Does XP Bite?

January 3, 2006 11:03 AM

Why do Windows PC's suck and is there anything I can do about it?

I've used PC's for years, but for the last two years I've spent 95% of my computer time on a Mac Powerbook G4. Then a few weeks ago a certain project that I'm working on has forced me to make a Windows PC my main computer again. (Specs: HP Laptop, Windows XP, 1.86GHz Intel)

Windows Movie Maker has locked up at least 10 times in the last week. Last night Firefox locked up and forced me to reset my entire computer. There have been other minor locks and hangs as well.

This really bites since I've been virtually 'lockup free' for 18 months.

Does Windows just suck? Or can I do something to stabalize my system?

posted by crapples to computers & internet (18 comments total)

Are you using the default install of all the crap from HP? If so you might want to consider starting with a fresh install of windows. Also, make sure you have all the latest drivers for your hardware. Admittidly most of this is less an issue with Apple, but to be fair, I can't even remember the last time my PC locked up, and I use XP 10 hours a day, 5 days a week.
posted by KirTakat at 11:13 AM on January 3, 2006

[Oh ... here we go again.]

In my experience, any OS is only as capable as that OS's user's ability to recognize their limitations. Basically, you do what you can with what you have available. My OS X Mac has only 256mb of RAM, so I know that I shouldn't have iTunes, Safari and iPhoto open at the same time (and expect good performance). My WinXP PC has 512mb of RAM and a faster processor, so I can do a few more tasks at once. It doesn't make either OS more superior -- at least to me, the end user sitting at the keyboard. Instead, experience informs my behavior when dealing with either.
posted by grabbingsand at 11:13 AM on January 3, 2006

Funny, the only "lockups" I get are on my Mac. XP is very stable for me, all the time.

I do tend to keep my system pretty clean, though. Installing every last piece of crap I see on the Internet could definitely pollute Windows with spyware, viruses, and load your system startup with a hundred processes you simply don't need.

Are you:
- running AV software?
- periodically running spyware detection software?
- checking "msconfig" to see how many worthless processes have been added to your startup?

Google will take you to a dozen or so sites which tell you "how to clean up your windows installation".

Or, perhaps, you're just looking to troll for Apple a little bit? :-)
posted by Dunwitty at 11:20 AM on January 3, 2006

You might want to test your memory to be sure it's good. Random system lockups that you can't reliably repeat can be caused by bad memory.

Try downloading a bootable memtest86+ CD and using it to test your memory.
posted by odinsdream at 11:21 AM on January 3, 2006

It sounds like you might have some bad RAM in your PC. Try running memtest86+ to see if anything comes up.

My dual G5 had similar trouble, though not as frequently. I ran the Apple Hardware diagnostics, and found that half of the DIMMs in my system were bad. A few weeks back, a co-worker's Sony Vaio was having similar trouble with IE and FireFox crashing. He took out the upgrade SoDimm and the crashes went away.

There is a LOT of bad ram out there.
posted by b1tr0t at 11:22 AM on January 3, 2006

I assure everyone that I'm not trolling for anyone or anything. I'm a fan of Windows in many ways - and prefer it to Mac in some ways (mostly software availability and compatability). I didn't even know that the trolling thing was an issue here.

That being said: The lockups are frustrating and make me long for my OSX days. I'll run memtest86 and see what happens. Also, I'll try cleaning up my startup. This is a work computer, so if the RAM is bad I'll have to demonstrate it pretty convincingly before I can change it.

I'll keep checking the thread in case anyone else has thoughts. Thanks.
posted by crapples at 11:54 AM on January 3, 2006

The XP machines I've worked on either ran brilliantly or horridly. I'd try what others have said, but a clean install might be your only choice.

Funny, the only "lockups" I get are on my Mac.

Then you have a dud mac and you should take it back.

Or are you just trolling for windows?
posted by justgary at 11:56 AM on January 3, 2006

Yeah, if it's a laptop it probably comes with a BUNCH of bullshit preinstalled. I just bought a dell laptop and it ran HORRIDLY until I did a clean install.

Firefox tends to lock up on me about once or twice a day, regardless of my computer's specs. It seems firefox likes to eat memory on my computer and sometimes gets a little out of control (particularly when I've got a billion windows open, which is usually the case). Throwing more RAM at the problem let me run with more windows open, but mostly I just deal.

The disk speed on your pc laptop may be slower then the mac you've been used to. That'll make a big diff when you are swapping to disk. Additionally, try to keep a lot of disk space open -- i've noticed significant performance decreases when you're operating with less than a gig free (ideally, I believe you should have 10% of your HD as free space.)

so, in order, my recs are

1) fresh install
2) more mem
3) clear up disk space.
posted by fishfucker at 12:21 PM on January 3, 2006

You're not alone in wanting an answer to this question. I've never done anything but "clean" installs. I find the latest drivers. I always have Windows machines behind firewalls. I have an antivirus program and an anti-spyware program.

Alas, Windows XP always sucks for me -- crashes are the norm. Random lock ups. On all the machine's I own: from the home-bulits to the Dell laptop. All of these machines are crash-free when they run Linux on them.

*sigh* My friends tell me I'm just cursed, and that Windows XP never crashes for them. Sometimes I wonder if they've ever actually used a good operating system -- as my Mac and Linux machines never crash (hard crash, as in an OS bug, not some flaky user-space program barfing. That happens from time to time with any development application on any platform, bit it should never bring down the OS if the OS was designed correctly).

I shall be watching this thread, as my wife has reasons to use Windows, and I wouldn't mind having a spare machine with Windows, but I can never get it to behave in a way that I can tolerate. The current Windows XP machine randomly dies from time to time, causing my wife to lose work. (I've checked the RAM, it's fine. This machine ran for years 24/7 under Linux with nary a single crash).

And I guess it should be noted that, yes, Win XP is better than Win 98 or Win ME (blech), but it's still not good.
posted by teece at 12:36 PM on January 3, 2006

justgary - I'll avoid derailing this thread. But my Mac lockups aren't hardware: they are "when app/service crashes, Mac OSX halts and demands reboot" vs "when app/service crashes, Windows kills it and keeps on running".


My comment was specific to "lockup".
posted by Dunwitty at 12:51 PM on January 3, 2006

teece: I think Windows either works for people or it doesn't. I haven't had a significant problem since 2000 came out. I haven't had this machine (had it for about 9 months now) lock or crash, end of story. Two self-built computers have had very happy lives running Windows (one of which is now running BSD).

crapples: You might want to think about a reinstall, and then disabling everything you don't need. Windows, out of the box, runs stuff you'll never need and slows your system down. There are plenty of guides for how to make it more efficient (it doesn't take long). This isn't a problem with the kernel or win32 core libraries/api itself, its a problem with everything that went on ontop of it.
posted by devilsbrigade at 1:01 PM on January 3, 2006

Here's something you might want to try in the meantime. Do this only as a last resort before reinstalling.

Go to Start > Run

Next, type "msconfig", without the quotes.

At the top of the window, you'll see General, SYSTEM.INI, WIN.INI, etc. Click on the "Startup" Tab.

Toward the bottom left, there is a "Disable All" button. Click it.

Press Ok.

---------------------
This will disable a lot of the spyware you might have, if you have any. It may also disable a great number of things, but nothing that will make your computer inoperable.
posted by arrhn at 1:20 PM on January 3, 2006

I definitely find that Windows runs differently on different branded machines, so I think the Mac vs PC question is rather redundant. I use loads of different Macs and PCs at work, and statistically (NOT my opinion) HP/ Compaq machines are easily the least reliable.
So maybe your question should be why do HPs suck? - I certainly find that IBMs don't.
posted by forallmankind at 2:30 PM on January 3, 2006

Post-98 Windows has crashed only a handful of times on my own machines in the last several years so my experience is mostly limited to other people's machines. In that limited experience anti-virus or "internet security" software has often been the source of system instability. Norton Internet Security has been a culprit several times but that may only because it's so widely used, not that it's particularly bad. The scope of that kind of software is huge and it isn't surprising that they can't always get it right. If you can get yourself disconnected from possible sources of infection for a while try disabling any anti-virus/security programs to see if that helps. (This is assuming you're sure you're not already infected with something and that you've eliminated bad RAM and bad drivers as causes).
posted by TimeFactor at 2:31 PM on January 3, 2006

"when app/service crashes, Mac OSX halts and demands reboot"

Whoa, seriously? I agree with justgary, something is deeply wrong with your system. I think this has happened to me maybe twice in the 4+ years I've been running OS X. All the Mac users I know (lots of them, and all heavy users) only reboot when a software install demands it.
posted by jjg at 3:06 PM on January 3, 2006

my HP/Compaq laptop running XP Pro hasn't needed a format since it arrived. its filled to the brim with programs i've installed over the years and yet it still runs as smooth as a tank over a hobo.
posted by a. at 5:22 PM on January 3, 2006

"Running as smooth as a tank over a hobo" made the question all worth while. Thanks "a". I appreciate all of the suggestions and I'll give them a try one by one. It sounds like I should be able to get a stable system if I do a little work with it. I appreciate the help.
posted by crapples at 5:58 PM on January 3, 2006

have you tried defragging your hard drive? ... that can cause instability, too

i have two computers with xp pro ... the 5 year old 850 duron 256 ram crashes occaisionally ... the 2600+ sempron64 512 ran i got two months ago has yet to crash ... first is self-built, second was assembled by the guy at the computer show where i bought it

xp is very stable ... win98 was a piece of crap
posted by pyramid termite at 8:50 PM on January 3, 2006