Other things I can do to speed up PC?

[Woodcycl]

Working on my Grandfather's PC -- it's extremely slow to boot up and to launch applications.

WinME
Dell Dimension L600cx
Celeron 400MHz
64 MB PC100 (added 64 for a total of 128)
8GB HD
Onboard video

It, literally, takes 2min plus (I timed it 3 seperate times) to fully boot up. This is obviously WAY to long. As a control or benchmark -- I'm also working on a friend's PC that is a custom-built Celeron 400MHz with 64MB RAM ... and it only takes 25 to 30 seconds to boot fully.

Here is what I've done thus far to speed it up:

1) NO conflicts in Device Manager
2) Upated device drivers
3) Upgraded RAM from 64 to 128
4) Manually allocate swap file w/ minimum of twice RAM.
5) Improved file caching by setting the Hard drive settings to a "typical role on this computer: Network Server" (under the performance tab / File System Button)
6) Updated (not related to boot time ... but helps regardless) the registry so that the CD-ROM's cachesize is updated from decimal 619 (26B) to 2476 (9AC) and buffer size (prefetch) from 228 decimal (hex E4) to decimal 1792 (hex 700).
7) Turned off the check for new floppy drive each time computer restarts under Performance Tab
8) Cleaned up startup programs whereby only systray, explorer, mssched (being used), and a couple others are running -- only the volume icon shows up next to the PC time.
9) Disabled System Restore (on Performance Tab)
10) Configured TweakUI
11) Configured X-Teq Setup

I'm sure there are a few more I can't remember ... but those are the ones I performed at a minimum.

Given that this is a Dell and ONLY came with a recovery CD ... and not a full-blown WinME CD .... when I fdisk'd, formatted, and reinstalled about a year ago .... I couldn't NOT install all of the Dell authored programs, etc. Could these be part of the culprit? There is a BLUE www.dell.com logo screen when it first boots/posts.

Any other ideas are greatly appreciated. Given that one Celeron 400 w/ 64 RAM boots up in 30 seconds or less ... and the identical machine takes 2 minutes plus is pretty bad!

Thanks :t

[Philip1952]

Replace the HDD. With the age of the computer and being a factory built one. It might have a 3500 rpm drive in it.

Your friend has a 7200 rpm I bet.

Download and run HDtach. I bet you only find a transfer rate of 5 meg a second or less.

[gibsinep]

Yep, I would also say that, I bet it is a old 3500RPM drive,

Also have you run Adaware to check for spyware? Also have you checked for Viruses?

[deadkenny]

Does this machine have a NIC? It might be hanging on boot 'looking' for a LAN. Try assigning an internal address if this is the case.

[bassman]

I don't know if you're willing to spend more money; if you are, go for the new HD (you'll probably need a BIOS update) and go for more memory (this is secondary, as 128MB should do the job). Oh...and another advise: install Win98SE (lighter, safer, more stable, better). Your onboard video adapter "steals" main memory from your system; if you spend a tiny couple of dollars on, say a Riva TNT2, you'll notice the difference. I believe you've done this already, but try to keep your Registry section xxx/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Run with only whatever is absolutely needed. If you decide not to buy a new HD and still give Win98SE a shot, erase all partition(s) and create new one(s) to reinstall the OS.

[Eric Legge]

You should also allow Windows to manage the Virtual Memory, because Windows memory management has improved to the point where setting a swap file is not the best alternative -

Read - Windows 98 & WinME Memory Management -
http://aumha.org/a/memmgmt.htm

Remove any programs no used. Dell PCs come with plenty of useless stuff installed.

Here is some general speed-up info -

SLOW SYSTEM

To make the system work faster have you tried the usual clog- and clutter-removing options - defrag - clean the system via right clicking the boot drive in My Computer, clicking Properties, and clicking Disk Cleanup?

Have you run the Registry and system cleaners that you can download here? -

jv16 Power Tools ( http://www.jv16.org ); EasyCleaner ( http://www.toniarts.com/ecleane.htm ) ; CleanReg ( http://www.cleanreg.net/ ) Clean Disk Security ( http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/clndisk.html ) and RegClean 4.1a from Microsoft.

Ten Ways to Make Windows 98 Run Better - http://content.techweb.com/winmag/windows/features/98runbetter/default.htm

Ten Ways to Make WinME Run Better - http://content.techweb.com/winmag/windows/features/merunbetter/default.htm )

Sguide_tweak_98 from http://www.speedguide.net/files/sguide_tweak_98 5)

More free tune-up info at http://www.freetune.com/most_popular_pages.htm and http://www.informationweek.com/LP/columnists/fredlanga.html .

Have you had a look at the hard disk drive settings in the Device Manager to see if the DMA option is enabled? - Use the right mouse button to click on My Computer, click Properties, click the Device Manager tab of System Properties, click the + sign beside "Disk drives", and then double-click on the entry for the hard disk drive. Under the Settings tab there is a box with DMA beside it. Use your mouse to place a check mark in it and reboot the system to make the change effective. If anything goes wrong press the F8 key at start-up until the boot menu presents itself, and choose to boot in Safe mode. You can then enter the Device Manager and remove the check mark.

Download this excellent new start-up program management utility and use it to disable unnecessary start-up programs that are hogging the limited system resources in the 640K of conventional memory.

StartMan - http://www.forrestandassociates.co.uk/pcforrest/software.html#startman

If you to right-click on a start-up program under one of the many tabs representing places in Windows where start-up programs are registered, and the click Identify, you will be taken to an information site that will tell you about that start-up program. A handy feature if a virus or trojan has registered itself as a start-up program.

Look under the Performance tab of System Properties (right-click My Computer => Properties), click the File System button and set the "Typical role of this computer" to "Network server". This increases the size of the Vcache and improves performance.

Visit this site - PC Forrest (Plenty of PC information - MS DOS, the BIOS, Windows, the Swap File, TweaK-UI, Registry hacks, etc.)

http://www.forrestandassociates.co.uk/pcforrest/index.html

and read the Swap File page on the Virtual Memory swap file that is set under the Virtual Memory button on the Performance tab.

Have a look under the File System button on the Performance tab, and make sure that none of the Troubleshooting options are enabled.

If you ever see a notice in the Performance tab's window that says that the system is running in MSDOS Compatibility Mode, this means that Windows could not load its IDE hard disk busmaster drivers and has loaded the DOS ones instead. Compatibility Mode slows the system down a great deal. To restore the Windows mode, visit the motherboard's or the motherboard's chipset manufacturer for the latest driver updates for that motherboard/chipset. If installing the new drivers doesn't fix the problem, enter regedit in the Start => Run box and use the Registry Editor's Find feature to look for NOIDE, which means No IDE, a flag that Windows puts in the Registry to remind it to load the DOS IDE drivers. If Windows inserts this reminder it doesn't remove it, and it has to be removed by finding and deleting it.

You can read about this in the following MS Knowledge Base article -

"Q151911" - MS-DOS Compatibility Mode Problems with PCI IDE Controllers - the NOIDE Registry entry.

Enter the Q number (Q151911) in the search box on this page -

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo&

Another major cause of a slow system is an inflated Registry - the database that Windows uses to control the system, contained in the user.dat and system.dat files in Windows 9.x systems. Searching a database takes time, so the larger it is the slower the system. Even if you use all of the available Registry cleaners, installing and removing programs will inflate the Registry. Over time, this will inflate it and slow the system down. You can try running the scanreg /opt command in full DOS mode to rebuild and optimise the Registry, but the only effective way to speed up the system is to do a clean installation of Windows, which is not a reinstallation of Windows over itself, but either a fresh installation of Windows to a newly formatted drive, or to a new folder within the existing installation.

Visit this MS page - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo& - and look up these Knowledge Base articles.

"Q255867" How to Use the FDISK Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or Repartition a Hard Disk

"Q193902" - How to Install Windows 98 Into a New Folder.

Finally, make sure that the cache settings for Internet Explorer and the Recycle Bin are not set too high. Right click the IE desktop icon, click Properties => Settings button, and set the cache to an sixe between 10 and 20MB. I use 20MB. - Right click on the desktop icon for the Recycle Bin, click Properties and do likewise. The setting will depend on the size off the hard disk drive, or each of the partitioned logical drives. You only need about 100MB for the RB. A 5GB drive or partition is approximately 5000MB in size, so a setting of 2% of 5000 would be 100MB.

Eric,

http://www.legge40.freeserve.co.uk/BuyerBeware.htm

[Eric Legge]

PS - How much onboard Level 2 cache does that Celeron have?

There were Celerons with zero L2 cache. If that is one of them then that would slow the system down significantly.

Try this utility to provide CPU info -

CPUID - free - http://www.cpuid.com/

Eric,

http://www.legge40.freeserve.co.uk/BuyerBeware.htm

[Rocketmech]

You might try Bootlog Analyser (http://http://www.vision4.dial.pipex.com/) .

[Woodcycl]

Wow -- thanks to everyone for your suggestions and recommendations to speed up this slow PC !

I don't believe the rpm rating is listed on the exterior of the HD - so I'll try to find a utility that will give me the rpm rating. If it is a 3500 rpm unit -- I'll atleast get him a 5400 if not the faster one.

I'll install adaware and be sure no spyware is installed - I kind of doubt it given that my grandfather is NOT a person who downloads any freeware or shareware -- he doesn't know how. But, it's a good thing to check.

Yes, viruses should not be a problem -- I have the latest NAV installed and updated w/ new definitions weekly.

No NIC installed and the mobo doesn't include one -- this is a bare-bones Dell PC bought new in December of 2000 from Dell.

Yeah -- I absolutely dispise WinME !! I've had more WinME repairs for people than any other OS. I could wipe it clean and install my win98se .... but I doubt he (or I) have $100 to go buy XP home edition at this time -- which is probably the best option.

And, yeah, I've already installed my backup PCI video card (I think an ATI xpert w/ 16mb) and it didn't speed up the boot process -- but I'm sure I would notice other things being faster. I knew that using the onboard video would be a BAD thing to continue doing.

Not sure about the onboard L2 Cache -- I'll try the untility you recommend. Eric -- WOW -- thanks for ALL the tips and other info -- It will take me a while - but I'll sift thru your items and given them a try.

Thanks again -- I'll post a followup as soon as I have some increase in performance. :D :t :D

[omega31]

Celerons earlier than the 300A (266 and 300 non-A versions) have no cache. The 400mhz Celeron does indeed have cache, 128k. Unlike PIIs, the PII Celeron's cache ran at full processor speed. The PII's ran at half processor speed.

[Woodcycl]

CPUID showed the processor as a 600MHz Celeron with 128MB L2 Cache -- go figure!

Okay -- given that my grandfather (nor I) have the money to buy a new 7200 rpm hard drive or to buy WinXP, I tried each and every other option mentioned in this thread. So, what's the results ??

Original boot time from power button to WinME ready to use: 2minutes

New boot time: 1min 40seconds

So, I shaved off 20 seconds. Normally, that would be a pretty big gain ... but it sure doesn't seem like it given that 1:40 is still a VERY long time. But, I'll bet you a new hard drive and OS would make the rest of the difference.

Well, now I have a new problem that I will post on it's own. Basically, all was well .... then I downloaded a WinME patch for some type of IDE Caching thing .... and now the Shutdown hangs on a gray screen. Windows appears to shutdown ... but not all the way. Uggh !! Have to hold in the PB for 4 seconds.

Thanks again!! :t

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Been out all day, but these two sites ar epretty good,

www.tweak3d.net and www.3dspotlight.com

--Jakk:t

[krazefinn]

Set bios to quick test, enable as many devices manually, after using auto to determine parametere. Fdisk/format for lemony fresh os, defrag fequently, and definitely set the swap file t equal min = max, around 500 for 64 mb physivcal mem. less with more memory, never less than 200 mb. Also set the device manger to typical role 'network server".

[Optimus Prime]

Originally posted by Woodcycl
Wow -- thanks to everyone for your suggestions and recommendations to speed up this slow PC !

I don't believe the rpm rating is listed on the exterior of the HD - so I'll try to find a utility that will give me the rpm rating. If it is a 3500 rpm unit -- I'll atleast get him a 5400 if not the faster one.

I'll install adaware and be sure no spyware is installed - I kind of doubt it given that my grandfather is NOT a person who downloads any freeware or shareware -- he doesn't know how. But, it's a good thing to check.

Yes, viruses should not be a problem -- I have the latest NAV installed and updated w/ new definitions weekly.

No NIC installed and the mobo doesn't include one -- this is a bare-bones Dell PC bought new in December of 2000 from Dell.

Yeah -- I absolutely dispise WinME !! I've had more WinME repairs for people than any other OS. I could wipe it clean and install my win98se .... but I doubt he (or I) have $100 to go buy XP home edition at this time -- which is probably the best option.


if you are going to get a new OS in the near future, get Windows 2000 Professional, it is practically the same as Win XP but it doesnt look like Fisher Price and it isnt for noobs... noobs who dont know how to search for files :P.

I have both, but my dad uses Win 2000 instead of Win98 so im stuck with XP now :(.

[millwork]

Lots of good advice preceeds this reply. Try one more thing:

{REM that your BIOS may look different than below}

Set BIOS for Optimized Performance but before you Save and Exit, check to insure needed I/Os are Enabled. Some BIOS will Disable I/Os such as USB when you Optimize. If you have a network I/O but don't use it, ensure it's Disabled before Save and Exit.

It takes a lot of boot time to decide that some I/Os are present (turned on) but not connected...especially 10/100.

If grandad's MoBo is a Slot 1/Socket 370, a processor upgrade is pretty cheap (PII 700s are about $35 + Slot 1 adaptor and AMDs are even less).

Finally, you must absolutely clean up everything. You have probably received E-Mail Spam about Norton System Works 2003 Professional for less than $30.00. Print one of these and take it to a Staples store (Do not buy from the Spam retailer...no doc's). Staples does price match on-line retailers. Norton Utilities does a nice job of cleaning everything up.

John B. :}) :t