Why is my ITUNES really, really slow?

[buildingit]

Hi,

My Itunes 7.1 running on the system in my signature (1.6GHz, tonnes of hard drive, and now 2GB Ram and older video card) is SO- S-L-O-W!!!!!

Is ITUnes slow for you?

I haven't seen this sort of unreponsiveness since the days of about Windows 3.1.....It's just terrible at times.

It's not always slow though. And I don't mean when accessing the ITUNES store- that is also very slow but at least understandable.

I have podcasts downloaded, and yes, it's slow when downloading but again that's understandable.

The part that drives me nuts is just when playing music, or when moving the side scrollbar on the RHS when looking for music.

When playing music, I can stop a song right away but to play another song takes forever. Mutiple clicks and just real frustration. I run Task Manager now and I can see that the CPU is working away at 95% when it seems to be frozen. (RAM is usually under 500 MB) Is 1.6 GHz really so bad now ????? This is not a Celeron- I forget all the types but it is a good CPU....

The other time is freezes is when I scroll. Sometimes, not always. Which makes me think perhaps video card?

Also, it is incredibly unresponive at the Itunes store when scolling- now that I figure is video card because of all those little pictures. But for heaven's sake, I can scoll regular photos just fine.......

Plus, when I first started using ITunes about a year ago, I don't recall having these problems. Yes it was slow at times but nothing like this....I am not sure really when it started slowing down but I bought a second hard drive last spring. I moved my music to that hard drive. But my OS, and the ITUnes program software remains on my old harddrive. Could the slowness be due to having to have my secondary harddrive have to "wake up" to look for music? Perhaps it's to big or there is something wrong with it?

I am very happy with my current computer except with ITUnes. I am at the point of building a new computer just to have ITunes operate at an acceptable level. But I need to know which component is causing this.......

Plus, has anyone noticed that ITunes seems to be a hog? LIke, if it is downloading a podcast, or series of podcasts (which takes awhile sometimes) forget me trying to do anything else on the computer- what ever happened to multi-tasking??


thank you for you input and if you are experiencing similar problems I'd really like to know, As I said,I'd really like to know which of my computer's comonents is not up to snuff- or if everyone has the same problem then so be it.

thanx!!

[dirtyp]

Theres a newer version availible try that probaly just a bug, And you never know with that type of software it could be a rootkit.

[buildingit]

Thanx for responding. I have the latest version of ITunes. I don't know what a rootkit is but Itunes I am sure does not have any trojans or whatever in it.

I am thinking part of the problem is my new harddrive............ I am surprized no one else is experiencing this problem???

thanx

[kev7555]

Is this computer running anti-spyware and anti-virus software? Which ones? Are regular scans for malware being done? Do you use p2p software for downloading?

-Kev

[buildingit]

Yes I am running very good security. It is called Shaw Secure, it is part of my cable internet package. It is actually made by that really good security software company from Iceland, I forget the name but they are the best.

edit: Ah I remember, the company is F-secure. My Internet company takes care of this and the software is updated automatically and pretty much behind the scenes though I can access it id I wish.

I buy my music from Itunes - or at least try to.I have not run P2P software for years.

[kev7555]

So, other then your ISP's software, you are running no security programs resident on your computer?

[kev7555]

Sorry, I should have added this to my last post...

It would probably be a good idea to cross check you ISP's security with another Antivirus and anti-spyware scanner. I would advise AVG AV and AVG AS for both.

Also, anytime I find a customer computer running extremely slow I start looking for the obvious; how many start-up programs, running processes, registry cleaning, temporary file clean-up, etc.

Do you use Ccleaner or any other registry cleaner?

-Kev

[buildingit]

I cannot run any other security software with the F-Secure package- they end up fighting each other or whatever and have had that confirmed by my ISP. But I feel VERY confident with this software. I don't think its a virus or worm. I haven't had a problem since I've been using this software. Prior to this software I ran much of the software in your signature- ad-aware etc and only had a security problem once or twice.

[kev7555]

Is the slow performance only evident when running itunes or are there other slow performance issues not related to itunes?

Again, have you ever run a registry cleaner to clean up leftover installation and uninstall files, temporary files, unused file extensions, activex.com issues, etc?

Sometimes this will snap a computer right back to speed.

[buildingit]

I just saw your last post. I cannot run more security software on top of F-Secure and I have a lot of confidence in the very high quality of thier software's performance.


Now, to be clear, my whole computer is not running slowly. I don't do much on it these days-Email, Outlook,Office, Internet, Hauppauge PVR and Itunes, plus looking at files in Windows Explorer aka My Computer. All seems fine except for ITunes and looking for files (sometimes) in Explorer. I have no idea why my CPU hits the roof, is it that complicated to decode mp3's amd m4p's? Other than that, it's related to hard drive access (I think- but what do I know!). The slowness with scrolling is in Itunes only. I have Picassa for photograhs and it works fine. I am rambling, sorry. I am just stumped on this. Thank you for replying

I do not clean my registry. Please, that strikes me the same way as having an elective sugery would strike me- never the same afterwards, best left untouched, I don't know what the heck I am doing. I really hesitate to diddle in there.........

[buildingit]

Sorry, it seems I am still one post behind yours.....

The problem happens in Itunes and My Computer (browsing files) only. But I am not that demanding a user. But these 2 programs have multiple file access in common.

I clean up my temporary folders manually and delete temp internet files too. I reduce start up items to a minimum and also those things that stay on like Adobe Update Checker etc- I have gotton rid of those things long ago. I defragmented my disks. The other things you mentioned, no, I have not done those things.

[kev7555]

Registry cleaners ( I advise ccleaner) will not remove things related to your analogy (elective surgery). They should be a part of regular maintenance. If you have not run one since the build in 2002, this is likely your problem. You may be all stopped up with temporary internet files and unused file extensions. I run mine after being on the internet for only a few hours and find sometimes hundreds of files to be cleaned. Download ccleaner from www.download.com and run it now. Simply install it and hit the button that says "run cleaner". It may take a few minutes to complete if this has never been done. When you are finished go to the left of the screen and click on "issues". Scan for issues and remove what it finds.

Don't forget during the install program to uncheck the box that says to add the yahoo toolbar if you do not wish to install it.


I use a seperate hard drive for my nearly 220 GB worth of music storage and have no such speed issues.

Have you tried simply uninstallling and re-installing itunes?

-Kev

[buildingit]

When I say it happens when browsing files in My Computer, I think this only happens when I am using Itunes at the same time.

[buildingit]

Do you use Itunes then? How fast is your CPU? Hmmmm. Do you use the Itunes store?

I did actually remove Itunes completely at one point and reinstalled- it made no difference.

If CCleaner is reputable etc....... I will see, look for a review, ect Thank you very much. I do clean out my temorary internet files but the other stuff, no.

thanx

[kev7555]

OK I'm a post behind you now.

Using the windows tools to clean temp files WILL NOT do what ccleaner does. Trust me, I would never steer you to a program that will do harm to your computer. I have a huge customer base that will confirm this. Most customers tell me it the most useful program they have ever installed.

I can't remember if F-secure is the same firm that produces e-trust. If it is, I have had mixed results with this on customer systems.

Depending on the ISP you use, you do not have to use their software. Many ISP's like AOL and MSN have their own software installed on your computer. I have earthlink (as do many of my customers) and I regularly advise them NOT to install Earthlink total access software. It is a resource hog. You can use your ISP to connect to the internet without installing their software packages (if you are not on AOL).

If you read through the system security and privacy threads you will find that I and many others, including several of the forum moderators here use AVG regularly.

GLC uses roughly the same security package that I do on customer systems.

Whatever it is, it is NOT related to youir 1.6 G processor or other system hardware unless there is some hardware failure.

I'm using a 1.8 G AMD processor on this system. The only difference is I am running 1 GB of RAM. No, I don't use itunes but I have to regularly deal with it on customer systems. It DOES really slow things down when doing a download.

-Kev

[glc]

F-Secure is fairly decent, but it does have a fairly large footprint. Not the same company as eTrust - that's CA. It should not stop you from using ONLINE scanners such as Housecall, Panda ActiveScan, and Ewido to crosscheck.

[buildingit]

ok,I will try ccleaner....

F-Secure has nothing to do with e-trust, I just looked it up. F-Secure is actaully from Finland, not Iceland.

You are right, I do not need to run the ISP security software. I used to run Norton, ad-aware, spyware blaster and some others and just got fed up with it all. I like it bundled and out of sight. I am sure AVG is very good, it sounds very good, it does. But I just have never really had issues with viruses and I am very happy with F-secure.


Well then if you are on a 1.8 GHz I can rest assured it's not my CPU, thanx. And I actaully have 1.5 GB of ram but I have never seen it go over 700 MB and it is almost always less than 400. And I am glad to hear that downloading slows yours down too. With mine it just hogs the whole computer. I figure it's an Apple thing- not coordinating with Windows multitasking properly.

Anyway, thanx, I will try the ccleaner.....

[kev7555]

BTW..

You and I are "neighbors". I'm right down here in Seattle. I spend a lot of time in the land of the Canucks; Vancouver, Victoria, Whistler, Kelowna, Rossland. I love your country and your people.

-Kev

[buildingit]

WeLL, my Itunes is cured! THANK YOU!! I missed your last post, I had already gone to bed, I was exhausted. Seattle is great too, I thought you were lying on the floor drunk

So I ran CCleaner. Apart from the recycle bin, I gained 200 MB- not bad. But I had 1200 Issues, hehe. I ran it again a few hours later though and had another 500 issues so I would bet lots of those issues aren't really issues.

But who cares, ITunes is working!! For the first time ever, I am easily able to scroll at the Itunes stores. Playing musiic and scrolling it is very good now. It still gets hung up a bit- say one in 10-15 songs but nothing like before. And I know it was Itunes now because before I ran CCleaner I compared with Winamp and the cpu was not skyrockeding with winamp at all.

So Kev, thank you SO MUCH again. I know I was quite resistant- I really didn't think that was the problem and yet again I was proven wrong!!!

[kev7555]

No apologies necessary. Glad to hear you solved the problem.

If you have never run ccleaner before, then you may have to go back and run the issues feature several times. Even if there are only a few, sometimes deleting some will help to bring out others.

Run ccleaner on a regular basis. I use mine every other day or so, more often if I'm spending a lot of time on the net or installing and uninstalling programs.

Yeah, I am a homebrewer, thus the "Laying on the floor in the brewery" analogy. It's hard to resist when you have multiple kegsa on tap at all times, 365 days a year...


Cheers!

-K

[buildingit]

Thanks Kev! You are right about issues uncovering more issues.., I really like this tool. I am finally breaking down though and installing XP which I bought 2 years ago!! Then I will keep running this toolon a regular basis. Thanx again

Catherine

[kev7555]

You are most welcome!

-Kev

[Planefreak]

I am a little late here,
I think that iTunes run a little slow at times.
It is my default audio player (not video) and I am often importing things. Sometimes at 30x and other times at 8-10x.

[buildingit]

Thanx for responding. For my system, I finally figured out that it was my antivirus program- it was scanning Itune's xml database file every time it was updated, which was very very often and non stop when downloading. I turned off all realtime scanning and it now works beautifully.