Why is my computer so slow?

Question

I have a computer which has a Pentium 4 processor (2.9Ghz) and 512Mb of RAM.

I bought my computer a couple of months ago and when it starts up its really slow. I don't have many programs on it and I've already swept it for Adware.

I also have a laptop with lower specifications but it runs quicker.

What could be causing this?

Answer 1

!!!!First!!!!
Have you checked for cookies and temp internet files ..
You can do this by doing the following steps:

1. Go to start.
2 Run
3 Type in cookies
4 Hit enter
5 Delete all the text docs in the cookies folder
NOTE: You can not delete the index of the cookes folder
You do the same thing for Temp internet files.
Or simply do this

1 Start
2 All Programs
3 Accessories
4 System tools
5 Disk Cleanup

Note: You may want to defrag it to my going to Start All programs Accessories System tools Disk Defragmenter.


Or check your startup menue. if you have alot of programs starting up at the same time windows is starting that may cause it you can set up windows start up by doing the following steps.

1 Go to start.
2 Run
3 Type in msconfig
4 once the box comes up go to the startup tab all the way to the right last tab.

NOTE: I dont have anything on the startup. So if you dont want anything to startup when windows starts uncheck everything. Just depends on what you want to start when windows starts. Suchs as Yahoo messenger ect....

Hope this helps ya

Answer 2

CAUSE

This issue occurs if one of the following conditions is true: • You have spyware or malware running on the computer.
• You have viruses that are running on the computer.
• You do not have sufficient free space on the hard disk.
• You do not have sufficient random access memory (RAM) installed on the computer.
• You have corrupted or outdated drivers.
• You have too many files in the Recycle Bin or temporary folders.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, use one or more of the following methods.

Run a current anti-spyware program on the computer
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/
http://www.winpatrol.com/
http://www.lavasoft.de/ms/index.htm
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
http://pestpatrol.com/

Run a current virus scanning program on the computer
Remove unused programs, increase the size of the hard disk, or remove programs from the hard disk so that you can install the programs on another hard disk
Upgrade the RAM

Examine Device Manager for old drivers and update them
Drivers can become outdated and possibly damaged to the point where they slow the system performance. To examine Device Manager for old drivers, follow these steps: 1. Click Start, click Run, type the sysdm.cpl in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.
3. Right-click the device, and then click Properties.
4. Click the Driver tab.
5. Compare the driver version on the Driver tab with the version information about the latest version of the driver that is released on the manufacturer's Web site.
To resolve the problems that are caused by corrupted or outdated drivers, install the latest drivers

Run the Disk Cleanup tool
To start the Disk Cleanup tool, click Start, click run, type cleanmgr.exe in the Open box, and then click OK.

Answer 3

- Many users are not aware of how much RAM is used by a screensaver full of graphics. Are you using a complex screensaver - it runs in the background and eats memory.
- How many programs do you load at startup? Maybe you should check it out and ensure you are running just what you need.
To do this: cl Start, cl Settings, cl Taskbar and Start Menu.
-cl Start Menu, cl Customize, cl Remove.
-cl the icon for the program you wish to remove
-then cl Remove.
-This will prevent the program from loading at startup, but will not remove the program from the hard disk.
-Are you in a large file? If so, save frequently to restore full memory access. (Your work remains in memory until you “save” it to disk.)

1.Did you run an error check? Open My Computer,
Right-cl on C:, Select Properties, Tools – Run an Error Check ( checkmark “check all and fix); then run a Defrag

2.Are you using Yahoo Toolbar? Run a full Norton Antispy.

3.From IE, click Tools, Internet Options
delete cookies
delete files (offline files)
clear history (set days to save to 0 if you want)
click o.k., and Restart

3.click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools – run Disk Cleanup

4.click Start, Run ipconfig renew (type ipconfig space renew)

All these things should be done regularly. The more frequently they are run, the less time they take.
-Note: Games and videos are mostly graphics. Graphics create large files. If this doesn’t help, you should consider getting more memory.

Answer 4

There could be a number of reasons why your computer is slow

Maybe the ram you have is slow, like DDR rather than DDR2.

Maybe there are bugs in your os... I'm sure some would argue with me, but XP runs like a dog... rather than something like 98 or 2000 which flies.

You could've got gipped at the store, maybe the parts aren't what you think they are.

Try a different harddrive, and see if it's still slow. You need to isolate the problem before you can fix it, so narrow your range of variables.

Answer 5

go to msconfig and click on the startup tab, and disable anything you dont need out of it..