Thread: Help with Speeding up XP

First tool to use is the disc defragmenter. Click My Computer, right click your hard drive, click properties, click tools, you will see stuff there to do.

Download and run ccleaner then run the defrag

I would suggest all of the following things

1. Remove all your images (from Cameras etc) to an external hard drive. Only keep on the computer hard drive those from the latest trip/latest month. This will probably free up heaps of space
2. Delete all the temporary files from you internet browsing (cant remember exact commands as I am now on Win7
3. If you are happy to - delete all other temp files from the computer (start, run - and then type in del *.tmp. Only do this if you are confident - this will delete any file on your computer with the extension.tmp)
4. Delete any programs that you are not using or can do without - be ruthless (all the kids games etc if they have left home )
5. Empty the recycle bin
6. Defrag (may take overnight on a big disc)

The best way (if you have the original disks) is to format the hard drive and do a clean install.

Before you do this, make sure you back up all your presonal data. The one most people forget is their email, if you use outlook the .pst file for each user and archive can be fairly well buried.

If you want a really snappy machine try installing an SSD drive for the OS and major programs, but your motherboard will need to support SATA devices.

I've just done a clean install on my W7 box, and added an SSD drive, and my system now boots in well under 30 seconds (it had bloated out to over 2 1/2 minutes) so I am happy, but I understand some people are reluctant to do a clean install.

Originally Posted by sdt463

............................................ So, can any one give me or point me towards some real real simple instructions on how to give them both a bit of a decoke and a tuneup.
Cheers Dave

Keeping it simple.

There's a number of things that can make your computer run slow or appear to run slow. Depends what you mean by run slow. Slow to boot, slow to access data, slow to manipulate data (like picture editing for example) or slow on the internet.

Before you do anything make backup copies of your important files and then CHECK that they have actually been backed up. This includes photos, letters, favourites etc. You can even back up your e-mail, do a search for *.pst (you will have to temporarily turn on show hidden files) if you want to do this, and copy this file.

One cause of running slow is a hard disc that is too full. Go into disc cleanup in system tools and follow the instructions. If your 'c' drive is still too full try moving some files (photos etc) to another drive if you have one or deleting what is not needed.

If you have a c\ temp or c\ windows \temp folder you can delete the contents without losing anything important, often reclaiming a large ammount of space.

Go into add\remove programs and weild a big scythe. If there's something you don't need get rid of it. If you've got kids there'll be loads of needless crap that can be gotten did of.

Often downloaded are various programs that promise to speed up the computer/internet. Invariably these are just malware ridden crap that actually slows you PC down. Get rid of them if they're installed.

If you're running more than one virus scanner get rid of all but one, especially if you have an older version of Nortons. I have found that Microsofts free virus/malware program to be quite good but on 'less powerful' machines can give a fair hit to performance.

One other thing you can do is run 'msconfig' and look under the 'startup' tab. This is a handy little unadvertised program that has been with Windows for ever and is very handy tool for speeding up a machine that has become a bit of a slug.

What it does is list 'non essential' programs that start in conjunction with Windows. These programs can be temporarily (or permanently) disabled to help with fault finding or speeding up boot time. Nothing you disable here will stop your PC from booting. It's often amazing to see the boot time improvement when you go in and select 'disable all'. Be a bit careful though as 'disable all' will disable your virus scanner.
It is common for software manafacturers to start their program or some of its properties at boot, particularly an update search. It's amazing how quick this list grows, and you rarely need to start any of these programs at boot.

Slow internet can also be a victim of the above, especially if you have a 'light' plan. You can often have so much crap competing for bandwidth when you go online that you're lucky to be able to check your email. This is a major cause of internet woes if you still happen to be on dial-up. Get rid of the lot (except for your anti virus/malware auto update) and do manual updates when you need to.
Microsoft Update can be a major problem here, changing your preference from the default auto download and install to advise of updates can help here if this is an issue.

When you've done the above a 'defrag' probably won't hurt but IMO probably won't do much good either. Doesn't make a hell of a lot of difference in Windows XP and later from my experience. Try and avoid the freebie programs that claim to do wonders for you, they're basically malware ridden crap.

Additional RAM is the best value 'bang for buck' upgrade you can do to speed up your PC if you have 1G or less, but a bit of technical knowlege/expertise is required to do this properly.

Deano

the following is a cut down version of how i do it, your mileage may vary and you get to own all the bits if it does

if xp then you should be running at least 2g ram with sp3 fitted for xp to be anything near optimal.

less than 2g ram and you are wearing your hard drive out prematurely

uninstall any and all anti malware packages including malwarebytes ccleaner adaware sybot etc etc and any registry cleaners, ram boosters, driver updaters, desktop search programs etc etc etc and especially any toolbars including any conduit addons

leave only one anti virus package of your choice
(MSE is currently the best free one IMHO)

download hirens boot cd and burn to cd

DO NOT BOOT FROM IT!

if the hirens menu doesnt automatically load, run HBCDMenu.cmd from the root dir of the cd

under programs cleaners click on atf-cleaner, select select all, then untick cookies, then run selected

under programs cleaners click on ccleaner

click yes on intellgent cookie scan

click cleaner, run cleaner, ok

click registry, scan for issues, fix issues, dont backup, fix all issues, close, exit out of it

under programs cleaners click Glary Registry Repair, scan for registry problems, repair, close, exit

under programs optimisers click NT Registry Optimiser, click ok, yes to reboot now. system will reboot.

the next bit is more advanced and a little more risky but usually worth the effort

make sure you are connected to the net

disable your antivirus package until reboot

start hirens menu again

under programs antivirus software click combofix
click i agree
click okay if it finds your av and again
click ok if you get the update warning
click okay if you get restart combo fix dialog
click i agree and again twice maybe for av warning
if it wants to install anything click yes and do what it says to do, no buts!
click yes to continue
it does it's thing which takes a little while
it may ask you to reboot, do so
if it finishes and shows the report without a reboot, read the report then reboot

if it doesn't finish to the point it shows a report or a reboot prompt and after half an hour it is still sitting there with the hard drive light pulsing then you have a serious issue that usually will need the attention of a professional. hold the power button in for 5 secs and the system will shutdown


more in the next exciting episode....

Originally Posted by incisor

uninstall any and all anti malware packages including malwarebytes and any registry cleaners, ram boosters, driver updaters, desktop search programs etc etc etc and especially any toolbars including any conduit addons


[snip]


more in the next exciting episode....

Geez Inc, you should do this for a living, or something ?

no,, he puts in power poles or something?