Computer Very Slow? What is the best way to bring computer back as new?

Question

All programs are dragging very slow (i.e. Internet, Word, Exel, etc.) My computer is approx. 2 1/2 years old. I am willing to erase everything on it, and start over. I do not mind backing up my files etc. I have deep scanned with new norton antivirus, ran up-to-date spyware programs, defraged hard drive, cleared temp internet files etc. Nothing has worked! I have an hp zx5000, intel pentium 4, 3.2 Ghz w/512MB and am running Windows XP Home w/Service Pack 2. I would appreciate if someone could give me some ideas as to what direction to take to solve this issue(in detail would be greatly appreciated). I do not want to replace my notebook, but I understand technology updates very often. With that being said, Is this computer still up to par with some of the mid-range notebooks today? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks...

Answer 1

Without checking your performance while the PC is running, I can't determine exactly which resource is constraining your performance. Still, you have performed many of the steps I recommend to folks in similar situations. A few more toughts for your consideration:
1. Your antivirus and firewall software will significantly slow the performance of high-end games. It should be noticeable but not terrible for web MS Office apps. Consider using a router (<$100) to protect you from active Internet attacks so you can turn off the firewall software in your PC. Also, *carefully* consider turning off your antivirus software when using apps that do not bring new files into your PC. In other words turn AV on when accessing E-mail, but perhaps turn it off for Word, Excel, and routine web browsing.
2. Cleaning up the Internet cache files as you did can make your Internet performance slower until those cached files are restored. Your PC must download every icon and graphic from every site you visit unless that file is already in your temporary cache.
3. Your PC at 3.2GHz is plenty powerful enough for all but the highest end gaming software. You shouldn't even need more RAM unless you run many apps at once or you want to upgrade to Vista. You probably can prove the capability by backing up your files, re-installing your current operating system, its updates from the MS site, and finally the MS Office apps. With nothing else installed, I'll bet your office apps perform quite well. If they don't - even with nothing else running - then you have a more serious hardware problem. See #4 below.
4. I once encountered a situation like yours that turned out to be frequent hard drive errors fixed on retries. Every disk I/O took multiple attempts but eventually succeeded, giving the user the appearance of nothing more than slow performance. Western Digital's web site had the diagnostic software necessary to diagnose that problem and generate data for a warranty return. other major drive manufacturers have similar tools, and warranties exceeding the PC as a whole. To find your drive brand, right-click My Computer, select Properties, choose the Hardware tab, and then click the Device Manager button. This will reveal several usefulbits of info:
-A: The brand of your hard drive or any other device (the problem could be intermittent errors in another device).
-B: Any devices with current errors, either due to failure or configuration.
-C: (upon double-clicking any device) The details of the device driver, a button to troubleshoot, and buttons to re-install, update, or rollback the driver.
5. The Task Manager and Event Log are useful tooks to diagnose performance problems. To run Task Manager under XP, just press ctl-alt-del while logged in. Under the Process tab, the list shouldn't be too long. If it is, run MSCONFIG (from the START button on the Windows taskbar, choose RUN and enter MSCONFIG) and uncheck any questionable startup items. You can always check the box again if the process is needed.
6. Though not usually the cause of a performance issue, you should run CHKDSK in addition to the defrag and other steps already taken. Click START --> ACCESSORIES --> DOS PROMPT (or START --> RUN and type CMD). At the DOS prompt, enter CHKDSK /F. Be sure to include the "/F" to actually fix any errors found. The CHKDSK won't run right away because Windows XP is already using the drive, but it will run during the next reboot.
7. To achieve a low price, many laptops are sold either without an independent graphcs card or with a graphics card that does not have its own memory (shares main memory with the OS and other PC apps). Adding a proper graphics card from ATI or NVIDIA is the primary upgrade for improving performance. Second is RAM, but only if it is currently constrained (more RAM when you already have enough doesn't help much). Be warned: a video card installation in a laptop is not for the faint of heart. It is not even possible in some laptops, so check your manufacurer's website (e.g., dell.com) for your specific model before making any such purchase. If yours is a desktop PC, the card installation is much more straightforward, but follow the instructions carefully.

Answer 2

Usually a good reformatting of the HD and reinstall of windows does wonders. This however means you lose all your data unless you back it up. I use a large 300Gb external and reformat and reinstall every other month, you would be surprised at the amount of stuff you install in that time that you will never use again.

You can try to use some of the different utilities out there to clean up your computer, but I find you end up deleting something your shouldn't and you will be in worse shape then when you started.

I looked at your computers specifications, and it compares to a low end-mid models if you were to buy new. Mostly because of the processor, but it is one of the workstations models so it can take a real beating and everything else is above par for most new laptops. If you want you can try to get a ram upgrade, but I would
still recommend a complete reformat and reload. It will do wonders for your system.

Answer 3

Try to close as many programs as you can that are running in the background - virus checkers etc - clean up your disk and get rid of as many unused programs as you can - defrag regularly - run XP with as few gimmicky bells and whistles as possible - most of all though make sure there are as few programs running as possible - perhaps get a bit more RAM - if all else fails then reformat the disk and reload XP and the programs you use carefully to eliminate all the accumulated crap that builds up over time.

Answer 4

save all the things you want on back up discs and do a factory reset , the full instructions on how to do this are available from the official microsoft website , you do not have to pay for the information , i had to do the same with mine its fine now :-)

Answer 5

You can try increasing your ram to 1GB which should increase your performance and speed.

Answer 6

http://bartman1.blogspot.com/ go here and follow if your computer runs slow