Flutterby™! : XP faster!

Next unread comment / Catchup all unread comments User Account Info | Logout | XML/Pilot/etc versions | Long version (with comments) | Weblog archives | Site Map | | Browse Topics

XP faster!

2004-12-06 00:28:00.939878+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

For a while now, my Windows XP Professional[Wiki] box has had boot times in the quarter of an hour range. Recently I've started actually using it for work, and it's been amazingly sluggish. I've been through the process table and the registry with a fine toothed comb, both by hand and with several spyware and virus checkers, looking for anything out of the ordinary, and come up empty handed. The one thing that nagged at me was that the hard disk I was using had occasionally given me trouble on some machines, but it seemed like this one was a combination IDE controller and drive that worked.

However, it finally got annoying enough that I decided to take the plunge and replace the only remaining thing that I could imagine might be the problem. So I used the outrageously priced (but on the shelf today, and if they come through with rebates less outrageously priced) Norton Ghost to transfer to a new 160 gig drive.

Damn. Now I'll no longer scream "don't you dare!" when people talk about trying to make Linux[Wiki] boot times like Windows XP[Wiki] boot times. It's now actually a usable system. Hot freakin' dawg!

[ related topics: Free Software Microsoft virus Open Source ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: dd and ddcfl made: 2004-12-06 16:05:59.21681+00 by: Phil Knox

There are apparently some pretty easy methods if transferring to a larger hard drive using the "dd" and/or "ddcfl" commands in Linux. "dd" comes standard, and I believe that you can get some Linux Live CD flavors (typically those geared towards forensics) with the "ddcfl" command loaded. Of course, since you've already paid for it, there's no real reason to give up the Ghost...

- Phil (http://newsedition.livejournal.com)

#Comment Re: made: 2004-12-06 17:26:37.222974+00 by: Dan Lyke

Yeah, I've heard that there were various solutions, but with life the way it is right now, the thought of trying to igure out how to tell the bootloader to remap to the new NTFS partition layout, or of getting that NTFS partition resized to the full size of the new drive, seemed like it was worth a few bucks.

And, ya know, anything in XP that just works is worth a few bucks. Of course that means I now believe an XP install costs yet another $70 per seat, because that's what it costs to get basic functionality...