Dell 2400 XP sluggish, considering XP re-install

[dougkramer]

I have a Dell 2400 that's running slow. IE takes about 3 seconds to start (to a blank page), and occasionally crashes. Word takes about 5 secs to start. Maybe that's normal and my other faster computers just make it look bad. My kids installed Limewire and it had a ton of malware on it, which I took pains to remove. But it's still sluggish.

Does 4 years of registry cruft build-up lead to sluggishness?

I made the mistake of installing CyberDefender recently (but only ran the analyzer), which appears will take several downloads of other programs to uninstall. I'm running AVG anti-virus, Spybot, Spysweeper, and Ad-Aware.

My kids avoid it because it's so much slower. I've been thinking about just dragging the 5GB of data in Documents and Settings to my other Dell, then doing a fresh reinstall form the purple Dell Reinstallation CD. I also have their blue device drivers and utilities disks. As I recall, I installed a Diamond video driver (don't remember why), and still have the C:\diamond folder with the issetup.exe file, so I'm hoping I can reinstall that with no problem. It drives an 18" Dell LCD display.

But if there's another way to bring it back to being snappy, I'd try that first. Ideas welcome. I've read other threads in the forum about reinstalling XP, but haven't seen one quite like my request.

[glc]

I'd recommend you get a fresh start. Back up the data you need, then press Ctrl+F11 immediately on startup and use Symantec PC Restore to reimage it to the way it came from the factory. You won't need the CD. This works as long as the build date was 7/2004 or newer, and you haven't deleted the hidden recovery partition and/or the utility partition.

Then, to remove all the factory-installed shovelware you don't want, use PC Decrapifier.

http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

Install AVG Free 9.0 and the free version of Malwarebytes (free version is only a manual scanner) for your primary malware protection. In my opinion, Malwarebytes and Super Antispyware (also free, same deal as Malwarebytes, pay to get active protection) have surpassed Spybot and Ad-Aware as the programs of choice.

[dougkramer]

Wow, thanks so much! This sounds like great advice.

I'm not sure how to find out my build date, but I have files on my computer as old as March 2004, so maybe your technique won't work?

I believe I have not deleted the hidden recovery partiiton or utility partition.

Looking for the build date, I right-clicked on My Computer > Properties > System Restore, and the System Properties dialog box hung (stopped refreshing).

I'll back up the 5GB of data I have, then will restart with Shift+F11 and see if I have a PC Restore choice, and will report back here.

[glc]

It's CTRL+F11.

Go into Disk Management and look at the hard drive. If it has a restore partition, you will see 3 partitions - a 32mb or so EISA partition at the front of the drive (this is the diagnostic/utility partition), a main partition in the middle (your C drive), and then a 4gb or so partition at the end - I think it's FAT32 - which is the restore partition. If it has the restore partition, Ctrl+F11 should work - if you have the partition but Ctrl+F11 doesn't work, google "dsrfix".

If it doesn't have the recovery partition, you will have to use the CD's, do NOT delete the utility partition, delete the main partition and re-create it.

[dougkramer]

Thank you for your clear instructions.

I backed up my data, then went into Disk Management (Run > compmgmt.msc) and found only 2 partitions:

FAT 31MB EISA
NTFS 37GB C:

So it appears there's no restore partition. (Ctrl+F11 wouldn't work either – was a no-op.)

Did you really mean for me to delete the C: partition? In Disk Management, the "Delete partition" command is dimmed, and the Microsoft support page says you cannot delete the startup partition. Maybe I should just boot off the Dell "Reinstallation CD" and follow the instructions — perhaps that will ask if I want to erase the partition?

Also, while I'm at it, would it be feasible to upgrade to larger hard drive? Could I insert another disk, make a FAT 31MB EISA partition, drag the Utilities over, then install XP onto the larger partition?

[EzyStvy]

You will delete the C drive during the install option - after you boot off an XP cd...

Yes you can use any size drive you want..

Food for thought...Increasing IE load up time from 3 SECONDS to 2 SECONDS maybe one if your luck won't be noticeable

When I come home from my office and my nice Core 2 Duo machine to my six year old P4, I notice the difference...And I know that no amount of formatting and reinstalling is going to make the home machine as fast as the office machine

[glc]

If you are going to replace the hard drive, I wouldn't bother trying to recreate the diagnostic partition, it's quite involved. Fortunately, your Dell Resource CD is bootable, and you can always run diagnostics off that. Otherwise, just boot with the XP CD and go into Setup - where it will allow you to delete and recreate the main partition.

[dougkramer]

Thanks for anticipating my question about the diagnostic partition. I was just about to ask.

I found some instructions at:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/82...are-hard-drive

I agree, the instructions are too involved to be worth it. I would have too many questions (like do I need a version of Windows 98 to install, like it says). Running diagnostics off the CD is fine.

I purchased a HD today for $65 (320GB, way too much space — I only need about 100GB).

I should have time to do the system install on Fri. or definitely Saturday.

[glc]

Make sure your reinstall CD has at least SP1 on it, or the new drive will only be recognized as a 128gb drive.

HINT: It's legal and possible to use *ANY* Dell Windows XP reinstall CD, as long as it's the same version as what it shipped with (Home or Pro). If yours doesn't have any service packs, you can borrow a newer one and use it. They are not machine-specific, that's what the Resource CD is for.

[dougkramer]

I've installed the new drive, started up the computer, following the Western Digital HD instructions. It says to boot up off the CD, which I presume is the Data Lifeguard Tools CD. The instructions say to follow the on-screen instructions, but there aren't any: I booted off this CD, which goes through the Dell screen, then the cursor blinks in the upper left corner forever. After bootup, I can press F2, but that only takes me into the BIOS screen. What's the point?

I can insert the purple Dell Reinstallation CD, which boots up to a blue screen asking me to start installing Windows. Is that what I should do? Is my HD already set up by default and ready for the OS?

[dougkramer]

BTW, it's more than just trying to shave a second off starting IE. It also has moments when it takes over a minute to bring up the Add/Remove Programs control panel, or at other odd times. I'm happy with starting fresh.

[dougkramer]

BTW, my Dell Reinstallation CD is XP SP 1. I'm don't have any friends :-( Just kidding. I'm fine with upgrading each service pack.

[dougkramer]

If you're still around, I'm still wondering if I should skip the Data Lifeguard Tools CD and go ahead and install Windows from the purple Dell Reinstallation CD.

[glc]

Definitely skip the Western Digital CD. Just boot it with the Dell XP CD and go to town. It will partition and format the drive for you.

Sorry for the delay - I didn't see your replies. In the future, would you please use the EDIT button to add to your posts rather than make several replies in a row? Thank you!

[dougkramer]

Thanks so much! I'm on my way.

Okay, Windows is installed. But it's stuck in 640x480. It used to be higher resolution.
Control Panel > Display Properties > Settings > Advanced > Monitor > Properties is dimmed.

I started up the Dell Drivers, Utilities & Diagnostics disc, but it doesn't have a diagnostic for Dell 2400 -- just other models, like 4600. It does list these drivers:
ATI 128MB DDR RADEON 9800
ATI 128MB DDR RADEON Pro 9800
ATI 64MB All-in-Wonder 9000
ATI Rage 128 Ultra 32MB
nVidia 128MB DDR Geoforce
nVidia 128MB Geoforce4
nVidia Geoforce4 MX420

Ideas?

(There must be a story behind your icon "when pigs fly.")

[glc]

Your CD may be for a different model computer.

Go to support.dell.com to download drivers. Use your service tag number, and you need, IN THIS ORDER:

Chipset: Intel - Driver
Network: Broadcom - Driver
Video: Intel - Driver (Which one is a good question - I'd try the one for the 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV first)
Audio: Analog Devices - Driver

If there's a modem in the box, blow that off if you don't need it, otherwise you will have to figure out which modem you have. There's another section on the support site where you can enter your service tag number to see what the original configuration as delivered was. I am assuming that there are either NO cards in the box, or JUST ONE - the modem. Those drivers I listed are for the standard onboard video, sound, and Ethernet.

[dougkramer]

Thanks! I got it all working. It's much faster than it used to be for normal operations. Much cleaner.

I got Win XP installed, up to SP3, with AVG, Malwarebytes and Super Antispyware. Then installed IE8, Firefox 3.5, Adobe Reader, and MS Office.

I tried to find the right drivers on dell.com -- I did type in my service tag number and get the list of drivers, but there were *seven* network drivers. I had no idea which to pick, and System Info on my machine wouldn't tell me which network card I had. The original configuration was all generic.

So I decided to go to my Dell PC manual, and sure enough there was a section on using the Reinstallation CD. So I followed that, but the CD would not start an installation. But it did list a phone number, so I phoned Dell, and had about the best experience ever. In like one minute a smart technician was on the phone explaining that my machine was too old for that CD to start. He walked me through installing a network driver, connecting to the Internet, then he took control and spend the next 15 min. installing all of the rest of the drivers. No charge. Fantastic. He had to do some fancy installing, where he would didn't install all the drivers at once, as he said there was a dependency and had to reboot to make sure it would work before continuing. I'm please as punch.

The result is that I'm pleased as punch. Everything about the system is pretty quick. Nothing like before.

It was quite difficult to make Google my default search engine. Firefox is my default browser. And I'd like to have an icon of Internet Explorer on my desktop for those websites that require it. An odd thing, though -- I searched XP and the web and could not find a way (other than modifying the registry) to put an IE8 icon on the desktop of XP SP3. (I suppose it's possible only if IE is the default browser.) Has Microsoft gone nuts? Is that really true?

So I put an icon for Microsoft Update on the desktop, which launches Internet Explorer, but is not as quick as I'd like, because it starts the update program.

BTW, IE8 opens in about 2 secs, beating the old 3 secs.

Thanks for all your help, glc.

One follow-up question: As I recall, when I got the PC, I installed OEM Word and Excel, somehow with "Preferred Customer" as the owner's name. I don't recall how I did it, though, because I can't find any install discs for them.

Over the weekend, I wrote down the Product IDs before removing the old hard disk. I wonder if there's a way for me to reinstall Word and Excel using those Product IDs I wrote down. (I would remove MS Office first, which is an academic, not OEM, version, so I could use that on another computer.)

[glc]

Find Internet Explorer in your start menu, right click, send to - desktop (create shortcut).

The only way to reinstall the OEM Word and Excel is find your CD and product key. If you have Office Student and Teacher Edition, that can be installed on 3 computers.

By the way, I was very specific on which drivers to get - "Broadcom - Driver" would have been the one.

[dougkramer]

You were spot-on -- yes, I had overlooked that you did recommend the correct Network driver. My bad.

For the Internet Explorer icon, with Firefox the default browsers, I couldn't find IE in the Start menu (not even in All Programs). So I made IE the default brower, which made it show up at the top of the Start menu in the slot where it would always show. Right-click didn't show "Send to Desktop" (only Browser the Internet, Browse Without Add-Ons, Internet Properties, and Remove from This List). But I noticed other icons in the start menu had "Send to Desktop". And So I removed it from this list and clicked on a web page to open it in IE, but oddly that wouldn't display IE in the Start menu.

So I created an empty file "C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\Owner\home.html", which gave me the IE icon, made a shortcut of that and dragged it to the desktop and renamed it "Internet Explorer". So that solves my problem. Then I could revert to Firefox as my default browser.

I would prefer to have a website as the default for IE, but all websites seem to have their own icons, not the IE icon. And the "Change icon" button doesn't have an image of Internet Explorer icon (even in Program Files\Internet Explorer). I must be overlooking something, or have a configuration set up wrong.

Thanks for all your help. You're truly skilled at this.

[glc]

Try changing the start menu to classic view, then you will have a generic IE icon in it that can be sent to the desktop.

[dougkramer]

I switched the Start menu to Classic view, and that did not add an IE icon to the Start menu, the All Programs menu or Programs. It just re-laid-out the icons I already had.

And I was wrong about the following procedure working -- this did give me an IE icon, but clicking on it opens the default browser (Firefox).

So I created an empty file "C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\Owner\home.html", which gave me the IE icon, made a shortcut of that and dragged it to the desktop and renamed it "Internet Explorer". So that solves my problem. Then I could revert to Firefox as my default browser.

I did a search and found that I could supply the following path in the Target field of Properties of this home.html icon to launch Internet Explorer:

Target: "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"

So I think I got it all working now. Thanks so much for your persistence in helping.