Assuming your problem is not malware related, consider the following:
It's possible a read error caused your hard drive access to change from
Ultra DMA to PIO mode, reset it:
http://technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too-slow-while-copying/
Also, one of the things that slows down PCs is unnecessary processes
running in the background. Some of these processes use considerably more
resources/memory than others. Your best bet is to use Google and these
sites to gather information as to what they are and how best to disable
them:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.sysinfo.org/startupinfo.html
and
http://www.answersthatwork.com (and click on the Task List button)
Use XP's MSCONFIG to see what is running each time you boot up. Task
Manager (Control + Alt + Delete) will give you information as to which
processes are currently running. Jot down the programs and research them
using the sites above.
Note that even if you are running few programs, it's still possible that
the programs you *are* running are using more memory than your system can
comfortably handle (e.g., video editing, Virtual PC, etc.), thus resulting
in relying far too much on your page file. You can determine if you have
enough RAM by using either of the following two methods:
1. When you are in Task Manager/Performance, look in the lower left-hand
corner. You should see three figures under Commit Charge (K): Total,
Limit, and Peak. What are they? Record these figures shortly after a
reboot and then again, after you have been using the PC for a while and
you notice sluggishness.
I know you have 512 MB of RAM. If your Total or Peak figures exceed
the amount of RAM you have, there is a good chance you are relying too
much on the page file, which will certainly cause sluggishness.
2. Or, for a more accurate assessment, you may run Page File Monitor for
Windows XP:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm Thanks for your help.
I will try your suggestions
