Sluggish Performance after Updating re : Time Stamp proble..

Brad wrote:
> I hope you get to respond to this Bruce. I followed your advice to
> deal with the timestamp problem .....
>
> 'OT: Your XP machine is in dire need of patches. Please visit Windows
> Updates
> ASAP. You might be missing the update that adjusts for Daylight
> Saving Time as well as a lot of critical ones.'
>
> and now my machine has become incredibly sluggish. It hangs, and the
> mouse turns into the Hour glass as I move between program windows.
> I've done nothing else other than the Updates that might explain this
> (no other installations, etc.). Any ideas ?

Sorry to hear about the sluggishness. Unfortunately, you didn't provide
lots of information, but it sounds like one of the (presumably) many
updates you downloaded has caused a conflict. It might be quickest to
simply uninstall the updates. You would need to use Control Panel's Add
or Remove Programs. After the recent updates that were just installed
have been uninstalled, you may or may not need to run Windows System
Restore (to return to the date before you installed this batch of
updates). Some people have programs (like Zone Alarm, Kaspersky, or
Norton) that interfere with System Restore, so be prepared. In fact, you
may want to bookmark this page:

http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html

How many updates did you install, by the way? Did you install updates
other than the High Priority ones?

After everything is uninstalled, try the updates once more, but
methodically. If there are thirty updates, perhaps do only ten at a
time.

FWIW, this is how I update:

1. I go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/

2. I click "Custom."

3, On the left, I note the three choices below "Select by Type." I then
click on High Priority. I *never* choose Hardware, Optional and neither
should you! I even normally ignore the Software, Optional (which
contains among other things the highly obnoxious Windows Search 4.0,
which can be quite the resource hog!). Also, I pay attention to what the
choices are. For instance, if I am not ready to upgrade to IE8, I make
sure to uncheck that (there is even a choice to hide that update
prompt).

4. Then click to review and install updates. A reboot is usually
required to finish the installation.

You should visit Windows Update at least twice a month if you do not
have Automatic Updates enabled.

This machine had not been connected to the net for years, and hence had not
been updated. I only decided to update based on a recommendation to solve
another problem. I selected all, and so I have no idea how many there were,
but I think it's safe to assume a hell of a lot. In Add or Remove Programs
there doesn't seem to be many windows related ones in the list (Security
Update for Windows Media Encoder (KB954156), Windows Installer
3.1(KB893803), Windows Media Encoder 9 Series, and Windows XP Service Pack
2).
I recall installing the Media Encoder 9 program a few months back, and I was
given the impression the Service Pack 2 was installed when I bought the
machine on eBay. Two programs in the list which I have no idea about are
OpenMG Limited Patch 3.4-04-17-06-01, and OpenMG Secure Module 3.4.01 ...
they could be trojans for all I know.

As you can probably tell, I'm not technically oriented. I'm not keen on
Restores, as I fear losing work accomplished during today, as well as
important work completed this past week. I could only be confident with a
solid operating system that lacks all of the issues MS brings to the table
.... I need an OS for Retards (one step below Dummies). Perhaps you could
tell me how to turn off the Automatic Updates feature .. I can see the
little yellow shield in the bottom right hand corner of the screen. At the
very least, that may help things from getting any worse.

Thanks for your input


"Daave" <daave DeleteThis @example.com> wrote in message
news:e7nZTvkWKHA.4416@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Brad wrote:
>> I hope you get to respond to this Bruce. I followed your advice to
>> deal with the timestamp problem .....
>>
>> 'OT: Your XP machine is in dire need of patches. Please visit Windows
>> Updates
>> ASAP. You might be missing the update that adjusts for Daylight
>> Saving Time as well as a lot of critical ones.'
>>
>> and now my machine has become incredibly sluggish. It hangs, and the
>> mouse turns into the Hour glass as I move between program windows.
>> I've done nothing else other than the Updates that might explain this
>> (no other installations, etc.). Any ideas ?
>
> Sorry to hear about the sluggishness. Unfortunately, you didn't provide
> lots of information, but it sounds like one of the (presumably) many
> updates you downloaded has caused a conflict. It might be quickest to
> simply uninstall the updates. You would need to use Control Panel's Add or
> Remove Programs. After the recent updates that were just installed have
> been uninstalled, you may or may not need to run Windows System Restore
> (to return to the date before you installed this batch of updates). Some
> people have programs (like Zone Alarm, Kaspersky, or Norton) that
> interfere with System Restore, so be prepared. In fact, you may want to
> bookmark this page:
>
> http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html
>
> How many updates did you install, by the way? Did you install updates
> other than the High Priority ones?
>
> After everything is uninstalled, try the updates once more, but
> methodically. If there are thirty updates, perhaps do only ten at a time.
>
> FWIW, this is how I update:
>
> 1. I go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
>
> 2. I click "Custom."
>
> 3, On the left, I note the three choices below "Select by Type." I then
> click on High Priority. I *never* choose Hardware, Optional and neither
> should you! I even normally ignore the Software, Optional (which contains
> among other things the highly obnoxious Windows Search 4.0, which can be
> quite the resource hog!). Also, I pay attention to what the choices are.
> For instance, if I am not ready to upgrade to IE8, I make sure to uncheck
> that (there is even a choice to hide that update prompt).
>
> 4. Then click to review and install updates. A reboot is usually required
> to finish the installation.
>
> You should visit Windows Update at least twice a month if you do not have
> Automatic Updates enabled.
>

Instead of turning off Automatic Updates, why not select the following
option:

"Notify me but don't automatically download or install them."

To bring up the window for this option:

Start | Control Panel | Automatic Updates

And be sure to download and install *only* the critical updates.

Also, in Add or Remove Programs, you need to check the box next to "Show
updates." This will show you all the Microsoft patches, etc. installed,
including the most recent batch.

Also, what SP level are you running? To find out:

Start | Run | winver

Brad wrote:
> This machine had not been connected to the net for years, and hence
> had not been updated. I only decided to update based on a
> recommendation to solve another problem. I selected all, and so I
> have no idea how many there were, but I think it's safe to assume a
> hell of a lot. In Add or Remove Programs there doesn't seem to be
> many windows related ones in the list (Security Update for Windows
> Media Encoder (KB954156), Windows Installer 3.1(KB893803), Windows
> Media Encoder 9 Series, and Windows XP Service
> Pack 2).
> I recall installing the Media Encoder 9 program a few months back,
> and I was given the impression the Service Pack 2 was installed when
> I bought the machine on eBay. Two programs in the list which I have
> no idea about are OpenMG Limited Patch 3.4-04-17-06-01, and OpenMG
> Secure Module 3.4.01 ... they could be trojans for all I know.
>
> As you can probably tell, I'm not technically oriented. I'm not keen
> on Restores, as I fear losing work accomplished during today, as well
> as important work completed this past week. I could only be confident
> with a solid operating system that lacks all of the issues MS brings
> to the table ... I need an OS for Retards (one step below Dummies).
> Perhaps you could tell me how to turn off the Automatic Updates
> feature .. I can see the little yellow shield in the bottom right
> hand corner of the screen. At the very least, that may help things
> from getting any worse.
> Thanks for your input
>
>
> "Daave" <daave.RemoveThis@example.com> wrote in message
> news:e7nZTvkWKHA.4416@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> Brad wrote:
>>> I hope you get to respond to this Bruce. I followed your advice to
>>> deal with the timestamp problem .....
>>>
>>> 'OT: Your XP machine is in dire need of patches. Please visit
>>> Windows Updates
>>> ASAP. You might be missing the update that adjusts for Daylight
>>> Saving Time as well as a lot of critical ones.'
>>>
>>> and now my machine has become incredibly sluggish. It hangs, and the
>>> mouse turns into the Hour glass as I move between program windows.
>>> I've done nothing else other than the Updates that might explain
>>> this (no other installations, etc.). Any ideas ?
>>
>> Sorry to hear about the sluggishness. Unfortunately, you didn't
>> provide lots of information, but it sounds like one of the
>> (presumably) many updates you downloaded has caused a conflict. It
>> might be quickest to simply uninstall the updates. You would need to
>> use Control Panel's Add or Remove Programs. After the recent updates
>> that were just installed have been uninstalled, you may or may not
>> need to run Windows System Restore (to return to the date before you
>> installed this batch of updates). Some people have programs (like
>> Zone Alarm, Kaspersky, or Norton) that interfere with System
>> Restore, so be prepared. In fact, you may want to bookmark this page:
>>
>> http://bertk.mvps.org/html/srfail.html
>>
>> How many updates did you install, by the way? Did you install updates
>> other than the High Priority ones?
>>
>> After everything is uninstalled, try the updates once more, but
>> methodically. If there are thirty updates, perhaps do only ten at a
>> time. FWIW, this is how I update:
>>
>> 1. I go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
>>
>> 2. I click "Custom."
>>
>> 3, On the left, I note the three choices below "Select by Type." I
>> then click on High Priority. I *never* choose Hardware, Optional and
>> neither should you! I even normally ignore the Software, Optional
>> (which contains among other things the highly obnoxious Windows
>> Search 4.0, which can be quite the resource hog!). Also, I pay
>> attention to what the choices are. For instance, if I am not ready
>> to upgrade to IE8, I make sure to uncheck that (there is even a
>> choice to hide that update prompt). 4. Then click to review and
>> install updates. A reboot is usually
>> required to finish the installation.
>>
>> You should visit Windows Update at least twice a month if you do not
>> have Automatic Updates enabled.