Windows XP Slow Loading OS

Clarifications

Windows left running Defragments HDD and this causes the Files stored on the HDD to fragment. This in turn causes the Read Write heads in the HDD to have to hunt around the Platters in the HDD to find the files necessary to load the unit.

The biggest result of Fragmented HDD's is Slow Loading and Program Excitation times.

Also if the HDD is nearly full it will slow things down considerably. So have you looked at how much space you have on the HDD free?

With Defraging I wouldn't suggest using the Windows Supplied Utility it's next to useless so use one of the Third Party Defragmenting Tools available.

Col

I already did 3 defrag sessions defragmentation normally, then tried IOBit Disk Defragger, and Piriform Defraggler, but none worked. There's a lot of space for the default drive (C:\) about 30 GB more and the partitioned drive has about 20 GB left.

Also, this unit doesn't have any much applications installed on it, only the basics like an antivirus (AVG Pro), MS Office 2007, CCleaner, IOBit softwares, USB Disk Security, Scanner program for its Canon LIDE 100 scanner, Windows Live Messenger, Adobe Reader, and essential applications for proper internet explorer use (like Flash, Shockwave, Java, etc.). It's also fully updated with the proper Windows Updates.

It is likely riddled with malware. I suggest a full reformat and reinstall of Windows. Just start fresh.

Put in the maximum memory that you can, in your case 4gb of memory. It will make your system run more smoothly and a little faster.
Also a hdd with a 32mb memory added will help also.
Windows will only see just over 3gb of the memory on your motherboard unless you get (or have) the 64 bit version.

If you don't have a big malware problem, a really big one, maybe you have hardware problems.

@Sinister:
It's not a malware, I already scanned the whole thing with every effective scanner I have (Malwarebytes, Stinger, Sality Killer, Sality RegKeys)

@Peconet
Tried amping the Ram up to 3GB (the only 1gig ddr I have left) but still doesn't work. It's still super slow loading.

@logins:
Definitely not a malware problem as I stated above, I've scanned the whole system and nothing comes up. But I am trying to determine if it's a hardware problem. I'm betting it's the HDD, it does make some light clunky noises, probably about to fail soon.

Have you tried looking at "Event Viewer" or "Performance Monitor?" They'll tell you what the system is doing, what's running, what resources are being used etc. Use "Help" to find it. An additional thought: If you're running more than one AV program, the two AV's may perceive each other as a virus attack. You can confirm this in "Performance Monitor". If CPU usage rises rapidly to 100%, then falls off, then recycles, you probably have this situation. Remove one of them. You can also find out if one of the CPU's has failed using this. Another thing to check--tedious but effective--is to remove software, check the system speed, then reload and recheck. In the days of Win98, this was a common issue; much less so today but still possible. Product plug: I recently bought a hard copy (3 license--1 year) of AVG's "PC TuneUp 2011" at Fry's. Wow!! I've liked their AV and have used it for several years, so felt comfortable with this. I use it with both XP and Vista. It finds duplicate files as well as the usual stuff and it's a very user-friendly program. With all of that said, this just may come down to a hardware issue, but you'll have a better feel for the system.

Have you tried booting into "Safe Mode" minimal drivers are loaded and boot up should be about normal, if you still boot slow, run a memory check , and a hard disk check.

Download a copy of the Ultimate Boot Disk from http://www.ubcd4win.com/ and boot your
system using this disk...Sounds like your hard drive...

any chance the Disk is having trouble?

when IDE disks have trouble
winders shoves them back down into PIO mode (1993 speeds)

a disk stuck in PIO Mode will make windows slower than molasses on the antarctic ice cap

.

Great solutions by everyone but since it seems you have done almost all the stuff that is possible to recover (i don't know whether you run a disk cleanup or not. if not better run it and see) and there's something wrong with the boot options I would recommend a fresh install.

Before that it is possible that you are having a large number of heavy startup programs. So do these and see whether it restores your speed.
Go to run-->type msconfig and ENTER. There, go to startup tab and uncheck the unnecessary and heavy programs that would slow down your boot process and do a reboot and see.

Finally, it is possible that your HDD is faulty. May be due to bad sectors or any other physical issues. Check it with a HDD scanner.

Keep us posted on results! :)

Some of the suggestions given so far can lead to better performance but does it really address the core problem?
Take a look at your profile size as this is a big problem with most XP users. Right-click on My Computer and choose Properties, on the Advanced Tab, go down to User Profiles and click on Settings; you will see the profile sizes for one or more logins administered.
Things to look at under your profile wiil be your "My Documents" folder and your Local Temp space; %userprofile%\Local Settings\Temp

I suspect these file locations are larger than 1Gb and is chewing up your memory, hence the slow performance.
Thanks. Let me know!

From any HDD you should test it with it's Makers Test Utility and check for correct function.

As you didn't mention the make of the HDD in this unit go here for the correct Drive Test Utility.

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

Also the correct way to use these is to boot off a Floppy/USB or whatever you have with the Utility copied to it's root. Then run the Utility and if it fails the test remove the HDD fir to another computer and retest.

If it still fails the test the drive is on it's way to [b]Silicon Heaven[/b] so you should replace it immediately but if it passes the second test the M'Board, Power Supply of Data Lead is damaged in the first computer and need attention.

If your Drive Maker isn't listed above use Seatools from Seagate to test the HDD. ;)

Col

All of your suggestions were a great help!

But I've found the problem.

My speculations were correct, it was the hard disk itself which was faulty. I did a drive test with the HDD and it turns out it's already wearing out and the read speed of the disk is going down to 25% of its total reading capability. But before I knew about it, I tried everyone's suggestions just to make sure it wasn't just the HDD.

Thanks so much everyone! :3