Printer installation slowed laptop response

Have just purchased and installed a new HP Photosmart printer which works fine, however since completing installation laptop is running much slower than before and items on screen no longer move in the same smooth way they did before the printer addition. Help please

 

First thing that comes to mind is that the printer driver is causing a problem and may be with a new printer the driver might be for Windows 7.

First, uninstall all the printer software and drivers, this is most easily done using System Restore to go back before the printer was installed. Then go to the Printer manufacturers site and find the correct driver and software package for Windows XP.

Let us know how you get on.

 

Followed your suggestions and uninstalled printer drivers. Went to Hp for driver specific to Windows XP but the drivers appear to be generic as XP was included in a list of approximately 20 operating systems. Downloaded and installed drivers from HP website and printer is again fully functional, however the original problem remains i.e. slow running and 'lumpy' on screen movements. Whilst the original HP drivers were uninstalled and before the download I checked the operation of the laptop but it was still slow and 'lumpy'. Do you have any other suggestions?

 

Click on Start then Run and type sfc /scannow into the Run box and hit Enter (include the space between c & /).

You will probably be asked for the XP disc.

This will correct any problems in the system registry.

 

Did the 'scannow' run but there is no improvement to the laptop performance. Any other suggestions.

 

Have a go at this to check your drives file system and disk surface.

 

Very possible other extraneous software installed

Hi Warton,
Have seen many printer "driver" installations from major printer manufacturers that install multiple components of "supporting" software and updating components that can bring even the fastest PC's to their knees. In my experience, the manufacturer of your printer is one of these.
My advice is to get your hands on "autoruns.exe" from Sysinternals (free) and take a look at what's been installed as an autostart in the logon tab and the services and task scheduling from your printer manufacturers install routine. Autoruns lists the registered name of the provider and gives the option to uncheck the item and stop it from automatically starting when you boot or login. It can always be checked again and restored to service if it's needed. BE CAREFUL!!! An unchecked component that is required for your system startup can bring hazardous results and possibly prevent the machine from booting. I always create a backup of the system drive using a duplicator program such as Casper or many others that are free. You can create an SD or USB boot disk to the duplicator application and restore the system from your backup in minutes if need be. Always test the backup to insure that it boots and is accurate before you begin mods....even better might be to boot from the backup and make your changes there at no risk to your current system.

 

Hi markmadras Ran the chkdsk check but after all 5 phases had run the end comment was 'The volume is clean'. Performance is still the same. 3 minutes to open an Excel document!!! Any other suggestions

Hi JackOverIP Will follow your suggestions later today, when I have plucked up courage

 

OK Warton, give it a shot in safe mode and see if the general response is any better, if it is that will indicate a driver. If no improvement we can look at system services.

JackOverIP has put forward a good suggestion of using Autoruns.exe to try and locate the software that is messing things up so I would try that first.

By a process of elimination it should not take too long to find the culprit.

 

Hi markmadras Ran the same Excel document in safe mode and it worked as it did before the printer installation. What now?

Hi JackOverIP As I stated earlier I am nervous about the changes you suggested as I am inexperienced in these areas. I downloaded Casper to create a back-up for the system drive but I am afraid I did not understand what I was looking for or how to save it. I then downloaded autoruns and under the logon tab there are two entries for HP both of which are ticked. The entries are as follows

HKLM\Software\micrcosoft\windows\current version\run

HP Software Update Desc. hpwuSchd Application


C:\Documents and settings\All users\Start Menu\Programmes\Start up

HP Digital Imaging Monitor

I have not done anything with these entries as I don't know what to do. Can you help, please

 

I've not used Autoruns, is there an option just to disable these two applications and then test to see if anything is better.