Thread: Slow PC
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Old June 19th 06, 04:06 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsme.general
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Default Slow PC

Noel –

How nice of you to detail AOL’s operation and confirm it with the Resource
Meter, etc. And, your example of delays on a fast machine was surprising. I
would not have expected that.

Do other ISPs have similar delays?

Jerry


"Noel Paton" wrote:

AOL is a system hog - I know, I used it (on dialup) for 10 years!
It has a habit of updating itself in the background without telling you -
and reinstating applications that you thought that you had safely disabled
every time you start AOL up.
Said applications are frequently the cause of the slowness - and McAfee is
worse than most in this respect, particularly in WIn9x systems (the only one
worse is Norton, AFAIK).
Next time you boot, open the Resource Meter before opening AOL, and watch
the available resource drop like a stone. Open System Monitor - and watch
the Kernel Processor usage climb to 100% and stay there for the lagtime, and
the Swapfile in Use numbers start to climb towards the roof, and stay there.

To switch screen names in AOL, the process involves (IIRC) actually
unloading AOL and reloading a different instance - and this takes time.

The process of starting up AOL itself is a little lesson in how not to write
an application, very roughly what happens is (and this is from memory, so
could be total BS!):-
1) You click the shortcut
2) this launches WAOL.exe - which in turn the checks the integrity of the
installation before doing anything else, and scan your existing network
connections
3) if no new connections are found, it begins to load the required
background applications
4) once all the background applications are loaded, it then loads the rest
of the connector, and eventually you get the request for the
screenname/password
5) You click OK on the SN/PW
6)AOL then connects to the local exchange, which then connects to the US
servers for verification of the PW/SN, and hands you back to whichever is
you local AOL server, which deals with you from then on
this then begins the download of the pages, at the same time checking your
buddy list, and updating the email database.
AOL has a pretty high contention ratio - so there may be a lot of user
fighting for the bandwidth that you're using intensively at this time, and
they have a right to at least some of it all the time.
7) Eventually, AOL has finished updating everything in sight, and updating
the background apps as well, and you get the adverts popping up

Even on a fast-ish machine (this one is a non-optimised 3GHz Sempron with
1GB RAM in XP running AOL9 over 1Mb/s BT ADSL) the full process can take 7
seconds to bring up the login screen, and about 15-20 seconds to do the
actual login - and that's when I'm already connected to the Net, by another
ISP!, add in the negotiation time required, and any slowdowns because you
may be using a limited-bandwidth service, and it's easy to see where 45
seconds comes from.

HTH

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Jerry" wrote in message
...

Noel –

The lag time is not always the same, but this is what I normally
experience

When I first hit the AOL logo to sign on, it can take maybe 15 sec. to get
to the sign on page. Now, when I click on the sign on page, it can take
maybe another 10 seconds to get to the "welcome" page. Now, to your point
of
AOL loading a lot of stuff, that is true. I say that because when I am on
the sign on page, I can tell AOL is downloading the spyware and antivirus
notification. Also, when I first hit the AOL logo and am waiting, my
antivirus (supplied by AOL) is loading. So, I can understand some of this
is
slowing me down.

However, what annoys me the most is this. When I click on the sign on
page
and start loading my "welcome page," all graphics appear except for one
small
block. And I can wait 20 seconds for it to appear. It’s the same block
all
the time.

And then, what bothers me next is this. When I switch screen names, I
have
waited up to 45 seconds for the switch to be made.

Now, that being said, all of the above usually are the worse at first
application. So, I am thinking that after my initial sign on, AOL is done
downloading programs whereby follow-up use is faster.

But, I need to say also, the above delays, etc have gotten worse in the
past
year. So, even though AOL can be part of the problem, I am wondering if
my
PC is contributing some of the delays.

My buddy list has two people.

Jerry


"Noel Paton" wrote:

AOL can download an awful lot of stuff before it decides to show it!!
When you say 'lag' - what are we talking about? Seconds for the first
page
to complete display, or seconds for a number of pages to be displayed?

How many people are in your Buddies list (the more you have there, the
longer AOL will take to check to see whether they're online)?


--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2006, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.crashfixpc.com/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's
"Jerry" wrote in message
...
Dan –

Your reference is very interesting. I can see you took some time to
organize it. In addition to the information you include, you do a good
job
in taking time to include the key strokes to activate a feature.
Perhaps
you
can answer this question.

I use AOL for my ISP and use DSL. When I sign on to AOL I often have a
time
lag and my sign on page can take some time to fully display its
graphics.
I
have tried AOL fixes, but no help. Do you think the delay in signing
on
to
AOL is an AOL problem or a problem with a slow PC?

Thanks again for your reply.

Jerry

"Dapper Dan" wrote:

Jerry

If you have an intermediate skill level, you should be able to improve
the
slow operation yourself. Take a look at the following site as a
starter
and
then as you progress, come back with specifics; guys like Noel and
Mike,
and
a few others, have a wealth of knowledge that they are eager to share.
http://www.burzurq.com/forum/trevtweak.html

Bonne chance

"Jerry" wrote in message
...
Slow PC (Windows Me)

Having an intermediate skill level for PCs, I employ the common
maintenance
practices to keep my PC operating smoothly. Often I get flyers in
the
mail
from PC groups offering their services. One of their services is to
fix a
slow operating PC.

Short of reformatting and reinstalling an operating system, what
would
these
groups do to a slow PC that I would not have done?

Thanks,
Jerry