Slow HP computer...

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Sotonfan

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This quote comes from a post on the nTrack forum, but I think my question probably belongs here…

"Dell is a good brand but often the big brand manufacturers throw together pathetically bad systems, with the root being poor motherboard design. I've seen HP systems that have been 50% slower than well-built machines, with all hardware being the same (video, processor, memory, HD, etc)."

I wonder if this is part of my problem...
I have a HP Pavilion 7960 – P4, with 128 MB RAM, running Win ME – and it’s pathetic… I have taken all the advice I can find surfing this forum and the FASoft forum, and I still get consistent skips in playback and recording. The machine is slow in lots of other applications, too. Is there much hope of my getting consistent recording results with this machine? Or, realistically, should I be thinking about building a new setup myself?

Thanks for any advice!
Drew
 
Run msconfig (e.g. Start->Run then type 'msconfig' and hit enter) and let us know what programs it's running on startup. You'll probably see a zillion or two if it's a standard HP install.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Slackmaster is probably right, most of the big brand manufactureres have set up your system before you received it to have all sorts of bells and whistles and unnecessary garbage running on your machine in the background. These can wreak havok on your performance and most can be disabled. Whenever I get and HP or similar system at work, I immediately wipe the thing and do a fresh OS install with a Windows CD (not the manufacturere's CD that comes with the machine). IMHO HP and Compaq suck worse than Gateway and Dell, but I would prefer not to use any of these prebuilt machines 'cause you just don't know what kind of compatibility issues you will run into with something as hardware specific as high end audio or graphics. My $.02 :)
 
sotonfan,
I'm using a Dell with 1.7ghz processor and 256 DDR Ram. I did the msconfig thing like the guys above said and disabled several different items. I also uninstalled a lot of the junk that Dell pre-loaded and my setup is running great and very fast. Haven't done any live recording yet but have done some n-track stuff using 8 tracks without a glitch.
 
Your first order of business should be to get rid of WinME. It is Microsoft's worst OS to date and definetly shouldn't be used on a DAW.

Secondly, there is no reason to be running only 128Mb of RAM. RAM is cheap and you should have 512 minimum nowadays.

Your system is pleantly powefull to run XP.
 
I have the same computer (HP/ME)and OS and it sucks dung!!

Out of all the files in the start up, what are the ones that we need to keep in there?

Thanks,

RF
 
You guys are confirming all my worst suspicions. msconfig is packed with junk. Actually, I had already moved to "selective startup" with only the bare bones running, but I'm still getting bogged down.

As for RAM... This particular motherboard uses RAMBUS Ram, which is very expensive - and HP tells me that's the only memory I can add. So, I'm really weighing how much cash I want to pour into this computer.

I like Barometer's idea of doing a clean reinstall of the OS on its own - and perhaps I should take the opportunity to move to XP.

Drew
 
Do not move to XP on 128MB of RAM, you need more. Rambus must be installed in pairs - make sure you have a couple of slots free. Rdram can be had for as little as $45 for 128MB, but it really depends on what you need specifically.

That said, I don't think that adding memory or changing operating systems is the solution to every problem. Don't worry about running bare bones, just uncheck all of the unnecessary applications that are starting when your computer starts, and see where that gets you. If you aren't sure exactly what a specific program is, look the executable name up on google. Stuff like realplayer, msoffice, etc is all junk that can be removed. Nothing really *needs* to run on startup except for various driver control panels (if you have nVidia graphics you will probably see a couple items that start up, and it's ok to leave them alone), but even they usually don't *need* to be running.

Slackmaster 2000
 
I have a 500mhz celeron HP Pavillion...yeah its a POS but if tweaked, it will work fine.....i get 24 tracks with effects (with buffers cranked ).......
 
I've now unchecked all but the essentials in startup in msconfig. And I'm still running way slow. Just as an example... If I right-click the desktop, it takes a full 8 seconds for the dialog box to come up for display properties. Something seems really wrong. Sorry for taking up space here - perhaps my question belongs somewhere else. Glad to hear that most other Pavilion owners are getting by OK.

Drew.
 
Here's a few things you may need to do. Get the extra RAM, you need it. Run a scan disk and fix any errors on your c drive then defrag the c drive. After that right click on my computer and choose properties, performance. Your system resources should be around 80% free. Choose file system and then hard disk and select 'Network server' for the typical role for this computer. Move the read ahead optimization to 'full'. Click 'ok'. Choose virtual memory and make sure 'let windows manage my virtual memory settings' is selected. Click 'ok'. If that doesn't improve things then choose graphics and move the acceleration down a notch or 2. G/L
 
Do you have an anti-virus software installed?

A firewall, maybe?

Or maybe a virus? Check online at www.symantec.com (don't download, the online check should be good enough).

8 seconds is waaaay to long.

More RAM is a sure thing, but 8 seconds is long.

Have you switched off System Restore? It's the most bug laden piece of C R A P M$ ever came up with.

Or maybe your processor is overheating. P4 processors throttle back speed settings when overheating so they don't burn up. One sure way to tell is a COOL heatsink.
 
Sangram how do I turn off the system restore in XP? I haven't done that one yet.
 
Success!

Thanks, everyone, for all your advice. I tried everything that you suggested, and learned a lot in the process.

Yesterday I took most of the day and did a clean re-install of just Win ME (without all the other junk on the the HP system disks) plus the programs and files I actually use. Suddenly, my system is acting like a P4 should - nice and fast. n-track is behaving beautifully, with no skips in playback or recording. Don't know what HP had hiding on those disks, but it really did a number on me.

Anyway, I've learned my lesson - next time I upgrade, I'm building my own machine!

Cheers.
Drew.
 
Good man, HP is notorious for that kind of crap. We refuse to buy Comaq/HP at work any more because of reasons like your problem. Glad you got through it and now you know. And knowing is half the battle. GI JOOOOOOEE! :D
 
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