My computer is slow, what can I do?

Question

I got a Packard from PC World 2 years ago so quite new
with windows xp 1 gig RAM, 180 gig hard drive (a special)
AMD 64, 2.19 ghz.
Over the time it has got slower altho I run antivir, ad-aware and spybot.
Run firefox cos its faster and avoid spyware.

Any ideas welcome !

Answer 1

The earlier advice about defragging, cleaning your registry, running anti-virus & anti spyware is all good sensible stuff so go ahead and try them. I would also check to see how much free space you have on your disc. If its less than 20% think seriously about getting a bigger hard disc. Can't afford that then try setting the space taken up by recycle bin files to less than the standard 10%. Think about cutting the space used by restore. (in my opinion switching it off entirely is sensible but lots of people would disagree). You can also speed up your machine by making sure that the system is only loading programs that need to be loaded at start up (Use Start Menu/ run then type msconfig. On the startup tab uncheck unnecessary items). Another thing that can really slow your machine if you have a lot of files & folders is indexing (Explorer/right click on your C: disc, go to properties then general tab, Uncheck allow indexing service to.....).


I don't really see why you should have to reinstall windows yet.

Answer 2

Having just spent an entertaining (!) half day sorting out an XP machine that got low as s**t... about 10 mins to boot up... some of the above may be valid:

1) Turn off system restore, which will clear a whole load of your disk. On this system it was about 3.6Gb after 8 months... once a day when the system was running, once every time an app. was installed. Then turn it back on and make a restore point.

2) Use a suitable cleaner (I used ashampoo 2008 that was free on a mag. cover) to clean the registry, remove widowed files etc

3) Remove any unwanted services using the same tool

4) Remove any unwanted applications plus any rubbish directories & files that they left behind (this computer had had 5 different mobile phones software installed on it).

5) Clear the internet temporary files.

6) Defrag the disk drive. WIth something better than the Windows built-in defragger.

And if that isn't enough (for me it made the family PC usable again) then I'd guess back up your data and reinstall Windows again.

There is still a load of Windows uninstall stuff for patches that I didn't clear off yet... but I freed up over 30% of the disk drive without compromising anyones data.

Answer 3

A FASTER COMPUTER

from the "Run" command in the "start" menu, type "msconfig".

XP or Vista:
press windows key + letter R
enter msconfig
press enter

Then click on the "Startup" tab [ XP ]
and you will see everything that gets loaded on boot.
All of those things are candidate to turn off.
turn off ONLY those items that you yourself have added
You may need to start something later if it happens to be a service that is needed for a program or app.
But check it out and you should be able to get your boot speed back up to par.
Run disk cleanup, and de-fragmenter.
These applications are built-in with windows and will help you remove any unwanted files etc.

XP:
Disk Cleanup:
start
all programs
accessories
system tools
Disk Clean:
click disk drive [c] to clean
place a check in each box that shows any numbers on the right
CAUTION ,RECYCLE BIN WILL BE ON THIS LIST.
IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO EMPTY IT,...DO NOT CHECK IT !
click delete
click ok in confirmation dialog box

Disk Defragmenter:
start
all programs
accessories
system tools
Disk Defragmenter:
click analyze
if it shows that you need to defrag,click defrag now

Vista:

Disk Clean:
start
control panel
performance-information & tools
click Disk Clean
click disk drive [c or o.s. (c)] to clean
place a check in each box that shows any numbers on the right
CAUTION ,RECYCLE BIN WILL BE ON THIS LIST.
IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO EMPTY IT,...DO NOT CHECK IT !
click delete
click ok in confirmation dialog box

Disk Defragmenter:
start
control panel
performance-information & tools
advanced tools
open Disk Defragmenter
click analyze
click defrag if you're told you need to do so

faster icon load:
XP:
start
my computer
local disk drive [c]
tools
folder options
view
uncheck auto search for network folders/printers

Connections:
start
connect to
right click connection
select properties
click networking
check print/file sharing
click uninstall
[ don't do this if you use printers ]

Internet Options:
start
control panel
internet options
general
connections
check always dial default connections [ DIAL UP ONLY ! ]
SETTINGS:
check auto detect settings
DIAL UP SETTINGS:
properties
general
configure:
uncheck show terminal window
uncheck enable modem speakers [ to get rid of electronic squeal on boot up ]
general:
options:
check include windows domain

Redial: 5 times
attempts: 1 minute
idle time: never
Redial if dropped: check

General:
security:
check typical

networking:
properties:
check obtain ip address automatically
check use dns server address
[ you need to get these from your i.s.p. and add them into the 2 boxes here.
localnet is:
207-251-201-10
207-251-201-11
DIAL UP ONLY ]

Dial up settings:
Advanced:
connect 10 times
wait time 15 seconds
uncheck:
disconnect if idle
disconnect when not needed

Dial Up Options:

What's a modem initialization string?
Before your modem software dials a phone number, it initializes (inits) the modem by sending it a series (string) of commands, typically Hayes commands. These commands configure the modem's options for things like error correction, data compression, flow control, and many other parameters. The modem manual should list the Hayes commands the modem recognizes, and what effect each command has.
The important thing about modem init strings is that having the right one often makes the difference between connecting and not. Init strings are fairly specific to each modem. The string that made your friend's modem fly may not work at all for your modem.
Not all programs use simple init strings. Some use settings files, such as Windows 95 .inf files, Mac CCL modem scripts, etc.
Tip: You may also want to try one of these generic init strings:

* AT&F
* AT&F1
* AT&F&C1&D2
* AT&F1&C1&D2

modem strings:
http://www.west.net/~jay/modem/...

Tip 2: For K56flex modems, try one of these generic init strings:

* AT&F+MS=56
* AT&F+MS=56S202=32
* AT&F1+MS=56
* AT&F1+MS=56S202=32

Where do I put the modem init string?

start
control panel
phone & modem options
modems
properties
advanced
INITIALIZATION

enter initialization string in box provided
close and reboot

in addition,install RegSeeker and delete obselete entries from here
http://browseraddons.friendpages.com

Speed up your connection

Do you remember the days of dial-up? It used to take days to log onto
the Internet. I exaggerate, but it sure was slow.

Broadband has made the Internet much easier and more fun to use. You
don't have to suffer the modem racket and the sign-on. And pages load
faster.

Still, broadband could be much faster. For example, Japan's broadband
can be 30 times faster than ours!

If your high-speed Internet service seems pokey, try Google's Web
Accelerator. This free program will juice things.

It routes requests through Google servers. Popular pages are already
stored there. And the servers do nothing but handle Web Accelerator
traffic.

Web Accelerator works with both Firefox and IE on Windows machines.
http://www.komando.com/downloads

Answer 4

There are a number of steps that you can take to attempt to speed up your system. Most require simply tweaking the software you already have, not adding more.
I'd look at all the software that loads and runs automatically when you start your machine. If you've never adjusted it, and you've simply accepted default installations for software you've installed, it's likely there's a lot of software actually running that doesn't need to be. Unfortunately identifying what is, and is not, required can be a difficult process, since it depends on how you specifically use your computer.
Windows Services is another area to examine, but unfortunately things get even more obscure. There are lists of services that you can review and determine for yourself if they are appropriate for your machine.
Other things that can also increase your system's performance include:
- Defragment your hard disk(s).
- Clear your Internet Explorer cache.
- Consider using a lower resolution, or a lower color depth for your monitor.
- Consider using a plain color instead of a picture for your desktop - the picture takes up memory that could be used for other things. (This is also extra important if you connect to your machine via Remote Desktop.)
For more help go here:
http://ask-leo.com/how_can_i_make_my_computer_run_faster.html

Answer 5

Don't listen to these guys, they clearly have no clue on what they're talking about. I am a developer at Microsoft so I know a thing or two about computers. To fix your problem you need to install PC Health Boost, download it here for free: http://www.healthboostpc.com

It's very light and it's the only antivirus/cleaner with a 99.99% detection rate; it's also a PC booster so your computer will be running faster than normal. Install it, hit run and problem solved. It shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes.

Answer 6

That machine should still be fine for everything that is out in the market today so what has caused it your slowdown?

Well, everything you install, even after you have uninstalled it remains in the registry. Microsoft has a free Registry Cleaner (called RegClean) which will cause slowdown on loading.

There are also temporary files that should get deleted when Windows shuts down but don't always. You can find these in My Computer => Drive C: => Documents and Settings => UserName => Local Settings => Temp

Local Settings is a hidden directory so you'll need to unhide it in settings and UserName is whatever name your account is.

Answer 7

Using a registry cleaner can clean up your computer and then make your computer faster,Why?the reason is that there may be some regsitry errors and remnant,corrupt files and temp files in your computer to cause "computer slow".
Everytime you install and uninstall software on your computer and surfing online you create junk in the computer registry.over time, the registry can grow to enormous proportions, especially if the various programs you've installed do not do a good job of deleting and/or updating it's Registry entries.You need to scan and clean your computer with registry cleaner to make it fast.Good Regisry Cleaner will improve your computer and Internet performance dramatically!It even can speed up your computer by 300% or more!
There are some comparison and review of TOP 5 registry cleaners.
http://www.fix-system.com/index.php?t=fixsys
You can download and scan your computer for free.

Answer 8

An excellent free program to use to get rid of Temporary files and log files that clog up your computer is CCleaner, and its very trustworthy. Defragging your harddrive shuffles all the information in your computer giving it some order and should speed it up. Try to get a good registry cleaner like Eusing but be careful to back up your registry with it first in case something goes wrong. What antivirus do you run? Most antivirus programs, like Norton, don't protect from all viruses and an occasional online scan from something like Ewido is advisable. Hope this helps

Answer 9

Your system needs to cleaned and optimized.

You need to run your anti-spyware and virus programs from safemode, you may have a virus.

You need to defrag your hard drive, if you have two volumes on the drive I would suggest you move the swap file to that volume.

P.S.
Firefox is not immune to virus and spy ware, it hides the fact that it is downloading them better. Netscape was the best, has fell on hard times since AOL grabbed it.

There are more tips, information, and how to's on my web site:

Answer 10

There are many reasons why your PC will slow down over time. The first thing to look at is your hard drive. If you do not clean out the temp files on the drive it will cause the PC to slow down. This is because your PC uses your HD for caching data, and over time the space used for this gets taken up.

Another thing to look at is the windows registry. There are a few good registry cleaner programs out there. You might want to give that a try.

I use ccleaner myself to help keep things running at their best. Another good program for the register is Eusing free registry cleaner. I have used these with no problems and they are both free ware with no virus or ad ware.