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From: Daave on 4 Dec 2009 12:04
Sanford Aranoff wrote:
> During the past several weeks my XP SP3 has slowed down.
> Other people have the same issue. We think this is due to
> automatic updates that slow the machines down. Done
> deliberately, we believe. How can we restore the system to
> its previous state, say, 2 months ago without losing recent
> stuff?

Have you had SP3 for a long time? Or only "during the past several
weeks"?

I hope you only install the criticial updates. I've seen people install
noncritical ones and worse -- the wrong hardware drivers!. It's doubtful
(but possible, yes) that an update is responsible. If it were, though,
you would need to uninstall all the updates from the past several weeks
(using Control Panel's Add or Remove Programs), going back to the date
before your system slowed down. Then reinstall only the criticial ones
(just a few at a time).

And I'm sure Microsoft didn't do this intentionally!

As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, check to see that your hard
drive's transfer mode hasn't slipped from DMA to PIO:

http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too-slow-while-copying/

and

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/

Assuming malware isn't your issue (and remember, you need to be as sure
as you can!), you might have a memory-hogging Web browser addon or some
other program/addon/update issue. Describe your problem in full. What
exactly is slow? Everything? Or is it your Internet speed? A particular
program? Is it always slow, or only when you first boot up? Is is slow
in Safe Mode? Is it slow after you have configured a Clean Boot? For
more info:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353


From: Jose on 4 Dec 2009 16:23
On Dec 3, 10:53 am, Sanford Aranoff <aran...(a)analysis-knowledge.com>
wrote:
> During the past several weeks my XP SP3 has slowed down.
> Other people have the same issue. We think this is due to
> automatic updates that slow the machines down. Done
> deliberately, we believe. How can we restore the system to
> its previous state, say, 2 months ago without losing recent
> stuff?

Why don't you download Process Explorer and use it to find out exactly
what the problem is?

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

What is your definition of slow and how are you measuring it? If you
make a change how will you know if things are really faster or is it
that they just appear to be faster?

You can see everything that is running on your system and when you
think there is a spot of curiosity or overall slowness, you can see it
and then figure out exactly what is running and decide what to do
about it.

If it is malware, you will be able to figure it out. If it is your
currently installed scanning or defragmentation software, you will be
able to see it. If it is a driver problem, you will be able find
which one. If it is some background process you don't know about,
you will be able to identify it.

Installing software that typically installs things as background
processes will not make your system run faster, and you have several
that are obvious. Process Explorer will tell you.

Until you know exactly what the issue is, you have nothing to
troubleshoot but there are lots of things to try and guess about.
Maybe you will get lucky.

If something shows up that does not make sense of defies explanation,
we can help make sense of it and offer advice based on something you
can see. When things are running smoothly, it should all be pretty
boring.

There will be no trying things, no guessing what it might be, could be
or maybe involved.
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