Daily freezes & slow speed on XP

[lise428]

My PC may have had malware/virus/spyware in the past so that may have been the reason for the significant reduction in speed. Refer to this thread for background info: https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic149117.html

However, the assister presumed my slow PC wasn't due to the cause of having malware because the logfiles were clean in the end. Nevertheless, every time I start up the computer it can take up to 5 minutes for me to begin opening new programs like IE, but then I would have to wait for maybe up to 4 minutes until the program finishes opening up and wait a little while more to be able to click the address bar and start typing. Generally, before I may be able to start a new program, the computer freezes for a little while.

I've recently deleted all the unnecessary documents, music, pictures to free up more space and manually deleted infected-SmartShopper files (see thread) but the PC has gotten even slower. If my PC has a capacity of 111GB and 68.8G of free space, my computer shouldn't be running too slow. I have SP3, should I delete some Windows XP updates, if so, which?

Also, the PC freezes up every time during a HiJackThis scan so it's pretty impossible to provide a logfile.

 

[Route44]

Who is the "assister"?

 

[lise428]

Bobbye - helper on the fringe from the other thread.

 

[caelum89]

I assume you've downloaded CCleaner and have done a clean-up of your pc? And you've defragmented your hard-drive? Have you cleaned out the dust from the inside of the computer? What are the system specs?

 

[lise428]

I assume you've downloaded CCleaner and have done a clean-up of your pc? And you've defragmented your hard-drive? Have you cleaned out the dust from the inside of the computer? What are the system specs?

Yes although I'm not very familiar with CCleaner, I have done a cleanup. I'm not very clear on what defragmenting my harddrive means so I didn't do that.

System specs:

operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600)
system manufacturer: Acer
sys. model: Aspire T320
memory: 504RAM

 

[caelum89]

Yes although I'm not very familiar with CCleaner, I have done a cleanup. I'm not very clear on what defragmenting my harddrive means so I didn't do that.

System specs:

operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600)
system manufacturer: Acer
sys. model: Aspire T320
memory: 504RAM

Hit Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter

Run the program and leave the PC running without any programs until it's done. See if your PC runs any faster then.

 

[lise428]

Alright, out of a total of 83,987 files, 1,701 files were excess fragments. I think the computer has gotten a little faster. Lately, downloading 5.5MB audio files have taken over an hour to finish but now its download speed is like before (takes up to 5 minutes).

Any other suggestions? I still have to wait a while for Internet applications and other programs to open and load once I startup the computer.Also, the PC's freezing quite a bit still.

 

[Route44]

How much maximum RAM is your system designed for?

 

[lise428]

Based on this site, it says my PC has a memory of 2048MB. Not sure if that's the same as RAM but that's what I was able to find.
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Aspire%20T320

 

[Route44]

RAM = Random Access Memory or Memory for short.

The reason I asked about RAM is because 2 gigs (2048MB) is a good amount for running XP and RAM definitely helps is loading, etc. The amount you have now is one quarter of that.

Go to Device Manager and tell us if anything shows yellow exclamation marks of Red Xs.

 

[lise428]

Nope, no exclamation marks or red Xs. Device manager shows that everything is running correctly.

You said that I'm using 1 quarter of the RAM; is that a problem?

 

[caelum89]

You have 504MB of RAM, when your PC can hold 2 GB. 504MB of RAM isn't bad, but XP won't run smoothly either.

 

[lise428]

Then what are other ways on speeding up my PC?

 

[caelum89]

Buying more RAM. Whats your CPU speed?

 

[RobertRobert09]

Hi ,

Firstly u should increase RAM..if its possible ..u should optimize ur PC..may be there is garbage on ur PC...this might the cause for slowness while booting & after start up..i faced this prob in past...i tried sum software like Ace utilities , Advanced System Optimizer , PC utilities..all works f9..but i can say Advanced System
Optimizer has best cleaners & optimizers in all..it has loads of utilities 4m system optimizers to uninstaller... that can speed up PC performance & can run PC smoother...right now i m using it for regular maintenance for my PC..& really helped me.It has Registry Cleaner to System Cleaner..!
i haven't face any prob..by using this application..!!
U can download it 4m tucows site.