Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

When ever I close out an application and return to the Windows screen
on my computer the icons will first appear as white blocks then slowly
fill in each with the unique icon associated with the application.
This will take about five seconds.

The monitor is a Dell flat screen.

Anything I can do to speed this up?

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Presuming that your computer is 100% virus- and spyware-free:

If it always was this way, from the first moment you turned on the computer,
call Dell technical support.

Otherwise, the usual drill is:

1. Does the same thing happen on a different monitor? If not, the original
monitor is the problem.
2. If the same thing happens on a different monitor, restart your computer
into Safe Mode. Is the problem solved? Then your video driver is the
problem - download the latest, uninstall old one, install new one.
3. If the problem remains even in Safe Mode, your video card is the problem.

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

"Bill" <bgross@nospan.airmail.net> wrote in message
news:n951g1l54lu2fmoiggtqmj10oihsgsvtjs@4ax.com...
> When ever I close out an application and return to the Windows screen
> on my computer the icons will first appear as white blocks then slowly
> fill in each with the unique icon associated with the application.
> This will take about five seconds.
>
> The monitor is a Dell flat screen.
>
> Anything I can do to speed this up?

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 08:17:32 -0500, in alt.sys.pc-clone.dell, Bill
<bgross@nospan.airmail.net> wrote:

>When ever I close out an application and return to the Windows screen
>on my computer the icons will first appear as white blocks then slowly
>fill in each with the unique icon associated with the application.
>This will take about five seconds.
>
>The monitor is a Dell flat screen.
>
>Anything I can do to speed this up?
Sounds to me like Windows refreshing the icons, but taking a long time to do
it. Not a monitor, video driver, or video card problem, just Windows taking
its own sweet time.

If I remember right, there's setting somewhere in Windows that affects this:
something related to 'Icon caching' or something along those lines. No idea
where that setting is, though. I'll rummage around a bit, and I'll post
back if I can find anything for you.

--
Nick <mailto:tanstaafl@pobox.com>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

What you are seeing has nothing to do with the monitor. Some process or program
is taking up lots of CPU time, preventing timely refresh by Windows itself.
Could be a virus, a worm, spyware or a trojan. Could also be that the system is
low on memory for the tasks you want it to do. Could be the hard disk needs
defragmenting. Could be the system has a huge clutter of temporary files.

Start by doing a Disk Cleanup, followed by a defrag. If that does not clear
things up, look into a spyware cleaner (e.g. Spybot), an ad-ware remover (e.g.
Ad-Aware), and/or up-to-date virus scanning and removal... Ben Myers

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 08:17:32 -0500, Bill <bgross@nospan.airmail.net> wrote:

>When ever I close out an application and return to the Windows screen
>on my computer the icons will first appear as white blocks then slowly
>fill in each with the unique icon associated with the application.
>This will take about five seconds.
>
>The monitor is a Dell flat screen.
>
>Anything I can do to speed this up?

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Bill wrote:
> When ever I close out an application and return to the Windows screen
> on my computer the icons will first appear as white blocks then slowly
> fill in each with the unique icon associated with the application.
> This will take about five seconds.
>
> The monitor is a Dell flat screen.
>
> Anything I can do to speed this up?

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Scroll down to number 121. This registry edit will increase the shell
icon cache to speed up screen redraws of icons.

Q

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I like your answer better than mine. I thought the refresh might have been
the sign of a video problem. But, IIRC, the rest of the OP's experience was
fine.

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

<ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers)> wrote in message
news:4300dbb1.8143079@nntp.charter.net...
> What you are seeing has nothing to do with the monitor. Some process or
program
> is taking up lots of CPU time, preventing timely refresh by Windows
itself.
> Could be a virus, a worm, spyware or a trojan. Could also be that the
system is
> low on memory for the tasks you want it to do. Could be the hard disk
needs
> defragmenting. Could be the system has a huge clutter of temporary files.
>
> Start by doing a Disk Cleanup, followed by a defrag. If that does not
clear
> things up, look into a spyware cleaner (e.g. Spybot), an ad-ware remover
(e.g.
> Ad-Aware), and/or up-to-date virus scanning and removal... Ben Myers
>
> On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 08:17:32 -0500, Bill <bgross@nospan.airmail.net>
wrote:
>
> >When ever I close out an application and return to the Windows screen
> >on my computer the icons will first appear as white blocks then slowly
> >fill in each with the unique icon associated with the application.
> >This will take about five seconds.
> >
> >The monitor is a Dell flat screen.
> >
> >Anything I can do to speed this up?
>

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I've got Norton AV running full time as well as MS spyware, also run
Spybot as well.

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 18:18:58 GMT, ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net
(Ben Myers) wrote:

>What you are seeing has nothing to do with the monitor. Some process or program
>is taking up lots of CPU time, preventing timely refresh by Windows itself.
>Could be a virus, a worm, spyware or a trojan. Could also be that the system is
>low on memory for the tasks you want it to do. Could be the hard disk needs
>defragmenting. Could be the system has a huge clutter of temporary files.
>
>Start by doing a Disk Cleanup, followed by a defrag. If that does not clear
>things up, look into a spyware cleaner (e.g. Spybot), an ad-ware remover (e.g.
>Ad-Aware), and/or up-to-date virus scanning and removal... Ben Myers
>
>On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 08:17:32 -0500, Bill <bgross@nospan.airmail.net> wrote:
>
>>When ever I close out an application and return to the Windows screen
>>on my computer the icons will first appear as white blocks then slowly
>>fill in each with the unique icon associated with the application.
>>This will take about five seconds.
>>
>>The monitor is a Dell flat screen.
>>
>>Anything I can do to speed this up?

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 17:42:56 -0600, Notan <notan@ddress.com> wrote:


[. . .]
>Hey, Bill! If you want to take a look at what's being loaded at startup,
>there are lots of good, freeware programs out there. One that I've been
>using is CodeStuff Starter (http://www.snapfiles.com/get/starter.html).
>
>Give it a try!
>
>Notan

Here the basic info
1.50 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
512 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'RIMM_1' has 128 MB
Slot 'RIMM_2' has 128 MB
Slot 'RIMM_3' has 128 MB
Slot 'RIMM_4' has 128 MB

Display
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 (Microsoft Corporation) [Display adapter]
DELL 1701FP [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n 06HRM17RAQ1Q, July 2001)

"Starter" reports

Norton Password Manager
Acronis Schedule
Acronis True Image
Adobe Reader
Norton Advanced Tools
Billminder.lnk (quicker application)
ccApp (norton app)
CleanSweep SmartSweep
Copernic Desktop
DeviceDiscovery (HP Digital imaging)
Dimension4
Microsoft Anti-Spyware
HP Connect
HP Software Update
HPDJ Taskbar
Logitech Utiilty
Maxtor Combo
MSMSGS
Printing Migration
QD FastAndSafe
SunJavaUpdate
Symantec NetDriver Monitor
VirtualDrive
Weather Bug
WordWeb.lnk
zBrowser Launcher (Logitech iTouch app)

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Bill wrote:
>
> On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 17:42:56 -0600, Notan <notan@ddress.com> wrote:
>
> [. . .]
> >Hey, Bill! If you want to take a look at what's being loaded at startup,
> >there are lots of good, freeware programs out there. One that I've been
> >using is CodeStuff Starter (http://www.snapfiles.com/get/starter.html).
> >
> >Give it a try!
> >
> >Notan
>
> Here the basic info
> 1.50 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
> 8 kilobyte primary memory cache
> 256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
> 512 Megabytes Installed Memory
>
> Slot 'RIMM_1' has 128 MB
> Slot 'RIMM_2' has 128 MB
> Slot 'RIMM_3' has 128 MB
> Slot 'RIMM_4' has 128 MB
>
> Display
> NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 (Microsoft Corporation) [Display adapter]
> DELL 1701FP [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n 06HRM17RAQ1Q, July 2001)
>
> "Starter" reports
>
> Norton Password Manager
> Acronis Schedule
> Acronis True Image
> Adobe Reader
> Norton Advanced Tools
> Billminder.lnk (quicker application)
> ccApp (norton app)
> CleanSweep SmartSweep
> Copernic Desktop
> DeviceDiscovery (HP Digital imaging)
> Dimension4
> Microsoft Anti-Spyware
> HP Connect
> HP Software Update
> HPDJ Taskbar
> Logitech Utiilty
> Maxtor Combo
> MSMSGS
> Printing Migration
> QD FastAndSafe
> SunJavaUpdate
> Symantec NetDriver Monitor
> VirtualDrive
> Weather Bug
> WordWeb.lnk
> zBrowser Launcher (Logitech iTouch app)

While you're not running a cutting edge system (Sorry! <g> ), and assuming
your video card has its own on-board memory (i.e., it's not sharing memory
with the system), the first thing I'd try would be disabling your Startup
programs:

Start | Run | MSCONFIG

Under the "General" tab, click "Selective Startup" and un-click "Load
Startup Items." Then reboot.

What this will do is load Windows *without* loading your (somewhat lengthy)
list of startup programs. Then see if the slow refresh problem persists. If
it doesn't, come back and I'll/we'll tell you how to load startup programs,
selectively, so you can sort out which ones are the culprits.

Notan

PS - Hey, Stew! It looks like we might owe Bill some money! :-(

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Notan" <notan@ddress.com> wrote in message
news:4301F2DC.73248F@ddress.com...
> Bill wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 17:42:56 -0600, Notan <notan@ddress.com> wrote:
>>
>> [. . .]
>> >Hey, Bill! If you want to take a look at what's being loaded at startup,
>> >there are lots of good, freeware programs out there. One that I've been
>> >using is CodeStuff Starter (http://www.snapfiles.com/get/starter.html).
>> >
>> >Give it a try!
>> >
>> >Notan
>>
>> Here the basic info
>> 1.50 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
>> 8 kilobyte primary memory cache
>> 256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
>> 512 Megabytes Installed Memory
>>
>> Slot 'RIMM_1' has 128 MB
>> Slot 'RIMM_2' has 128 MB
>> Slot 'RIMM_3' has 128 MB
>> Slot 'RIMM_4' has 128 MB
>>
>> Display
>> NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 (Microsoft Corporation) [Display adapter]
>> DELL 1701FP [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n 06HRM17RAQ1Q, July 2001)
>>
>> "Starter" reports
>>
>> Norton Password Manager
>> Acronis Schedule
>> Acronis True Image
>> Adobe Reader
>> Norton Advanced Tools
>> Billminder.lnk (quicker application)
>> ccApp (norton app)
>> CleanSweep SmartSweep
>> Copernic Desktop
>> DeviceDiscovery (HP Digital imaging)
>> Dimension4
>> Microsoft Anti-Spyware
>> HP Connect
>> HP Software Update
>> HPDJ Taskbar
>> Logitech Utiilty
>> Maxtor Combo
>> MSMSGS
>> Printing Migration
>> QD FastAndSafe
>> SunJavaUpdate
>> Symantec NetDriver Monitor
>> VirtualDrive
>> Weather Bug
>> WordWeb.lnk
>> zBrowser Launcher (Logitech iTouch app)
>
> While you're not running a cutting edge system (Sorry! <g> ), and assuming
> your video card has its own on-board memory (i.e., it's not sharing memory
> with the system), the first thing I'd try would be disabling your Startup
> programs:
>
> Start | Run | MSCONFIG
>
> Under the "General" tab, click "Selective Startup" and un-click "Load
> Startup Items." Then reboot.
>
> What this will do is load Windows *without* loading your (somewhat
> lengthy)
> list of startup programs. Then see if the slow refresh problem persists.
> If
> it doesn't, come back and I'll/we'll tell you how to load startup
> programs,
> selectively, so you can sort out which ones are the culprits.
>
> Notan
>
> PS - Hey, Stew! It looks like we might owe Bill some money! :-(



Notan,

Crudders. I owe you $10 at least due to the RAM config.....

:-)

Startup is certainly beefy as you've pointed out (not just the quantity of
programs, but the selection he has), and if he'd go to "custom" in his
performance settings (with only 2-3 items enabled), he's going to lose his
icon problem for sure - unless he's infected......


He appears to be running a Dimension 8100 (RIMMs) judging from the CPU clock
rate. I wonder if he's using XP or still has WinMe......(performance
settings not really an issue with Me...)


Stew

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Looks like Stew's in the money.

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

"Bill" <bgross@nospan.airmail.net> wrote in message
news:vbp3g19vp9plh33oa11uppto9603292evm@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 15 Aug 2005 17:42:56 -0600, Notan <notan@ddress.com> wrote:
>
>
> [. . .]
> >Hey, Bill! If you want to take a look at what's being loaded at startup,
> >there are lots of good, freeware programs out there. One that I've been
> >using is CodeStuff Starter (http://www.snapfiles.com/get/starter.html).
> >
> >Give it a try!
> >
> >Notan
>
> Here the basic info
> 1.50 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
> 8 kilobyte primary memory cache
> 256 kilobyte secondary memory cache
> 512 Megabytes Installed Memory
>
> Slot 'RIMM_1' has 128 MB
> Slot 'RIMM_2' has 128 MB
> Slot 'RIMM_3' has 128 MB
> Slot 'RIMM_4' has 128 MB
>
> Display
> NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 (Microsoft Corporation) [Display adapter]
> DELL 1701FP [Monitor] (17.1"vis, s/n 06HRM17RAQ1Q, July 2001)
>
> "Starter" reports
>
> Norton Password Manager
> Acronis Schedule
> Acronis True Image
> Adobe Reader
> Norton Advanced Tools
> Billminder.lnk (quicker application)
> ccApp (norton app)
> CleanSweep SmartSweep
> Copernic Desktop
> DeviceDiscovery (HP Digital imaging)
> Dimension4
> Microsoft Anti-Spyware
> HP Connect
> HP Software Update
> HPDJ Taskbar
> Logitech Utiilty
> Maxtor Combo
> MSMSGS
> Printing Migration
> QD FastAndSafe
> SunJavaUpdate
> Symantec NetDriver Monitor
> VirtualDrive
> Weather Bug
> WordWeb.lnk
> zBrowser Launcher (Logitech iTouch app)

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote in message
news:a6mMe.5079$3d3.11816070@news.sisna.com...
> Looks like Stew's in the money.
>
> --
> Ted Zieglar
> "You can do it if you try."
>



Ted,

No, I lost. The OP has 512mb in his config., thereby indicating that Notan
will have him fixed up in no time. I was right about the startup, but the
OP didn't comment on his OS (WinXP or WinMe), or the number of icons on the
desktop.

I'm out at least $5.00....

(g)


Stew

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"S.Lewis" wrote:
>
> "Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote in message
> news:a6mMe.5079$3d3.11816070@news.sisna.com...
> > Looks like Stew's in the money.
> >
> > --
> > Ted Zieglar
> > "You can do it if you try."
> >
>
> Ted,
>
> No, I lost. The OP has 512mb in his config., thereby indicating that Notan
> will have him fixed up in no time. I was right about the startup, but the
> OP didn't comment on his OS (WinXP or WinMe), or the number of icons on the
> desktop.
>
> I'm out at least $5.00....

How 'bout we call this one a wash? (You were right about the startups,
but wrong about the memory).

Notan

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I think you've got the full $10 if the OP actually has so-called continuity
RAM in two of those RIMM those slots. That means he's only got 256MB of
RDRAM, IIRC.

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

"S.Lewis" <stew1960@mail.com> wrote in message
news:v2nMe.17938$XL3.3207@bignews3.bellsouth.net...
>
> "Ted Zieglar" <teddyz@notmail.com> wrote in message
> news:a6mMe.5079$3d3.11816070@news.sisna.com...
> > Looks like Stew's in the money.
> >
> > --
> > Ted Zieglar
> > "You can do it if you try."
> >
>
>
>
> Ted,
>
> No, I lost. The OP has 512mb in his config., thereby indicating that
Notan
> will have him fixed up in no time. I was right about the startup, but the
> OP didn't comment on his OS (WinXP or WinMe), or the number of icons on
the
> desktop.
>
> I'm out at least $5.00....
>
> (g)
>
>
> Stew
>
>