Comments inline. (It will be easier for me and everybody else to follow
your posts if you reply inline, too.)
1. I had missing parts in my registry that Microsoft support found and
told
me how to fix them. I also ran a registry scan by Eusing that found
some
junk. I'm not that computer savvy so I don't know the specifics,
sorry.
I'm not sure what you mean by "missing parts." Did you contact
Microsoft? Did their support staff assist you? Do you recall what was
done?
Stay away from registry "cleaners." You will never notice any
significant improvement in performance and there is always a chance
(albeit a small one) that you could do significant damage to your
system, including causing a situation where your PC becomes unbootable.
2. I have deleted my cache several times.
Several times since you've had your PC or several times a week? It's
better to clear those files regularly.
3. I have run a malicious software scan, adware scans (spybot,
ad-ware,
windows defender) and 1care for viruses. Only a couple of spywares
were found
and didn't help much.
What do you mean by "a couple of spywares"? Just tracking cookies? Or an
infection? Big difference!
4. I have an older dell inspiron 1100 with 4gb of free memory (total
size is
18.5 gb) . I have had less than that with no problems. I have since
deleted
or moved much of my stuff to a usb drive.
You are confusing memory (RAM) with hard drive space. These links might
help:
http://www.tekmom.com/buzzwords/zdramvhd.html
http://www.weeno.com/art/0699/87.html
We need to know how much *RAM* you have installed. There are a number of
ways to determine this if you don't know off the top of your head how
much your PC has. One way is to right-click My Computer and select
Properties. You will see this information on the General tab toward the
bottom.
5. I don't run any programs in the background.
Sure you do. *Everybody* does!
Try this:
Start | Run | (type) msconfig | OK
Click the startup tab. There you go!
If you want to know which programs use up more memory than the others,
try this:
Control + Alt + Delete (this brings up Task Manager). Click the
Processes tab. Click the Mem Usage heading twice (so that the programs
using or reserving the most memory are at the top).
What are the top seven programs?
And to get more into the nitty gritty, you can determine if you have
enough RAM in your PC to handle all the programs running. While you are
still in Task Manager, click the Performance tab. Then note the three
values under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total,
Limit, and Peak.
The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory you
used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value of
Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
Otherwise you are relying way too much on your pagefile, which will
always slow down a PC.
I have even tried turning off my firewall or spy scanner to see if
that was
the problem.
Which firewall do you use? Hopefully, you are not running two at the
same time! (Keep in mind that XP has its own Windows Firewall.)
I was having problems with IE7, that was why I downloaded 8.
Very bad idea!!! Again, never use a beta program unless you are a tester
and are using it on a separate machine (real or virtual). Also, you
should never upgrade to a higher *non-beta* version of any program if
you are having problems with your current program. Always make sure you
solve the problem first. *Then* you may upgrade (assuming it's not to a
beta version!).
Finally, when was the last time you defragmented your hard drive?
