My Compact presario is getting progressively slower. How do I tune it up to regain it's original speed?

Question

When I turn on the computer it takes up to 15 minutes for everything to load up, Norton being the last program to come on. Then when I click on Internet Explorer I have another 5 to 10 minute wait for it to open. I am running Windows XP Professional. The computer is 2 years old and I noticed this problem as soon as I downloaded the latest Windows update which was right after the latest Windows OS came out. Any help would be much appreciated.

Answer 1

You may have picked up a bunch of spyware that is slowing it down by executing their worthless code while you are running. Get a copy of Microsoft Spyware Search and Destroy, a free download from Microsoft. Load it and run it. It will flag all the spyware on your computer and the give you a button to click to get rid of that spyware. I am guessing you have hundreds of those worthless programs. Once you have run it you will have none. Since you can be picking up a few every day run it periodically to flush them.

Answer 2

The best way to regain performance would be to reformat the hard drive and reinstall XP, back up your files onto disc or an external hard drive, if you have the original XP CD just use that to reinstall the OS, remember to format the drive too before the install

Answer 3

A clean computer is key to a faster computer. Run the 3 scans below.


Run a virus scan weekly.

Update and run your Anti-Virus program. Don't have one? You can run a free online scan from CA.
http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx



Run Spybot and Adaware weekly.


Download, update and run Spybot---http://www.safer-networking.org/... . Don't forget to use the Immunize feature.

Download, update and run Adaware---http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaw...

Now to prevent spyware from being installed in the first place....

Download SpywareBlaster---http://majorgeeks.com/download2859.html
SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed.

It's main features include:
- Prevent the installation of ActiveX-based spyware, adware, browser hijackers, dialers, and other potentially unwanted pests.
- Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox.
- Restrict the actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer.






Now lets clean up your registry.




Run RegScrubXP weekly. Run Cleanup every time you log off.


Download RegScrubXP--http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?d...

Safely cleans junk out of the Windows 2000/XP system registry. All changes made to the registry are fully restorable to it's original condition. You can make an exclusion list of registry entries that RegScrubXP will not display as problems. You can sift through a list of file extensions, company names, run upon startup programs, Internet Explorer history, and uninstall programs to delete what you think is junk.



Download CleanUp---http://www.stevengould.org/software/clea...

Free disk space, make your computer run better/faster and protect your privacy - all in one easy solution. All for free!





Now lets clean up your disk.



Run a Disk Cleanup 2 times a month. Run Disk Defrag. monthly.


Do a Disk Cleanup and Disk Defrag. You can find both of them by following the path below.
Start>all programs>accessories>system tools>Disk Cleanup. Let it do its thing. You can check every box that has something to delete.
Now follow the same path and do a Disk Defrag. Again just let it do its thing.




Now lets tweak your connection.


If your speed is good I would not mess with it by trying to tweak it. If you do tweak once it is done you should not have to do it every again.


There are many programs out there to do this. I will give you 2 of them.
The first one is TCP Optimizer.

Description: The TCP Optimizer is a free, easy Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection. There is no installation required, just download and run.

http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php....

You can get support for the best way to set it up right from their forum http://forums.speedguide.net/

The second one is Cablenut.

Windows XP tested and approved

CableNut is a tool for optimizing your Internet Connection. We have provided a way to tweak any option you may want to in the adjuster. You can load "CableNut Custom Setting" files that are included with the program to tweak your Internet connection.

http://www.cablenut.com/

Again support is available right from their forum.http://www.broadbandnuts.com/index.php?p...




All programs are FREE!




After applying the suggestions above you will have a clean and faster computer. Enjoy.

Answer 4

Well i have an Hp presario for around 2 years.. What kind of stuff do you use your pc for ? porn? hacking ? all those types of stuff can lower the speed of your pc. Also If you have alot of files in your Recycle Bin. Look thru it and delete any unwated items.. If this doesn't work just get it fixed.. Also Northern Ani Virus Programs Isn't really Affective.

Answer 5

all these programs you put on to clean up your pc will slow your system way down i've found out from experience with them ..... i have a presario its like a 1999 and i tried several of those clean up deals i run windows xp and mine is still fast as lightening.... you can also try to restore your pc back to before this started happening

Answer 6

You have WAY to many apps running in the background. Dump stuff you no longer use off the hard drive. I wouldn't run XP Pro with less than 750Mb of RAM! Clean the hard drive and check it for spyware! Best to you! ;-)=

Answer 7

First of all, open "msconfig", disable all programs and services that start up with XP, and see if that solves the problem. If it does, then go back into msconfig and recheck the items one-by-one, rebooting each time, until you find the problem. Good luck.