Windows Performance

[TicTac]

Hi all,

I have a few questions:

1) What components affect how well programs and other application work in windows? e.g. the time it takes to open documents, and software. Am i right in saying the cpu is only a bottleneck if its usage is at 100%. So it is just how well the files are arranged on the hard disk? Can RAm affect how fast programs open? Because currently stuff like Firefox takes around 10-15s to open which seems quite long. My specs are:

3500+ Venice @2.2ghz (stock currently)
GSKIll RAM (tightened timings to 2.5,3,3,6 1T)
Asus A8n-Sli Deluxe MB
500w Antec Smartpower II
Seageate barracuda 7200.9 160gb
Geforce 6200TC

I run regular disk defrags and virus checks, but I feel in windows performance isnt quite 'snappy' enough. Or maybe I am just being too picky?

Any info on this subject, and what affects windows loading times and stuff?

Thanks

 

[kumquat]

10-15 seconds is way too long for something as small as Firefox to open.

You mention what type of RAM you have, but not how much. Even if you have 256MB in that configuration, Firefox should not take that long. More RAM will almost always make Windows quite a bit snappier, up to a point.

I suspect there's a bunch of crap running on your computer and that you don't have much RAM at all. If you don't have a gig, get a gig. It's about $70-$80 for quality stuff. Also, if you have any resource-intensive programs running in the background like anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewalls, etc, consider disabling the always-on protection in favor of scheduled nightly scans and/or replacing with software that has a smaller footprint. For example, replacing Norton with AVG will probably help.

 

[TicTac]

Ooops, didnt mention RAM - yes I do have 1 stick of 1gb Gskill RAM.

10-15s is probably a bit overexagerated, it was 5s when I timed it just now, but Im not using my cpu for anything else.

I have 54 processes running which sems quite a lot, yet most of them seem relatively important, but does that sound alright?

 

[kumquat]

Ooops, didnt mention RAM - yes I do have 1 stick of 1gb Gskill RAM.

10-15s is probably a bit overexagerated, it was 5s when I timed it just now, but Im not using my cpu for anything else.

I have 54 processes running which sems quite a lot, yet most of them seem relatively important, but does that sound alright?

That's not an awful lot, really.

What kind of stuff do you have running in your system tray (near the clock)? Antivirus? Antispyware? Software firewall?

 

[Crosshairs]

Ooops, didnt mention RAM - yes I do have 1 stick of 1gb Gskill RAM.

10-15s is probably a bit overexagerated, it was 5s when I timed it just now, but Im not using my cpu for anything else.

I have 54 processes running which sems quite a lot, yet most of them seem relatively important, but does that sound alright?

54 sounds high to me....I have 32......but I like em lean and mean..

you say your not using your CPU...but look at the task manager and see if anything is using it up....maybe something your not aware of


EDIT: ....I just checked my FF load time, and even with FAH taking up 100% CPU it opens in less that a second...something is amiss with your rig...

 

[General Crespin]

Heh, just a few hours ago I was working on my mom's laptop, cleaning up the software because it's annoyingly slow too (256MB RAM is the biggest impediment).

1) Run Ad-Aware and Spybot S&D if you haven't already
2) www.ccleaner.com , install and run the Cleaner and the registry cleaner (Issues).
3) Download and run Autoruns from www.sysinternals.com , delete everything that is non-essential. If you're not sure what is, do File>Save As and post the list here.
4) Uninstall any non-essential programs. That's really hard for us to decide, something you'll have to do.

Hope it helps.

EDIT: I've got 35 processes running right now. If I weren't running AV/firewall (avast!/Sunbelt Kerio) (okay, so those are almost required ), Azureus, and PowerDVD it would be 26.

 

[BBA]

54 processes is not very high.

You are correct that the CPU is not limiting unless it is running at 100%.
Windows loads applications in different ways, either sequential, wiating for one process to complete before opening another, or simulteneously, by sharing CPU cycles (multitasking, not to be confused with multithreading).

In my system, the limiting factor of loading applications and response is hard drive speed. More memory actually increases the load times (gasp) because Windows memory manager loads more into memory if more memory is available..therefore complicating load times with more hard drive activity.

Basically, the fastest and snappiest systems I have ever used had raid 5 arrays with 5 or more fast 10K RPM or 15 KRPM drives. The sad thing is these are all systems made for server use and are not suitable for gaming (no PCI-E or AGP slots).