Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Programs take 5 - 10 minutes to open in XP, HELP!!!

by videogamefreak685 Oct 9, 2005 12:52PM PDT

Whenever I try to open a program (any program) for the first time it takes around 5 - 10 minutes before it opens but once it's running it works fine. I've run AntiVirus and AntiSpyware programs but they haven't found any infections. And I just did a clean install of Windows XP last week so I don't know what could be causing this, please help.

Check my User Profile for all the info you should need about my computer and if you need to know anything else to help fix this problem just ask. And this problem usually happens right after I connect to Netzero, I don't know if that's related or not.

Discussion is locked

6 Posts
- Collapse + Expand Details
- Collapse -
The other scanner.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 10, 2005 12:11AM PDT

Try EWIDO from google.com and report back what it finds.

Bob

- Collapse -
Re: The other scanner
by videogamefreak685 Oct 10, 2005 12:33PM PDT

I scanned my computer with EWIDO and it didn't find anything serious just a bunch of bad cookies.

- Collapse -
Re: slow starting of programs
by Kees Bakker Oct 10, 2005 7:10AM PDT

Check for strange things, like:
- Does the program you start (or any other program) use an absurd amount of CPU (in Task manager, ctrl-alt-del-window). Or is the system just doing nothing (Idle task in Task Manager)?
- Is there unusual disk activity?

Did this strange behavior start immediately after the clean reinstall of XP? Or after you installed some other program?

How do you connect to Netzero? Did you install any special software for that, or just plug in a router to connect to the Internet and no special software at all.

Kees

- Collapse -
Re: slow starting of programs
by videogamefreak685 Oct 10, 2005 12:33PM PDT

The CPU usage is normal while I'm trying to open a program.

There is no unusual disk activity, the hard drive light barely blinks at all, it doesn't even look like the programs are trying to open but 5 min later they all finally pop up.

It started after I had re-installed most of my programs.

I connect using the dialer program that they give you because that's the only way Netzero will let you connect. Any I tried un-installing and then re-installing Netzero but that didn't help. So I don't know if this problem is related.

Here's exactly what happens when this problem occurs, after I connect to Netzero Internet Explorer is supposed to automatically open but it doesn't, even when I double click the IE icon on the desktop it still won't open so I try to open FireFox but it won't open either and the same thing goes for any other program I try to open (Photoshop, Visio, Word, etc.) but then 5 min. later every program I had been trying to open will pop up at the same time and then they all work great. And this problem doesn't always occur sometimes it just takes everything 5 sec. to open but most of the time it takes 5 min.

- Collapse -
Re: slow start of programs
by Kees Bakker Oct 10, 2005 6:16PM PDT

It seems the Netzero software is keeping something locked for 5 minutes or so. If their helpdesk can't help you, you've got two choices:

1. Dump Netzero and find another ISP. If their software doesn't uninstall completely, you might have to do a clean install of Windows XP again.

2. Do a clean install of Windows XP, and then step-by-step find out if any other program than Netzero is the cause of the problems, either by itself or in combination with the Netzero-software. Then dump that program.

Anyway, that's what I would do.

Kees

- Collapse -
Looking over your hardware.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 10, 2005 11:31PM PDT

There's only one thing I would try given the age and era of the hardware. Set the IDE channels to PIO, OK it then go back in and set them to DMA. If you just look then you may miss an easy workaround to that bug.

Bob

Back to PC Applications forum

CNET Forums

Operating Systems
Software
Electronics & Gadgets
Hardware
Tablets & Mobile Devices
General Help
Brand Forums
Roadshow Autos
Off Topic

Other Forums

Forum Info