Why is vista so slow on the interweb?

Hi all. Recently, I have reinstalled two computers' operating systems fresh. On a brand new dell 1520 (T7300), I have installed vista, and on an old dell 1100 (Celeron), I have installed XP SP2.

The hardware on the 1520 outstrips the 1100 by probably a factor of ten, yet- it is slower on pretty much all accounts. Note that they are configured the same except for OS. I noticed it first on the internet, it takes the vista machine at least twice as long to load pages. The 1520 does beat the 1100 at things like defragging, but with a 7200 vs. a 4200 rpm HD, that is what I expect.

Is vista really this retarded, or am I missing something? Why would anyone use vista if it really is this bad? I was on the fence about vista, but now I can't help but side with XP unless there is some explanation for it sucking so bad. I suppose we can hope SP1 helps...

 

Head down to Walmart and pick up another copy of XP while you still can. You could also try killing all the eye candy in Vista by setting everything to "Classic." It might be faster then.

 

I'm pretty sure it's just some networking problems. Try updating your PC and then restarting the network. That might help you.

 

Well, I would hope that this is a network problem, and not something wrong with the OS in general... BUT.

I did just do a total reformat and clean install plus all available updates on both machines. Both running the exact same antivirus (avast) and firewall (zonealarm).

I think I'm going to run to Walmart and pick up a copy of XP while i still can.

Vista blows chunks. It doesn't have anything to do with the visual performance either. Same sluggish internet with vista no matter what I do to it. I bet I could put this hunk of junk OS on a resolution of 100 x 100 with a dos prompt and it would still be slower. hahahahaaa!!!

*sigh* I suppose we'll all be stuck with vista eventually, I hope they just rewrite the whole damn OS in SP1.

Does anyone have any other ideas as to why this is happening?

 

Why? "Premium Content" security. I don't know where it is, but someone provided a link here that went into some pretty good detail. It explains a lot with regard to Vista and performance. There is a significant amount of new overhead.

If you you're interested you could try searching here or through Google. The article and or its author was based in New Zealand if I remember correctly. The bottom line is that it's definetly not going away, so don't look to any service pack for help. Vista is just going to need fast hardware, period.

I've only used it on a Via based system that was way underpowered for it. Although I liked some of the features and the new look, the sluggish performance was just unbearable.

 

It's a lengthy read, but it's well written:

Content Protection

 

What browser is it that you are using on both of the machines? I have found that under Vista, Firefox runs a lot quicker than what my old XP based desktop can manage and my hardware jump isn't nearly as drastic as your own. Personally I can't see Vista being at fault.

 

both browsers are slower in vista. much slower. it seems like it just takes 2-3 seconds more for things to get rolling in vista.

belive me, guys. i'm shocked. this 1520 is blazing fast in comparison to the 1100. but not while running vista.

if i had a copy of XP laying around i would reformat the 1520 with XP and see what happens. i'll bet it would then outperform the 1100. this just boggles the mind. am i missing something?

 

How much RAM do you have?

 

i have 2 gigs. should be enough to whip the 1100.

 

I suppose you've probably tried, but have you ran it without the antivirus and firewall just to see if one or both aren't interacting well with Vista?

 

Remember there was that bug where network speed was killed if you were playing music? Could be that?

 

it's not the music. i'm not playing music.

both speed up when i turn off the antivirus (avast), but the relationship is still the same. 1520=slow, 1100=fast.

tried with firewall up and down. 1100 still opens up a can on the 1520. really weird. maybe i should just buy an 1100 with XP? HAHAHAHAHA!!!

what else could it be? i appreciate the ideas! this has really got me perplexed.

 

Open up the system performance tab (ctrl+alt+del, I believe) and watch the processes as you try to navigate the intarweb, see if something is chewing up a ton of CPU time. Do you have any real-time virus scanners or anything running on the Vista machine that you don't on the XP machine? Those will kill performance.

 

i'll give the task manager a try.

the whole reason i'm so shocked is because the machines are pretty much the same except for the OS.

with the avast off on the 1520, it beats the 1100 with avast on, but BARELY. with equal settings the 1100 kills the 1520. disturbing.

maybe it's a driver issue? i have the latest wireless drivers from dell.com. are they lousy? the 1100 is running its wireless on a cheap netgear card. this is embarrassing for the 1520.

edit: nothing fishy in task manager. the programs taking up the most cpu time on both are the idle process and the browser, especially when actively surfing.

 

Computer speed really is a type of voodoo.

 

I have the same experience, browsing is noticeably slower in Vista and I doubt it has anything to do with hardware/drivers as mine is completely different from yours.

Again, no anti-virus, no firewall, plain IE 7. Comparing a celeron 700/320 running XP2 with a core duo 1.86G/1G and I would say it is ridiculous, a 4x hardware advantage translated into slower experience.

 

chimp- i think it just boils down to vista. it sucks, at least for now.

a couple years from now when computers are faster and the OS is streamlined i'm sure microsoft will put out another OS that is hardware intensive enough to force the populace into buying another new computer.

you will be assimilated! lol.

 

Are you using IE? On XP I notice that IE 7 is slower than IE 6 (on my machine anyways). Firefox is somewhere in between (in my experience).

Here are a few other things to consider:

- Check the performance monitor (ctrl-alt-del, perf. mon. tab) and make sure your memory isn't all used up.
- Some people on here have said that Vista is slow at first while it's indexing the files on your drive.
- There are a couple performance-related hotfixes for Vista... you might want to check them out.
- Double-check that it's using the network connection that you think it's using. On my XP machine I've sometimes plugged in the ethernet cable and it kept using the really bad wireless connection for some reason.

 

huh. well, she has IE6 on her 1100, i have IE7 on the 1520. that might explain some of the discrepancy. but the difference is really night and day.

if i put both computers side by side after boot, start IE, and click on links at the same time- the difference is huge.

 

I had Vista Ultimate on my desktop for about two weeks. It did, as you say, blow chunks - so much so that even as insanely, jaw-droppingly powerful as the hardware in that machine is, it seems sluggish compared to my old Inspiron 9300 with XP in general use. So I threw in the towel and installed a fresh format of XP Pro x64. Everything is leaps and bounds faster - 3D gaming performance (WiC is very playable at maximum settings now, as it should be!), general Windows usage, networking, even listening to music and syncing my iPod.

I still have Vista on my T61, and it's performance never ceases to disappoint, and I'm sure Vista is almost entirely to blame. Sadly, last time I tried XP I was unable to get brightness control working - the OSD came up but brightness levels didn't change, using any drivers (Lenovo official or LV2G). I installed OSX on the machine (mostly to have fun with the massive number of Apple users on campus) and the general system performance in that ran circles around my Vista performance, despite lacking accelerated video drivers! And now I have an issue where Steam games experience occasional and seemingly random slowdowns for a few seconds, drastically hurting playability. Not to mention I got another goddamn bluescreen today launching CS:S.

So the point is that Vista is indeed responsible for your woes. If at all possible go back to XP - while you still can.

 

i am beginning to think your are right, marine. i need to jump back on the XP bandwagon. i'm a pragmatic person, so the bells and whistles of vista don't mean jack to me compared to the better performance i'll get with XP.

 

Why not use something like Firefox or Opera?

 

i have tried firefox. the 1100 still totally cleans the floor with the 1520. i am convinced it is vista.

i dare anyone to take this challenge:

take 2 of the exact same computer. nuke the hard drives clean. install XP on one, vista on another. connect both to the internet wirelessly. see which is faster. i'll bet my ass the XP machine is much faster.