Slow PC

[alun1smile]

I have a 3.5 year old Dell PC. It is getting slow and unreliable. For example it doesn't like having too many browsers running at the same time and disables some features like right click when it does.
I have Norton antivirus software and have run Registry Mechanic/defragmented disks.
Is there anything else I can do - I really don't want to change PCs every 3 years?
Thanks in advance

[ACtheTROLL]

A 35 YEAR OLD PC!!!!!!!!!!

I think your problem is just old age
things just mount up
you could try http://www.ccleaner.com/download
(default settings)
uninstall as much rubbish as you can
if you have lots of photos, music (or anything else)
consider archiving to CD or dvd (and then delete)

run scandisk and defrag again - and you can't do much more (dump reg mechanic!)

the best thing though is to crash, burn and reinstall windows
3.5 years is a long time without a cleanround

[gramsey438]

Another thing you can try is using the task manager in xp, this can be started by hitting the ctrl alt del key combination and then clicking on the task manager button.

When opened select the performance tab, you will see a section titled "Physical Memory"
If you start dropping too low on available memory then xp will be carrying out far more writing to the hard drive ie your pagefile and this will slow things up.

Clicking the processes tab will show all running processes and you can sortt them by memory usage, this will give you a good idea as to what is eating up your available ram and maybe the apps that are draining it.

If you are running XP then 512mb of RAM is the minimum recommended. however I would suggest at least 1GB and if you are feeling flash goto 2 or a maximum of 3GB

[fiesata]

AC I think he means three and a half years

A quicker answer is to remove everything you need and format and reinstall XP a saver of many a slow PC

[fo3nix]

This is pretty standard for Windows; it gets slower with age.

What do you use your computer for?

Installing Ubuntu, while a little different, is very similar to Windows and lets you get all the usual tasks done.

It's free, easy to try, and will make your computer feel much faster.

[fo3nix]

Oops.

http://www.ubuntu.com

[dot.hawkes]

i always imagine by laptop is like a disorganised filing cabinet, and when I take a file out i put it back in in the wrong place, so it is slower to locate it when i want it again. That's why the defragmenting tool is a lifesaver, it tidies up the files and makes them accessible in the right order.

[ChuckFickens]

Although I am a ubuntu user and fan I have found that it is not much quicker then a freshly installed or well maintained XP system of the same specs.

It is however far less likely to suffer from slowdown after time..

[deggers316]

a guy i work with asked me to sort his slow pc out ,i was amazed to find he'd no virus prog on as his norton had expired many months ago he was only using xp firewall, had not defragged or used clean up hard disk etc "he didn't know how??"it was clogged with malware etc again no adaware or spybot prog
i got rid of norton for avast and comodo along with spyware prog etc,it was like new in 1 hours work, this takes no skill it's certainly not rocket science and above all the progs were free,i just wonder how many million more like him are out there

[deggers316]

and yes also put on cc cleaner, the best free prog available

[alun1smile]

Thank you so much for all the advice. I'm touched that so many of you would take the time to help. I'll certainly give some of those a go.