Posted on 03/27/2007 7:25:57 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Windows Vista suffers from a bug that causes many machines to stall while deleting, copying and moving files, a flaw that has provoked consternation in online forums.
"I've seen this bug in action, and trust me, it's as if you're copying over a 64k link using only 256mb of RAM," one Reg reader complained. "To add to the problem, you can't cancel or anything."
According to a thread on Microsoft's TechNet site, Microsoft has issued a hotfix for the problem, but it has failed to quell the outrage. For one thing, individual users must get Microsoft's approval before the fix can be downloaded, according to our tipster. And for another, hotfixes are more of a pain to install than patches.
We've contacted a Microsoft spokeswoman, who promised to see if a patch for the problem (is) in the works. Meanwhile, Vista users continue to grumble.
"I simply can not believe that I updated to a new computer and put windows Vista on it to find that it's not even capable of moving and deleting files in an efficient manner," one disaffected user posted in the Microsoft forum. "Microsoft must be kidding! The most basic of features that I use all the time is a slow train wreck." ®
It does look pretty while trying to delete files though. :p
I can have as many applications running as I want and no trouble at all. But as soon as I start doing something internal to Windows, all bets are off. Multitasking is a joke.
I have found this to be the case with XP when dealing with FTP servers using the GUI. I think it's trying to list all of the files in the b'groud or something while it's happening. I dunno. I typically dislike FTP due to its inherent insecurity, but if it must be done the CLI is the way to go.
I must be lucky because I don't have any such problem, but I am sure a bunch of neurotic MS haters who have never used Vista will chime in on how Linux or Mac is better.
I no longer use Windows Explorer as my file manager.
I use a thing called TCUP. It has so many other things built into it, it makes Explorer look like a tricycle compared to a Harley.
And my files move, delete and copy lickety split. No more hourglass.
Check out TC UP (Total Commander) version 6.55.
Or even Turbo Navigator is pretty good too and that one's free.
But TC UP rox.
The "Boomerang" utility for the Macintosh (circa 1990) made its "file open" dialog box far superior to anything I've seen in any version of Windows in the sixteen years since. Why is Microsoft's dialog box so feeble?
Thanks. Will track it down.
Microslop is so . . . cheekily, needlessly destructive and mangling of customers' time, emotions and sanity as to be durn near or over the line of . . . actionable--or shoud be, imho.
My new MacBook Pro is the best computer I've ever had.
A somewhat similar question with XP (current with updates). If our office LAN or internet connection goes down, as it sometimes does overnight, in the morning I'm at 100% CPU usage, everything is locked up and I have to reboot. I suspect something is trying to "call home", though I have most everything off the task scheduler (no spyware, either). Our IT guys have no answer except to shut down the machine at night.
I was wondering if any of you have used a program called "FreeRAM XP Pro" to free up that RAM or have any other suggestions.
There's really no excuse for this. File manipulation is one of the core functions of any operating system.
What program or process is using the CPU?
I wouldn't bother with the "FreeRAM" program. Those types of programs have been around for decades; all they do is move files from RAM to the swap file ("pretend RAM" that's actually stored as a file on your hard drive). Windows does this by itself automatically, and you can adjust the size of your swap file from Windows. In any case, it's unlikely that RAM usage has anything to do with your CPU usage being locked. But how much RAM do you have, anyway?
I haven't a clue. Something is trying to access the net or our network at night. When I leave at night my CPU is 0 or close to it. I shut down all running programs and if everything is stable overnight, it's still close to zero in the morning. If I disable the LAN/Internet connection (manually), it's at 100% in the morning. I could use msconfig and uncheck the startup programs, but I don't know what some of them do and how critical they are. It may be Norton A/V trying live update, but I now have set that as manual. It may be Windows Defender, but I just don't know. I run Lavasoft and SpyBot to get rid of adware and am clean there.
My RAM is 768 MB and I'm running a Pentium 4 2.66 GHz chip.
Next time you get the problem, hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and press Esc. That will bring up the Windows Task Manager. Clicking on the second tab from the left, "Processes", will give you a list of the running processes on your machine. One of the columns shown should be "CPU", which gives you the percent CPU usage of each program. Clicking on the CPU header will sort the running programs by CPU usage (may have to do it twice; first time orders usage by least-to-most, second time orders usage by most-to-least). Once you are able to do this you can post the program that's using your resources and I or others can help resolve the problem.
Your system should have plenty of power to do what you need. You should have about 1.5GB in your page file. You can check this (and set it manually) in Start->Control Panel->System->Advanced tab->Performance settings->Advanced tab->Change virtual memory settings.
Thanks much!! These little tricks that are good to know.
Right now I'm moving between 92 and 95% System Idle Process (while using Firefox as the browser and listening to Rush on the net; MS Outlook and Excel both open on the task bar) and my page file is 1.149 GB, which is what is recommended in that dialog box.
I'll monitor it tonight (will disable my network connection) and see what is using it all up in the morning.
Our campus won't support Vista or Office 2007 at all.
Wow... Vista sucks...
What a hugh development!
What's the speed of your HD? What size of files are you deleting/copying?
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