XP running very slow

For sometime my back-up computer is running very very slow. I've run various malware progies and still I haven't gained any ground with things getting any faster.IAny suggestions on how to retstore my original speed? Thanks! OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600 OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation System Name System Manufacturer HP Pavilion 061 System Model EK457AV-ABA a1200y System Type X86-based PC Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~2933 Mhz BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. 3.15, 6/1/2006 SMBIOS Version 2.4 Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32 Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1 Locale United States Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)" User Name Time Zone Central Standard Time Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB Available Physical Memory 13.58 MB Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB Page File Space 1.03 GB Page File C:\pagefile.sys I have 28 gigs free HD space out of 67 gigs Jim

There are a couple things you can do that will help.

1. How to clean up your hard drive to increase free space NOW!

2. How to free up space on your hard drive - long term

3. How does it behave if you boot to Safe Mode with Networking? If better then something is starting at boot that is causing the problem.

Use msconfig to determine what is causing the problem.

These are good tutorials on using msconfig in XP or Vista:
How to use msconfig in Windows XP
How to use msconfig in Windows Vista

Click on Start then Run, type msconfig and press Enter.
Click on the Startup tab, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Reboot and see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable several items at a time till you find the culprit.

If no, boot to Safe Mode again, start msconfig and click on the Services tab.
Check the Hide All Microsoft Services box, record what is currently starting then click the Disable All button.
Again, do a regular boot, see if it runs normal.
If yes then use msconfig to enable services till you find the culprit.

Once you've found the culprit, uninstall it or find out how to eliminate it from your system.
Simply disabling it in msconfig is a temporary fix at best.
Enable everything else you disabled.

Well looks like I'm back to what this computer use to be…thanks so much. The only problem is I get that message after every reboot that I have changed the start-up programs. Seems that everytime i INSTALLED A NEW PROGRAM IT FOUND IT'S WAY IN TO MY START-UP LIST. That is not what I want and I certaintly don't want to uninstall many of them to get away from the message so I guess I will leave things as that are for now. How do I know what must go back into the start-up menu? Seems that my virus protection continues to function all right. Should I add more? Jim

When you boot and get the message about having used the System Configuration Utility (msconfig), ch3eck the box in the lower left hand corener and you won't see it again after that. If your AV is working, leave everything else unchecked and run for awhile, see if things are okay. If yes, leave it, if not look at what's unchecked in Startup and Services and enable the ones for whatever application is having problems. If unsure, ask here. Glad things are better though as my previous post said, disabling things in msconfig is usually a temporary measure. You need to determine what was causing the problem by re-enabling them a few at a time until you find the culprit, then decide what to do. Either uninstall it or see if there is a newer version or some other program that does what that one does.

When you boot and get the message about having used the System Configuration Utility (msconfig), ch3eck the box in the lower left hand corener and you won't see it again after that.

If your AV is working, leave everything else unchecked and run for awhile, see if things are okay. If yes, leave it, if not look at what's unchecked in Startup and Services and enable the ones for whatever application is having problems. If unsure, ask here.

Glad things are better though as my previous post said, disabling things in msconfig is usually a temporary measure. You need to determine what was causing the problem by re-enabling them a few at a time until you find the culprit, then decide what to do. Either uninstall it or see if there is a newer version or some other program that does what that one does.

Okay thanks for your reply. I'll leave it as is for a while and when I get some time will do what you suggested. Your #1!!!

Jim