Help with very slow start up

Hello everyone. Just wondering if I could beseech the tech pros here to help me out with a small problem with my AAO. I have the Xp version with 1GB ram, and 160HD. My AAO has all of a sudden started to run very slow. Start up from when I push the on button to the point when I can load an application can easily exceed a few minutes. I think the latest thing I installed was Steam. Is that not compatible with the AAO or could it be responsible for such horrendous startup and computer slowdown.

My cpu performance/usage is anywhere from 80-100% and erratic. I've ran AVG and it hasn't detected anything. I have cCleaner installed, but I'm a little hesitant on using it as I don't know how safe it is to use or what settings are optimal. I read it was really good at disabling unused start up programs. BTW it says I have 48 processes running. Is that too many? Any help or insight would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

Well, the slowness might be due to a number of factors, but, whenever I uninstall anything, I use Revo Uninstaller. Not only does it uninstall any selected program by running that programs uninstaller, it also scans the registry for left-behind (now useless) registry entries, and it then scans the hard drive for left-behind files. You can then chose to delete these as you wish (I always do).
It's amazing how much junk gets left behind by uninstalling programs using the generic Windows method, or the CCleaner method.
After uninstalling, I also run NTREGOPT and pagedefrag. Takes just a couple of minutes.

 

Did you uninstall Steam to see if it was the culprit? I have Revo Uninstaller installed in a larger laptop but, it lists so many files that I am unsure of, I've been afraid to ever use it (I'm a little embarrased to have to admit that ). It's interesting that ncc seems to just proceed with the deletion of all that stuff. I have read excellent reviews about RU and that may very well be the way to go in this instance (if you already haven't uninstalled Steam).

 

info wrote:
"I have Revo Uninstaller installed in a larger laptop but, it lists so many files that I am unsure of, I've been afraid to ever use it (I'm a little embarrased to have to admit that ). It's interesting that ncc seems to just proceed with the deletion of all that stuff."

You can simply right-click on any of the programs listed in the Revo Uninstaller window. One of the options is to go directly to the web-page for that program to find out all about it. No guesswork necessary.

 

Thanks for pointing that out ncc. Do you find usually that what RU suggests is fairly safe to go with (as is the case with a program like CCleaner) or do you go to the site and check the individual files to delete? My apologies to the OP, it is not my intention to hijack this thread and this might be important for both of us.

 

""Do you find usually that what RU suggests is fairly safe to go with (as is the case with a program like CCleaner) or do you go to the site and check the individual files to delete?""

In the case of Revo, I accept all the files it suggests to delete, and all the left-over Registry entries too.
In the case of CCleaner, I am much more circumspect: I set it to not delete all my Cookies for example. Though, even if someone were to tell it to delete all the cookies by accident, that's maybe no huge deal as they are simply recreated the next time the site(s) get(s) visited/logged in to.
So, prudence is probably best.......and don't forget that CCleaner keeps a log of Registry changes it made, so, even if you make a mistake, it's reversible.

 

No problem. Good info regardless. So far I've ran cCleaner with the registry cleaner and uninstalled Steam plus a defrag. CPU usage has dropped to the 30% range from where it was.