PC running to slow...

Hai friends,,
I am using Intel d101ggc with pentium 4 processor...now, my computer is slow to startup..the network connection and security alerts icons take upto 1 min to appear in taskbar,other are loded correctly...and within that time no firefox will come...and it will opens only when the network connection icon appears...I want to know why is it occured...and is there anyfix..
1. I am having 1tb harddisk and it is almostfull(about 900gb used).is it affect the perfomance?
2.i am using 1gb and 512mb rams of different frequency..is it the problem?
3.is there anyway to obtain a official iso of windows xp from digitalriver like?

My system specs are:-
*Intel pentium 4 D101ggc
*1gb+512mb twinmos RAM
*40gb samsung+1tb Seagate HDD
*window xp sp3 up-to-date updated.

Plz anyone help me to fix this problem..atleast the icon problem want to fixed...plz anyone help ...

 

perform the following to clean up pc, after that if there are any issues we can address those problems:

Advice from Shenan Stanley:

Probably will want to clean up that machine...

Check for malware:
Download, install, run, update and perform full system scans with the following two applications:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/


Removing everything they find. Rebooting when needed. (You can uninstall one or both when done.)
Then perform an online scan with the eSet Online Scanner.

The less you have running all the time, the better the things you want to run will perform:

Use Autoruns to figure out what all is starting up when your computer does/when you log on. Look up anything you do not know about usingGoogle (and/or ask here.) You can hopefully figure out if there are things starting when you computer does (or you logon) that you do not need and then configure them (via their own built-in mechanisms is the preferred method) so they do not start up - using your resources without reason.
You can download and utilize Process Explorer to see exactly what is taking up your processor/CPU time and memory. This can help you recognize applications you might want to look into alternatives for and/or get rid of all together.

Do some house cleaning and dust off that hard drive:

You may wish to free up some disk space (will also aid in getting rid of things you do not utilize) by going through these steps:

Windows XP should take between 4.5 and 9GB *with* an Office suite, Photo Editing software, alternative Internet browser(s), various Internet plugins and a host of other things installed.

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...

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

( Particularly of interest here - #4 )

( Alternative: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, and click Power Options).
-
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the "System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the hiberfil.sys file.
-
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.

2. Click the System Restore tab.

3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on the "Settings" button.

4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)

5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a size between 64MB and 128MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS - Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to something between 64MB and 128MB. (It may be MUCH larger right now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents" (the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10 minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet Explorer.
-
You can use an application that scans your system for log files and temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/

( just the disk cleanup - don't play with the registry part for now )
Other ways to free up space..

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used. Then you can determine what to do.
After that - you will want to check for any physical errors and arrange everything for efficient access"

CHKDSK

How to scan your disks for errors
* will take time and a reboot.
Defragment
How to Defragment your hard drives
* will take time

 

The system restore of my 1tb harddisk is showing as 114464MB(approx 111gb)and it is the max..will there any problem occur when i reduce it,the available spaces are 50,11491,22932,34374mb etc...wht should i choose??and also the Write Caching of this drive in device manager is enabled..is there any problem cause when i disabled??the power failure in my area is high and will it affect any problm?

 

System restore:

the size is determinate on user choice, by default Windows chooses 12%, I have mine set at 3 percent.

As a rule I clear out my restore points pretty often, as infections that have gotten on your machine may still be in a restore point.

It will not harm anything to have the amount of space reduced for System Restore, just keeps only so many restore points.

You can even turn off system restore and clear ALL restore points, reboot, then restart system restore, and it will create a new system restore checkpoint.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/windows-xp-system-restore-guide/

above is a good tutorial on system restore and what it does and does not do.

==================

above quote is from here:

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/187751en?popup=true

so since you are subject to frequent power outages, then I would disable write caching.

However, you should run checkdisk whenever a power outage has occured, as frequent ungraceful shutdowns can cause corruption of system files

run with the /r parameter.

go to start, run, type in cmd

in cmd type in chkdsk c: /r and press enter

type Y for yes and press enter

type exit and press enter

restart pc, allow checkdisk to finish and run again

this is a lengthy process depending on the size of your harddrive, the percentages will fluctuate, this is normal, you can view report in the event viewer.
go to start>run> and type in eventvwr.msc, click on the applications directory, and in the right hand panel choose winlogon.

Since you have such a large drive, you might want to run with the /f parameter first

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265#method2

read above on running checkdisk

 

I needed this too -

Elizabeth23 you are my new god. I just joined forum and I will need help converting to either 7 or 8 and when I read your reply on slow pc, I knew I was in the right place !
I will copy your instructions and proceed. I know it's obvious but I am Not technically inclined. sigh. But I try. A lot of your info was over my head, but I can proceed.

THANKS to all, and esp E23 for informative help.

 

Thank you and if you have any issues later, please start your own thread.

 

use TuneUp utiities 2014
it's free for 15 days and here is the serial

TMACO-HRNAV-OZGB2-ADQKE-WC2K2-XCY2J
CM2Y3-UZMDJ-J4QVG-AALBE-2Y7AB-MCVVN
CMWKQ-B4ZNG-YABPT-QNRVM-XKBSX-PNISF
CMACS-XTNAV-OZGB2-ADNMR-AC4YJ-QVFVK
CMC62-BUNGF-HHRXJ-AKEOX-D6UON-AQJZH
CM36Z-CYDBB-OB4XR-QS6RN-26MJB-3ZTTP

and yeah this application helps you to run your pc faster and it's user friendly.

~xp

 

@SenpaiDSwegg, I do not recommend tuneup utilities, ccleaner is a better one, just do not use any registry cleaner at all, you stand the risk of making your pc unbootable.