Why is my computer slow? It is a decent spec and It does not have any virus's or spyware/Malware!?

Question

I am wanting to get to the end of this but do not know how! My computer just seems sluggish and I just don't know what the problem could be.I want it to be as fast as it was when Ifirst installed XP if possible!
Here is some info about my computer

1024 mb ram - 160 gb hdd - pentium 4 ht (hyper threading) - 550w power supply - spire cpu cooler (heatsink) i think its for p4 775 - 64mb graphics adapter (is this poor even though i do not play games? ) - windows xp home service pack 2 - broadband connection (even though irrelevant to pc speed itself)

A few programs used on the computer

AVG anti-virus - Firefox - WMP 11 - Quicktime - Nero 6 - Spybot S&E - BT applications for my broadband - IE7 - Registry Mechanic - Zone Alarm Firewall - Microsoft Office 2003 - Winamp

I constantly run checks for spyware and virus's on my computer but never find any, even on other software brands.

I want to solve the problem, as my pc's performance is not living up to.

I will appreciate your response

I bought the computer built last Christmas.

I have tried Norton as that came with my BT broadband package, but it led to further disasters!

svchost seems to be high on ram usage as that can exceed to 100mb, and the same with internet explorer 7.

ha, i don't think i need a new computer already? I am running at 3.2 GHZ!

I defragment every fortnight!

Answer 1

As a computer technician and having read through all of the other replys in this thread it would seem that the main problem may be the number of programs that are running in the background whilst you are trying to do other tasks.

You can change which programs run when your computer is switched on for the first time by clicking on the following:

start menu ==> run ==> type "msconfig" ==> click "ok" ==> click on the "startup" tab at the top ==> extend the "command" line so you can see all of the info ==> deselect programs such as "msnmsgr" and other programs that you recognise.

This means they will not start on startup but you can start them from the start menu or from the desktop icons.

You may notice that this increases the overall speed of your computer.

You can also try the website http://www.slowcomputerhelp.com for help with your slow computer.

Answer 2

Yea i no tell me about it. my computer has been slow 2 and it was only since last night when i downloaded that new Internet Explorer 7. I had it then i hated it so i uninstalled it and eveer since then i cant go anywhere else on the computer. The screen on the internet turns white freezes there then in a few minutes it comes back but another Window pops up and it always says Microsoft Internet Explorer and idk what that is!! I have Norton (i no your dont have anything) and the expieration date ended about a week ago and im thinking that could be the problem. And in the past few days my coputer has had to update a ton of things. I wish i new the answer two!

Answer 3

do not use notons as its a resouce hog. everyone knows this. unless you have a kick butt system to run nortons you will just slow down your computer even more.

it sounds liek your problem is your video card. I would get atleast a 128MEG card. also you never told us what type of P4 chip you have. is it a 2.0 2.6 or so on. dual core isnt needed unless your running VISTA. single core will do just fine on XP.


http://www.lavasoft.de/download_and_buy/product_comparison_chart.php

might want to get ad-aware SE personal its free and helps spybot alot too. its the only 2 programs I run for spyware.




I would get a better video card and also more memory. you want atleast 2 gig. a fresh install of XP wouldnt hurt. to reformat and install.

Answer 4

Try running Process Explorer (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/ProcessExplorer.mspx)
It is like the task manager when you hit CTRL-ALT-DEL. See if Process Explorer reports anything taking up a lot of CPU / RAM. Also, you might try running PassMark performance test, and see where your performance is low. Is it HD-related? Ram-related? These tests will give you a score that can be used to compare with a similar PC online, from which you can diagnose your bottleneck.
http://www.passmark.com/download/pt_download.htm

Answer 5

Your pc is becoming slow due to the Malware and Spyware utilites Installed . Remove them and install a decent MaCAfee Antivirus or Norton Antivirus Software .

Answer 6

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 7

Start, program files, Accessories, system tools, use disk cleanup first to delete your cookies, history and temporary files, then under system tools again run a disk defrag and this will take a couple of hours, it places and organizes all the files to where they should be, this will speed up your computer. Take care Heather

Answer 8

Your computer must be old if u had to install XP onto it, don't forget computer years are v small.U need a knew computer with a duel core processor 2.8ghz or more to handle broadband and gaming etc at sufficient speed

Answer 9

you have little or no RAM and a slow processor. it would be time to seem right into a sparkling pc. while you are going to adhere with this one, verify which you do freshen up your temp archives, uninstall pointless utility, and specific positioned money into some extra RAM in the experience that your pc isn't maxed-out at a million.5GB.

Answer 10

Did you build the computer or have a friend build it for you? My personal opinion is that there is a hardware conflict. This happens alot when someone builds a computer that is a novice. I dont really know how to help you, without know more about your setup.