XP is slow when deleting files and opening Recycle Bin

AlexP

In windows XP when I attempt to delete a file I have to wait for up to one minute until it gets deleted. The same slow behaviour occurs also when I attempt to open the Recycle Bin. I have to wait for seconds or minutes before the files get displayed. It also happens when I open some folders which contain big number of files.

Do you know anything of that problem or happened to you before?

Thank you for your invaluable help.

jonathen

Two things to consider:

How much RAM do you have? XP needs 256mb ideally at least to run smoothly, and will happily consume more. I always use a minimum of 256mb on all builds I do, and most often 512-1024 (depending on what the box will be doing, i.e a server would be best with at least 512)
Have you defragged the hdd at all?

piersk

I have 128Mb RAM and 8Mb of shared graphics, therefore I had 120Mb max RAM free at most time. I have no problem at all with XP. Occasionally I have to wait for about 30 seconds for some things to happen, but apart from that, no probs.

jonathen

Yeah, but how heavily do you use it? I mean, do you run memory hungry programs, or several apps at once? Or do you run any services on it? In my experience, unless you are simply running a "check email/browse web/occassional app" desktop, anything below 256 runs miserably slow - slower in fact that older windows o/s's like 98 (no doubt due to the bloatware bundled with XP)

I run 1gb RAM on an XP 1800 (AMD) and it purrs with no lag at all, even when running apache, mysql, norton, firewall, p2p, vnc, ftpserver, and not to mention photoshop/ultraedit/browser/email and whatever else I am using.

I assume you both use XP Pro, and not Home? I must admit I have never used Home, so don't know if that manages it's RAM better.

AlexP

I have a laptop with 256 mb RAM and AMD Duron 700Mhz. As said before this is a very strange thing. By the time I hit "turn off computer" from the start menu it takes up to a minute before the menu for turning off/stand by appears. The CPU meter remains to 5-10% during this minute while the hard disk led flashes.

The same happens when I delete a file. The CPU is at low levels. I don't use this computer for purposes other than running and testing programs using MySQL PHP & Apache,+ internet.

If you know anything about the problem I would appreciate your consideration.

Alex

jonathen

Well, as it is obviously not the CPU or lack of RAM, it can only be either the hdd or Windows itself. Is the hdd a 7200rpm drive? Also, have you defragmented the drive at all? Have you applied service pack 1 to XP?

piersk

Erm, I run about 44 services, including SMTP, IIS, MySQL, so you could say that mines being used quite a bit.