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[DocLotus]

I downloaded Win XP SP1 (Service Pak) the very first day it came out many months ago.

I am now seeing some references to SP1a.

Does anyone know what the difference is between 1 & 1a?

[KingSparta]

yes but i forget

I do know i read it on Microsofts web page some months back nothing major and it did not effect everyone.

Listening to: 'Corazón partio' from 'Mas' by 'Alejandro Sanz' on Media Center 9.0

[LisaRCT]

I dunno about updates, MS makes me nervous these days . . . I love the way XP runs, but I just don't trust 'em   :-/

[DocLotus]

It may be affecting me.

My computer is way too slow now.  The processor will sometimes run at 100% for several minutes when there is nothing going on.

Memory load will be only 50% or so.  Swap file will be around 20-25%.  Nothing is happening but the processor will just start running pegged at 100% then it will return to the normal 3-6% idle.

I have been reading that SP1 has caused severe slow-downs on some machines.  Microsoft has admitted this & has a fix for it but has not made it generally available on their web site or update site as they say it only effects a few users.

PC World magazine talked about it last month & gave a Microsoft phone number to call.  When I called the phone number they knew nothing about it & said I would have to have the Knowledgebase article number before they could determine what patch to send, if any.

I went back to PC World & found an earlier article about the problem referring to the Knowledgebase number.  I then looked up the article on Microsoft's web site but it was so full of tech speak that I could not tell if it was what I need to fix my slow-down problem or not.

Other articles I have read about this problem suggest that we may have to wait for SP2 to be released with the fix built-in.

Any ideas? anyone ?

[LisaRCT]

yup . . . .

deltree c:\windows      

go back to Dos 3.3
and MC2.01


                 

[KingSparta]

>> Any ideas? anyone
if you buy a faster computer this will fix your problem

try http://www.gateway.com

your welcome


'Fast Car' Charted At 06 In 1988

Listening to: 'Fast Car' from 'Tracy Chapman' by 'Tracy Chapman' on Media Center 9.0

[KingSparta]

Dos 3.2, the good old days everything ran like wildfire


'Wildfire' Charted At 03 In 1975

Listening to: 'Wildfire' from 'The Best Of Michael Martin Murphey' by 'Michael Martin Murphey' on Media Center 9.0

[DocLotus]

I have a fast computer...

* 2.2 GB P4
* 512 Mb DDR memory.
* Raid 0 drive array.

The slow-down problem has nothing to do with base computer speed.  It is a Microsoft created problem that effects only a few machines.

[mkutsen]

If I remember correctly:
SP1a is SP1 without MS Virtual Machine -- has something to do with the monopoly settlement.
It only affects people who don't have VM installed SP1a will not install it while SP1 will.

[KingSparta]

>> I have a fast computer...
i was just kidding, figuring if it was 100% with something faster it would be 50% etc...

[Jaguu]

DocLotus,

are you sure your 100% CPU happens randomly or maybe only when Outlook is running! There was a bug with Outlook 2000 that raised the CPU to 100% every time you made a connection to the Internet.

There is an Office 2000 Patch about it that you are required to install. Don't know if the same problem exists with Outlook XP!

That may be the cause of your slowdown!

If this does not help, try to check the Microsoft Newsgroups and search for "100% CPU". There you might find the solution or the reference to the appropriate Knowledgebase article or patch.

[KingSparta]

or kazaa

[NoCodeUK]

Could also be a virus.  I got a nasty one when my housemate used my PC and managed to get me infected. CPU usgae went to 100% and the PC ra like a dog until I removed it.  Check to see if explorer is demonstrating a high amount of mem usage too...

Adam

[Raistlin2000]

Might also be the RAID controller, there are always some problems with these IDE-Raid-controllers, sometimes it's really important to have not the latest drivers, but the right ones for your raid-bios.

If your Raid-controller is onboard (what I guess) the BIOS of the raid-controller (NOT of the mainboard) is for sure outdated. Unfortunately, you cannot update it with a bios-update from manufacturor of the chip, but only via a mainboard-update which takes often quite some time until the mainboard company updates the raid-bios.

Running newest drivers causes often serious troubles, that's why I split up my RAID and returnd the jumper-settings from FastTrack(RAID) to UltraTrack(normal IDE).

Raist

[DocLotus]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Jaguu...
I seldom run Outlook... have had too many e-mail transmit problems with it. Use Outlook Express for all my e-mail... no problems at all with it  I'm running all the Microsoft patches. I keep them up to date. I've also searched the Microsoft Knowledgebase for anything relating to 100% &/or CPU... no hits.  Have not tried the Microsoft User Group.  Will give that a try when I can find the time.

KingSparta...
Have never run Kazaa.

NoCodeUK...
I run Norton Anti-virus every Saturday on all of my 400,000+ files.  No virus has ever been detected.  I also have automatic Anti-virus updates running so I have the latest & greatest Anti-virus definations.

Raistlin2000...
You might be on to something. I do indeed have an on-board RAID on my Gigabyte XP-8I motherboard.  However I had problems trying to get Win XP to boot from the RAID array so I am no longer using RAID & no longer load rhe RAID driver at startup.

[AndyCircuit]

A friend (network admin of a big transport company) is just for a visit in my home and tells me the difference is license related. In sp1 is a sun java plug-in and sun refused the use to ms. So ms removed it and now it's sp1a. He had to examin this exactly for some reasons so I'll believe him.

Andy

Listening to: 'Feels Like Right' from 'Shelter' by 'The Brand New Heavies' on Media Center 9.0

[Omni]

NoCodeUK...
I run Norton Anti-virus every Saturday on all of my 400,000+ files.  No virus has ever been detected.  I also have automatic Anti-virus updates running so I have the latest & greatest Anti-virus definations.

One of MS's recent "critical updates" reportedly caused conflicts on systems running anti-virus software which would result in massive system slow-downs.  Because of this, I have not done a system update in a couple of months, so maybe (hopefully!) they have released a fix; but maybe this is the source of your problem. <shrug>

Omni

[DocLotus]

Thanks... I'll take a look at that.

But, I recall reading somewhere that even if you un-install your anti-virus program the problem still is there.  Seems like once the Anti-virus program is installed you are out of luck >:(

Arnt computers simply wonderful ?

[DocLotus]

Well... I finally found just what was causing my system slow-down.

Yep... It was Norton Anti-virus.  It was EVERYWHERE.

Not only was the NAV Agent running but I found the following additional Norton items also running?

* Automatic Live Updates.
* Incoming e-mail protection.
* Outgoing e-mail protection.
* Word macro protection.
* Excel macro protection.

Looks like I was being protected to death.

My system now runs like gangbusters (real fast for you young-ens).

I loaded almost 50 programs into memory & they all loaded very fast.

Memory never got over 55%, swap-file never got over 28%, and the processor sets at 3-6% idle.

WONDERFUL, SIMPLY WONDERFUL

Thanks for all the suggestions from everyone on this problen, it was very maddening to say the least.