My computer has CPU 3GHz,512MB memory, large disk, and Windows XP. why it runs very slow?

Question

can't find out any virus on it.

I run "SpyBot Search and Destroy" today, it did find out something and remove that successfully. But, the speed still the same as before very slow.

Answer 1

Cause :- I think some programs might be running at the back end.
As you have CPU 3GHz but you don't have enough memory ie., At least you need to have 1GB of RAM installed on your computer.

Resolution:

However, at this point, I suggest you to run MSCONFIG, Increase the Virtual memory, Delete Temoporaty files & Temporary Internet files on the computer.

== MSCONFIG ===
Microsoft System Configuration (Msconfig) is a Microsoft software
application used to prevent other software applications from opening
with Windows. The following steps explain how to use Msconfig to
resolve issues with the computer:

1. Click Start and then click Run.
2. In the Open field, type: msconfig
3. Click OK. The System Configuration Utility window appears.
4. Click a startup tab to display a list of software applications and
settings that can be disabled.
5. Remove checkmarks to disable items except the items listed below:
(If any of the below are missing, ignore them)

· PS2
· KBD
· Hpsysdrv
· Igfxtray
· Hkcmd
· RUNDLL32.dll

6. Click OK when finished.
7. Restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

Manual steps to set performance options in Windows XP

How to manually manage processor time

Windows manages system processing. Windows can allocate tasks between processors and manage multiple processes on a single processor. However, you can set Windows to allocate more processor time to the program that you are currently running. The added processor time causes programs to respond more quickly. Or, if you have background programs such as printing or disk backup that you want to run while you work, you can have Windows share processor resources equally between background and foreground programs.

Note You must be logged on as an administrator to the local computer or have the correct network credentials to make certain changes in System.


How to manually change the performance of foreground and background programs

1. Click Start, click Run, and then type sysdm.cpl in the Open box.
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Performance.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then use one of the following methods under Processor scheduling:
• Click Programs to assign more processor resources to the foreground program than the background program.
• Click Background services to assign equal amounts of processor resources to all programs.

Notes

• If you click Programs, the foreground program runs more smoothly and responds more quickly. If you want a background task such as a Backup utility to run faster, click Background services.
• The Programs option allocates short, variable time slices (quanta) to running programs, and the Background services option assigns long, fixed quanta.

==== Delete Temporary Files ===

1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Click on Tools -> Internet options.
3. Under General Tab click on "Delete cookies" button and then "OK"
4. Now click on "Delete Files" button button and then "OK"
5. Under Content Tab -> Under Personal information -> click on Auto Complete button
6. Now click on Clear forms & clear passwords

How to manually manage computer memory

When your computer is running low on RAM, and you must have more RAM immediately, Windows uses hard disk space to simulate RAM. This is known as virtual memory. It is also known as the paging file. This is similar to the UNIX swapfile. By default, the virtual memory paging file (named pagefile.sys) that is created during installation is 1.5 times the RAM on your computer.

You can optimize virtual memory use by dividing the space between multiple drives and by removing space from slow or heavily accessed drives.
To best optimize your virtual memory space, divide it among as many physical hard drives as possible. When you select drives, follow these guidelines:

• Try to avoid having a paging file on the same drive as the system files.
• Avoid putting a paging file on a fault-tolerant drive such as a mirrored volume or a RAID-5 volume. Paging files do not require fault-tolerance, and some fault-tolerant computers experience slow data writes because they write data to multiple locations.
• Do not put multiple paging files on different partitions on the same physical disk drive.

How to manually change the size of the virtual memory paging file

You must be logged on as an administrator or as a member of the Administrators group to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure. 1. Click Start, click Run, and then type sysdm.cpl in the Open box.
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Performance.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Change under Virtual memory.
4. Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file that you want to change.
5. Under Paging file size for selected drive, click Custom size, type a new paging file size in megabytes (MB) in the Initial size (MB) or Maximum size (MB) box, and then click Set.
If you decrease the size of either the initial or maximum paging file settings, you must restart your computer to see the effects of those changes. When you increase the paging file size, you typically do not have to restart your computer.

Notes

• To have Windows select the best paging file size, click System managed size. The recommended minimum size is equivalent to 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size. For example, if you have 256 MB of RAM, the minimum size is 384 MB, and the maximum size is 1152 MB.
• For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the minimum recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives. The recommended size is equivalent to 1.5 times the RAM on your computer. It is good practice to leave the paging file at its recommended size. However, you may increase its size if you frequently use programs that use much memory.
• To delete a paging file, set both the initial size and the maximum size to zero, or click No paging file. We strongly recommend that you do not disable or delete the paging file.

How to manually optimize the memory usage

You can optimize your computer's memory usage. If you use your computer primarily as a workstation instead of as a server, you can devote more memory to your programs. Your programs will work faster and your system cache size will remain the default size that came with Windows XP. You can also set aside more computer memory for a larger system cache if your computer is used primarily as a server, or if you use programs that require a larger cache.

1. Click Start, click Run, and then type sysdm.cpl in the Open box.
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Performance.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then use one of the following methods under Memory usage: • Click Programs if you use your computer primarily as a workstation instead of as a server. This option allocates more memory to your programs.
• Click System cache if your computer is used primarily as a server or if you use programs that use a larger cache.

How to manually change the visual effects

Windows provides several options to set the visual effects of your computer. For example, you can show shadows under menus. Shadows give menus a 3-D look. You can configure Windows to display all the contents of a window while you move the window on your screen. To make large text more readable, you can display the smooth edges of screen fonts.

Windows provides options to turn on all the settings (for best appearance), or none of the settings (for best computer performance). You can also restore the default settings.

To change the visual effects, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, and then type sysdm.cpl in the Open box.
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then under Performance, click Settings.
3. Click the Visual Effects tab, and then use one of the following methods: • Click Adjust for best performance to have Windows automatically adjust the settings for best performance.
• Click Adjust for best appearance to have Windows automatically adjust the settings for best appearance.
• Click Custom, and then select the check boxes for those items that you want to turn on. Clear the check boxes for the items that you want to turn off.

Background program:- A background program is a program that runs while the user is working on another task. The computer's microprocessor assigns fewer resources to background programs than to foreground programs.

Environment variable : - An environment variable is a string of environment information such as a drive, path, or file name that is associated with a symbolic name that Windows can use. You use System in Control Panel or the set command at the command prompt to define environment variables.

Foreground program :- A foreground program is a program that runs in the active window (the upper-most window with the highlighted title bar). The foreground program responds to commands that the user issues.

Answer 2

Adding memory helps for sure, but it's also an exceptionally good practice to uninstall programs that you do not use, and keep installed programs from auto-executing each time you start up and running in the background all the time if you do not use them.

Hit Alt + Ctrl + Delete when you're not using any programs (including your web browser) and are at your desktop, this will bring up Windows Task Manager. Take a look at the staus bar on the bottom of the Task Manager window to find out how many processes are running when your computer is idle (i.e. - when you aren't specifically using it to do anything at the moment, such as visit a web site, play a game, etc.). If there are more than 40 processes running at that same time, that might be a few too many.

I always have a few processes running to help maintain my PC, such as an antivirus program, keyboard software, a UPS monitor, and some sound and video utilities that I use pretty regularly, this leaves me running 34 processes just about all the time.

That, and with 1GB of DDR memory, I have very few problems whatsoever and get great performance with Windows and everything else I happen to be running (the same was true when I was using 512MB also, just for reference) - it's the silly datebooks, file-sharing programs, messenger programs (such as AIM), media players, etc. that often auto-execute (by default after you install them) on your machine, and are often just eating up valuable memory space, CPU time, and hard disk time on your computer and causing Windows' performance to suffer, even though you aren't using them all the time and don't really need them to be running.

Usually if you are able to access a program's "options" or "preferences" menu, you should be able to keep it from automatically starting up each time you start Windows. Additionally, removing shortcuts from the "Startup" folder in your "Start > All Programs >" menu will also keep certain programs from auto-executing (if they are made to be installed that way), and downloading & utilizing a cleaning/optimizing program such as "Tweak XP" can also drastically help clean things up.

- There are other possible problems, but, as others have mentioned, beyond perhaps a good defragmentation of your hard drive(s) and a Virus and Spy/Adware scan, this is where I'd start.

Good luck! Hope this helps!

Answer 3

windows accumulates junk over time. everytime you install something, even if you take it out there's still a finger print in the registry. So if the computer is old it could possibly need a reinstallation.

A much simpler and less invasive method would be to go to the start menu, click on the 'run' option and type 'msconfig' into the text box.

once in to msconfig, select the last tab and uncheck everything except your antivirus.

A lot of programs have processes that start up when the computer boots up. You never see these processes but their purpose can vary. Mostly, it's to launch the program faster when you try to open it. The cost of this is that whe whole computer runs slower in the meantime.

Personally, i'll take the little delay opening a program to make the whole computer faster.

But if that doesn't work, save all the files and data you need to disk, or another computer, and wipe it out. Start over. Easier that way.

Answer 4

512mb is not low memory, don't listen to the people who don't know what they are talking about. Did you build your pc or did it come preassembled? If you built it you may not have the correct config on it or put in the wrong pieces. Just because it says it's running 3ghz doesn't mean its actually running 3ghz. Depending on what chip you have that could be a big overstatement. Your computer might also be overheating. do a ctrl alt del and see if your processor is becoming overloaded. Some previous people suggested some good ideas so I don't really have much to add to it.

Answer 5

Primarily, the system could slow down because it's infected with a virus that's working invisibly and eating up your resources. You say that this is not so.

Secondly, unwanted junk could be having your system scanning it which would slow down your system. Please get rid of unwanted cookies, offline content and history. Also use a Registry Cleaner like Windows Registry Repair SE to get rid of the redundant hot keys that are left behind when you go on the net, pointing at things that no longer exist there.

In XP, you should also go to Settings>Control Panel>Performance and Maintenance> Rearrange items on your hard disc to make it run faster>Disc defragment>analyse>defragment.

Do this regularly and your computer will work at peak output.

All the best.

Cheers.

Answer 6

If you have alot of programs that are constantly running on your computer, they will slow it down alot. A good example of one of these is Norton AntiVirus AutoProtect, which is constantly running so that it can detect if any of the files you open contains a virus. You should either uninstall any of these programs, or make it so that they aren't constantly running (you can usually change that in the preferences window of the program), unless you absolutely need them running all the time.

Answer 7

maybe you have alot of programs running in the background. try hitting crl-alt-del and go to task manager to see what you have running. you may want to try disabling some of them from running at start up by first hitting start in the bottom left hand corner of windows and then clicking on run. type in "msconfig". you should, within msconfig, find the programs that are running from the time the computer is booting up and you should be able to disable the unnecessary ones. see if that helps.

Answer 8

check for spyware, SpyBot Search and Destroy works well

go to the windows task manager (Ctrl + Alt + Delete) and check the processes tab to see if any process is taking a large amount of memory or CPU

if your still unhappy, switch to Mac :)

Answer 9

Get more memory. 512MB of RAM is the minimun to run XP. Upgrade to at least 1GB if not more. You will need to refer to the manual for your motherboard/computer to determine how much you can install. Adding memory is the single most effective way to speed up a computer.

Answer 10

you have alot of programs running in the background Anti virus is always on, dont disable it. but there may be other programs that you dont need check your start menu and change that, you could use more memory, I have 2 gb which is more than enough, to get a real boost in speed, although not a cheap upgrade is getting a western digital Raptor hdd

Answer 11

512 mb is not enough memory. when I have my firewall, antivirus and instant messenger running, I'm using 375 mb of memory. if I only had 512...that wouldn't leave much for other processes.