Why Does Windows Bog Down?

Maintaining Microsoft - PC Magazine article:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,34080,00.asp?kc=PCNKT0209KTX1K0100360

Optimise the performance of your Windows system:

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cook/Win2000.htm

Optimize Windows XP
A step-by-step guide to better performance:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0%2C%2C5155%2C00.asp

Optimize Windows XP:

http://www.photonenterprises.com/photon/optimize_windows_xp.htm

Bloat, bit rot, fragmentation, and adding and removing software can all cause Windows to slow down. So far, the only effective remedy I have found is to do a clean re-install.

XP has proven more reliable and less prone to slowdowns (neglecting ad ware and virii) than 95, 98, and Me. Compares favorably with 2000 Pro. I have a 3year old XP Pro installation that is still performing well. The secret? Business applications primarily, and few changes or modifications. My workshop PC, also running XP Pro, that is regularly abused has to be reloaded annually.

So cleanup and tuneup programs help, but eventually you have to re-install to regain speed when applications are installed and removed frequently or when PC is used constantly.

Dalton

I have never had to do a wipe and reinstall on any of my systems do to slowdown and performance issues. I have everthing from win9x to xp. About once a month I do a cleanup of each system. I run DiskCleaner to clean up my hard drive, Spybot Search and Destroy to clean up malware, AVG virus scan to check for viruses, and RegCleaner to clean up the registries. All of these programs are freeware and have always done a good job for me.

Cheers.

RW

Like the suggestions up to now, I haven't had big problems with XP yet. One thing to check is to make sure no unnecessary services are running (use msconfig to to remove messangers and such things from auto starting.

Upgrading to SP2 will also slow the system down. This can be easily verified if you are using a system which can only just run win XP, like a system with only 128MB of ram. With XPSP1 you might still be able to work reasonably with that config, after an upgrade to SP2 you will have a noticable decrease in speed. No clean install will really change that. Still, there's no reason not to upgrade to SP2. Add more RAM and you'll have a well running system.

The primary reason that your PC slows down over time is because Windows is bloat-ware. There is just too much code and it is a gargantuan task to even think about optimizing the core Windows code.

The 2 primary issues that cause your PC to slow down are:

Memory Leaks

Expansion of the registry files.

Memory leaks are usually the result of a bad driver or patch installation. I myself have not had very good luck clearing memory leaks by methods other than re-installing Windows.

The registry grows every time you boot your PC.
Install Software.
Install Windows Updates.

The best thing to do, is purge all the left-overs when you un-install a software package.
Then, you need to defrag the registry.

While not a panacea, I have had good luck with System Suite from V-Com
www.v-com.com

1 good trick that I use to help a Windows installation run longer, is to create a separate partition for the page file.
That way, neither the page file nor your system files get fragmented as much.
You can also easily clear the page file by moving it to another drive and then back to the dedicated drive.

Chas