Internet very slow and unresponsive on XP

Message

#1 Post by **mangocrazy** » Thu Aug 08, 2013 10:21 pm

I've been trying to ignore this for a while, but it's getting so that I can't. Basically I have a quad-core AMD PC with a 24mb FTTC (fibre to the cabinet) connection and my Internet browsing on my XP partition feels like wading through treacle.

I have a variety of boot options (various flavours of Linux, mainly) and when I use Linux for browsing it's a different world. Snappy, responsive internet, fast scrolling through pages etc.

Does this sound like virus/keylogger activity? I'm not seeing any unwanted popups or odd activity on my router or modem, but something has drastically slowed down the responsiveness of my XP partition. I guess it's out with the old Spyware detectors and see what happens. Any ideas most welcome...

As an example of the difference, here is a Speedtest from XP:

and here is one from Linux, taken about 5 minutes apart:

However that difference doesn't give a true picture of the difference in 'feel' between the two. Everything internet-related on XP is subject to a real lag, whereas Linux is sharp and responsive.

Oh yes, and I've already tried re-installing TCP/IP on XP - no difference.

Aladinsaneuk · #2 Post by **Aladinsaneuk** » Thu Aug 08, 2013 11:28 pm

Try running in safe mode....

I fear you do have a nasty

#3 Post by **Kwackerz** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:47 am

Upload isn't particularly different
It's the download thats affected. Look at the browser settings
Packet size and the like, as your ping is higher on the XP

Switch to firefox..
If using it, turn it into faster firefox:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Firefox-Load-Pages-Faster
or
http://features.en.softonic.com/how-to- ... firefox-13

check ping on a known site.. such as RS before and after to see the difference. using the methd below linked, will give more information

http://www.wikihow.com/Ping-in-Windows-XP

flatlander · #4 Post by **flatlander** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:42 pm

can be a whole range of things so starting with the obvious stuff

how old is th installation of xp
what's the profile size ?

Check EventViewer for disk errors

- if yes – send to Vendor

run scndisk set to fix all and recover then look at defrag and after that thjink turning system restore off and removing page file to zero

Delete:
Everything in c:\windows\prefetch

old service packs (except for the current months) - c:\windows

all log files starting “KB” - c:\windows

all in c:\temp + c:\windows\temp

Check number of profiles delete unused ones

:\windows\sys32\spool\printers

If anything in, stop printer spooler

Delete all

Restart printer spooler

Disable Indexing Services

Start – control panel – add/remove programs – add / remove win components – uncheck indexing services – next

Untick – “automatically search for network drives and printers”

My computer > properties > advance > performance settings > set for performance

then run anti virus in safe mode then malware chcker

bored now

oh tyes gpedit.msc drill down to reservsable bandwidth and mess about with that even if it is not configured it is set to 20%

add and remove programs get rid of junk
run ccleaner

yad yada

personally if it is an oldish install I would copy the data and blow away the profile it will like it

oh and windows xpo only sees 3.5gb ram so depends a bit on that too

#5 Post by **mangocrazy** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 6:15 pm

This could be quite a long post...

1. I've used Firefox for about the last 10 years. Wouldn't touch IE with a bargepole.

2. Was wondering about packet sizes myself. Where is that specified/how do I check?

3. XP install is about 2-3 years old. It's on SP3. How do I check profile size?

Going to stop here and see if performance is equally crap on a different 'user'.

Back now - it's just as crap as on my profile. Speedtest is all over the place. Sometimes I'm getting pings in the region of 200ms, which is spectacularly rubbish.

Can you access the Internet in safe mode, as that is the only area that response really seems to be affected?

D-Rider · #6 Post by **D-Rider** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 6:19 pm

Try in safe mode

#7 Post by **mangocrazy** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 6:30 pm

Also...

1. I don't have a C:\Windows\prefetch directory

2. System restore is already turned off

3. Will try ccleaner (as long as it's free...)

flatlander · #8 Post by **flatlander** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 8:14 pm

if its windows xp and you don't have a prefetch folder you have a problem as that's how it works

it will be hidden file just go to start then run and type prefetch it may bring it up some versions do

ccleaner is free just set it to analyse and then delete everything it finds then run the regcleaner and do more or less the same

HowardQ · #9 Post by **HowardQ** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 9:37 pm

CCLEANER is free I've used it for years.
It is a good product, my old Council also used it for year's rather than pay for other products.

I use Windows 7 and have a prefetch folder with a lot of files in it, should I get rid of those, or does this only apply to XP? (flatlander)

If you think you have slow internet Graham, this is mine -

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/2891344350

It is pretty consistent though!

Good news is the Ping result.
After that no more good news, as it runs on a copper BT line.
It is better than it was, I upgraded to something like 18 Mb recently.
It was previously 8Mb and would run at around 1 Mb/sec.

#10 Post by **mangocrazy** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 9:43 pm

I've just started Wireshark and am watching the traffic flows, and I'm seeing a very big number of packets like this:

816 323.361326 93.184.219.82 192.168.1.100 TCP [TCP segment of a reassembled PDU]

Indicating there's fragmentation of packets occurring. How do I check my packet size...?

D-Rider · #11 Post by **D-Rider** » Fri Aug 09, 2013 9:54 pm

mangocrazy wrote: How do I check my packet size...?

Don't ask Hanna