
Motherboard Name Asus Pegasus
Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C694X Apollo Pro133A
System Memory 512 MB (SDRAM)

Memory Read
CPU CPU Clock Motherboard Chipset Memory Read Speed

PIII-E 866 MHz ECS P6VAP-A+ ApolloPro133A PC133 SDRAM
840 MB/s
for what I think it should be to
PIII-E 800 MHz Asus Pegasus ApolloPro133A PC100 SDRAM
281 MB/s
which is what it is now.

Memory Write
PIII-E 866 MHz ECS P6VAP-A+ ApolloPro133A PC133 SDRAM
190 MB/s
for what I thik it should be to
PIII-E 800 MHz Asus Pegasus ApolloPro133A PC100 SDRAM
93 MB/s

which is what it is now.

Memory Latency
C3 800 MHz VIA EPIA PLE133 PC133 SDRAM 3-3-3-6 178.5
ns

for what I think it should be to
PIII-E 800 MHz Asus Pegasus ApolloPro133A PC100 SDRAM
2-2-2-5 343.1 ns

which is what it is now.

While it has been recommended by MS for WinXP to have a better machine, this
has done sufficient for me with e-mail and web browsing.
I say this to save time in anyone who would write "Get a new machine",
unless in this case there is no cure for it, then I would.

Thanks to all for your assistance!

B.rgds,
Kevin


From: Daave on 1 Apr 2010 20:22
General Mailbox wrote:
> Greetings.
> I have a 10yr old HP8705 800Mhz CPU, 512MB RAM that has slowed down
> noticeably in opening programs, ect. I have been using this computer
> consistantly on the ballpark of 6hrs a day for 10 yrs. You can count
> on two hands any significant issues I've had with this and less than
> a dozen warnings of viruses in its life so far. Processes at fresh
> bootup run between 28 and 34. I have these MS newsgroups to thank for
> these 10yrs of helping me keep the machine running well. It had to
> happen sometime I suppose. Something is giving out causing memory
> access to fall below average benchmark levels. All 3 DIMMs were
> changed out in guessing it might be one or more of the memory chips,
> but did not change anything. My CPU is showing 797MHz (800Mhz)
> (6x133), so that hasn't slowed down. In my opinion, the temperature
> has always been a bit elevated for the CPU (114F avg) never exceeding
> 120F. My readings from Everest Report is: Computer:
> Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
> OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
>
> Motherboard:
> CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 800 MHz (6 x 133)
> Motherboard Name Asus Pegasus
> Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C694X Apollo Pro133A
> System Memory 512 MB (SDRAM)
>
> Memory Read
> CPU CPU Clock Motherboard Chipset Memory Read Speed
>
> PIII-E 866 MHz ECS P6VAP-A+ ApolloPro133A PC133 SDRAM
> 840 MB/s
> for what I think it should be to
> PIII-E 800 MHz Asus Pegasus ApolloPro133A PC100 SDRAM
> 281 MB/s
> which is what it is now.
>
> Memory Write
> PIII-E 866 MHz ECS P6VAP-A+ ApolloPro133A PC133 SDRAM
> 190 MB/s
> for what I thik it should be to
> PIII-E 800 MHz Asus Pegasus ApolloPro133A PC100 SDRAM
> 93 MB/s
>
> which is what it is now.
>
> Memory Latency
> C3 800 MHz VIA EPIA PLE133 PC133 SDRAM 3-3-3-6
> 178.5 ns
>
> for what I think it should be to
> PIII-E 800 MHz Asus Pegasus ApolloPro133A PC100 SDRAM
> 2-2-2-5 343.1 ns
>
> which is what it is now.
>
> While it has been recommended by MS for WinXP to have a better
> machine, this has done sufficient for me with e-mail and web browsing.
> I say this to save time in anyone who would write "Get a new machine",
> unless in this case there is no cure for it, then I would.
>
> Thanks to all for your assistance!
>
> B.rgds,
> Kevin

Here are the usual causes of sluggishness:

1. Malicious software (malware). You need to rule this out first! This
page has excellent information:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware

2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton
and McAfee). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply
use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other
programs. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each
time you boot up. Fortunately, there are other antimalware programs
available that use far fewer resources (e.g., NOD32, Avast, and Avira).

3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
background -- with or without your knowledge. (Then again, many programs
that run in the background have trivial consequences.)

To determine every program and process you are currently running, use
the Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Processes tab. You should
be able to sort by CPU usage or Memory usage to get a good ideas which
ones are the resource/memory hogs. You should write down the names of
all the processes for future detective work (or take a snapshot and
print it out).

Use these sites to determine what these programs are and to learn how to
configure them not to always run at startup:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Sometimes it is recommended to use msconfig to configure the programs to
not run at startup. A better, more thorough program is Autoruns:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

But before you do this, you should use the preference settings of the
program in question. Otherwise, for some programs, they will return to
the startup list anyway!

If you do wish to use msconfig, it may be accessed this way:

Start | Run | type "msconfig" (without the quotation marks) | Enter (or
OK)

4. Not enough RAM, which causes the PC to overly rely on the pagefile. A
quick way to determine if this is happening is to open Task Manager
(Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Performance tab. Then note the three values
under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total, Limit,
and Peak.

The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory you
used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value of
Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
In case you want to explore this further, you may run Page File Monitor
for Windows XP:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

5. You might also want to check that your hard drive's access mode
didn't change from DMA to PIO:

http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too-slow-while-copying/

and

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/


From: General Mailbox on 3 Apr 2010 23:02
Daave,
You brought up some good points.
I do refer to PacsPortal for program startup suggestions and generally use a
combination of Spybot S&D and Ccleaner to govern the startup of programs,
but of course first using the programs own ability to stop loading at
bootup.
I do use Avira A/V personal free edition because it does use less resources
compared to Avast.
Malware/Spyware have a very low (not impossible) ability to get on my
machine. I keep a fresh OS installation with latest MS updates archived and
updated about every 4 months. While I do have to reinstall some programs
again, it's the easiest method of removing stray files and registries of
programs no longer desired, which may be dragging the system down (like
malware/spyware). Either that or spending time doing complete system scans
with A/V and anti-spyware programs and registry cleaners, then defragging.
Commit charge and the DMA areas are something for me to check over. Thank
you for that suggestion as well.
Please forgive me if I don't get back with you until Monday. Of course this
Sunday is very special and is being spent with family.
Bless you and happy Easter!
B.rgds,
Kevin

"Daave" <daave(a)example.com> wrote in message
news:%23Ewdbqf0KHA.776(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
> General Mailbox wrote:
>> Greetings.
>> I have a 10yr old HP8705 800Mhz CPU, 512MB RAM that has slowed down
>> noticeably in opening programs, ect. I have been using this computer
>> consistantly on the ballpark of 6hrs a day for 10 yrs. You can count
>> on two hands any significant issues I've had with this and less than
>> a dozen warnings of viruses in its life so far. Processes at fresh
>> bootup run between 28 and 34. I have these MS newsgroups to thank for
>> these 10yrs of helping me keep the machine running well. It had to
>> happen sometime I suppose. Something is giving out causing memory
>> access to fall below average benchmark levels. All 3 DIMMs were
>> changed out in guessing it might be one or more of the memory chips,
>> but did not change anything. My CPU is showing 797MHz (800Mhz)
>> (6x133), so that hasn't slowed down. In my opinion, the temperature
>> has always been a bit elevated for the CPU (114F avg) never exceeding
>> 120F. My readings from Everest Report is: Computer:
>> Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
>> OS Service Pack Service Pack 3
>>
>> Motherboard:
>> CPU Type Intel Pentium IIIE, 800 MHz (6 x 133)
>> Motherboard Name Asus Pegasus
>> Motherboard Chipset VIA VT82C694X Apollo Pro133A
>> System Memory 512 MB (SDRAM)
>>
>> Memory Read
>> CPU CPU Clock Motherboard Chipset Memory Read Speed
>>
>> PIII-E 866 MHz ECS P6VAP-A+ ApolloPro133A PC133 SDRAM
>> 840 MB/s
>> for what I think it should be to
>> PIII-E 800 MHz Asus Pegasus ApolloPro133A PC100 SDRAM
>> 281 MB/s
>> which is what it is now.
>>
>> Memory Write
>> PIII-E 866 MHz ECS P6VAP-A+ ApolloPro133A PC133 SDRAM
>> 190 MB/s
>> for what I thik it should be to
>> PIII-E 800 MHz Asus Pegasus ApolloPro133A PC100 SDRAM
>> 93 MB/s
>>
>> which is what it is now.
>>
>> Memory Latency
>> C3 800 MHz VIA EPIA PLE133 PC133 SDRAM 3-3-3-6 178.5
>> ns
>>
>> for what I think it should be to
>> PIII-E 800 MHz Asus Pegasus ApolloPro133A PC100 SDRAM
>> 2-2-2-5 343.1 ns
>>
>> which is what it is now.
>>
>> While it has been recommended by MS for WinXP to have a better
>> machine, this has done sufficient for me with e-mail and web browsing.
>> I say this to save time in anyone who would write "Get a new machine",
>> unless in this case there is no cure for it, then I would.
>>
>> Thanks to all for your assistance!
>>
>> B.rgds,
>> Kevin
>
> Here are the usual causes of sluggishness:
>
> 1. Malicious software (malware). You need to rule this out first! This
> page has excellent information:
>
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware
>
> 2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton
> and McAfee). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply
> use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other
> programs. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each
> time you boot up. Fortunately, there are other antimalware programs
> available that use far fewer resources (e.g., NOD32, Avast, and Avira).
>
> 3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
> background -- with or without your knowledge. (Then again, many programs
> that run in the background have trivial consequences.)
>
> To determine every program and process you are currently running, use
> the Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Processes tab. You should
> be able to sort by CPU usage or Memory usage to get a good ideas which
> ones are the resource/memory hogs. You should write down the names of
> all the processes for future detective work (or take a snapshot and
> print it out).
>
> Use these sites to determine what these programs are and to learn how to
> configure them not to always run at startup:
>
> http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
> http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
> http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
>
> Sometimes it is recommended to use msconfig to configure the programs to
> not run at startup. A better, more thorough program is Autoruns:
>
> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
>
> But before you do this, you should use the preference settings of the
> program in question. Otherwise, for some programs, they will return to
> the startup list anyway!
>
> If you do wish to use msconfig, it may be accessed this way:
>
> Start | Run | type "msconfig" (without the quotation marks) | Enter (or
> OK)
>
> 4. Not enough RAM, which causes the PC to overly rely on the pagefile. A
> quick way to determine if this is happening is to open Task Manager
> (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Performance tab. Then note the three values
> under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total, Limit,
> and Peak.
>
> The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
> very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory you
> used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value of
> Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
> In case you want to explore this further, you may run Page File Monitor
> for Windows XP:
>
> http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm
>
> 5. You might also want to check that your hard drive's access mode
> didn't change from DMA to PIO:
>
> http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too-slow-while-copying/
>
> and
>
> http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/
>


From: sandy58 on 4 Apr 2010 12:49
On Apr 2, 2:22 am, "Daave" <da...(a)example.com> wrote:
> General Mailbox wrote:
> > Greetings.
> > I have a 10yr old HP8705 800Mhz CPU, 512MB RAM that has slowed down
> > noticeably in opening programs, ect.  I have been using this computer
> > consistantly on the ballpark of 6hrs a day for 10 yrs. You can count
> > on two hands any significant issues I've had with this and less than
> > a dozen warnings of viruses in its life so far. Processes at fresh
> > bootup run between 28 and 34. I have these MS newsgroups to thank for
> > these 10yrs of helping me keep the machine running well.  It had to
> > happen sometime I suppose.  Something is giving out causing memory
> > access to fall below average benchmark levels. All 3 DIMMs were
> > changed out in guessing it might be one or more of the memory chips,
> > but did not change anything. My CPU is showing 797MHz (800Mhz)
> > (6x133), so that hasn't slowed down. In my opinion, the temperature
> > has always been a bit elevated for the CPU (114F avg) never exceeding
> >      120F.  My readings from Everest Report is: Computer:
> >       Operating System    Microsoft Windows XP Professional
> >       OS Service Pack    Service Pack 3
>
> >      Motherboard:
> >       CPU Type    Intel Pentium IIIE, 800 MHz (6 x 133)
> >       Motherboard Name    Asus Pegasus
> >       Motherboard Chipset    VIA VT82C694X Apollo Pro133A
> >       System Memory    512 MB (SDRAM)
>
> > Memory Read
> >    CPU    CPU Clock    Motherboard    Chipset    Memory    Read Speed
>
> >      PIII-E    866 MHz    ECS P6VAP-A+    ApolloPro133A    PC133 SDRAM
> > 840 MB/s
> > for what I think it should be to
> >      PIII-E    800 MHz    Asus Pegasus    ApolloPro133A    PC100 SDRAM
> > 281 MB/s
> > which is what it is now.
>
> > Memory Write
> >      PIII-E    866 MHz    ECS P6VAP-A+    ApolloPro133A    PC133 SDRAM
> > 190 MB/s
> > for what I thik it should be to
> >      PIII-E    800 MHz    Asus Pegasus    ApolloPro133A    PC100 SDRAM
> > 93 MB/s
>
> > which is what it is now.
>
> > Memory Latency
> >      C3    800 MHz    VIA EPIA    PLE133    PC133 SDRAM    3-3-3-6
> > 178.5 ns
>
> > for what I think it should be to
> >      PIII-E    800 MHz    Asus Pegasus    ApolloPro133A    PC100 SDRAM
> > 2-2-2-5    343.1 ns
>
> > which is what it is now.
>
> > While it has been recommended by MS for WinXP to have a better
> > machine, this has done sufficient for me with e-mail and web browsing.
> > I say this to save time in anyone who would write "Get a new machine",
> > unless in this case there is no cure for it, then I would.
>
> > Thanks to all for your assistance!
>
> > B.rgds,
> > Kevin
>
> Here are the usual causes of sluggishness:
>
> 1. Malicious software (malware). You need to rule this out first! This
> page has excellent information:
>
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware
>
> 2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton
> and McAfee). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply
> use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other
> programs. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each
> time you boot up. Fortunately, there are other antimalware programs
> available that use far fewer resources (e.g., NOD32, Avast, and Avira).
>
> 3. Too many of *certain types* of programs always running in the
> background -- with or without your knowledge. (Then again, many programs
> that run in the background have trivial consequences.)
>
> To determine every program and process you are currently running, use
> the Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Processes tab. You should
> be able to sort by CPU usage or Memory usage to get a good ideas which
> ones are the resource/memory hogs. You should write down the names of
> all the processes for future detective work (or take a snapshot and
> print it out).
>
> Use these sites to determine what these programs are and to learn how to
> configure them not to always run at startup:
>
> http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMShttp://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
>
> Sometimes it is recommended to use msconfig to configure the programs to
> not run at startup. A better, more thorough program is Autoruns:
>
> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
>
> But before you do this, you should use the preference settings of the
> program in question. Otherwise, for some programs, they will return to
> the startup list anyway!
>
> If you do wish to use msconfig, it may be accessed this way:
>
> Start | Run | type "msconfig" (without the quotation marks) | Enter (or
> OK)
>
> 4. Not enough RAM, which causes the PC to overly rely on the pagefile. A
> quick way to determine if this is happening is to open Task Manager
> (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Performance tab. Then note the three values
> under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total, Limit,
> and Peak.
>
> The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
> very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory you
> used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value of
> Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
> In case you want to explore this further, you may run Page File Monitor
> for Windows XP:
>
> http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm
>
> 5. You might also want to check that your hard drive's access mode
> didn't change from DMA to PIO:
>
> http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too...
>
> and
>
> http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/

Thanks for the Elephant Boy link, Daave. Nice one.
From: Daave on 5 Apr 2010 12:06
sandy58 wrote:
> On Apr 2, 2:22 am, "Daave" <da...(a)example.com> wrote:

>> Here are the usual causes of sluggishness:
>>
>> 1. Malicious software (malware). You need to rule this out first!
>> This page has excellent information:
>>
>> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware

> Thanks for the Elephant Boy link, Daave. Nice one.

You're welcome. That's Malke's page; she is very thorough!


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