Zune 30/v2.5/WinXP - Slow as Molases!

[jaypoc]

The Zune software has been running EXTREMELY slow. Sometimes taking up to 1 full minute to respond when I click on a menu option. (Sometimes just switching from "Collection" to "Device", Sometimes when clicking on an artist, or album, etc..) I don't think that Microsoft intended the software to run this poorly.

I have no problems with Media Monkey which accesses the same music library as the Zune software. If It didn't require starting the Zune software and a few workarounds, I would use it instead of the Zune software to manage/sync my Zune.

I also don't have any trouble with other processor/memory intensive applications including Adobe Photoshop (I use CS3, the current version) as well as Sony Vegas (Video Editing application)

Here's My specs/operating environment:

• Zune 30
• Software/Firmware v2.5
• DELL Inspiron 5150 (Windows XP / P4 3.06Ghz / 1GB Ram / 160GB HDD)
• Home-built Server (Ubuntu Server / PIII 900Mhz / 1GB Ram / 500 GB HDD)
• Collection is 55GB of MP3s (no DRM/Mostly Self Rips)

The Zune software is running (walking) on the Dell Inspiron.
The music is stored on the home-server shared via Samba.
There are SOME MP3s and Podcasts on the DELL as well.

I've turned off the Graphics and Video enhancements, and even reinstalled the whole OS (Win XP).. The software was sluggish with both installs. Perviously I used AVG, Ad-Aware and Spybot. Since reinstalling I use only ESET Security (NOD32 A/V, A/S, F/W, etc..)

If anybody has any ideas, I appreciate any input. TIA!

[snmbmx1992]

same thing on my laptop zune 30/zune 2.5/winxp

[Justananomaly]

Disable video enhancements under software settings.

[Darkblade]

Originally Posted by Justananomaly

Disable video enhancements under software settings.

Said he's already done that.

It's odd, I have an older system (Athlon XP 3200, 1 gig 400 mhz ram), but I have no issues with the Zune 2.5 software. 2.3 was slow as molasses for me, but the only time 2.5 slows down is when the Zune Encoder is running in the background, usually due to it converting podcasts, and on occasion, recently added videos. This computer struggles with Photoshop CS3 and Flash.

I don't suppose you're subscribed to a large amount of podcasts?

Personally, I don't recommend AVG. Too many software incompatibilities, causes instability in some games as well, and general system slowdown.

[Gregory]

You might try adding some RAM, 1GB is sort of small nowdays.

Anyway, try uninstalling with unzoone and reinstalling with the full package.

[Justananomaly]

Try moving the mp3s to the same hd the zune software is running on and set the software to only scan that particular directory and see if you get any different results I guess.

Also make sure you've done windows updates and have all the newest as well as your audio/video drivers.

[jaypoc]

Great responses (to those of you who read my post. lol)

@Justananomaly - I may move the files to a Windows Server and install the Zune software, but I don't have 50GB free for all the MP3s on the laptop. Plus I use it for Video and Audio encoding/editing so I need as much free space as I can get.

@Gregory - I agree, Unfortunately RAM for the 5150 is not cheap, (I have 2 slots, 2 512 chips now, the 1GB chips are almost $100 ea.) and I'd be better off spending $300 to upgrade my desktop PC to a more modern Core 2 Duo (newegg quoted $320 or so for a new MB/Chip and 2GB RAM. lol)

@Darkblade - You may have something there. I'm a podcast junkie! I rarely use the Zune unless I'm listening to podcasts (In the car, On the Train, During breaks, At night, etc...) so that might be it. I am subscribed to about 20 pod casts (half of which include video)... I didn't consider the fact that it re-encodes the videos (and audio?). I agree that does bog down my system. I can't do much while ripping CDs or rendering video projects. I'll check that out next time it slows on me. Thanks.

I don't suppose there's a way to get it to reduce resources or stop background encoding while the system is in use?

(also... Not to get too off topic, but shouldn't an Athlon XP 3200 be comparable if not faster than a basic P4 running at 3 Ghz? I was under the impression that AMD's naming convention back then was comparing the Athlons to Intel's Pentium 4 of the time, so the XP3200 would be comparable to a P4 3.2Ghz. That and the fact that back then AMD was kicking Intel's butt in performance vs price point. Today, I think I would build an Intel system, but a few years ago I was very pro-AMD)

[Darkblade]

Originally Posted by jaypoc

@Darkblade - You may have something there. I'm a podcast junkie! I rarely use the Zune unless I'm listening to podcasts (In the car, On the Train, During breaks, At night, etc...) so that might be it. I am subscribed to about 20 pod casts (half of which include video)... I didn't consider the fact that it re-encodes the videos (and audio?). I agree that does bog down my system. I can't do much while ripping CDs or rendering video projects. I'll check that out next time it slows on me. Thanks.

I don't suppose there's a way to get it to reduce resources or stop background encoding while the system is in use?

I don't think audio podcasts count, unless they're broadcast in some exotic format besides .mp3 or .wma that the Zune actually can convert. Still, some days when I start up the ol' Zune Software, I get like 2-3 video podcasts converting and syncing automatically.

The only thing that I can think of that might help is going to Settings, Device, Conversion Settings, and unchecking "Allow files to convert in the background". I get the feeling though, this doesn't affect podcasts.

Originally Posted by jaypoc

(also... Not to get too off topic, but shouldn't an Athlon XP 3200 be comparable if not faster than a basic P4 running at 3 Ghz? I was under the impression that AMD's naming convention back then was comparing the Athlons to Intel's Pentium 4 of the time, so the XP3200 would be comparable to a P4 3.2Ghz. That and the fact that back then AMD was kicking Intel's butt in performance vs price point. Today, I think I would build an Intel system, but a few years ago I was very pro-AMD)

AMD was indeed kicking Intel's but back then, but not by that much heh. My XP 3200+ actually clocks in at 2.2ghz, with an 400 MT/s FSB, and is going on 5 years now. I'm not too familiar with comparable Intel CPU's of the time, so I'm not sure what it would compare to directly.

[jaypoc]

Originally Posted by Darkblade

The only thing that I can think of that might help is going to Settings, Device, Conversion Settings, and unchecking "Allow files to convert in the background". I get the feeling though, this doesn't affect podcasts.

Wow, I kinda feel retarded now. I somehow overlooked the entire Device settings page. (I really do hate the U.I. Microsoft released for the Zune software!)

I had Audio being converted from 320K to 192K (which sucks, since I generally rip at 320 VBR. Oh well, I can only tell the diff when I hear em side-by side.) I was also allowing 4GB of space, so I reduced that and per your recommendation, disabled background conversion. This should speed things up a bit I would imagine.

Originally Posted by Darkblade

AMD was indeed kicking Intel's but back then, but not by that much heh. My XP 3200+ actually clocks in at 2.2ghz, with an 400 MT/s FSB, and is going on 5 years now. I'm not too familiar with comparable Intel CPU's of the time, so I'm not sure what it would compare to directly.

Even though the clock-speeds were lower, the performance was greater.

[jaypoc]

Note, This seems to have made an immediate improvement