Hello readers,

My pc ( AMD XP 1.7ghz, 512 mgs ddr , 80gb western digital and 160 western digital, ABIT NF7-S Rev 2.0, Windows XP Pro.)

My problem is very odd.

While working the pc, the speeds dropped immidiately, by speeds i mean the processing power of my pc. It took my pc nearly 15 mins to boot up. I had this pc for while and it boots up much much much faster than that. Tops 2mins. I did not install any new programs, nor did i play with any system applications. After the pc boots up, it takes so much time for applications to load.Any help in this situation will be really appriciated. Thank you

The first thing I would do is format the HD and install a fresh copy of Windows. If you've had it for a while Windows is probabaly clogged up or something has gone wrong, either way a fresh install usually gets it back to the speed it was when you first bought it.

It could be a hardware problem though as the slowdown effects are quite drastic.

Alright Jordan, just wondering, is there any else i can do besides a format ? Is there anything I can do to troubleshoot this problem ?

Could possibly be a dead harddrive? I had a dead harddrive in my system, ran fine one day, then took 15 mins to boot the next, took out the drive, and booted correctly.

Sounds like you have some spyware or adware slowing your sytem down. Start your machine in safe mode. If it boots fast then that is your problem. Get spybot and adaware, google them.

That was my intial thought, How would i check for a dead hard drive ? As far i can see (hear), the hard drive seems to be spinning.

Does it sound unhealthy? Like whining or scratching more than ussual? What make is the drive? You can download a diagnostic tool from the manufacturers site and test that way and run checkdisk and defragment it too.

The hard disk sounds healthy to me. The Harddrive is western digital cav something. Now i am going to western digitals website and i am going to look for the tools you have mentioned. THank you .

I have had a Cav SE fail on me before and ran the diagnostic tool and it found too many errors to finnish. It always sounded noisey and whiney from the day I got it. WD shipped out the replacement pronto, it worked fine but still was as noisey as the first.

I would have to agree with Drago on this one. sometimes it's not a hardware problem. Before doing anything else, you should probably check if you have a Virus or Adware and Spyware. Also delete any internet garbage (cookies, temp files, etc). All these things combined can cause the computer to slow down.

You can get Adaware or Spybot for free. And use a good virus killer like Norton or Mcafee to check for viruses, unfortunately those aren't for free....although....anything is possible .

I also use programs like Tune-Up and Systemworks, to fix and delete unecessary registry files, and errors. I've been using some of these programs for about 4 yrs and my 4 yr old computer is still running pretty fast.

Ok... my usual routine...

1. Download the program Spy Sweeper by Webroot. Install, update defs, run program. Can't remember home page but you can find it w/ google.com

2. After 1, Download Avast Anti-Virus at www.avast.com , update and then run. If your think "I already have , I don't need another one" well, i've seen Avast pick up things that McAfee, Norton and various other Virus Scanners missed. You don't have to register for anything, and it gives you a 60 day free trial.

3. If you don't have any viruses, or Adware, you can try to clean out your registry yourself. I can help you out, but i suggest you do steps 1 and 2 before trying anything else.

4. Just Re-Install windows without a format.

i did a virus scan usin bit diffender it picked up something and so did "ad aware " and now the pc is fine. Thanks for all the help guys ( and gals ) You guys are real good

I thought EVERYONE had a virus scanner these days...