Would not recommend Start Menu 8

Eldon suggested it to me, because I wanted a traditional start menu, and at first I thought it was great, but I've been noticing over the last few days how incredibly long it's been taking for my computer to boot up. I Googled Windows 8.1 taking forever to boot, and found a thread on eightforums that went on and on for 3 pages but at the end, some guy said that uninstalling Start Menu 8 had sped up his boot time by a record amount. So I gave it a shot. Sure enough, when I restarted after uninstalling, boot time was only a few seconds. Gonna give Classic Shell a try instead.

 

Thanks. How do I check my specs so I can post them here and find out if they're high end or low end?

 

Thanks. Got a more serious problem right now so I'll need to deal with this later.

 

It's an Acer Aspire E5-511.

Here are the requested attachments.

Am I on a high-end or a low-end system?

 

Uh... so... high-end... or... low-end?...

 

Low end.
1. Single core 2.16 GHz Celeron CPU.
2. RAM @ 667 MHz.
3. Onboard graphics.

While the specifications are fine for most computer tasks, a faster multi-core CPU, RAM @ 1333 or 1600 MHz, and a Graphics card will significantly improve performance.

Only you can decide - based on your needs and budget.

 

musksnipe, Speccy doesn't cut the RAM in half. 1333 MHz RAM is overclocked. If there's 1 module or 2 different* modules, the RAM runs @ 667 MHz.

*With my motherboard I need 2 identical modules - same manufacturer, chipset, speed & capacity. Only then will the RAM run at 1333 MHz.

 

Thanks. I don't really NEED anything better, although I sure as hell WANT a lot better. Unfortunately, this was all I could afford.

 

Me too!

I'm stuck with:
1. Single core 1.8 GHz Celeron CPU.
2. RAM @ 667 MHz.
3. Onboard graphics.
4. 10+ year old 80 GB IDE HDD, mouse, keyboard, tower case, PSU.

But, I can do everything I need to.

FYI Running Windows 7 Ultimate & XP Professional, MSO 2003 Pro & 2007 Pro, and numerous programs on a partitioned hard disc.

 

Thanks. What's RTHDVCPL? It's not showing in Task Manager.

And no, Avast doesn't scan on startup.

 

I thought my old system was durable after using it for 7 years. 10+ years, jesus. What's a PSU?

 

Power Supply Unit.

I bought the system in December 2004. Only the Motherboard, CPU, RAM and Monitor are 4 years old.

BTW I'm dumbstruck by how many problems users have when they have the latest OS and Hardware. rolleyes

 

It's called failing upwards.

Do you know what RTHDVCPL is?

 

I like that! :-D

RTHDVCPL is Realtek HD Audio.

BTW You have a lot of unnecessary Startup items already mentioned by musksnipe.

 

Thanks. I'll disable them all now.

 

Unfortunately, it hasn't really done much to speed up bootup, and the volume icon has disappeared again. If I select Show icon and notifications, I get This icon is not currently active.

 

How did you disable the Startup items?
I don't know Windows 8/8.1. You better off waiting for reply from someone else.

 

Task Manager, under the Startup tab.

 

Just restarted explorer.exe, that brought back the volume icon.

 

DD3-1333

IO Clock Speed: 667MHz (this is an clock frequency).
Data Rate: 1333 MT/s (this is a BUS speed).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDR3_SDRAM
https://communities.intel.com/message/46993

 

I'm saying you two are talking two different things.

Eldon is talking clock speed of ram. You are talking bus speed.

In your case, the clock speed of your ram is 800. The bus speed is 1600.

For the layman, MT/s and MHz are interchangeable and most apps do it.

 

DDR = Double Data Rate.

This means it transfers data twice per clock cycle.

Which means the bus speed of the memory (the transfer rate) is double the actual clock speed of the ram, in MT/S.

So 667MHz DDR3 gets termed by marketing to mean its actually 1333MHz, even though it is actually two different terms altogether.

It is misleading, but everyone does it.

 

It's fine, thanks. It wasn't actually running slowly, just booting slowly, but it's OK now. The only thing that's still bothering me is how the volume icon keeps disappearing from the system tray on bootups, which forces me to either restart again or restart explorer.exe or wipe the IconStreams and PastIconStreams registry keys.

 

Task Manager. Windows Explorer under Processes, or explorer.exe under Details.

 

Adrynalyne, I would like to add...
DDR3 1600 MHz RAM will only run at that speed if the motherboard supports Dual Channel Memory Technology. From my motherboard manual:

musksnipe, you are correct - the OP's RAM is DDR3 1600 MHZ.
But, 667 MHz is not half of that. The 667 MHz refers to the DRAM frequency.
I just checked my RAM with System Information for Windows, as well as CPU-Z, and both programs give the exact info as Speccy does.

Jesse, unfortunately your PC's motherboard only has 1 RAM slot. But the CPU has 2 cores.

 

This was a statement, not a recommendation. And the OP thanked me. :wave

 

Uh, my mother what now?

 

Thanks. I'll give it a shot next time.

 

Better than that now, thanks. Only a minute or two. Used to take five.

If you mean the Restore Default Icon Functions option, as I said, next time volume disappears on me.

 

Start saving...

 

Thanks. It seems you misunderstood though. I never said I restarted the PC, I said I restarted explorer.exe So your "band aid" solution is what I've been doing. And yeah, whenever I Google volume icon disappearing, there's a ton of results. Probably just a bug in Windows 8.1 Might be fixed by the time Windows 10 comes ouahahaha. Sorry, I couldn't say that and keep a straight face.

 

Will do.

 

Here's another option although I don't know it it's the same in Windows 8/8.1 as in 7.
Right-click the volume icon and click Volume control options. Ensure All devices currently playing sound is checked.