Vista users complaining of slow file movements

Microsoft may be happy with the number of copies of Vista it's pushing out the door these days, but it seems that at least some recipients of the OS are finding that it puts as big a strain on their patience as it does their hardware, with numerous complaints cropping up of delays and stalls while moving, copying, or deleting files. According to The Register, Microsoft seems to be aware of the problem, and has already issued a "hotfix" for a related issue that may or may not also apply to this particular problem, although that's neither as easily accessible or as easy to apply than a proper patch. On that latter point, a Microsoft spokesman would only go so far as to tell The Reg that they'd check to see if a proper patch was in the works, though there doesn't appear to be any further word on that possibility as of yet.

[Via Slashdot]

[elan @ Mar 28th 2007 12:30PM]

Glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem.

I figured I finally needed to make the jump to SATA, or something.

[NeoK182 @ Mar 28th 2007 12:34PM]

i'm running seta drives, and i'll even admit that sometimes it goes much slower than XP when transferring files. but it seems to be random. When i first installed Vista i was moving my backed up files back over and when i moved my music (which was about 6GB) it took a little over 15 minutes. but pictures took under 10 and those were about 5 GB. even small KB files sometimes take 20-30 seconds to move where as on XP they would move instantly.

good to know that there is a fix in the works.

[Brandon West @ Mar 28th 2007 12:34PM]

Good information taken from a post on slashdot by Barny (when they posted this article yesterday morning):

"For those unwilling to read the forums (or who block all MS sites at their router), the problem relates to Vista making thumbnails of files, and trying to continue making them even when you have told it to delete a file, its not a transfer speed problem, and can be VERY easily stop gapped by disabling thumbnail views in the folder view settings :)"

I'm running Vista at home and have experienced no issues with file operations.

[Tony @ Mar 28th 2007 2:21PM]

Thanks for this info! I disabled thumbnail view and noticed a huge improvement in file explorer performance.

[Joseph @ Mar 28th 2007 2:36PM]

I have also stopped viewing thumbnails, but now i cant view thumbnails.

I also noticed that if i disable my LAN connection my computer loads cached pages quicker, but then my internet stopped working.

wait wait... 1 more...ok
By uninstalling almost all of my games, i have noticed a greater work productivity

[Colin @ Mar 28th 2007 12:37PM]

Why did I read this as Vista users complaining of slow bowel movements.

Hmm..

[varish @ Mar 28th 2007 12:46PM]

finally, i have had this problem ever since i started using vista, but never really realised that it was the os that was causing the slowness. I've been blaming my hard disk all the time, thinking it was dying, until i noticed that it was slow as a camel in all the hard disks.

hope they release a better working hotfix since the one i found doesn't seem to help much (it was stated that it was for network transfers, not local)

[Todd @ Mar 28th 2007 12:50PM]

"imma transferin mah filez with VISTA!"

[Emre Aydinceren @ Mar 28th 2007 1:03PM]

Definitely have the same problem. I was thinking it is because of extra security layer and built in anti-virus scanner.

[Ayle @ Mar 28th 2007 1:11PM]

......I think I will wait for the first service pack before installing Vista(even tough I got my business edition for free)....

[jimmothy86 @ Mar 28th 2007 1:14PM]

heh, i just recently received my HP express upgrade kit, needless to say i left out the HP dvd for the process as i didnt want their software mucking up a nice clean install of ANY OS.

Anyways, on to my problems with Vista, first let me state my PC stats so that you know that its not the best PC, but the problems clearly do not lie with the lack of hardware.

AMD X2 52000+ processor
2gb DDR2 RAM
integrated nvidia 6150 graphics which have like 64mb ram dedicated and shares up to 256 of the system RAM
320gb SATA 2 drive

the hardware advisor gave everything in my system above a 5 except, obviously, the graphics, but they still got a 3.?

My problem(s) have been that whenever media center records a TV Show, and I play it, it seems to always glitch up towards the end, and i never run any other process' in the background. although the first time it happened i was watching one show and media center had just started recording another, so i thought that might be the problem, then i tried playing a show when i had nothing else going on and no other recordings, same problem. that is problem number one.

number two, i thouroughly enjoy using WMP11, i like the interface, i like the search feature, the organization, etc., etc., but in Vista there is an extra process that does some media protection bullshit that litereally suck a third or more of all my resources, CPU time, Memory, and most importantly, Hard Drive usage, so, doing anything that requires the use of the hard drive, while playing some music, well, its impossible. i looked it up to make sure it wasnt a virus, or something of the sort on a fresh install, low and behold, its not its a Vista process called "Media Foundation Protected Pipeline EXE" any tips would be great, other than switching to another OS/Media Player.

[Bageloid @ Mar 28th 2007 3:50PM]

jim, you need to get updated drivers for your onboard graphics and updated drivers for your onboard audio.

[Andir3.0 @ Mar 28th 2007 8:23PM]

"AMD X2 52000+ processor"

Damn, I need to get one of them!

[ssuk @ Apr 27th 2007 12:22PM]

You have a HP, you're messed up even if you clean install a OS. The HP PC I had once was the WORST computer I've ever owned and I am never buying HP again. If this is your first HP PC, then maybe you'll discover the horror too.

[OddManOut @ Mar 28th 2007 1:16PM]

Nice to know I'm not the only one. I did think it was odd that across a gigabit ethernet link files were moving in the kbps speed range. I was thinking 'What?!?!? Don't tell me I'm gonna have to put the 10/100 back in to SPEED UP the network...'

But of course, that's why I'm currently triple booting with Win2k and Fedora Core 6. Vistas gotta go through it's growing pains like every other MS product. Oh well...

[mrhammerstein @ Mar 28th 2007 1:16PM]

slow news day? nitpicking just a little?

if i complain that i don't like the font used in vista, will you post on that?

[Khaytsus @ Mar 28th 2007 1:47PM]

You idiot.. When it takes 30s to delete a file, it's not nitpicking, it's very annoying.

I recall sometimes hitting delete several times thinking the system was locked up before it finally shows the "preparing to delete" or whatever dialog it shows. I've also seen it hang on said dialog for the 20-30s before it finally gets on with it.

BTW this has happened since the very early versions of Vista, and I'm not sure it's really improved all that much along the way. I don't casually use Vista or I'd try turning off the thumbnail view, but I generally don't have that enabled regardless as I don't want huge icons.

[kevjohn @ Mar 28th 2007 1:36PM]

Yeah, glad to know I'm not the only one. I got Vista with a brand new PC, so I assumed it was just a flaw of my machine. Serves me right for buying retail.

I did notice that whenever I try to move/copy/delete anything it seems to go through the extra step in 'calculating the estimated time it will take to perform the proceedure.' I'm always like... in the time it takes you to calculate how long the proceedure will take, you could have just performed it and been done already.

[Mark @ Mar 28th 2007 1:46PM]

I also notice a huge slow down when accessing files on a digital camera or thumb drive. Much slower than the hard drive.

[i.e @ Mar 29th 2007 11:03PM]

The tone of the article lends to making it seem biased. I have linux, windows, and mac machines at home. Anyone with a bit of common sense knows that they all have their strong points but I guess hating microsoft is the in thing now. engadget articles have gotten progressively worse because of all the b*tching and a**kissing depending on who is being talked about. I read engadget alot less these days cos but it's annoying when you read an article that doesnt even give the reader a chance to arrive at their own opinion without all the excess vitrol. I guess a little objectivity is too much to ask for these days. Hurray to bias!!!

[mrhammerstein @ Mar 28th 2007 3:52PM]

i run vista as well. and it only takes 30 seconds on a large file. you might be nitpicking on that.

and what i love about vista is it makes you watch the dialog box until it disappears. it locks your computer so you can't do anything else. you're forced to stare at it.

how whiney everyone has become with computers. it's incredible for what it does, but if it takes 5 more seconds to move a file, you bitch like a bunch of digital nuggets.

[Revrant2394 @ Mar 28th 2007 1:59PM]

Huh, haven't had this problem, then again, it might come up eventually.

My biggest issue? Developers not supporting the OS even now, two months out of the door, and many more months after they had access to it before the general public.

[Jesse S @ Mar 28th 2007 2:11PM]

It happened to me once in December (Ultimate), when I was moving the entirety of a harddrive to another.

[Rick Lyon @ Mar 28th 2007 2:19PM]

So two weeks old and already with the patches? M$ wants to add to their 2000 release with as many bugs and patches?

[js @ Mar 28th 2007 2:25PM]

At least the patches are free.... unlike Apple who releases patches every year and make you pay for it.

[johnzilla @ Mar 28th 2007 2:22PM]

They need to use more bran!

[Evan @ Mar 28th 2007 2:24PM]

File transfer was already slow on XP, and now it's slower?

I can ghost my entire C: partition in 3 minutes, but it takes XP 20 minutes to copy the files via drag-and-drop! How much slower can Vista be?

[Rick Lyon @ Mar 28th 2007 3:50PM]

Ah no. We get 10.x.x fixes every few months and they are all free. If you are trying to be clever and insinuate that new versions are release patches that's like the pot calling the kettle black with the number of flaws, security holes, bugs, glitches and 3 different versions you have to fork out for windows. Really, quite humorous.

[Rick (the original Rick) @ Mar 28th 2007 2:25PM]

Your Winspyware is probably logging each file, then checking it against known "naughty/illegal" files, then if offending, calls the FBI, if not warez or illegal .mp3's, it'll delete it.
lol - go ahead neg me down now!

[Gustavo @ Mar 28th 2007 2:26PM]

am running a SATA 160Gb western digital hard drive and i see the speed difference between vista and xp but am not like mad about it i mean this issue has still been the same when i was beta testing the beta 2 and RC1 i hope they get it fixed bc i love vista and i think i made a good investment buying vista

[Jarrett Kaufman @ Mar 28th 2007 2:33PM]

I haven't noticed any issues. Closest I've noticed is thumbnail-related, when I delete thumbnailed photos it often has to re-read the entire folder before it notices that they're gone, leading to some confusion. This is mainly only an issue in folders with tons of photos, and ones in which I've had it group the items by tags or similar criteria that changes while I'm working with them.

[Joseph @ Mar 28th 2007 2:38PM]

Who cares if you get negged down. I read all the highest and lowest rated. Its the neutral rating you have to avoid.

[Manuel @ Mar 28th 2007 3:39PM]

Yep! avoid being a white sheep at all costs!!!!!

[Steve @ Mar 28th 2007 2:45PM]

I had similar issues with the Vista zip utility. Eventually gave up and switched to 7zip. Thanks for the tip on the thumbnails...

[LongshotX @ Mar 28th 2007 7:22PM]

Is that better than Winrar?

[Dave @ Mar 28th 2007 3:25PM]

I have noticed my machine moves files rather slowly. But as of right now my concerns lie with the fact that after update auto-ran my screen went black had to do a hard reboot and now my sound card doesnt work and reinstalling the driver doesnt fix the problem so I have to reimage my 1.5wk old computer.

I am done with you microsoft. Time to move on.... Ubuntu or OSX?

[keith @ Mar 28th 2007 3:29PM]

I am a Microsoft Partner, a Microsoft Developer and a previous Microsoft Employee and I am sad to say that Vista sucks digital nuggets. I love the UI and the killer search, but the thing has reduced my top of the line core 2 duo laptop into a turtle. The file transfer times across my gigabit network are horrendous and it won't even work with my Buffalo Terastation (save a bunch of wonky hacks). Add to that, the complete castration of Bluetooth support and I couldn't take it anymore. I am back to a lean, mean XP machine - and I will be staying here for quite a while. I am a diehard Microsoft Fanboy and I approve of this message.

[Eduardo @ Mar 28th 2007 3:31PM]

I think the problem is in the calculation of the time that the operation will take. When you have only one tiny file to delete, there's no need to calculate, because the operation should be instant, yet vista tries to calculate the time...

[dvslamont @ Mar 28th 2007 3:47PM]

Amen ive have the same problem since the beta last may

[mrhammerstein @ Mar 28th 2007 3:54PM]

how are these 10.x.x fixes not the same as the microsoft patches? now you're trying to be clever.

and what 3 versions of windows do i have to buy?

[js @ Mar 28th 2007 5:03PM]

Enjoy paying for your service packs. In case you don't know, service packs does include new features as well as previous fixes/patches.

Time machine will not be able to delete your uneducated post. Macwhores are so gullible.

[jimmothy86 @ Mar 28th 2007 11:24PM]

thanks for the idea, i had microsoft check for updated drivers still nothing newer than when it checked after installing, although i could probably check Realtek's site and find better/more updated drivers which would certainly help, but i highly doubt NVidia has anything short of a beta driver set that would do me any good, i think it may just be time to pony up for a couple more gig ram, a new ATI dedicated vid card, and another 320gb sata drive, put it in raid 0, i mean, i did get my tax check this week, so i might just do that.

once again, thanks for the help

[Rick Lyon @ Mar 28th 2007 6:54PM]

Your patches are issued much more often. What you call a patch, we refer to and get 'security updates. They occur more frequently and fix small issues. Updates as 10.x.x fix more compatibility issues, extend and add support to 3rd party utilities, programs, etc. I'm not trying to be clever, just compare oranges to oranges.

The 3 versions, you don't have to buy, you have to buy/choose from- actually it's more with Vista: Home, Pro, Ultimate, Basic, Business (enterprise would be our Server version). Otherwise, there is just one OS X across the board, no price gimmicks, stripped down versions, etc and NONE cost the $399/$259 you guys pay.

[keith @ Mar 28th 2007 4:31PM]

Run OSX with BootCamp and XP. You can have the best of both worlds. There are a lot of us ex-Microsoft folks that have gone this (gasp) drastic route. :)

[Brandon @ Mar 28th 2007 4:49PM]

HERE IS WHY.... (at least for some users)

NVidia mobo drivers are still trash. Check in the Device Manager, under Storage Controllers. If you have to use teh Forceware drivers, you'll notice there is no pulldown option for DMA! I, and a good number of other people, believe this was due to NVidia just trying to get a non-beta driver into the wild, and settling for PIO. How much does THAT suck? Yes, Vista adds overhead, which is what people with other mobos are probably seeing. But, the ones seeing that ridiculous snail pace probably have the above issue.

[Rick Lyon @ Mar 28th 2007 6:54PM]

OK, 'pcwhore', ah we don't get 'service packs' because there are as many flaws in OS X as there is any virtually and flavor windows. We don't pay for updates. We only pay for completely new OS updates, which have many more features then your moronic uniformed typical pc user post. This grass is greener on the other side, so stop using your own misfortunes as ammunition against macs when they aren't relevant.

[Roflgoat @ Mar 28th 2007 6:08PM]

Never had that problem. People with 6 year old rigs should stop complaining about Windows being slow.

[js @ Mar 28th 2007 8:07PM]

Completely new OS updates = service packs. The grass is indeed greener on the other side, that is, if you enjoy your 1000 program compatibility and 2 USB ports. I think father Jobs is calling you, he needs a foot massage.

"stop using your own misfortunes as ammunition against macs when they aren't relevant."

aww, there there.

;-)

[LordFarkward @ Mar 28th 2007 10:11PM]

sorry don't mean to add oil to the flame, and by no means am i a 'pcwh0r3', and i come in peace

anyways, but... once i've installed xp since like years ago, i have never once needed to pay anything for any upgrades

and i don't get it when u're saying how there're so many different verions of M$ while only 1 for osx, then u insulted M$ users by saying they're 'uniform'? or perhaps u meant 'uninformed'...

[LVMH @ Mar 29th 2007 10:22AM]

"Completely new OS updates = service packs. The grass is indeed greener on the other side, that is, if you enjoy your 1000 program compatibility and 2 USB ports. I think father Jobs is calling you, he needs a foot massage.

"stop using your own misfortunes as ammunition against macs when they aren't relevant."

aww, there there.

;-)"

Lyon got pwned.