Is there a limit on how many programs I can install? My Computer feels slow now.
Moreed Asks:
I have been researching on Windows XP Professional Edition operating system from many perspectives from its developers to its users and have not been able to have a rough gauge on its limitations about its figures and numbers according to its maximum value supporting protocols. My question is that “Does Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 3 on a P4 2.4 GHz 4 GB RAM with 80 GB PATA HDD {windows installed on PATA Drive} and 2 TB SATA HDD has any limitations on the number of an average of 200 MB softwares or programs that can be installed on the system before it starts to overload or slow down. I know it depends on a lot of factors but I need someone to humor me in a hypothetical situation; just wanted to know how many programs i can install because i use a lot of programs, is there a limit to the number of programs? my desktop is slowing down so i need to know whether it depends on the size of the windows folder or the registry entries. My windows folder is 12 GB and there are no errors or viruses; i have done all of the maintenance and optimization services, but my torrent has suddenly started malfunctioning by giving a definite or absolute memory leak with the hard disk slinging and thrashing. I have Bitdefender Antivirus Pro 2011 installed as well and it is working fine and did not slow down the system before plus i have removed all secondary non-essential programs that run at start up and in windows services. I have also scanned the system using 6 different kinds of antivirus softwares with spywares, firewalls, malwarebytes, removal tools and been monitoring the system using process explorer and hijack this {I uninstalled all of the security suites so now there is just one bitdefender antivirus}, but there is no understanding why the system would slow down, when there are only 40 processes running instead of the usual 90 processes that i used to run before when the system never slowed down. My system has 240 programs installed in it and it was working fine until the torrent started overloading the system; if i pause the torrent the system goes back to a normal state, so my question in technical terms would be: “Does the installing of 240 programs result in the overload of the registry?” The reason i am asking this question is that there is no other possibility as i have fully scanned and tuned the system getting rid of all the garbage and there are no extra processes running except the system processes, so if there is an experienced person out there, you’re help would be greatly acknowledged, thank you very much and farewell.
Response:
Hi,
240 programs is quite a lot, and the more programs you install, the slower it is going to get as Windows has to load all the files. Type msconfig in the run command, click on the startup tab, and look at all the programs Windows has to open during boot. I don’t think there is a fixed number of how many programs you can install, but the performance of how all those programs run simultaneously will depend on your hardware.
I find that install Visual Studio 2010 slows my computer down a lot, and uninstalling it doesn’t speed it up. I also find installing Virus scanners and tools also slow down the system a lot – as soon as I install one, I notice the performance decreases – so I could imagine what 6 will do. Some AV software also try to uninstall the others – so 6 seems a bit excessive. Also, when you install and uninstall a lot of programs, they may not uninstall properly, leaving keys in Registry that Windows is trying to execute, but can’t, which slows it down again.
Since you noticed the slowdown after torrenting, you may have downloaded a dodgy file, which was infected. Or you should try reinstalling your torrent client.
My other recommendation is to upgrade your computer. Pentium 4 processes are incredibly old. Get a new computer, with a better CPU and Windows 7, and your PC will be even quicker. Plus Windows XP only supports a maximum of physical 4GB of Ram.
In regards to your Hard drive, I recommend that Windows is installed on a SATA Drive, and your files stored on a PATA drive. I found opening files on Windows installed on a SATA drive incredibly quicker. However, 80GB to install Windows and programs on isn’t much. I run out installing Windows 7 on a 60GB SATA drive.
Regards,
Jack Cola
