how2perf01.htm
Performance issue: My System Takes a Long Time To Come Up
Caveat: Identifying performance issues on a computer and/or network is a very fickle and tricky thing to attempt because there are a virtual limitless number of issues that can affect performance in general. The ideas presented here are generic in their scope but may offer a glimpse into a possible solution at your facility and at least a direction you may follow to solve a problem.
When a computer starts up from an off status, it goes through a series of hardware checks that are intended to identify if there are any hardware failures in the computer's main logic board, power supply or other peripheral things that may be plugged into the main logic circuit board. This is called a "power on self test" or POST for short, it's what you see on your screen generally before you see anything else, and it may or may not be accompanied with a series of beeps. The brevity of this article can't cover all the possible meanings of the beeps, but beep codes can mean the computer has some sort of hardware malady. How such a malady might affect the computer is unknown -- all you know is that something is rotten in Denmark. To find our more, here's a link to a web site that explains more about the "beep codes": http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm although if you're like most folks, the explanations to the beeps won't mean much; for example, what does set up hardware interrupts vectors really mean and how can one use that information?
The point is that few or no beeps are generally good while many beeps are generally bad. Beep codes can indicate a memory chip parity problem or something wrong with the computer's bios configuration, or a semi-broken wire connecting to the hard disk or keyboard or some other physical problem with the hardware. The bottom line is that anytime there's a hardware problem, it almost certainly will slow the computer down at best or at worst, make it behave erratically. And believe me -- an erratically behaving computer is far worse than one that doesn't work at all because it can easily corrupt your data or calculate improperly, giving you improper information on which you're making important decisions.
Moving beyond the POST, usually you'll see a screen that indicates that the operating system is loading into memory. An operating system is software that runs on the computer and allows your programs to talk to the computer's electronics and make sense out of the discussion. For example, Windows XP Pro and Windows XP Home are two different versions of the XP operating system; the Pro version has a few different options than the Home version does, but the "core" functions of the operating system are identical. By "core" functions, we mean the ability of the operating system to read data from and write to the hard disk, show text and pictures on the screen, communicate with the internal hardware components to play sound through the speakers, use the keyboard, show a moving mouse pointer, etc. Core functions are "basic" operational functions that allow a human being to use the computer in the first place. But it's important to understand that "core" functions are still software controlled, and if one or more of the software components that make up the core functionality of the operating system become damaged, it most certainly will affect the computer's performance. Exactly how it will affect it is unknown -- it depends on what is damaged.
It's a bit like driving your car and accidentally hitting a curb. Then afterward, when you're driving at low speeds in the neighborhood the car seems to run fine but when you get on the freeway, the steering wheel might begin to vibrate and shimmy at highway speeds. Hitting the curb could have caused a front-end alignment problem; it could be a bent axle or even damage to a tire or rim, any one or combination of which can cause the steering wheel vibration.
So you ask, "How could the operating system become damaged?" Actually, it's not very hard to do. One way is to power off the computer during the active installation of another piece of software. In other situations, just running a program and having the electrical power flicker off/on can cause the computer to "reboot" itself -- remember, computers need electricity to run. When the power goes out, weird and unpredictable things can happen afterward. More on this later...
First, you need to understand that the "why" behind this is a huge configuration file called the Windows Registry. The registry is a very, very long listing of control codes and other cryptic settings that tell Windows what to load into memory, where in memory to load it and once it's loaded, when and what to do with it and how often to check it. As Windows is starting up, it loads the registry file into memory and uses it to configure itself to the computer and software installed on the computer. The larger the registry file is, the longer it takes for Windows to load and configure itself. Therefore, if you have a great many applications installed on the computer, the longer it will take the computer to load the registry and thus, more time for Windows to configure itself before the computer is ready to use. Additionally, if you have many applications set to start up automatically when Windows starts, this can make the computer's startup time even longer. Also remember that the registry file is loaded in the computer's memory and if the computer has a small amount of RAM memory, after the registry is loaded, there isn't much memory left for the computer to use as a scratchpad for all the other things the registry is telling Windows to load into memory, too -- there's no "headroom" for the operating system to function efficiently. This causes Windows to activate its "disk-swapping" function, which is a special file on the hard disk that serves as a temporary scratchpad for things that can't fit into RAM memory -- if a program needs a special function that isn't stored in RAM, it looks into the swap area to find it there. All you have to know about the disk swap file is that reading/writing data from/to a hard disk is vastly slower than using it directly from within memory.
Speed tip #1: make sure your computer has LOTS of RAM memory. If your computer has only 256mb of RAM memory, boosting it to 512mb will make an easily noticeable difference in the speed with which your computer starts up -- we've been able to time the difference with a wristwatch! Increasing it to 1GB or more can make a difference if you have a great many applications that automatically load into memory, too. If you have Windows Vista, 1GB is the minimum you'd ever want to have; 2GB is better because Vista is a real memory hog. But before you go out and buy memory chips to plug in, make sure the chips have the same speed recommendation that your computer manufacturer suggests. Yes, it's true -- memory chips are rated for their speed, and you must match the chips to the computer's design or the benefits of more memory could be negated -- or worse, it could run even slower than before!
There's a component inside your computer called a CPU. This is the "central processing unit" processor chip that does virtually all the actual computing. It also handles most or all the data traffic between the hard disk and your program or network as well as data transfer between the computer's memory, keyboard, mouse and the screen display. In fact, in most personal computers, almost EVERYTHING that happens on the computer must pass through the CPU chip at one time or another. It stands to reason that the faster the CPU runs, the faster it can move data through. If you have a 1.2mhz CPU on one computer and a 2.4mhz CPU on another, the 2.4 is roughly twice as fast as the 1.2.
So you say, "It doesn't take a brain surgeon to understand that!" Well, that may be true, but the CPU is the "brain" in the computer, and if you replace the brain in your computer with a faster model, it also stands to reason that the computer will run faster, too. And it will. Noticeably.
Speed tip #2: get the biggest and fastest CPU that you can afford. Before you run to the local computer store however, consider that these are usually not simple plug-in items. Some computers allow swapping the CPU chip with a faster model but more often than not, a faster chip means either a new main logic circuit board or a new computer. The point is that the CPU chip makes a difference. Faster is always better. But the kind of CPU chip also matters, and here's where things get really, really techy because you're talking about data lines, the system buss frequency, memory chips, direct memory addressing, "bits" and more. For example, a 64-bit processor has twice the capability of a 32-bit processor. But you can't replace a 32 with a 64 without completely replacing the main logic circuit board (and reinstalling Windows from scratch). It's an apples and oranges thing, but it's enough for you to know that the bigger, faster CPU chip is always going to process data faster than a smaller, slower one. But where computers are concerned, there's often a domino effect that occurs when you start swapping out parts. It's like putting up new drapes in your living room: afterward, you'll probably need to paint the walls to coordinate with the drapes. Then there's new carpet and furniture to match the walls and drapes. Then there's the next room that needs redecorating so it doesn't contrast with the one just completed and well, you get the picture...
Remember a while ago when we talked about "damaging the Windows registry?" Let's talk about that next.
During a typical installation of a piece of software, the Windows registry undergoes many changes to allow Windows to recognize the new software, including other information from the software manufacturer on how the software should interact with Windows. In many cases, "DLL" files are installed that the software manufacturer has created to provide certain functionality that Windows doesn't have in its core components, and the configuration for those files is inserted into the Windows registry by the installation program itself.
Should the power go out as the Windows registry is being edited by the installation program, then the registry changes likely can't be completed. The result is that the registry recognizes some parts of the new software and Windows may load some of it into memory but the configuration items that tell Windows how to interact with them may be missing. For example, let's say the program you're installing is a graphics program that you can use to edit photos, and toward the very end of the installation, your dog runs under your desk, accidentally unplugging the computer's power plug. After you plug the computer back in and restart it, the new graphics program's desktop icon is there but when you try to start it, nothing happens. Or sometimes, after a long delay, the program finally comes up on the screen.
Speed tip #3: Never power the computer off without using the Windows "shut down" feature.
The simplest way to help prevent this is to purchase a good UPS (uninterruptible power supply) that can power your computer for 20-30 minutes in case the normal electrical power goes out. Good units can also be configured to automatically send a "shut down" message to the computer when the UPS gets near the end of its battery life so that Windows shuts down normally before the UPS can no longer keep it running.
The benefit of continuous, regulated power is ever more important in areas where the power sometimes flickers a bit -- you know, the sudden dimming of lights and then they come back to normal. An UPS can absolutely save your fanny here. You may not know a lot about the mathematics of electrical power equations, but when the lights dim, it's generally because of a voltage drop in the power line. But when the voltage goes down, the amperage in the power line goes up. "So, what's the big deal?" you ask. Well, have you ever seen a welder work? The bright spark the welder is using is melting two pieces of metal together and it looks quite intense, right? Gee, the welder even has to wear a helmet to protect from sparks and the intense light. Well, a welder's tool generally has relatively low voltage but very, very high amperage. So when the lights dim and the voltage drops, the relative amperage in your power line goes up and each time this happens, you're possibly "welding" together some of those delicate little electronic circuits inside your computer. The bottom line is that power fluctuations are physically hard on your computer's electronic components and can cause them to fail or behave erratically. Go ahead, spend seventy-five bucks and pick up a good UPS. Your computer will love you for it.
The last topic for this article concerns your applications themselves. Most Windows users relish in the fact that Windows allows running many programs simultaneously -- and they're always available just by clicking on the program you want in your taskbar. Very cool, and being able to do it seems to match the world in which we all live because we can finally multitask! But how many of them do you really need running all the time?
I don't know about you, but I only have two hands and I can really use only one program at a time. If I need to use Excel, I start it fresh every time I need it. I can wait the 2 seconds it takes to appear on my screen, and when I'm done, I close it. If I need to write a document or update one of our operation manuals, I can wait the 3 seconds it takes for Word to appear on my screen and after I'm done, I close it. Same with email and the Internet, which I use several times a day. I've never tracked it, but I suppose a typical workday for me includes upwards of a whole 50 or 60 seconds of totally wasted time as I'm waiting for applications to appear on my computer's screen. Wow. My head just spins when I think of all the fantastic things I could do with the 50 or 60 seconds a day I'd save if I kept them running all the time on my taskbar...
Somebody help me out here -- where is the real benefit of having them all running all the time??? Tell you what -- let me give you a couple pretty compelling reasons for NOT doing it:
- Speed. Remember the CPU discussion we had earlier and that virtually ALL data has to flow through the CPU chip? Well, when you have multiple applications running simultaneously, the CPU's processing power is SHARED between all those applications. It doesn't take a mathematics wizard to understand that half a 100% is 50%, and that's all the attention your CPU can give to Microsoft Word if you have Word and just one other program running at the same time. So let's add Excel, Internet Explorer, Outlook, Windows Media Player (for playing a CD), your favorite photo editing program, anti-virus software, a firewall, an anti-spyware protection program, and finally Club Office for a total of ten simultaneous applications. That means that each one really gets only 10% of the CPU's processing power. No wonder things seem to run slowly! By closing the applications you don't need, the speed and performance of each of the remaining applications goes up, it's as simple as that.
- Security. Remember the Windows Registry? When you open an application, the Windows registry is also modified with new information about that application and what it's doing. When you have multiple applications open, that much more information is entered into the registry so Windows can keep track of it. Now, let's assume the power goes out or some other unexpected hiccup happens and the computer restarts. All those "new" registry modifications remain in the registry and clutter it up, making the registry file itself even larger and thus, taking even more time for it to load into memory next time. Worse yet, when you restart those same applications, Windows checks its registry to see what they were doing the last time and tries to recover data (if necessary), which slows the computer down even more. But those old registry values often remain as "disconnected" entries instead of being replaced by new ones. The concept is easy enough to understand, but the bottom line is that the Windows registry is a dynamic configuration file that grows. More importantly, understand that it never shrinks.
Have you ever noticed that the longer you have your computer, the slower it seems to go? Well, now you know one of the reasons why. About every two years, I completely reformat my hard drive, wiping it completely clean. I reinstall Windows, the applications I use and finally the data I need to have. Obviously, before I do this I make a backup of the whole computer, but the point is that after I do this, the computer is like new again and runs like a demon. It only takes 3 or 4 hours to do all this but I've found it to be quite worthwhile. In the process, the Windows registry is pristine and efficient again, plus I get rid of old unneeded data files that have cluttered up the hard drive. (If I ever need them, I can always get them off the system backup.) This is a rather heroic effort, of course, but it's a necessary one in order to restore the computer's performance to what it's capable of providing.This article represents just a smattering of issues that can affect the computer's startup. There are many common others such as network connection mapping, server startup scripts, and more but those can be addressed in other articles. But if you've gotten down to this paragraph, you're armed with information that can help you create a more efficient and speedy computing experience.