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Poor performance

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by rmhughes0711

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My mom has a Dell P4 2gh pc running XP. It has atleast 128 and may have 256. It runs like a dog. The disk is constantly thrashing. Any suggestions on what I can do to fix it? I have run AV software and spyware searches and have all of that knocked out but it still runs like trash. HElp!

13 replies

by wasselh

1st thing I would do is delete al your TEMP files and Internet temporary files. Then run MSCONFIG and stop all services that you don't need to have running all the time.
BlackViper is an excellent site to check out to find services information. (http://www.blackviper.com/index.html)

by tech_wiz03

1) delete temps and internet files and cache's
2) fix the size of the swap file (virtual memory file to 2 to 4 times amount of memory) Windows ordinarily sets min size to 0 and max size to 10% below free hardisk space for 256MB ram size should be 512MB or 1024MB your choice for both min and max vitual size. This reduces disk trashing and subsequent fragmentation.
3) (not sure on this but works for win98) reduce windows internal file cache values [vache] section
such that you add MinFileCache=8192 and MaxFileCache=8192 so that Cache cannot grow to saturate all avalaible memory.
4) Defragment drive and you should after all steps performed have a incredibly faster system.

Regards
rick

by jennifer.gardner

I would suggest running the Dell Diagnostics to eliminate any hardware errors. Find the Resource CD that came with the computer. Boot to the CD, and ask it to do a thorough scan. This scan will take a couple hours, but when it's done you'll be able to eliminate a faulty drive, etc. If it does find a problem, it sounds like the computer is new enough to probably still be covered under warranty. If no errors are found, I would reformat and reinstall.

by sgt_shultz

have you googled 'XP performance' sites like tweak xp have great tips for speeding up xp. like turning off fast user switching and some display tweaks. i have use these with great success. just do the ones you understand.

by espressomorning

Run disk cleanup and remove all the old restore points as well. Then go to system restore settings and set it to it's minimum size. You shouldn't need more than that for the average home computer. Every little bit helps.

by arichart

One other thing that you might look at is your add/remove programs list. If she is like my Mom, she downloads everything that comes along, and those programs waste a lot of space.

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