Windows XP Need Help with performance. Memory etc.

[LouG]

Hi there,

I just reformatted my PC and reinstalled everything and though the PC worked great at first when I was all done with updates etc. the PC is now running exceptionally slow.

Below my name I pasted all my PC info:

Help!

Thanks!

Lou

DellDesk Top PC Info.

Property Value
Manufacturer Dell Computer Corporation
Model OptiPlex GX260

Chipset Vendor Intel Corporation
Chipset Model 845G/GL/GV Brookdale Host-Hub Interface Bridge (A1-step)
South Bridge 82801DB/DBL (ICH4/ICH4-L) LPC Interface Bridge
SMBus Intel Corporation 801DB/DBL SMBus Controller (ICH4/ICH4-L A1 step) @DC80h

CPU Intel Pentium 4
Cpu Socket Socket 478
Processor Upgrade ZIF Socket
Max CPU Speed 3060 MHz

System Slots 4 PCI, 1 AGP

OnBoard devices
Video (Enabled) Intel 845G PCI Accelerated SVGA
Ethernet (Enabled) Intel Pro 1000 MT Network Connection
Sound (Enabled) AC'97 Audio Controller

Memory Summary
Location System board or motherboard
Maximum Capacity 1024 MBytes
Memory Slots 2
Error Correction None
Use System memory

Warning! Accuracy of DMI data cannot be guaranteed
----
Property Value
Manufacturer Dell Computer Corporation
Product Name OptiPlex GX260
Serial Number 9Y2JZ11
Chassis Mini tower
Infrared (IR) Supported No
Machine Type AT/AT COMPATIBLE
UUID 4C4C4544-0059-3210-804A-B9C04F5A3131

Disk Space Disk C: 9 GB Available, 18 GB Total, 9 GB Free

Physical Memory 254 MB Total, 58 MB Free
Memory Load 77%

Virtual Memory 622 MB Total, 157 MB Free

PageFile Name \??\C:\pagefile.sys
PageFile Size 381 MB
In use 282 MB
Max used 282 MB
Registry Size 3 MB (current), 66 MB (maximum)

Profile GUID {6864c8c0-5942-11da-9b38-806d6172696f}

The system clock interval 15 ms

Warning! Accuracy of DMI data cannot be guaranteed
-------
Property Value
Number of CPU(s) One Physical Processor / One Core / One Logical Processor
Vendor GenuineIntel
CPU Full Name Intel Pentium 4
CPU Name Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.00GHz
CPU Code Name Northwood
Technology 0.13µ
Platform Name Socket 478
Type Original OEM processor
FSB Mode QDR
Platform ID 2
Microcode ID 1E
Type ID 0
CPU Clock 1978.41
System Bus Clock -1.0
System Clock 98.92
Multiplier 20.00
Original Clock 2000.00
Original Bus Clock 400.00
Original System Clock 100.00
Original Multiplier 20.00
L2 Cache Speed 1978.41 MHz
L2 Cache Speed Full
CPU Family / Model / Stepping F / 2 / 4
Brand ID 09
HyperThreading 1
L1 T-Cache 12 KµOps
L1 D-Cache 8 KB
L2 Cache 512 KB
RDMSR 00000000 00000000 14100014 00000000
MMX Yes
SSE Yes
SSE2 Yes
SSE3 No
SSSE3 No
DualCore No
HyperThreading No
IA-64 No
Intel 64 (EM64T) No
XD No
VT No
SpeedStep No
Architecture x86
-------------------------
Property Value
Display Adapter Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller
Video Processor Intel(R) 82845G Graphics Controller
Video memory size 64 MBytes
Adapter DAC Type Internal
BIOS String Hardware Version 0.0
BIOS Date 04/02/20
Display Drivers ialmrnt5.dll
Driver Version 6.14.10.3691
Driver Date 2003-10-08 15:11:20
Inf File Name oem19.inf
Inf Section i845G


Name Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller
Chip Type Intel(R) 82845G Graphics Controller
DAC Type Internal
Memory 64 MBytes

 

[Adywebb]

Looking at the spec - it seems you only have 256MB RAM, which is likely to give poor performance.


Are you saying the PC was fine after doing the updates to XP via Windows Update?

What have you installed since then?

 

[LouG]

Adyweb,

Yes, I have 256MB of RAM and the PC seemed faster when I 1st installed XP but then got slow after I installed Adobe 6.0, XP SP2, all updates, MS Office, some malware fix tools like spybot. and firefox (which I have uninstalled).

Thanks! Lou

 

[Adywebb]

I'm assuming you installed .Net and all the other non-essential Windows updates too?


You really need to get some more RAM if you want to get that lot running faster.

 

[a2amali]

XP on its own is quite fast, it does get slow as you install updates. SP2 for example is actually 30% extra load on windows in terms of hard disk and functionalities. I cant say dont do updates because there are flaws in windows that needs to be fixed but you dont HAVE to update, see how it goes for you.


Second thing is that virus checker slows computer because it uses CPU and disk access.

Third Acrobat is real killer. Try installing Acrobat 5 its much lighter. I have had to upgrade memory in my desktops at work to 512 or 768 after Acrobat 6.

There are applications which are always updating like acrobat, windows, office etc and they all add performance issues to PC.

I say just buy a new PC, these days you can get a good PC for £300 and it will last you atleast 4 years with much better experience and reliability then what you got now.

 

[LouG]

I installed all the updates that the windows scanner identified as needed. What do you mean by ".net" and all other "non esstential" updates and are there others that I need? Thanks!

Lou