My computer is working slow? what to do with it.?

Question

My computer is slow. It take long time in booting, shutdown and open a programme.
System detail: Microsoft Windows XP
Media Centre Edition
Version 2002
Service pack 2
HP Pavilion, Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.06 GHz, 248 MB of RAM

Answer 1

You should get more RAM. A minimum of 512 KB is recommended, Get 2 x 512 (1 GB) if you can afford it.

Ok... Here are a few things to try and help.

1: Don't have too many applications open at once, be aware that some applications (such as yahoo/msn messenger, limewire, kazza etc) maybe be running even if you cannot see them. Only run the applications you need too. Many apps will start up automagically upon boot which just gobbles up resources such as memory.

2: Get rid of any additional FX and graphics. If you are using windows adjust the computer for "best performace" (basically use windows classic mode). The screen might not look as pretty but things will work better. Make sure your processor is not doing too much at once. If you are playing music, editing photos and getting Excel to processing numbers all at once your processor is going to start to struggle - especially as you have very little RAM.

3: Clean out all the temp files and other crap that is taking up space. Goto "Start" and then "Run" and type "%temp%" This will open up a folder. Delete everything in this folder you can (some file may not be able to be deleted - that is ok, just leave them and keep deleting the rest).

4: Download Ad-Adware and SpybotS&D (see below). Install and run both of these free programs. These are excellent spyware hunters and will help your system run much faster. You should install these (or similar) anyway.

5: Consider downloading Registry Mechanic by PC Tools. The download is free, but you will need to pay to get full functionality. In my experience it is worth the money, but that is up to you to decide.

6: Open you web browser and clear the Temporary Internet Files. If you are using IE6 this can be done using "Tools" > "Internet Options".... This may take a few minutes to do depending on how much junk is in there.

7: Defrag your hard drive. This can normally be found under "START" > "Programs" > "Accessories". Defragging can take several hours so i suggest you do this last or overnight. Make sure you power settings allow the PC or laptop to run that long without shutting down the hard-drives. you can adjust the power settings under the control panel.

8: Buy more RAM.

Hope that helps you out a bit. Everything but the RAM purchase and Registry Mechanic is free.

Source(s):
http://www.spybot.com/en/download/index....
http://www.lavasoft.com/
http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic...

Answer 2

According to your description,there are some regsitry errors in your PC to cause "Computer slow".You need to clean you PC.
Every time you install and uninstall software on your computer and surfing online you create junk in the registry.You need to scan and clean your PC with registry cleaner to make your pc fater.Good Regisry Cleaner will improve your PC and Internet performance dramatically.It even can speed up your PC by 300% or more!
There are some comparison and review of
TOP 5 registry cleaners.
http://www.registry-Cleaners.info

You can download and scan your PC for free.

Answer 3

if youve had it a while and have installed/removed alot of programs, you may have invalid registry entrys that are slowing it down. use a good computer maintenance program ( i use fix-it utilities) to clean and fix the registry entries, clean out the cache/temp files/cookies, and do a system scan and defrag. this usually speeds up the loading of programs (fixit does it all) or u can use the scandisk and defrag that comes with windows

Answer 4

248MB with Windows XP Media Edition, wow, no wonder its slow.

thats like buying a fancy expensive sports car and putting in a two cylinder engine.

Why would anyone buy, or have, a computer with a fast CPU and then choke it to death with so little RAM?

Answer 5

You need no less then 512 ram MB not KB.You can also download system mechanic 6 free 30 day full trial and get your system running stable and quick.

Answer 6

I can Give you some tips.

1>Reinstall your operating system.
2>Use Windows 2000 Rather than XP to work fast(If Possible).
3>Install a good Antivirus just before the installation of a new operating system.
4>Don't install/unistall unnecessary new programmes.
5>Remove unnecessary folders from C/programme files/The folder you want to remov.

Enjoyyy......the best.

Answer 7

Try increasing the RAM.
Remove unwanted programs that u dont use.
Partition ur hardidisk and shift some of the programs to other drives.
Use the system utility tools like the disk cleanup and the fragmentor to make it better.

Answer 8

Dear Friend,

First you clear your temporary files in your system.

do the following steps

1. click start
2. select Run
3. type %temp%
4. click ok
5. it displays one box in that lot of temp files is there so please delete all the files in that.
6. and restart your computer. thats all try it.

or

pls dont store the lot files in your system. please delete unwanted files in your system. In d: , e: etc..

or

pls upgrade your RAM to 512MB or 1 Gb

all the best

Answer 9

First go to the run option in start menu
then type %temp% there
click enter
new window will open
then
delete all files in that window.
again go to run menu
type %prefetch%
run it again
delete all files from this window also....
then check speed now
inform me if it increase speed
i follow same when i come accross this problem...

Answer 10

u just delet the temp files present in c:/windows/temp
also fragment all d partitions
if it doesnot work then reinstall the o.s.
if any partition is too large (greater than 40gb) then reduce it to 20 to 25 gb...
if still it doesnot work then u must go for a new ram.....