Hi Guys I've recently re-installed Vista on my desktop, because i thought that it was the time (think u can tell that it needs a reinstall, when u can't figure out why you only have 20 Gigs free space on your disk, and all un-nessecary apps are uninstalled ).. well, then after i formatted my disk and reinstalled Vista, i've been experiencing that it has been a hell lot slower at boot up, loading and so on. my logic says that it absolutely shouldn't be slower, especially since it's a clean install of vista?? anyone that have had similar probs or have an idea about what causes the problem? Thanks. Rasmus
Vista has a boot optimization system in place, every now it then it activates and optimize Vista boot. Also you have pre-fetch that comes to play. After you installed Vista, pre-fetch technology loads your first applications, so it starts loading your setups and such. You can clear the prefetch folder in C:\Windows\Prefetch (assuming windows is installed on drive C), or you can wait until Windows decides you are not running the setups you ran every time you log-in on your computer, and deletes the items. Prefetch is a technology that loads on your ram the application that you have tendency to startup every time (ie: IM, web browser, system tray programs, etc...) during Windows boot. This makes your system ready to use as soon as you log-in and you don't need to wait 5 min until everything loads up like in previous version of Windows. Note: Windows XP prefetch technology is not the same. Vista one actually works. (Well in reality XP one works fine if you have 128 or 256 MB of RAM) What you faced is the same reaction by people that updated Vista SP1, as it cleared the boot optimization process Vista non-SP did for you and cleared prefetch.
Can you give us an estimate in seconds? Does your Vista disc include SP1 or not? if not, was SP1 installed before you formatted? Has there been and hardware changes since you previously installed? Is it still slow once all your drivers are loaded, especially the HDD Controller drivers (chipset drivers)?
@GoodBytes: Don't mix Superfetch and Prefetch with each other. Prefetch SuperFetch Prefetch basically watches applications and checks what files they load. Then it saves the info so that in future Windows knows what files are needed for that application. Superfetch loads commonly used applications in memory, just as you said. Just a clarify.
@ Goodbytes - well, that explaines a lot! - thanks @ Golygos - well, i haven't used a stopwatch, but it is remarkebly slower at loading all apps and so, after i've logged in + the boot time is a bit slower. My Vista disk does not include SP1, however i think it has updated to SP1 And yes, i've installed 2 gigs of RAM ekstra, but it was just as slow before i installed the ekstra RAM. well.. not sure i know exactly what you mean, but after it has loaded all programs and so, it ain't that slow, however still not as fast as before formatting. /Rasmus
with more RAM it should be slower to boot. Has widnows finished indexing all the thing selected? This can effect times also. Double check SP1 is installed and that you have the latest drivers.
Heuuu... no... More RAM means the boot won't need to use your hard drive as RAM as much, so it's faster. The only slow down that you get with more RAM is going and resuming from hibernation.
More RAM in vista will improve overall performance (tho not much effect will be noticed past 4GB). However, when vista has more memory, It uses more. It takes longer to preload the data (superfetch etc). You'll note the more RAM you have the more vista will use. Your memory will also be slowed down by having more sticks. Though your exact config isn't shown, chances are you now have 4 stick, increasing your latency and possibly effecting your overall memory bandwidth. None of these things should make a massive difference however. Once the machine is loaded, Is performance normal or still slow? During boot how intense the the HDD activity light? Are you HDD's SATA? What mode is the controller set to? When you re-installed Vista, did you format the drive?
Not really. It is if you run 3D Studio Max as soon as you stratup Vista. But loading your web browser, IM, music player... not really. The RAM that you see being used is not actually being used, it's "reserved" (but not really reserved as Superfetch (linked to the kernel of Windows), will release how much your system needs instantly. Nope! Having 2 memory sticks gives you a greater performance as 1 stick, as you are setting up your RAM as Dual-Channel. Having 4 means have 2x Dual Chanel per series. So you actually gain performance. If we forget the aspect of Dual-channel for a moment, technically yes, you would see a slower performance. Not to give you a course on System Hardware, however, your CPU L1, L2, (L3, L4 if you them), will be more in used so everything balances out of being the same more or less. @RasmusAnden, download O&O Defrag for your OS edition (32 or 64-bit) trial version, and defrag your HDD as "Complete/Name". This should help.
4 stick is slower than 2. I'm not talking about 2 over one, as yes 2 over 1 is faster thanks to dual channel. (or three ovver 2 with tripple. Tho the effect isn't as much.. yet). With good ram you can operate 2 stick at 1T, you won't get that with 4 sticks. This WILL increase latency however marginal. It will increase. If however you run your ram at slower speeds anyway, then it will be almost identical latency (eg if your running your 2 stick set up at 2T, adding more will keep it at 2T. No noticeable decrease). besides, thinking about it. this problem probably has nothing to do with any of this anyway. Sometime a logical problem requires an illogical solution.
You may be talking about DDR and DDRII. However I was talking about ram in general, and I did use the word "tripple" by no coincidence. I also have said, that I don't think ram is this guys problem. I also said more ram can slow a system down. This wasn't what I meant. I missed "can" out. It could have been the extra RAM. However, in this case it won't be - I just wasn't think right when I said it. Stop picking and just try and help the guy. RasmusAnden, have you got any further? In case you missed them; Once the machine is loaded, Is performance normal or still slow? During boot how intense the the HDD activity light? Are you HDD's SATA? What mode is the controller set to? When you re-installed Vista, did you format the drive? O&O Defrag is a brilliant Defrag program. Analyse the drive and post it on the net (filebucket or similar). Process Explorer: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx This will help find what's using you system resources...
