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I have a Windows desktop that was fast on startup until I encrypted the hard disk with TrueCrypt. Now it takes maybe around 3 minutes to startup after I type in my key. Then when my desktop appears, it still takes a while before I can even do anything. All normal operations are slow from then on. From the time I type in my key to the time I can just open my firefox is about 6 minutes, sometimes more.
Specs:
Windows 7 Home Premium AMD Phenom II Quad-Core 8GB RAM 300GB SATA HDD.
This computer was re-purposed into a banking only computer so I don't do anything demanding but it just drags. Nothing is set to startup at boot other than my antivirus. Since I don't play games or do anything special on it, is there anything I can do to speed it up by disabling certain unneeded features/services? Already did away with the Aero thing. This was a fresh reinstall once I re-purposed it and then added the encryption. System is clean with no malware and this is a legitimate Windows install from a Microsoft disc. I would like somewhat of a barebones Windows setup. Thanks.
zinzara
Posted 2015-02-02T00:35:29.317
Reputation: 11
Your CPU is really old. Do you know if it supports the AES instruction set (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AES_instruction_set)? What encryption algorithm(s) are you using? Also, fyi, truecrypt has been discontinued.
– ChrisInEdmonton – 2015-02-02T01:30:09.803If you decrypt the drive (or revert from an image, if you have one), you can create TrueCrypt folders. The system should boot as normal, and your encrypted folders with data should open quickly. Downside: you'll have to manually start TrueCrypt after Windows loads and open then folders. – DrMoishe Pippik – 2015-02-02T02:58:09.203
1With 8GB of ram and a quad-core, you could run a live linux in RAM all day long, and not even worry about encrypting a whole drive since everything will either be read-only (from the DVD or USB) or in RAM (live linux's store files in an overlayfs & tmpfs in ram, lost at shutdown). You can save some settings, like your web browser profile folder, you could zip & encrypt it to save on disk, loading at startup & saving at shutdown. And Bonus: linux is immune to the standard Windows viruses/malware. I've heard some companies recommend such a setup specifically for banking-type applications. – Xen2050 – 2015-02-02T06:32:31.483
Thanks for the information, I found out my CPU does not support AES so that's probably where it's lagging since I'm using AES. I knew about TrueCrypt being discontinued and was going to look into other options. I was thinking of a Linux VM or something. I like the idea of the Live Linux but I do want to store some personal information safely on the computer. I'll have to look into some different options. Thanks again :) – zinzara – 2015-02-02T18:52:26.260