Alternatives to red-installing XP Home

OK Ken, so lets get this straight-

You are saying:

'The size of the registry has no effect whatsoever on the speed of the
computer but it may affect the Startup time'
OK, I'll accept that.

'A 42Mb Registry is typical'.
Doesn't that depend on how much software/Fonts etc etc you have installed?
Surely a machine with say, 80 apps installed, which according to 'Add/Remove
Programs', mine has, will have a larger Registry than a machine with 20 apps
installed?

'An OS doesn't slow down over time unless there are other issues such as
spyware etc'
Well I know many people that would disagree with that. As far as Spyware,
Adware, Viruses etc go I spend many hours checking and scanning for
suchlike - see my earlier post. I'm pretty confident that I have a clean
machine. Of course, I use numerous applications for this but I am now
beginning to distrust some of them, especially Registry Cleaners.

'It doesn't matter how long a PC takes to boot up'
I don't believe you said that! When I first installed the OS the PC started
up in less than 20 seconds - it now takes about four minutes. (Read the post
from Bill in this group). Now four minutes is not a long time I agree but
what is concerning is why. According to what MSCONFIG and Event Viewer tells
me, there's nothing untoward starting up other than the usual stuff such as
AV & Firewall. This was the case when it started in 30 seconds! If start up
time continues to increase then not only will I have time to get a coffee
but also breakfast, shopping, brunch and who knows what else. I want it to
start in 20 seconds like it used to and like it would do if I was to
re-install

'Don't make the mistake of thinking that this is necessarily something
everyone experiences'.
Well, all of my colleagues and friends agree and many people on numerous
websites agree that it's a common problem. I've also run many OSs and it
seems to have been a problem since Win95. I agree that it's easy to say
'reformat and reinstall' and that's why I'm posting this before I'm forced
to do that.

So rather than rubbish my post, why not read it from the start and you will
discover that I've run all the usual Malware/Spyware apps, Reg cleaners etc.
My AV and Firewall is up to date. I regularly check MSCONFIG, Event Viewer,
Services and now SFC, I clean out Temp files, Caches etc. I regularly run
CHKDSK and Defrag. All of this time-consuming s**t I go through just to have
a smooth, fast computer that I can do WORK on.

Suggestions would be helpful.

In ,
Ben Hardy typed:

OK Ken, so lets get this straight-

You are saying:

'The size of the registry has no effect whatsoever on the speed
of the
computer but it may affect the Startup time'
OK, I'll accept that.

'A 42Mb Registry is typical'.
Doesn't that depend on how much software/Fonts etc etc you have
installed? Surely a machine with say, 80 apps installed, which
according to 'Add/Remove Programs', mine has, will have a
larger
Registry than a machine with 20 apps installed?


Certainly it depends on things like that. But 42MB is well within
normal range and not cause for concern.


'An OS doesn't slow down over time unless there are other
issues such
as spyware etc'
Well I know many people that would disagree with that.


I know many people who disagree with that too. However, none of
the people whose views I trust do. As always, you are free to
agree or disagree with whomever you wish.


As far as
Spyware, Adware, Viruses etc go I spend many hours checking and
scanning for suchlike - see my earlier post. I'm pretty
confident
that I have a clean machine. Of course, I use numerous
applications
for this but I am now beginning to distrust some of them,
especially
Registry Cleaners.
'It doesn't matter how long a PC takes to boot up'
I don't believe you said that! When I first installed the OS
the PC
started up in less than 20 seconds - it now takes about four
minutes.


Well, I can't know for sure, but that sounds to me like you have
accumulated more background programs that are starting
automatically.


(Read the post from Bill in this group). Now four minutes is
not a
long time


Right. For most of us it's a once a day event, and not important.


I agree but what is concerning is why.


As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter, unless it also has an
effect on the general speed of the machine. And, also as far as
I'm concerned, that's the only issue to be concerned about. If
startup is slow but speed is otherwise satisfactory, there's
nothing to be concerned about. If general speed is *not*
satisfactory, that should be a concern whether startup takes 20
seconds or four minutes.

Startup speed and running speed are not necessarily related.
That's the sense in which I mean that startup time is not
important.


According to what
MSCONFIG and Event Viewer tells me, there's nothing untoward
starting
up other than the usual stuff such as AV & Firewall. This was
the
case when it started in 30 seconds! If start up time continues
to
increase then not only will I have time to get a coffee but
also
breakfast, shopping, brunch and who knows what else. I want it
to
start in 20 seconds like it used to and like it would do if I
was to
re-install


Your choice, of course. I think you're worrying about the wrong
thing.


'Don't make the mistake of thinking that this is necessarily
something
everyone experiences'.
Well, all of my colleagues and friends agree and many people on
numerous websites agree that it's a common problem. I've also
run
many OSs and it seems to have been a problem since Win95. I
agree
that it's easy to say 'reformat and reinstall' and that's why
I'm
posting this before I'm forced to do that.

So rather than rubbish my post, why not read it from the start
and


I wasn't trying to rubbish anything, but to give you what I
thought was good advice. If you don't like my advice, feel free
to ignore it.

I came into the thread late, and didn't see all your earlier
posts. And because I don't save already-read messages, it wasn't
easy for me to back and see the entire thread.


you will discover that I've run all the usual Malware/Spyware
apps,
Reg cleaners etc. My AV and Firewall is up to date. I regularly
check
MSCONFIG, Event Viewer, Services and now SFC, I clean out Temp
files,
Caches etc. I regularly run CHKDSK and Defrag. All of this
time-consuming s**t I go through just to have a smooth, fast
computer
that I can do WORK on.
Suggestions would be helpful.


Sorry, it's the end of the thread as far as I'm concerned. We
apparently disagree on a number of fundamental issues, and that's
fine with me.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

Thankyou Ken,
Feeling somewhat admonished I'll run off with my tail between my legs and do
a Format and Re-install



"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...
In ,
Ben Hardy typed:

OK Ken, so lets get this straight-

You are saying:

'The size of the registry has no effect whatsoever on the speed of the
computer but it may affect the Startup time'
OK, I'll accept that.

'A 42Mb Registry is typical'.
Doesn't that depend on how much software/Fonts etc etc you have
installed? Surely a machine with say, 80 apps installed, which
according to 'Add/Remove Programs', mine has, will have a larger
Registry than a machine with 20 apps installed?


Certainly it depends on things like that. But 42MB is well within normal
range and not cause for concern.


'An OS doesn't slow down over time unless there are other issues such
as spyware etc'
Well I know many people that would disagree with that.


I know many people who disagree with that too. However, none of the people
whose views I trust do. As always, you are free to agree or disagree with
whomever you wish.


As far as
Spyware, Adware, Viruses etc go I spend many hours checking and
scanning for suchlike - see my earlier post. I'm pretty confident
that I have a clean machine. Of course, I use numerous applications
for this but I am now beginning to distrust some of them, especially
Registry Cleaners.
'It doesn't matter how long a PC takes to boot up'
I don't believe you said that! When I first installed the OS the PC
started up in less than 20 seconds - it now takes about four minutes.


Well, I can't know for sure, but that sounds to me like you have
accumulated more background programs that are starting automatically.


(Read the post from Bill in this group). Now four minutes is not a
long time


Right. For most of us it's a once a day event, and not important.


I agree but what is concerning is why.


As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter, unless it also has an effect on
the general speed of the machine. And, also as far as I'm concerned,
that's the only issue to be concerned about. If startup is slow but speed
is otherwise satisfactory, there's nothing to be concerned about. If
general speed is *not* satisfactory, that should be a concern whether
startup takes 20 seconds or four minutes.

Startup speed and running speed are not necessarily related. That's the
sense in which I mean that startup time is not important.


According to what
MSCONFIG and Event Viewer tells me, there's nothing untoward starting
up other than the usual stuff such as AV & Firewall. This was the
case when it started in 30 seconds! If start up time continues to
increase then not only will I have time to get a coffee but also
breakfast, shopping, brunch and who knows what else. I want it to
start in 20 seconds like it used to and like it would do if I was to
re-install


Your choice, of course. I think you're worrying about the wrong thing.


'Don't make the mistake of thinking that this is necessarily something
everyone experiences'.
Well, all of my colleagues and friends agree and many people on
numerous websites agree that it's a common problem. I've also run
many OSs and it seems to have been a problem since Win95. I agree
that it's easy to say 'reformat and reinstall' and that's why I'm
posting this before I'm forced to do that.

So rather than rubbish my post, why not read it from the start and


I wasn't trying to rubbish anything, but to give you what I thought was
good advice. If you don't like my advice, feel free to ignore it.

I came into the thread late, and didn't see all your earlier posts. And
because I don't save already-read messages, it wasn't easy for me to back
and see the entire thread.


you will discover that I've run all the usual Malware/Spyware apps,
Reg cleaners etc. My AV and Firewall is up to date. I regularly check
MSCONFIG, Event Viewer, Services and now SFC, I clean out Temp files,
Caches etc. I regularly run CHKDSK and Defrag. All of this
time-consuming s**t I go through just to have a smooth, fast computer
that I can do WORK on.
Suggestions would be helpful.


Sorry, it's the end of the thread as far as I'm concerned. We apparently
disagree on a number of fundamental issues, and that's fine with me.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

In ,
Ben Hardy wrote:

Thankyou Ken,
Feeling somewhat admonished I'll run off with my tail between my legs
and do a Format and Re-install

Sadly, that appears to be the only true 'fix' for the problem we both
experienced.

"Ken Blake" wrote in message
...

In ,
Ben Hardy typed:

OK Ken, so lets get this straight-

You are saying:

'The size of the registry has no effect whatsoever on the speed of
the computer but it may affect the Startup time'
OK, I'll accept that.

'A 42Mb Registry is typical'.
Doesn't that depend on how much software/Fonts etc etc you have
installed? Surely a machine with say, 80 apps installed, which
according to 'Add/Remove Programs', mine has, will have a larger
Registry than a machine with 20 apps installed?

Certainly it depends on things like that. But 42MB is well within
normal range and not cause for concern.

Agreed.

'An OS doesn't slow down over time unless there are other issues
such as spyware etc'
Well I know many people that would disagree with that.


I know many people who disagree with that too. However, none of the
people whose views I trust do. As always, you are free to agree or
disagree with whomever you wish.

Agreed. And remember you said that, Ken.

As far as
Spyware, Adware, Viruses etc go I spend many hours checking and
scanning for suchlike - see my earlier post. I'm pretty confident
that I have a clean machine. Of course, I use numerous applications
for this but I am now beginning to distrust some of them, especially
Registry Cleaners.
'It doesn't matter how long a PC takes to boot up'
I don't believe you said that! When I first installed the OS the PC
started up in less than 20 seconds - it now takes about four
minutes.

Well, I can't know for sure, but that sounds to me like you have
accumulated more background programs that are starting automatically.

If you'd taken the time to read the entire thread, you would know that's not
the case.


(Read the post from Bill in this group). Now four minutes is not a
long time


Right. For most of us it's a once a day event, and not important.


I agree but what is concerning is why.


As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter, unless it also has an
effect on the general speed of the machine. And, also as far as I'm
concerned, that's the only issue to be concerned about. If startup
is slow but speed is otherwise satisfactory, there's nothing to be
concerned about. If general speed is *not* satisfactory, that should
be a concern whether startup takes 20 seconds or four minutes.

Startup speed and running speed are not necessarily related. That's
the sense in which I mean that startup time is not important.

At would point would you say it becomes important, Ken? Greater than 10
minutes (as in my case), 20 minutes, half-an-hour, a day?

According to what
MSCONFIG and Event Viewer tells me, there's nothing untoward
starting up other than the usual stuff such as AV & Firewall. This
was the case when it started in 30 seconds! If start up time
continues to increase then not only will I have time to get a
coffee but also breakfast, shopping, brunch and who knows what
else. I want it to start in 20 seconds like it used to and like it
would do if I was to re-install


Your choice, of course. I think you're worrying about the wrong
thing.

It's not up to you to decide what someone else is "worrying" about. And I
don't care how many times you insist otherwise, it is not *normal* for a
"clean" machine to go from taking 30 seconds to boot, to greater than 10
minutes (in my case), virtually overnight.

'Don't make the mistake of thinking that this is necessarily
something everyone experiences'.

Certainly not "everyone", but I had a very similar problem. And a simple
Google search will reveal that Ben and I are far from alone.

Well, all of my colleagues and friends agree and many people on
numerous websites agree that it's a common problem. I've also run
many OSs and it seems to have been a problem since Win95. I agree
that it's easy to say 'reformat and reinstall' and that's why I'm
posting this before I'm forced to do that.

So rather than rubbish my post, why not read it from the start and

I wasn't trying to rubbish anything, but to give you what I thought
was good advice. If you don't like my advice, feel free to ignore it.

I came into the thread late, and didn't see all your earlier posts.

Then perhaps you should have stayed out of the thread until you'd caught
yourself up? Would you barge into the middle of a conversation at a party
and add your two-cents without listening for a while? Basic newsgroup
etiquette and all, ya know?

And because I don't save already-read messages, it wasn't easy for
me to back and see the entire thread.

You mean to tell me that resetting headers in a newsgroup is a daunting task
for a Microsoft MVP? That certainly explains a lot. Thanks for the candid
admission.

you will discover that I've run all the usual Malware/Spyware apps,
Reg cleaners etc. My AV and Firewall is up to date. I regularly
check MSCONFIG, Event Viewer, Services and now SFC, I clean out
Temp files, Caches etc. I regularly run CHKDSK and Defrag. All of
this time-consuming s**t I go through just to have a smooth, fast
computer that I can do WORK on.
Suggestions would be helpful.

Sorry, it's the end of the thread as far as I'm concerned. We
apparently disagree on a number of fundamental issues, and that's
fine with me.

Typical pompous, "I'm right, and you're wrong" MVP attitude. As soon as
anyone with half a brain posts a real problem, including the steps s/he's
taken to correct the problem, and one of your canned responses doesn't cover
the problem, you get snippy and bail. I've seen it happen far too many
times here.

The only "fundamental issue" you disagree with us on, Ken, is the fact that
you think it's perfectly OK for an XP-based machine to inexplicably start
taking forever to boot.

And whether it happens suddenly, or over a period of time ... It's *not*
acceptable to those of us who are used to booting in 30-seconds or less, who
then for some reason *nobody* can seem to sort out, find ourselves waiting
4-10 minutes or more, for a desktop.

Near as I can tell? There is no solution other than to format/reinstall the
OS when this happens. And it's (whatever it is) IMO, attributable to XP
itself. Not spyware or scumware or ratware or a virus. You (Ken) have no
idea how dilligent I am about keeping this machine clean. You also have no
idea what lengths I went to, to avoid a format/reinstall when this happened
to me. Suffice to say, after running all the XP diagnostics including SFC,
and perusing the Event Viewer for errors only to discover that according to
the OS there was nothing wrong .... I then used various memory checking
devices thinking I might have a bad stick ... Then I turned my cable modem
off and disconnected it for an hour while the machine was powered-down. I
even went so far as not just disabling programs from start-up, but actually
removing them (one-by-one) to see if it made any difference. No joy. Used
system restore. No joy. Format/Reinstall .... JOY!

Not just in this newsgroup, but all over the place, people are experiencing
this problem. The current thinking seems to be that there must be some kind
of virus or malware that causes this to happen. I don't believe it, but if
it's true? It's the most stealth thing I've run across in eight years. It
doesn't show in start-up, everything appears OK as far as msconfig,
Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D and AV's of all kinds can't detect it, Spyware Blaster
can't prevent it, HiJackThis doesn't report it, and Windows doesn't know
it's there.

Note to Ben:

{Pay no attention to the fact that your machine takes forever to boot. It's
really none of your concern how your machine acts. Pay no attention to the
man behind the curtain. It's just Bill Gates operating yet another one of
his automated "MVPs" by remote-control.}

And now as I take my leave, I'll borrow a phrase from Ken ....

"Sorry, it's the end of the [newsgroup] as far as I'm concerned."

And fear not! I won't let the door hit me in the patooty on the way out.