Slow computer - can anyone help?

Question

okay, so I have windows XP. basically.. my computer is running slow whether it is/is not connected to the internet

* it's a desktop PC and it's around 2 years old

* It's been defragmented/disk clean up(ed)/anti virus/spyware/adware etc scanned.

* it has 108 GB/149 GB FREE space on the hard drive

* it hasn't got loads of software/hardware installed

* it has 448GB RAM which I don't want to upgrade

* history/cookies/temp internet files etc are deleted regularly

I have NO idea what else to do! please help. I can't buy anything either so whatever is suggested to download needs to be 100% free :)

my computer can take around 10 mins to startup, as it show the desktop pictures but with no taskbar or icons, then after 10mins it loads them, then once I double click on something to open it, it stops responding! ARGHH.

Answer 1

it sounds like you MIGHT have a virus. I'm not 100% sure. If you have any friends or family or friends of friends or family who are computer geeks or very familiar with computers, I'd recommend that you ask them to diagnose your computer to see what's wrong with it. If you did antivirus/spyware/adware scans, defragmented your hard drive, and delete history/cookies/temp internet files then your computer SHOULD be fine.  

Answer 2

msconfig

Answer 3

i have a couple things that can help

1. download "ccleaner" (thats not a typo) and run that, its pretty much like disk cleaner. run the cleaner in windows and applications. Also go to registry and got to scan for issues, then fix issues.

2.get something called uniblue, there is a program called speed up my pc and registry booster, both will help.

Answer 4

Check http://www.pc-optimizer-pro.com

With pc optimizer pro you can safely clean, repair and optimize your computer.

It will help improve your system performance without expensive hardware upgrades.

Answer 5

Using a registry cleaner can clean up your computer and then make your computer faster,Why?the reason is that there may be some registry errors and remnant,corrupt files and temp files in your computer to cause "computer slow".

Every time you install and uninstall software on your computer and surfing online you create junk in the computer registry.over time, the registry can grow to enormous proportions, especially if the various programs you've installed do not do a good job of deleting and/or updating it's Registry entries.You need to scan and clean your computer with registry cleaner to make it fast.Good Registry Cleaner will improve your computer and Internet performance dramatically!

There are some comparison and review of TOP 5 registry cleaners.

http://www.fix-system.com/

You can download and scan your computer for free.

Answer 6

448gb hahaha yea rigght lol

INDEX

1 Viruses

2 Slowness/Lagg

3 Not Enough Memory

1. Viruses

If you just get a virus and it is noticeable try to remove it with your antivirus or antispyware.(If you don’t have one Download a free one off of Downlad.com such as programs like AVG ANTI-VIRUS, AD-ADWARE 2008, and etc.)If it does not work try to find any recent files that were downloaded anything suspicious . If all comes to fail you can use System Restore which will restore your computer to a previous day or week back when you didn’t have the virus. To get to system restore click START>ALL PROGRAMS>ACCESSORIES>SYSTEM TOOLS> SYSTEM RETORE.

2. Slowness/Lagg

Slowness or lagg is mostly caused from lack for RAM (Random Access Memory). Which basically means you have to many programs running at once. The normal amount of RAM that most computers have are about 256mb or 516mb which is not good. The better range of RAM memory that you should have is 1Gb to 4Gb as in 4Gb being the best. 1024mb = 1gb. There are many different types of ram to find out how much you have or what kind you have go on http://crucial.com/systemscanner/index.a... which is completely safe and will tell you possible updates or upgrades. If you do not want to spend money and just improve what you have you can remove programs temporarily from running off of the task manager by hitting ctrl , alt , delete then clicking the Processes Tab and removing known programs such as photo, printer, music, file sharing, and browsers. Try not to remove useful programs like explorer.exe and svchost.exe and files like that cause they can shut down your computer. If you remove needed program you can restart you computer and they will be back. To permanently remove programs from starting up when your computer starts up click START>RUN>msconfig>Startup tab. Try to remove files that are from your program files and not from common setup

Such as windows, rundll32 or regsvr. This will greatly speed up your computer depending on how many programs you have running.

3. Lack of Memory

To gain more memory There are a few things you can do. First you can click START> MY COMPUTER> THEN RIGHT CLICK LOCAL DRIVE (C) AND GO DOWN TO PROPERTIES>DISK CLEANUP. Then you can uninstall any unwanted games or programs by clicking Start>control Panel>Add or Remove Programs then click the program you want to remove. Next is to defrag you hard drive by clicking START>ALL PROGRAMS>ACCESSORIES>SYSTEM TOOLS> SYSTEM DEFRAGMENTATION which might take a long time. You should also delete any unwanted photos and songs which can take up a lot of memory. Finally always empty your recycle bin.

Answer 7

Well, for one thing, do you have every program starting when Windows starts? That's not necessary and it greatly slows down the logon and logoff process. You need Windows, of course, and your antivirus, but you don't need spyware to start when Windows starts. It is only necessary when you run it, and it can be started anytime. Click on Start, Run and type "msconfig" without the quote marks. When it opens, click on Startup on the right and see if everything there has a checkmark by it. If it does, you can start removing the checkmarks ONE BY ONE, NOT A WHOLE BUNCH AT A TIME. Let the computer restart and accept the new settings and after most of the unnecessary things are unchecked, you should notice an immediate improvement.]

The next thing is your RAM. You state you have 448 GB. That's a huge amount of RAM. Are you sure you don't have 448 MG of Ram? That sounds more likely in a 2-year old computer, unless you bought this computer for serious gaming. Gamers have big hard disks and LOTS of RAM. Ordinary users wouldn't think of paying for that much ram memory. Just to check yourself out, why not run a complete computer scan, free from Belarc Advisor. It will tell you everything you have on the computer, how much and what kind of memory, etc.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

Answer 8

A computer may be slow due to various reasons. May be due to virus, may be due to spyware and so on..There is a nice and helpful article on slow computer and irs solutions .Please have a look.It may help you to resolve your problem

Answer 9

Okie Dokie...

We've had soooooo many problems with our computer and it's the same that is going on with yours.

It sucks... Indeed...

But Here's how to fix it.

You need to download some type of anti-virus software and of-course, run it.. you need to DELETE COMPLETELY.... ALL of the infected files. NO MATTER what they are... If the files are something that you use regularly, then re-install after deletion.

AFTER you have done this... You need to delete all files and folders that you do not use or use very Little...

WHAT this has done.... Is simply free up some extra space, so that your computer will work better and more efficiently!

Now you need to perform what the computer calls a "disk defragmenter".... that takes all of your files and free's up space so that your computer can locate files more quickly and then get to them faster!

This SHOULD help MAJORLY!!!!

If this doesn't, contact me and I'll help you further!

my e-mail is [e-mail]

Have a good day!

Answer 10

here's all you need to boost your pc running on xp:

Beginners Guides: 99 Performance Tips for Windows XP

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?a...

*From faster boot times, to speeding up your current hardware, PCSTATS has 99 Tips to make your computer run quicker, better, and more efficiently.

Use the link above and follow the guide step by step, but read it carefully as you may need not all the steps explained in the article.

When you're finished, you ll notice a drastic performance increase.

Answer 11

Try this

Click start

Select search

Select files and folders

Enter the word cookies

Look in C

Cick on edit at top left of your desk top

Click on select all

Run your cursor over any part of the highlighted area

Right click your mouse

Select delete

Reboot