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Windows XP running slow

1K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  mobo 
#1 ·
My windows XP is running slow. I downloaded a debugger it found things wrong bug wouldn't let me debugg the debugger was free but to fix the problem it cost:mad: Can anyone help me Where can I find a debugger or is there something I can do to fix these things myself?
My puter is a AMD Athlon XP processor 2200+ (1.800 GHz) with QuantiSpeed
40 Gig Hard Drive
128 MB DDR
Thanks
bigsis5151
 
#2 ·
First, turn off all of XP's unnecessary services. There are numerous guides online for which services to turn off, which to set to manual and which to leave on automatic but I've found Black Viper's site the easiest to read...and the links to explanations of each service are handy. It takes a little time but it's well worth it in terms of better system performance and online security.

Next, turn off all the programs loading on startup that you don't need to load when Windows starts...usually indicated by the presence of their icons in the System Tray. Disabled their loading on startup within each program's Preferences/Options/Whatever they call it if you can (reason: more and more software is being written to override msconfig settings as more and more users learn about msconfig).

For those that don't offer that option, go to Start>Run, type in "msconfig" (without the quotes), click OK. Go to the Startup tab and uncheck anything you are absolutely certain you don't need loading on startup. Click OK. You'll be asked if you want to reboot. That's your choice but when you do, when Windows starts up again, you'll get a Dire Warning about starting in Selective Mode. Yes, you selected things not to load on startup so, yes, you want it to start in Selective Mode.

Then, if you haven't already, get rid of any spyware you may have picked up. Download, install, immediately update and then run Spybot and/or AdAware. Read the help files to familiarize yourself with how they work. I recommend you use them both since each tends to find things the other misses. Let them clean up any spyware found.

Then, to be doubly sure, download and run CWShredder (link to the download is near the bottom of the page).

Then finish up by running Disk Cleanup (Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Cleanup) and then run defrag (Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter)

All of the above with the exception of eliminating programs you don't need from loading on startup, should be done as part of regular computer maintainence. I run Spybot and AdAware weekly, disk cleanup whenever I think of it, defrag monthly.

Be aware that if you have Norton Anti-Virus and it's configured to run full-time in the background that it's a resource hog and can have a major impact on system performance.

If after doing all that there's no improvement, post back.
 
#4 ·
If your still not sure its running at peak after all Miz has had you do then Download 'Hijack This! http://www.spychecker.com/program/hijackthis.html
Unzip, doubleclick HijackThis.exe, and hit "Scan".

When the scan is finished, the " scan " button will change into a " save log " button.
Press that, save the log , load it in Notepad, and copy its contents here. Most of what it lists will be harmless or even essential, don't fix anything yet.
 
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