slow windows

[Kaila Yu]

okay, im really getting sick of seeing my windowsxp go so slowly. i really need to figure out why windows slows down after about a month. defragging doesn't really do much if you know any reasons why people like me keep reinstalling because its so slow, let me know

 

[Iceman]

list your specs. so we can see if maybe u need more ram, faster cpu, or something else, also tell us what your doing when it slows down.

 

[Kaila Yu]

I have a:
1GhZ P3
384MB PC2100 DDR RAM
GeForce2MX
120MB WD Hard Drive 5400rpm
32x10x40 cdrw

well the first couple days i use the installation its fast. like you can really tell too...but after a couple weeks when you do certain tasks like ctrl+alt+del or even try to get to the control panel, it slows down greatly. im not sure if these specs will help. xp slows down even on my 7200 drive...so i think theres something with the system files etc...any ideas?

 

[Lonman]

what file system are you using? nfts or fat32?

 

[Kaila Yu]

fat32

 

[Lonman]

give ntfs a go... it takes care of itself a LOT better then fat32. If it's not a real problem, I'd suggest doing a full format during installation to get the greatest benefit from it. You can do a conversion, but I prefer a complete format myself. To convert, go to start> run> and type in cmd> at the prompt type in convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs << example is: convert c: /fs:ntfs

 

[J0sh]

Do you leave your computer on for real long periods of time? like many days? I also have 384 ram, and found that I needed to reboot at least once a day or else use something like tweakXP to recover RAM.

 

[Kaila Yu]

i usually reboot every 2 hours. im not sure why windows does this. it happens to a lot of people.

 

[bheagle]

I keep my system up 24/7 and usually I go two or three weeks without rebooting. Actually the only time I reboot at all is when I change the system somehow and have to do it for that.

 

[Tbird94sc]

my system has been up for 23 days 11 hours and 43 minutes and counting without a restart or reboot. still going strong

 

[J0sh]

I can't keep my computer running that long. Something inevitably takes all my memory, and refuses to give it back. That, plus I'm convinced I have a memory leak somewhere.....

 

[tyk82002]

Let XP manage your mem on its own. That is what it is designed to do if you run into a SNAFU, XP will recognize that and fix it itself if you give it the chance. XP is designed to update itself internally every three or so days. If you let it, XP will continually make itself better and better for you!

 

[2z]

1st empty your start up folder - suggest putting these in your quick launch - reboot - 2nd go through services & look for programs you've installed change these from automatic to manual - reboot - 3rd run / msconfig / startup / deselect programs you've installed (not usb devices) - reboot -
4th unplug any usb devices (apart from mouse & keyboard)
5. disable anti virus

all the above common cures of XP slowdown