Computer Running Slow

[tinaandliz]

Hello there.. My friends computer is running really slow and i only know the basics on how to clean it.. any reccomendations. she has XP. and AVG.. I told her to defrag and disc cleanup.. anyone else maybe help me out. ?

[ACtheTROLL]

need more info
processor ....
memory
disc space (total and free)

[daffy654]

How much RAM does she have installed. You really need a minimum of 1GB to run a system with XP,more if possible. She should also do a spyware scan as the spyware can cause a system to slow up a lot. Tell her to do an online scan at Trend Micro.It may take quite a while depending on the size of her hard drive and how many files are on it.
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/uk/

[tinaandliz]

ACtheTROLL and daffy654.. how will i know wat processor is on there and how much memory and disc space, im not that good.. ?

[Elmek]

right click on my computer and then click on properties. it will tell you the processor and how much ram is installed.
Or try using ccleaner. download and install from here http://www.ccleaner.com/
it can also clean up your registry and you can take out unneccesary start up programs

[tinaandliz]

is this free ?

[ACtheTROLL]

yes it's free

ignore daffy ... the 1gb is a myth - of course the more the merrier ... but unless you are doing something intense 256 is enough ... the min only asks for 64.

If the machine has slowed down ... it's something that has happened or accumulated .... not a sudden need for RAM
(unless you have just started encoding video)

it's more likely to be a case of a full HDD - windows ntfs wants 20% of the total space free, an empty Temp folder .... and no progs just left in a "corner"

all of which CCCleaner will shift

if not ... come back

[tinaandliz]

Ok .. she keeps gettin a pop up sayin internet explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close. send error report or dont . she clicks send error report and the computer freezes. any suggestions. its a 254 RAM . i thought she maybe had too much programs on there tryin all to load automatically on start up. AC please help

[daffy654]

AC please don't tell people to ignore me,its quite rude. I was told by a tech that 1GB was needed for XP although I myself run it on 512 on my other system(which is really slow compared to this one-vista with 2GB). I apologise if my info was wrong.

[tinaandliz]

my my the least i want is agruements just my friends pc fixed.. u guys are both helping with ur advice. xx

[daffy654]

Sorry tinaandliz I was just offended to see what was posted. I will bow out gracefully now. I hope your friend manages to get her PC sorted out.x

[tinaandliz]

everyones help is much appreciated here. so daff yif u wanna help me out i wouldnt mind at all xx

[Silverhelper]

Hi tinaandliz

Lots of good advice has been given here already about this problem and your original help very good. The bottom line is the amount of RAM you informed us your friend has, is not alot. This is common problem with people trying to overwork their PC. Too many programs opened on the task bar and the PC runs out of available RAM to do work with.
If you press the following keys ctrl - alt - del.
You will get a box, the third tab shows some graphs about how hard you are pushing the PC. The first tab shows all running progs. Some programs will bale out if not enough ram to work like Internet Explorer.
So...close all progs not immediately needed.
Do the clean up.
Don't work so hard?

Regards
Silverhelper.