Suddenly, my computer is sluggish as .... HELP!!! (1 Viewer)

[DanaA]

I have a Dell Dimensions 8200, 2 gig Pentium 4 with 512 RDRAM.

Recently, it has been experiencing a slow down, especially on start up or when running more than one application at a time.

For instance, a few times on starting the thing up, the cursor froze at the window just before you reach your desktop where you click on which account you want to open. Similarly, when trying to shut down a couple of times, it wouldn't shut down. It takes a lot longer to boot up when turning it on. When attempting to use Norton's Speed Disc, everything else turns super sluggish.

I'd really appreciate if anyone could help me out here as I have mediocre computer skills.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Everybody is going to want to know first if you have a virus checker, as that is usually the first culprit.
Any downloads that took longer than expected (more noticable with dial-up).

Also, your OS. Windows XP had an update a little while back that slowed down a lot of machines, but not all of them. It sort of depends on what software you have loaded up.

And any new additions to your hard drive? New games or something else that may be running the the background that you can't see unless you look at the list.

Glenn

 

[DanaA]

Thanks Glenn.

I removed Norton's antivirus software to see if that was the case, so that's not it.

I read about that particular upgrade a while back, so avoided downloading it.

As far as I can tell, I have no new software or hardware that would be causing the problem.

I even went to msconfig and deactivated everything on the start up list but a couple of items, but the problem's still there.

I'm at a loss.:b

 

[JasenP]

For a faster startup use a Microsoft utility called bootvis available here.

It sped up my XP machine's boot by at least 50%.

 

[Adam]

Last week was a bad week for viruses. There were new viruses almost everyday. Norton had new DAT files everyday, as well, sometime twice a day.

You better reload Norton AV. Download the latest virus definitions and do a full scan of your hard drive.

 

[DanaA]

Thanks Jason,

Did the download. It sped things up a bit, but the problem is still there. :frowning:
Thanks anyway.

Adam,
Thanks for the advice. Just did a scan late last night. Will reload Norton later today.