I'm running 2008 standard on a few identical machines each has two raids (one system, one data) 4 cores 8gb ram. On all of the machines I find that 2008 isincrediblyslow,unbearablyso. All of these machines are currently useless. The same machines running 2003 function fine. I have know idea where to even start to try and fix this. For example: I open a 7mb ascii txt file in notepad, 100% of one core is used for about 2-3min to finallydisplaythe file. SQL server will grind on asimple count or task using all four cores in some cases, pegging the core or cores for days even. Sometime sql server appears to run fine for a bit, seems random. Everything else, like the gui is sluggish and unresponsive. A python install ranincrediblyslowuntilwe changed some priority settings, now this runs normal, but nothing else benefitted ie sql server. The fact that either of the raids are barely used under any task (especially what should be read intensive) is disturbing, it seems to be all processor time even for mundane tasks, like something is making things overly complicated. Someone must have run into this? Any ideas? 2008 seems completely crazy.

One thing I do know is that 2008 standard only supports 4g of ram. See this... I would imagine the OS simply doesn't address any memory position higher than 4g but I really don't know. I wonder what would happen if you removed 4g of the ram.....

Since you are saying that 2008 only supports 4GB of RAM, you must be running 32-bit 2008. Is this correct? If you are running the 32-bit edition, it is as you expect - the extra RAM is simply ignored. What is the chip architecture? Is it Intel or AMD? If these are AMD 64-bit chips, they are often configured in a NUMA configuration. What that means is that you have to install the memory exactly how they tell you to in order to ensure that the memory is 'local' to the the chips accessing it. If it is not installed local, you can see terrible performance like you are seeing. This is true whether you are running 32-bit or 64-bit operating system because it is not an operating system issue. tgc

Hi, I agree with Complexmind and Tim. For windows server 2008 32 bit, the maximum supportive RAM is 4GB for Standard , 64GB for Enterprise and Datacenter. If the targeted windows server 2008 is 64 bit, the maximum supportive RAM is 32GB for Standard,2TB for Enterprise, Datacenter and Itanium-Based Systems. If your windows server 2008 is 32bit, and you want to run greater than 4GB RAM, please use Physical Address Extension (PAE) switch on BCD file, which allows 32-bit Windows systems to use more than 4 GB of physical memory. More information, please refer to: Physical Address Extension http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366796(VS.85).aspx BCDEdit /set http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa906211.aspx Do you using RTM version of Windows Server 2008? Please locate the [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\Version] registry key. There is a subkey containing the Windows build information. What is the registry value? Is it 6.0.6001.18000? If not, please use Windows Server 2008 RTM version to test the result, which can be downloaded at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B6E99D4C-A40E-4FD2-A0F7-32212B520F50&displaylang=en Moreover, other third-party applications may cause low-performance issue. I suggest lunching a clean boot to avoid the effect of third-party applications as following: Perform a Clean Boot a. Click "Start", go to "Run", and type "msconfig" in the open box to start the System Configuration Utility. b. Click the "Services" tab, check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" box and click Disable All (if it is not gray). c. Click the "Startup" tab, click "Disable All" and click "OK". d. Then, restart your computer and test the result. Hope this helps. if anything is unclear, please post back. Best wishes --------------Morgan Che

also make shure the graphic drivers are installed. I have ran into issues where the server or any os is slower the heck if the proper graphic card is not installed.

Testing81 Did you ever resolve the problem? If you did, please let me know how you did?I am experiencing the same problem(s) exactly and almost an identical . My Small Business Server 2003x32 machine runs great but the Server 2008 Standard x64 machine is very sluggish. I even ran a benchmark test to confirm my observations. The bench mark took 14 minutes when using theWS8x64 machine and only 7 minutes when using the SBS3x32 machine. Add to that the SBS3x32 is 5+ years old,has slower components, half thememory, is a domain controller, an ExchangeServer, ++ than the new WS8x64 machine which as only one SQL application on it that is rarely used.OS: Windows Server 2008 Standard, x64, SP1Motherboard: Tyan Tempest i5400 S5397Processors: 2 - Intel Xeon E5420 Quad Core @ 2.50GHzMemory: 16 GBStorage/OS: RAID 1, Western Digital 72GB, 10K Raptor SATA, Raid EditionStorage/Data: RAID 5, LSI MegaRAID SCSI 320-2E (PCIe, 8 Lanes in a 16 Lane slot) with 5 Seagate 146GB 320 SCSI, 10KNOTE: This machine should be VERY fast, but if I had to choose, I would take the 5+ year old Dell 2600.Thanks,Slator