How to fix windows xp’s slowdown?

Asked By 450 points N/A Posted on -
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I use windows XP service pack 3 all the time. But it does last long. It becomes slower day by day. I use Avira free antivirus to protect my PC from viruses. It does not give so much memory pressure on the ram. After passing several day form installing the XP, every program becomes slower.

They take so much time to start. I use System mechanic and other PC speed booster based software. But I get no result. I do not know what is the real problem? I have changed my hard disk and Ram. But it is as same as the past. It still takes loge time to start any program. My system configurations are below:

Intel Pentium (4) 2.26 Hz, 512 DDR ram, 160 id HDD, Gigabyte 81845GE-RZ (-c)

Is that configurations are OK for windows XP service pack 3? If that is okay, then why I am facing this slowing problem?

I really want to get rid of this problem.

If any body solved this problem,

Please help?

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Best Answer by ktech
Best Answer
Best Answer
Answered By 5 points N/A #92201

How to fix windows xp’s slowdown?

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Hi Lawton,

There could be several reasons as to why your machine is running slow. One reason is SP3 itself. Many others have also complained about the same problem that you are having after installing XP SP3. The slowdown may also be due to disk space, viruses, malware, and more.

Here are 10 solutions which will give your computer a faster and better performance:

1. Cache and Temporary Files – The first usual culprit to a slow PC would be the huge amounts of temporary and cache files stored. When you install programs, surf the internet, play videos, view images, or basically anything you do, portions of the files and/or programs that you use are stored as cache and temporary files. When deleted, you’ll be surprised how much space they used up.

A popular tool for this job is CCleaner.
Get it here: Click

2. Fragmented Hard Disk – A good analogy for fragmentation would be the filing cabinet. Imagine you had your employees’ files in different manila folders scattered amongst 7 filing cabinets. You’d have to go from cabinet to cabinet to find the folder that you need. It’s the same way with your computer. This occurs normally since you use the computer for different processes all at the same time.
Defragging your computer arranges the manila folders in the filing cabinet according to frequency of use, putting the ones which are always used in front.

Before defragging your PC, close all open programs including the Antivirus. I also recommend disconnecting from the Internet.

Click Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragment
Select the drive and click Analyze. It will tell if you if you should defrag or not.
After defragment, reboot your PC.

3. Update the SP3 – There are over a hundred Hotfixes for XP SP3 to date. A great portion of these fixes include slow performance caused by several programs. Installing the updates would actually fix the issue.

For a list of updates on XP SP3 visit the MS Support Here

4. Installation Error – Did you turn off or disable your Antivirus when you installed SP3? Some antivirus software prevents certain system files from being changed during a new installation or update. This may cause the Windows XP SP3 installation to fail or be corrupted. If you don’t have a CD of XP SP3 You can download and reinstall it here.

5. Disk Space – One of the requirements of SP3 is to have a recommended 1,500 megabyte (MB) or 1.5 GB of free space on the system disk. So aside from clearing temporary files and computer cache, making space for virtual memory or page filing can significantly speed up your PC. Delete some old files or transfer them to an external drive.

6. Virus or Malware – Another reason for a slowdown could be Viruses, Trojans, spyware, rootkits, keyloggers, adware and other malicious software that found its way inside your PC. Run a full virus scan. However, some Antivirus software are not able to detect malware or at least some of it. A good and free solution is Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. I use it myself and have been malware free ever since.
Get it here: Click

7. Start Up – When logging on to Windows, there are Programs which are programmed to run right away too. If there are many programs trying to run altogether, this would cause the PC to slow down. To can prevent these programs from running since you don’t really need most of them to run at start up.
To disable the programs to run at start up:

  • Win7: Click Start
  • In the Search bar, type msconfig and press Enter
  • Go to the Startup tab, under that choose the Startup Items you don’t want to run
  • XP: Click Start > Run.
  • In the Open: bar, type msconfig and press Enter
  • Go to the Startup tab, under that choose the Startup Items you don’t want to run


If you’re not sure on which start-up items you can disable, check here: Click

8. Windows Services – Services are programs that continuously run in the background. There are a lot of these services and they can also use a lot of memory/resources. However, not all of these Services are actually needed and can be turned off without any problems.
Follow these steps on how to turn off some services:

  • Click Start>Programs>Administrative Tools>Services OR

 Start >Run and type services.msc.

  • Left-click on a service.
  • Read the description of the service just to make sure you don't think you will need the service.
  • If you decide you want to disable the service, Right-click -> Properties -> Change the "Startup Type" to "Manual" and then stop the service. The next time you reboot Windows the service will not start.

Here are some services that could be disabled in most common home computers:

  • Automatic Updates (Note: If you disable this, you have to get updates manually)
  • Computer Browser
  • Error Reporting Service
  • Help and Support
  • Indexing Service
  • Messenger
  • NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
  • Performance Logs and Alerts
  • Protected storage (keeps passwords and enables auto-complete for web forms)
  • Remote Registry (allows remote access to your registry –you definitely don’t need this)
  • Routing and Remote Access (enable dial-in routing to your computer if used)
  • Secondary Logon
  • Task Scheduler

9. Update Drivers – Old drivers may cause your computer to have a hard time processing functions, have program conflicts and/or system crashes. Since you have updated your OS, there may be drivers which are not compatible with SP3. Hence, your computer is trying hard to read and process.

You can check if you have an outdated driver with Driver Checker.

10. Uninstall SP3 – If you keep experiencing problems with SP3, why not uninstall it?. Personally, I still have been using SP2. It works better for me.

To uninstall Service Pack 3

  • Click Start > Control Panel.
  • Click "Add or Remove Programs" to open the Programs and Applications. Click "Show Updates."
  • Click Service Pack 3 > Remove/Uninstall > Yes. This will uninstall it from your computer.
  • Restart your computer.

I hope that your computer is working better at this point. As a personal opinion, SP2’s performance is better that SP3. With so many bugs and fixes, I can’t imagine myself upgrading to a SP3.

Answered By 0 points N/A #92202

How to fix windows xp’s slowdown?

qa-featured

Hi,

Press ALT+CTRL+DEL and open task manager under the processes tab, check to see which of the installed programs is using most of your memory simply uninstall that program and your computer will do just fine.

Answered By 10 points N/A #92203

How to fix windows xp’s slowdown?

qa-featured

Hi,

There are many factors why your machine gets slowed down. Some of the reasons or factors are your computer is infected with viruses or malware, limited space free on your disk and also the service pack that you’ve installed in your computer. In order to not experience here are some tips that you can follow in order to improve the performance of your machine.

  1. Cache and Temporary file; you need to remove all cache and temporary file because it consumed space in your disk. The cache and temporary will happen every time you are surfing in the internet, playing videos or anything activities that involve browsing in the internet. You may use an application software which is CCleaner in order to erase all Cache and Temporary file that's stored on your machine.
  2. Fragmented Hard Disk. It is like filing a cabinet according to how frequently used those files or folder. To locate this, all you need to do is Click Start, go to Accessories and Click the Accessories find the system tools and under system tools you can now find Disk Defragment. Before executing this process, you need to disable first your antivirus and disconnect your Internet Connections.
  3. Either the Service Pack 3 that you installed on your windows. In order to update this go MS Support.
  4. It depends on the installation of your sp3 if you installed it correctly because it can also cause a slower performance if you have installation errors.
  5. Another factor is the disk space. Make sure you have more free space on your system disk.
  6. Virus or malware it can also affect the performance if your machine that is infected with these viruses and malware.
  7. The start-up can also be the factor to slow down the performance. Running all programs at the same time can cause to slow down the performance. In order to stop the start up program just type msconfig on search menu when you are using window 7 and in windows xp just click start, click run once it will open the command prompt type msconfig and go to startup tab and choose those items you don’t want to run at startup.
  8. The windows service is programmed that run in a specific function. Some services can also slow down the performance.
  9. You need to update your driver if necessarily especially if you have an updated OS.
  10. If you still encounter it with your SP3, just uninstall it. To uninstall, go to control panel, add or remove programs and after that click show update. Lastly click service packs and remove/uninstall and restart your computer.

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