Win7 still slow

[Annie Woughman]

I upgraded my Vista 32 bit desktop machine to Windows 7 because it was
supposed to be less of a system hog. However, in the morning when I start
up the three machines in our office, the two XP machines (both have less ram
and slower processors and are loaded with basically the same software) are
always up and running several minutes before the Windows 7 machine. I must
admit I am disappointed. Do I have to do a clean install to get the faster
start-up, or will that make any difference? I REALLY don't want to redo
this machine. It takes days to get everything re-installed and my settings
where I like them.

 

[Andy]

I upgraded my Vista 32 bit desktop machine to Windows 7 because it was
supposed to be less of a system hog. However, in the morning when I
start up the three machines in our office, the two XP machines (both
have less ram and slower processors and are loaded with basically the
same software) are always up and running several minutes before the
Windows 7 machine. I must admit I am disappointed. Do I have to do a
clean install to get the faster start-up, or will that make any
difference? I REALLY don't want to redo this machine. It takes days
to get everything re-installed and my settings where I like them.

My 64-bit Intel 'puter and the Win 64-bit OS are way faster, evidenced by
the two blue screens I've gotten in the midst of personalization. ((

It wrote the dump (which I forwarded on) in maybe 10 seconds, compared to
minutes on WinXPpro.

Andy

 

[PeteB]

Something's wrong but from my experience from a Vista 32bit to Win7 32bit
upgrade, it now works so much faster. Boot is much faster - I run
Dreamweaver CS4, Photoshop CS4, etc all the time (which from my experience)
can be pretty system hungry apps - all run without probs. Maybe I've been
lucky - my brother is an 'XP can do no wrong' guy but even he is quite
impressed. I used to love XP but I remember when it 1st came out and
everybody hated it. My experience is that W7 doesn't need that time - so far
so good.
Pete

 

[DougS]

I upgraded my Vista 32 bit desktop machine to Windows 7 because it was
supposed to be less of a system hog. However, in the morning when I start
up the three machines in our office, the two XP machines (both have less
ram and slower processors and are loaded with basically the same software)
are always up and running several minutes before the Windows 7 machine. I
must admit I am disappointed. Do I have to do a clean install to get the
faster start-up, or will that make any difference? I REALLY don't want to
redo this machine. It takes days to get everything re-installed and my
settings where I like them.

Annie, one easy thing to try is to download and run Autoruns from Microsoft
or CNET. It is a small standalone utility that is free and needs no
installation, but can be run from your downloads folder. Select the Logon
tab and see if you can spot something that is hogging your resources.
Uncheck any item you can do without - you can always run Autoruns again and
re-check the item if you have regrets. When you make changes you will be
asked to elevate to administrator from within Autoruns - consent to that as
required. Expand the Autoruns window so that the columns have plenty of
width and right click on an item for yet more information. When you are
happy with a configuration you can if you wish delete items that you had
previously unchecked to de-clutter the display, though that's just cosmetic.
What Autoruns is doing behind the scenes is to take the unwanted shortcut
out of your startup folder and put it into another folder from which it can
be restored again should you re-check the item.
I run Autoruns after adding new software to remove the stuff that has been
included during installation that I don't think I need, like running at
logon, checking for updates, sending marketing feedback or whatever. Such
unwanted new items can be scattered throughout the logon list.
DougS


__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature database 4594 (20091111) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

 

[Annie Woughman]

I upgraded my Vista 32 bit desktop machine to Windows 7 because it was
supposed to be less of a system hog. However, in the morning when I start
up the three machines in our office, the two XP machines (both have less
ram and slower processors and are loaded with basically the same software)
are always up and running several minutes before the Windows 7 machine. I
must admit I am disappointed. Do I have to do a clean install to get the
faster start-up, or will that make any difference? I REALLY don't want to
redo this machine. It takes days to get everything re-installed and my
settings where I like them.

OK, this morning I actually timed the start-up of my computers. The XP's
were loaded and ready to go within three minutes. The Vista-now-Win 7 took
5 1/2 minutes. Are my expectations just too high? I took everything out of
the start-up folder a long time ago and at that time also used msconfig to
keep unnecessary programs from loading. Other than the slow startup I am
happy with Win 7 (I was happy with Vista too) so I guess I should just chill
and do something else while computer is ready to use.

 

[kolnikoff]

OK, this morning I actually timed the start-up of my computers. The
XP's were loaded and ready to go within three minutes. The
Vista-now-Win 7 took 5 1/2 minutes. Are my expectations just too high?
I took everything out of the start-up folder a long time ago and at that
time also used msconfig to keep unnecessary programs from loading.
Other than the slow startup I am happy with Win 7 (I was happy with
Vista too) so I guess I should just chill and do something else while
computer is ready to use.

Windows 7 64bit loaded and using Word 2007 in 2:04 minutes (probably
shave a few seconds off if I turned off Auto Detect Mass Drives in
BIOS). I load McAfee VirusScan + Firewall, Ad-Aware, Directory Opus and
10 gadgets at start up.

My Win 7 was a clean install, maybe an upgrade from Vista brings a shed
load of startup stuff with it. If you can install a clean version of Win
7 it may get the 5:30 minutes down to a more bearable time, your load
times appear excessive for something that is 'supposed' to load a lot
quicker than vista/xp.

Cheers

Kol
'''

 

[Dave-UK]

OK, this morning I actually timed the start-up of my computers. The XP's
were loaded and ready to go within three minutes. The Vista-now-Win 7 took
5 1/2 minutes. Are my expectations just too high? I took everything out of
the start-up folder a long time ago and at that time also used msconfig to
keep unnecessary programs from loading. Other than the slow startup I am
happy with Win 7 (I was happy with Vista too) so I guess I should just chill
and do something else while computer is ready to use.

My Win7 takes 1 minute 20 secs to boot to the Desktop.
5 minutes is far too long.

Download HiJackThis from here:
http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/

Just to the right of the red man icon there are two download options,
choose the Installer.
Run the install file, agree to the default install folder and you will
then see several options.
Choose 'Do a system scan and save a log file'.
The log file will be saved here:
C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\HijackThis
Copy and paste the log file into a post and post it here.

 

[Oren]

OK, this morning I actually timed the start-up of my computers. The XP's
were loaded and ready to go within three minutes. The Vista-now-Win 7 took
5 1/2 minutes. Are my expectations just too high? I took everything out of
the start-up folder a long time ago and at that time also used msconfig to
keep unnecessary programs from loading. Other than the slow startup I am
happy with Win 7 (I was happy with Vista too) so I guess I should just chill
and do something else while computer is ready to use.

This site may help: (been around for years)

Windows 7
Installing Windows 7
This guide is a sneak peek at what you will find on the inside.
Read more: Windows 7 Install Guide

Windows 7 Services Configuration
Windows 7 is now in RC1 form. To carry on my tradition, I compiled
another listing of what my Service Configurations ended up being.
Read more: Windows 7 Services Configurations

Windows 7 Super Tweaks
Tighten up the Operating System, plug some security holes and make
your system perform like new again. A listing of performance tweaks
that I do after a clean installation, but most are valid even after
years of service. Read more: Windows 7 Super Tweaks

http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/OSguides.htm#Windows_7

 

[ElJerid]

I upgraded my Vista 32 bit desktop machine to Windows 7 because it was
supposed to be less of a system hog. However, in the morning when I start
up the three machines in our office, the two XP machines (both have less
ram and slower processors and are loaded with basically the same software)
are always up and running several minutes before the Windows 7 machine. I
must admit I am disappointed. Do I have to do a clean install to get the
faster start-up, or will that make any difference? I REALLY don't want to
redo this machine. It takes days to get everything re-installed and my
settings where I like them.

Very happy for never having "upgraded" to Vista or Win 7...
My "overloaded" XP Home PC needs only 23 seconds to load from bios password
to Windows password, and 10 seconds more to load my personal settings,
incuding Avast antivirus, Comodo firewall and connecting to Internet.
And XP does not use tricks to give the feeling it starts faster. After the
given time, it' s really loaded. No more disc activity. While Win 7
continues to load and doing mysterious tasks for a long time...
And "overloaded" means including Photoshop, Adobe Premiere plus Matrox
RT-X2, Sounblaster Audigy, aso.
Hardware: Asus P5Q Pro, Intel Core 2 duo E8400 (3 GHz) @ 3.7 GHz, 4 GB
paired Corsair DDR2? ...

 

[Worn Out Retread]

My Win7 takes 1 minute 20 secs to boot to the Desktop.
5 minutes is far too long.

My Win7 upgrade install on my desktop also boots to the Desktop and log into
Windows Live Messenger as available in 1 minute 20 seconds.

I agree that 5 minutes is far too long.

 

[Worn Out Retread]

Very happy for never having "upgraded" to Vista or Win 7...
My "overloaded" XP Home PC needs only 23 seconds to load from bios
password to Windows password, and 10 seconds more to load my personal
settings, incuding Avast antivirus, Comodo firewall and connecting to
Internet.
And XP does not use tricks to give the feeling it starts faster. After the
given time, it' s really loaded. No more disc activity. While Win 7
continues to load and doing mysterious tasks for a long time...
And "overloaded" means including Photoshop, Adobe Premiere plus Matrox
RT-X2, Sounblaster Audigy, aso.
Hardware: Asus P5Q Pro, Intel Core 2 duo E8400 (3 GHz) @ 3.7 GHz, 4 GB
paired Corsair DDR2? ...

I don't know what your computer is doing but my boot time was timed from
pushing the power button to the time I was on the Internet with Windows Live
Messenger. Using your method of timing, Win7 would be under a minute to boot
to the Internet.

A look at your boot log could prove interesting.

 

[FiOS-Dave]

Hi Annie,

I did a clean install of Win7 64 bit Ultimate on my 1.6 GHz. laptop.
It boots in under 1 minute.
You really should "bite the bullet" and do a clean install.
After several years, my registry was totally bloated.
Most software leaves detritus in the registry.
I got tired of editing the registry to delete hundreds of lines of code.
Always afraid of deleting the wrong thing, by accident!
I've found code hidden in the registry from software I haven't used in many
years!
That, along with the BHO's and other garbage slow the system down visibly.
I've also noticed that the delay between calling up a web page and its
appearance is noticeably faster and I'm using 20/20 FiOS!
Good luck!

Dave

 

[Joseph Olson]

I upgraded my Vista 32 bit desktop machine to Windows 7 because it was
supposed to be less of a system hog. However, in the morning when I
start up the three machines in our office, the two XP machines (both
have less ram and slower processors and are loaded with basically the
same software) are always up and running several minutes before the
Windows 7 machine. I must admit I am disappointed. Do I have to do a
clean install to get the faster start-up, or will that make any
difference? I REALLY don't want to redo this machine. It takes days to
get everything re-installed and my settings where I like them.

I have always found it better to bite the bullet and do a clean install
of a new Windows version. My suggestion though is get a software like
Acronis to back up an image immediately after you get it setup again.
That way if god forbid anything happens you can just re-image the PC and
save alot of headaches later.

Joe

 

[Ken Blake]

I have always found it better to bite the bullet and do a clean install
of a new Windows version.

An opposite opinion here: although many people will tell you that
formatting and installing cleanly is the best way to go, I disagree.
Unlike with previous versions of Windows, when doing an upgrade was
often a mistake, an upgrade to Windows XP or later replaces almost
everything, and usually works very well.

The only real exception is when you are having problems; in that
situation, an upgrade often worsens problems, rather than solving
them.

My recommendation is to at least try the upgrade, since it's much
easier than a clean installation. You can always change your mind and
reinstall cleanly if problems develop.

However, don't assume that doing an upgrade relieves you of the need
to backup your data, etc. before beginning. Before starting to
upgrade, it's always prudent to recognize that things like a sudden
power loss can occur in the middle of it and cause the loss of
everything. For that reason you should make sure you have backups and
anything else you need to reinstall if the worst happens.