Painfully slow windows xp

[tate1711]

I'm running an emachines T6212 with 2.5 gigs of RAM. (AMD Athlon 64 3200+ / 2.0 GHz ) Windows began slowing down a while back, so I reinstalled it after a format and fdisk. Even with a fresh install it can take about 30 minutes to get to something that resembles workable, even at that point the system lag is incredible. I did a memory test and all checked out OK. Thinking I might have a hardware issue I installed ubuntu on a second partition on the same HD, it flies. I've even swapped out the HD at one point but that wasn't the issue either. Any ideas/suggestions?

 

[lazyperson17]

try the following two things.

First, go to www.download.com/ccleaner and download and install Ccleaner. Then run the registry tool until there are no more errors (if there are any to begin with.)

Second, go to www.download.com and download and install Advances System Care. Run the program at least twice, if not 3 times. Then restart your computer.

See if that doesnt help. if not, we will take the next step

Just a question, when did you purchase the system?

 

[aford10]

I'd stay away from download.com. I've got infected files from there before.

If you want ccleaner, just go to the source.
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

 

[lazyperson17]

wow, really? Im surprised to hear that but glad to know it

If thats the case, ignore the above link, use aford10's and then for the systemcarefree software:

http://iobit.com/ascdownload.html

 

[aford10]

It's always best to go to the source, or a reputable site (such as CNET) for your downloads. It helps avoid software that's been repackaged with malware (intentional or not).

 

[tate1711]

Well I did the above. It did seem to resolve the issues immediately, but when I rebooted I get really slow again. I also noticed a sound coming from the case. Like the usual hum you get from a case but it's going up and down in frequency, wondering if my PSU is on it's way out? What's the best way to diagnose this?

 

[aford10]

Pop the side of the case open. See if the sound is coming from the power supply, or the CPU fan.

Tap the delete key repeatedly on startup to enter the BIOS. Look for an option called quickboot. Some systems have it, some don't. If you do, make sure it's enabled.

Run ccleaner, and look at the programs listed as starting with windows. Edit those program options to not run when windows starts, or disable them from running using ccleaner.

start-->right click on my computer-->properties-->make sure it's recognizing all of your RAM. Some might be missing, as it can be reserved, but most should be recognized.

 

[tate1711]

Sound is coming from the vid card fan, so guessing I might be overheating and it's lagging me? All memory is being used. Strange thing is linux ubuntu doesn't produce lag, but that may be because it's less resource intensive? Does that make sense?

 

[aford10]

You may have a flaky video driver. Check the manufacturer's website to see if there's an updated one.

You can open the task manager, and look at the processes tab. Click on the CPU column twice to arrange it from highest to lowest useage. Watch to see what services are kicking off when the fan revs, and the system lags.

Did you check the startup programs?

 

[godbrother]

Useally, the symtoms could be a dying hard drive. In the 5 years I've owned HDD's, this only happened to me recently and I was kinda shocked as it never happened before. After some googling, and hours of trying I finnally got all my inportant data of the HDD before it went kwaboom.