PC getting very sluggish

[Newsscanner]

Hi,
Lately my PC is getting very slow and lazy.
My system is:
Win XP Home SP2
AMD Athlon XP 1500+ processor
256 Mb RAM
80 Gb IDE HDD (28 Gb left)
40 Gb IDE "D:/ drive" HDD (for backup etc.).
Functions as server for a 3 PC network (not wireless, through a hub with
cables).
Wireless 2Mb Cable Modem Internet connection.

All the latest Win XP updates are installed.

Lately, it sometimes takes about a minute or more before a program opens
after I click on it, when I switch between programs it sometimes takes
ages before it switches from one to the next, I keep getting programs
not responding, it takes ages for the taskbar icons to respond when I
click on them, P2P transfers have become incredibly slow etc. etc.

I am virus free (every day the system gets checked by AVG free edition V
7, and there are regular spyware checks using Adaware, Spybot and System
Mechanic.

Could it be because my HDD is getting too full ? Would there be a fault
somewhere ?
Is there anything I can do to improve the situation ?
A complete format of drive C:/ has crossed my mind, but I am quite
reluctant to do so, unless I REALLY have no choice.

All suggestions will be very welcome.

TIA,
Newsscanner.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

Please try the following link:

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

 

[Brian Cryer]

Good set of items. Probably also worth:

o Looking in your event log - that's where disk or network problems (et al)
should get logged. (Control Panel [Classic View] > Administrative Tools >
Event Viewer)

o Do a disk check. Personally I would advocate using chkdsk /f on each drive
and letting it run the check at next bootup. If you defragment then that
should perform some disk checking along the way, but I'm not sure how much
so I wouldn't rely on it.

o Is the machine thrashing or doing anything that makes it disk bound? ie.
is the disk light almost permanently on? This would indicate either a lack
of physical memory or disk-intensive applications, depending on the cause.

Hope it helps,

Brian.

www.cryer.co.uk/brian

 

[Newsscanner]

Thanks folks,
following your advice has already made a lot of difference to the problem.
Newsscanner.

Good set of items. Probably also worth:

o Looking in your event log - that's where disk or network problems (et al)
should get logged. (Control Panel [Classic View] > Administrative Tools >
Event Viewer)

o Do a disk check. Personally I would advocate using chkdsk /f on each drive
and letting it run the check at next bootup. If you defragment then that
should perform some disk checking along the way, but I'm not sure how much
so I wouldn't rely on it.

o Is the machine thrashing or doing anything that makes it disk bound? ie.
is the disk light almost permanently on? This would indicate either a lack
of physical memory or disk-intensive applications, depending on the cause.

Hope it helps,

Brian.

www.cryer.co.uk/brian

Hi

Please try the following link:

http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm

--

Will Denny
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
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