Losing memory from XP?

[Guest]

Hello, I have noticed that I am losing memory from XP, it has never happend
like this before with any other OS I used. If it did, I was able to recover
it, and also found out what happened to it. But in XP, I couldnt trace what
happened to it, nor could I recover it, I just recently installed Windows XP
Home Edition Service Pack 1, then installed Service Pack 2 (it made alot of
things slower now, and after the installation of service pack 2, i lost 1
GB). I defragged the computer, use disk cleanup, and done all of that, also
deleted some unimportant documents (online services, etc...) but nothing. I
have 3.91 GB left out of 12.5 GB. However, I entered C drive, and selects
all the files/documents (Programs Files, Windows, Documents and Settings) and
clicked properties and I got size 6.82GB and size on disk 6.90 GB. But I did
the math (12.5-6.9=5.6GB), and I should have 5.6 GB left, not 3.91 GB, so
therefore, I am missing 1.69 GB. So far, everything has been running very
slowly, and all I have on here is three games (Call of Duty, Doom 3, and
Americas Army), and now I have to pick which one to get rid of to make up
this shortage and lack of speed. Oh and my computer is self made, consisting
of:
Radeon 9000, AC97, Athlon XP 2200, and other stuff I dont remember. Oh and
one more thing, I had to call up Microsoft cuz the computer didnt accept the
product key to activate it (even though it accepted it during installation),
I was wondering if I could get that key back they gave me, and how do I
register it?
Thank you!

 

[Heirloom]

I didn't see anything in your post regarding 'memory', but, rather,
references to 'free space' on your hard drive. The install of SP2 should
not have affected the speed of your system, unless, you have used up enough
of the remaining free space to affect the way Windows can use the swap file.
Just how much physical memory (RAM) do you have installed??
Also, if you performed the steps for cleanup in the order you stated, you
may still have a highly fragmented drive. You should run the cleanup
FIRST, dispose of unwanted files and programs, THEN run your defragger. I
am unclear on how your are "entering" your C:\ drive, but, suspect you may
not be seeing everything.
Regarding your product key, if you are just looking for the one used to
activate Windows, you can use something like Belarc Advisor,
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html , a free app that will provide a
lot of info about your machine...to include the product key. Re:
registration, simply click on Start, Help, and do a search for "register
XP"......it will tell you all you need.
Heirloom, old and hope that helps