cdj

Now, go to Start > Control Panel > Startup to run the program. This will show you a list of what runs at startup. Post a screenshot to your original thread (http://forums.techguy.org/windows-nt...g-problem.html), so we can see what is running, and then we can proceed from there.

To make a screenshot, press Alt+Print Screen (this produces a shot of just the active window, rather than the whole screen view). Then, open Paint (or any other image editing software you use), and select Edit > Paste. Save the file, then when you next post a message, scroll down to "Manage Attachments" and follow the prompts from there.

To answer your questions:

1. RAM is the amount of memory you have (RAM - Random Access Memory). So you have 256MB memory, which for Windows XP is not all that good. Your CPU usage is OK (4% is probably just used by background things (Windows updates, antivirus/antispyware etc)).

2. A good utility to use to reduce your startup is Startup Control Panel (available at http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml). Download and install this, then get back to me.

From here on, it is probably best to use your original thread to continue with help.