Windows is Lagging

[Guest]

I have a 2.8 Processor with 1.0 gig RAM, 256 Ram Video Card, if there's more
specs you need, let me know.

PROBLEM- Windows moves extremely slow, often with simple tasks. Windows can
sometimes take 3-5 minutes to restart / boot up. Sometimes just a couple
pictures in my email can crash the program. Same when I'm using Photoshop, a
decent size picture crashes the program. It's much worse when getting into
video. Even Google Earth won't run without crashing. At the same time, I'm
able to run pretty high performance video games (Counter Strike: Source for
example). It seems as though it's not a memory issue, since it still runs
some programs well, but not others (BIOS says both 512 Sticks are installed
and running). Also, saving things can sometimes cause the system to lag
about 60 seconds before it goes through with the action. Any idea's?

 

[Joe]

Defragment your hard drive. you should know how to do that.

Im sorry I am not much help, but it should improve performance.

 

[Malke]

I have a 2.8 Processor with 1.0 gig RAM, 256 Ram Video Card, if
there's more specs you need, let me know.

PROBLEM- Windows moves extremely slow, often with simple tasks.
Windows can
sometimes take 3-5 minutes to restart / boot up. Sometimes just a
couple
pictures in my email can crash the program. Same when I'm using
Photoshop, a
decent size picture crashes the program. It's much worse when getting
into
video. Even Google Earth won't run without crashing. At the same
time, I'm able to run pretty high performance video games (Counter
Strike: Source for
example). It seems as though it's not a memory issue, since it still
runs some programs well, but not others (BIOS says both 512 Sticks are
installed
and running). Also, saving things can sometimes cause the system to
lag
about 60 seconds before it goes through with the action. Any idea's?

Start here:

Slow or Sluggish Computer:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm
http://aumha.org/a/health.htm - Take Out the Trash (section 4)

Clean Boot - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=310353
and How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

And of course, make sure the machine is 100% virus/malware-free:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Malke