Computer running VERY slow

onedummy

December 29, 2008 1:55:04 AM

Hello.

I hope that I'm posting this question in the correct place.

My wife's computer has been running much slower for a few months so, I decided to back everything up, format the hard drive and re-install Windows XP Pro. Unfortunately this did not solve the problem and it took quite sometime to load the OS and install all of the updates. I'm now convinced that it must be some type of hardware problem. I tried switching out the ram and it is still running very slow. While I had the case opened, I noticed one of the fans were not running and the fan was still plugged into the motherboard. Could the motherboard be my problem or could it just as easily be the cpu or hard drive? Should I try and repair myself or should we just start from scratch? The computer itself is about 6 years old. Thanks for any and all suggestions..

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caamsa

December 29, 2008 2:08:02 AM

6 year old computer. I would start from scratch and replace it.

If one of the fans is not working (which fan?) then it could be over heating and slowing the system down but if a cpu gets too hot the system will either freeze or shut down. or it might be the hard drive. If you reinstalled XP and it took a long time (I had the same problem a couple of times) it is probably the hard drive.

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onedummy

December 29, 2008 2:26:47 AM

caamsa said:

If one of the fans is not working (which fan?) then it could be over heating and slowing the system down

Thanks for the reply!

It's not the processor fan. It's a fan on the back of the case. I thought the motherboard might be going out and could have caused the fan not to run and the computer to be running very slowly.

We're considering just buying a new computer. The only issue there is we don't want a computer with Vista because our printer is older also and doesn't have drivers for Vista.

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caamsa

December 29, 2008 2:40:42 AM

onedummy said:

Thanks for the reply!

It's not the processor fan. It's a fan on the back of the case. I thought the motherboard might be going out and could have caused the fan not to run and the computer to be running very slowly.

We're considering just buying a new computer. The only issue there is we don't want a computer with Vista because our printer is older also and doesn't have drivers for Vista.

You could always build your own system and just install XP on it. Or you can buy a system that has no OS on it. Some people/places sell them like that. If you get one from Best Buy you might have a problem since they are pre-loaded with the OS and other crap.

What kind of processor do you have?

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Outlander_04

December 29, 2008 2:45:54 AM

Check in device manager to see all the motherboard drivers are working as they should .

if they are then I suspect the hard drive is dying ,

or the IDE cable is damaged . The cable can have a minor kink which will damage it internally and cause the computer to slow down . If you have a spare try that and see what happens

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onedummy

December 30, 2008 10:12:13 PM

Thanks for all the replies/suggestions..

It appears that the hard drive is in fact dying a slow death..

We've decided to buy a new computer and now I have a new question.

The wife really doesn't want Vista on her machine. If we bought a computer that has Vista loaded, could I just format the hard drive and load XP on the new machine? Would or should I run into any issues?

Thanks for any suggestions/replies..

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caamsa

December 31, 2008 2:13:03 PM

onedummy said:

Thanks for all the replies/suggestions..

It appears that the hard drive is in fact dying a slow death..

We've decided to buy a new computer and now I have a new question.

The wife really doesn't want Vista on her machine. If we bought a computer that has Vista loaded, could I just format the hard drive and load XP on the new machine? Would or should I run into any issues?

Thanks for any suggestions/replies..

I would think that it would void your warranty if you did that. Or you might have problems with driver issues as well. Maybe you can build your own system or buy a system with no OS.

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