XP slowing down

[stompbox]

I have noticed that in general, XP gets slower and slower.

I have noticed this with longer boot times, items taking longer to launch and in general, poorer audio performance.

I have run the following in attempt to recover the lost speed:

CCleaner
RegCleaner
PageDefrag
Went into msconfig and turned off any unneeded services/startup items.

In addition, I have optimized as well.

Is there anything I have missed that I should be doing? I've noticed that 2 of my computers have been getting slower over the months.

I have been adding programs, but I take care that any services they add (that I can see) are shut down.

Thanks!

[MrM]

What I do is use Norton Ghost, and once my pc is installed the first time, I make a ghost. If a new application is added and it looks good, I back up user made files, restore my first ghost, install that application and make a new ghost and restore (or rather 'add') the user made files.
This way your computer will still be as fresh as the 'month' you installed it :)

Works fine for me.

If you want to I can get you a free outlook express backup-restore utility, and I can tell you which folders are advised to be backed up by hand, in order to save user made files.

[stompbox]

Thanks! Your advice sounds really good. I will take a look at Ghost.

On last question, if I purchase another hard drive. Can I then make that the default boot device in the BIOS and use that to boot up when I am working on music-only projects? Then just restart and select my other drive for non-music related things?

Or is there an easier way to toggle between startup drives with the same OS (xp)?

[armchairmartian]

You should always defragment your hdd at least one time a month, even maybe a few weeks. Depends on how much prossecing you`ve made since last defrag... It`s in the startmenu, on system tools...

[MrM]

For 'music only' to work good, it is best to install 2 OS's, one for your internet, ms office, gaming and other non audio stuff, and a second installed OS which a stripped down and only contains you audio applications and some drivers for your screen, soundcard, cdrom drive. And very important; disable any unnessecary devices in your hardware manager! (No need to install a modem while doing audio only...)

Some people just stimply install the same OS twice, once from C and the second time from D, others use partition magic (which comes with boot magic).

As you might have guessed from my list below, I use a dual boot system :)
Previously under windows 98 I ran partition magic, that rocked big time! I absolutely love that application.

Nowadays under XP I installed my first OS on C, my second XP on F, and use D for work and E for back up.
My first drive has two partitions; C and F. Although both are visible all the time, I haven't yet noticed any software trying to use drivers or applications from F while I booted from C, or the other way around.
I do strongly rely on Norton Ghost to 'back me up', in case of failure. But my system has been stable for about a year now.

[stompbox]

Nowadays under XP I installed my first OS on C, my second XP on F, and use D for work and E for back up.

On boot, how are you selecting which drive to boot from? Do you use the BIOS or????

[stompbox]

You should always defragment your hdd at least one time a month, even maybe a few weeks. Depends on how much prossecing you`ve made since last defrag... It`s in the startmenu, on system tools...

Yep, sorry I use the term "optimize" (from my Macintosh days). Yep, I do defrag my disk and it makes a difference, but the machine is no where near the speed where it was when I first go it.

[Joe Hannigan]

There's so many variables to what's going on, some of the best advice here has already been stated., but just to be clear, make sure you're only using your C drive for the OS and apps., put everything else on D, E, F, etc.

Run Norton AV, Adware 6 or sypbot search & Destroy (if you've got a web connection) and make sure you haven't been hijacked or hit by a virus, too.

Check for needless temp files too, and search your C drive for junk files, renders (if you use any video software) and large, unused wav files that get put in stupid places like "My Documents", etc. (So may apps use the C drive as a default for temps & renders, it's often overlooked, a many times hundreds of megs of space get wasted with these critters alone.)

If all else fails, back up your important stuff, and reinstall it all, perhaps even using the dual boot scenario already mentioned. Might be worth the extra time to clean it all out once and for all.

One last possible fix: Run MSCONFIG and click on the box: "Launch System Restore" and go back to a restore point in time when you know it was working ok. (A month or two back?) You wont lose any data files, but it might take you back to a point in time prior to certain installs or updates when it all worked faster.

Hope some of that helps.

[MrM]

At stompbox;
When you insert your windows install CDRom you can choose where to install it the second time, after the installation there is a bootmenu added, it just comes naturally.

If it doesn't, or if you want to change those stupid names, go edit them in the file 'boot.ini' located in the root of drive C.
Also accessible via ; control panel, system, advanced, start settings (dunno exactly, my XP is Dutch)

[dawboxpro]

Here is another idea that will save you some money


Run system restore wizard and go back a few months. If performance improces bingo no harm done...

Or back up your important files and programs then breakout your restore disk or do a fresh os install. I re-do my os about twice a year and that keeps my systems running top notch....

I also keep a spare hard drive around in case I can sense a drive going bad (Digital Audio kills drives twice as fast as normal) so when I think a drive is going bad I simply drag and drop the big audio files into it along with other important files then wipe the os....or drive going bad then redo the os.

You can use ghost for this two but this works without the cost of ghost..

Keepeing your system running well is like a fine car, you need to change the oil and tune it up otherwise it boggs down. With drives you also after a couple years need to replace the record drive if you can hear it making any noise above and beyond what it normaly makes.....

A smarth thing to do is to build your machine up with all the software you want and the tweaks and then back it up with a restore program. Then all your record files should go to another drive.....

When it starts to bog move a few files off of the os and bam restore it to new again....2 or three times a year as well as defragging and file sweeping

another idea is to get a cheap system for dedicated internet and keep the junk off your DAW. Use a KVM swith to share keyboard and monitor....

[stompbox]

Thank you! All great tips!!!!!!
I really appreciate it!

[Bops2000]

Daw box
Perhaps set up hot swap drive bay?
outside of initial cost, may be an easy
alternative ? just curious.