Is Windows XP Professional better than Windows 2000 Professional

[Bandele]

I am running Windows XP on a Celeron 1.7GHz machine and it
is extremely slow. This may be attributed to that fact
that my son installed a bunch of junk programs on the
machine. I would like some input on how I can cleanup the
machine so it may improve performance and prove itself
better than Windows 2000 if that is the case. Let me know
your thoughts!

 

[cimex]

What you should do depends on how much junk your son put on the machine. If
you don't mind backing up your files and settings, doing a clean-install,
and adding back all the critical updates you will lose, go that route for a
complete house-cleaning. This is probably the easiest, in the long run.

Otherwise, you could run some programs that remove adware and spyware:
Ad-Aware - www.lavasoftusa.com Spybot - http://security.kolla.de
Then, toss out whatever junk remains via Add/Remove programs.

 

[Frank Jelenko]

Can you say what program/behviour is causing it to appear slow?

Have you checked device manager to confirm there aren't any device conflicts? How much physical [ie.,. RAM] memory?

Have you defragged the XP machine?

Do you have Win 2K running on another machine? What RAM, CPU?

How much slower does the XP machine appear to be vs the W2K one?
I am running Windows XP on a Celeron 1.7GHz machine and it
is extremely slow. This may be attributed to that fact
that my son installed a bunch of junk programs on the
machine. I would like some input on how I can cleanup the
machine so it may improve performance and prove itself
better than Windows 2000 if that is the case. Let me know
your thoughts!

 

[Alex Nichol]

I am running Windows XP on a Celeron 1.7GHz machine and it
is extremely slow. This may be attributed to that fact
that my son installed a bunch of junk programs on the
machine. I would like some input on how I can cleanup the
machine so it may improve performance and prove itself
better than Windows 2000 if that is the case.

Well - Add/remove and Uninstall may help. (and perhaps Uninstall son
from it for a bit?)

Start - Run - MSconfig.exe and look on the Startup page for stuff that
is getting loaded behind your back - and uncheck things you don't think
you want.

Also in any case I suggest turning off some of the more intensive and
not useful eye-candy. At Control Panel - System - Advanced -
Performance, click Settings and in Visual effects use Custom, and
uncheck the top ten

 

[Gatekeeper]

I like Windows XP better by far than Win2k. I agree that you should
remove everything you don't want using Add/Remove programs, or one of
the Spyware/Adware removers. Also, consider creating a Limited User
account for your son, so he doesn't install any more junk. I leave most
of the "eye candy" running. It slows down the computer a little, but I
don't mind.

Windows XP should be smokin' fast on a 1.7Ghz processor with adequate
memory. You should have a minimum of 256MB RAM; 512MB is better. Use
DDR RAM if you can.