XP-Home computer is very slow

[Cal Who]

I was just given a XP-Home computer because it is very slow.

I defragged the disk.

Since I don't know what makes sense to do I try various things:

I run msconfig and disable all startups and all non-ms services.

I then boot in safe mode and the computer is fast but in normal mode it is
slooow.

In safe mode a certain app appears as soon as I click its short-cut icon,

but in normal mode it takes about 40 seconds to appear.

In case it means something here's a little more info:

Norton 360 is on the machine.

When I click OK in msconfig I get an Access Denied message but can't tell
what was suppressed - I'm guessing it's Notron.

It's 2.73 GH with 512 MB RAM Dell computer

Thanks in advice for any helpful suggestions at all!

 

[David H. Lipman]

I was just given a XP-Home computer because it is very slow.

I defragged the disk.

Since I don't know what makes sense to do I try various things:

I run msconfig and disable all startups and all non-ms services.

I then boot in safe mode and the computer is fast but in normal mode it is slooow.

In safe mode a certain app appears as soon as I click its short-cut icon,

but in normal mode it takes about 40 seconds to appear.

In case it means something here's a little more info:

Norton 360 is on the machine.

When I click OK in msconfig I get an Access Denied message but can't tell what was
suppressed - I'm guessing it's Notron.

It's 2.73 GH with 512 MB RAM Dell computer

Thanks in advice for any helpful suggestions at all!

LOL - 512MB with XP SP3 it too little. Bring it to 1.25 ~ 2GB.

MSCONFIG could be denied by malware as a self preservation technique albeit usually it'll
be a case where you try to execute it and it just doesn't run.

What is the model of the Dell PC ?

 

[Cal Who]

LOL - 512MB with XP SP3 it too little. Bring it to 1.25 ~ 2GB.

MSCONFIG could be denied by malware as a self preservation technique
albeit usually it'll be a case where you try to execute it and it just
doesn't run.

What is the model of the Dell PC ?

Dimension 4700

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHZ

 

[David H. Lipman]

Dimension 4700

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHZ

MAX RAM is 4GB. I suggest bringing it to 2GB. It has 4 slots. So it is possible it has
one slot filled with 512MB module because I doubt it used two x 256MB modules. I don't
think they even manuafacture that type of RAM @ 256MB.

Type: DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2 PC2-6400, DDR2 (non-ECC)

If it is using PC2-4200 RAM, using the DDR2 PC2-5300 or DDR2 PC2-6400 will also speed it
up because it uses a faster Front Side Bus (FSB) speed and the desktop will match it.

I did that with my Latitude D620 when I upgraded it to 4GB. The FSB speed increased.
That means data is moved faster from CPU to RAM and vice versa.

 

[Bruce Hagen]

What is the model of the Dell PC ?

Dimension 4700

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHZ

You will get a lot of different opinions here. These are some of mine.
YMMV.

Memory is cheap these days. I had the same Dell machine. There are two
256MB cards installed and two extra slots. I moved the 256MB cards to the
secondary slots and installed two 1GB cards in the primary slots. That
brought it up to 2.5GB and a huge difference. I got mine here.
http://www.edgetechcorp.com/ram/Dell/Dimension/4700-Memory

If you have the installation disk, it would be a good idea to reformat and
reinstall after saving anything you need.

I would also dump Norton in a heartbeat. It is a resource hog and not
necessarily Windows friendly. Microsoft Security Essentials is a good
choice as is Avast & Windows Defender.

Norton and McAfee are the two least Windows friendly security programs and
resource hogs to boot. My ISP offers McAfee security suite for free and I
refuse to use it.

I used to use Avast in conjunction with Windows Defender, (still a decent
option), but since MSE became of age, I have been using that. MSE is an
Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware and Anti-Malware program all in one. IMO, this is
one program MS got right, and all of these options are freeware.

Should you choose to give it a try, download and save MSE. Remove Norton
and then install MSE.

Microsoft Security Essentials
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/default.aspx

Download and run the Norton Removal Tool
http://service1.symantec.com/SUPPORT/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

 

[Bruce Hagen]

Bruce:

Look inside that box and relate back the model of DDR2 RAM, PC2-4200,
PC2-5300 or PC2-6400 for both the 256MB and 1GB modules.

Unfortunately I do not have that machine any more. When I changed the RAM
I spoke to someone at EdgeTech and they confirmed the cards I needed
before I ordered though. That was a long time ago and I was still a little
damp behind the ears.

 

[Paul]

I was just given a XP-Home computer because it is very slow.

I defragged the disk.

Since I don't know what makes sense to do I try various things:

I run msconfig and disable all startups and all non-ms services.

I then boot in safe mode and the computer is fast but in normal mode it is
slooow.

In safe mode a certain app appears as soon as I click its short-cut icon,

but in normal mode it takes about 40 seconds to appear.

In case it means something here's a little more info:

Norton 360 is on the machine.

When I click OK in msconfig I get an Access Denied message but can't tell
what was suppressed - I'm guessing it's Notron.

It's 2.73 GH with 512 MB RAM Dell computer

Thanks in advice for any helpful suggestions at all!

If it was malware, you could either try Malwarebytes while
in Windows, or try the Kaspersky offline scanner. Kaspersky makes
a boot CD available for free, and when you boot it, it contacts
Kaspersky and gets fresh malware definitions. It'll give
you some idea if the machine is infected or not. It takes about an
hour to scan my C: partition.

http://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/rescuedisk/main?qid=208286083

ISO image of Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 (237 MB)

Once the file is downloaded, you use Nero or Imgburn, to
convert the ISO9660 file into a bootable CD. You don't
just "copy" the file to the CD (not a drag and drop).
A proper burner tool, parses the ISO9660, and puts
the boot sectors in the right place and so on. You should
not see a single 237MB file on the CD when finished, but
rather, a whole collection of smaller files. As long as
the CD is in the boot path (as set in the BIOS menu),
you'll be able to boot from that CD. And that CD uses DHCP
to get an IP address from your ADSL or cable modem/router.
(Your ADSL or cable modem, should be prepared in advance of
booting that CD.)

The Kaspersky CD doesn't do dialup networking, and doesn't have the PPP
package loaded to support that. The CD is actually based on
something like Gentoo, but with lots of tweaks to screw
certain things up. (In the last version, they removed the
nice "docache" option. With "docache", you can start a
scan running, and pop out the CD. Now, that doesn't work.)

Having a machine with 512MB RAM, isn't the end of the world.
I used to work on a machine like that, and you could keep around
three programs open at a time. Not "elite", but not entirely
dead either. You can still get work done with it. You
just have to plan carefully. If you only had 256MB, well,
*that* would be painful.

Paul

 

[Cal Who]

Lots of good info here.

Guess I know what t do now.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Bob F]

Lots of good info here.

Guess I know what t do now.

Thanks a lot!

I recently worked on a friends PC with similar problems. HE had used it with
Norton, then switched to Microsoft Security Essentials. I doubled the RAM to
1GB,, it was still slow. Then I actually REMOVED Norton from the PC. BAM!
everything worked way better.

 

[richard2]

I recently worked on a friends PC with similar problems. HE had used it with
Norton, then switched to Microsoft Security Essentials. I doubled the RAM to
1GB,, it was still slow. Then I actually REMOVED Norton from the PC. BAM!
everything worked way better.

Friends dont let friends use Norton AV.

 

[Cal Who]

I recently worked on a friends PC with similar problems. HE had used it
with Norton, then switched to Microsoft Security Essentials. I doubled the
RAM to 1GB,, it was still slow. Then I actually REMOVED Norton from the
PC. BAM! everything worked way better.

Thanks
I did do that and it is OK now!