laptop problem

I HAVE AN OLDER COMPAQ 1200 THAT HAS BEEN UPGRADED TO WIN XP WITH SOME EXTRA UPFRONT MEMORY. I HAVE RUN BOTH SPYWARE DOCTOR AND REG. MECH. CLEANED UP A GOOD NUMBER OF THINGS. THE PROBLEM IS THAT ANY PROCESS TAKES AN EXTREME AMOUNT OF TIME TO PROCESS. EVEN JUST CLOSING A WINDOW. ALL PROCESS'S CONTINUE TO FUNCTION BUT AT AN EXTREMELY SLOW RATE. THOUGH I HAVE ONLY A 10 GIG HD, I STILL HAVE 2.3 GIG LEFT. I HAVE FOUND THAT MY CPU IS RUNNING AT NEARLY 100% ALL THE TIME AS IF SOMETHING IS RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUND. AM RUNNING NORTON 06 INTERNET SEC. AND THAT DID NOT CATCH ANYTHING NEAR WHAT THE TWO ABOVE PROGRAMS DID. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED, JUST TRYING TO MAKE THIS WORK UNTIL MY NEW MACHINE ARRIVES. MAYBE SOME OTHER PROGRAMS TO TRY? DON'T WANT TO INVEST ANY MORE IN THIS LAPTOP…NEW MACHINE ON ORDER. THANKS FOR ANY HELP!! JERRY

I HAVE FOUND THAT MY CPU IS RUNNING AT NEARLY 100% ALL THE TIME AS IF SOMETHING IS RUNNING IN THE BACKGROUND

Any clue in Windows TaskManager as to what is running?
To view Windows TaskManager press Ctrl -Alt-Del
(On a well running machine, "system Idle Process" should show near 99% when no applications are running.

Go take a look in your System Configuration Utility StartUp to see what applications and routines are scheduled to start at Boot.
Start - Run (type)MSCONFIG - Enter - Select the STARTUP(tab)
You can "disable" most of the items in StartUp except your Firewall and AntiVirus

What do you mean by "some extra upfront memory"?
Specifically how much RAM memory does this machine have?

Have you Defragged since installing XP and Norton.

Norton is known as a "system hog". If the machine has less than 512mb RAM, you might be better off with an AntiVirus with a lighter footprint.

Best Regards

THANKS FOR THE HELP..NO. 1 PROBLEM…ONLY 252 OF RAM CAN'T FIND "SYSTEM IDLE PROGRESS" IN TASK MGN. ?? IS IT THE SAME AS CPU USAGE ? HAVE DONE DEFRAG. 252 RAM IS MOST LIKELY THE BIG PROBLEM I KNOW I SHOULD NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THIS MACHINE.. BUT I'M STUBBORN…LOL WILL DISABLE NORTON TO SEE IF SPEED PICKS UP THANKS AGAIN FOR THE RESPONSE…I JUST NEED SOME PATIENCE AND A NEW MACHINE JERRY

Windows XP is said to "ask for" a minimum of 394mb RAM. Of course, many people have proven time and again that XP can run on lower resource systems. Still XP and application programs will gobble up RAM resources even when not essential. You will likely do better if you follow the suggestions in my earlier reply. However, if you have the option you would do better still with a Windows 2000 operating system. If you are willing to completely uninstall Norton, try AVG Antivirus. "System Idle Processes" is the last item listed on the Processes Tabbed panel of Windows Task Manager Best Regards