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From: Jaime on 9 Feb 2010 11:06
I'm tired, i cant find something for to speed up my windows xp, i want to
know if really exist a program for to speed up windows xp totally free
without to pay a lisence, and that really could speed up my pc

I will be thanksful if you give me some options

Thank you

My computer is a Dell d610 with windows xp service pack 3.
From: Leonard Grey on 9 Feb 2010 11:35
There is no such program, free or paid.

Here are some suggestions to increase your computer's performance:
1- Eliminate memory intensive programs running in the background.
2- Add RAM.
3- Remove malware.
---
Leonard Grey
Errare humanum est

Jaime wrote:
> I'm tired, i cant find something for to speed up my windows xp, i want to
> know if really exist a program for to speed up windows xp totally free
> without to pay a lisence, and that really could speed up my pc
>
> I will be thanksful if you give me some options
>
> Thank you
>
> My computer is a Dell d610 with windows xp service pack 3.
From: Shenan Stanley on 9 Feb 2010 11:53
Jaime wrote:
> I'm tired, i cant find something for to speed up my windows xp, i
> want to know if really exist a program for to speed up windows xp
> totally free without to pay a lisence, and that really could speed
> up my pc
>
> I will be thanksful if you give me some options
>
> Thank you
>
> My computer is a Dell d610 with windows xp service pack 3.

A single program that could take into account everything that could be
installed (both hardware and software) on any given computer on the planet?
No.

Steps you can take in order to better understand your computer and clean it
up so that it runs as well as possible given what you have? Sure.

Try not to be overwhelmed and realize you have an OLDER computer that will
never run as well as a newer computer.

You have a Dell D610 - a rather old laptop. (Dell Latitude D610) It likely
has a 1.6-2.2GHz single core processor. The memory could be anything from
256MB to 2GB.

You can find out better what you have (should do this) by downloading and
running Belarc Advisor (www.belarc.com - freeware) and analyzing your
computer. I would suggest printing/saving the results as part of your
backup - as it tells you a lot about your machine.

Unfortunately - this means your computer will not be as fast as a newer
laptop. You can cleanup and update drivers and uninstall unused
applications and update the ones you do use on the software side - making
sure you are not running any resource-hungry applications (like large
antivirus or all-in-one suites) as well. You can upgrade the amount of
memory to the maximum amount - although to be honest - you likely wouldn't
use more than 1GB on that particular laptop with Windows XP SP3 and what
most people would use it for.

So - as for specifics (pick and choose):

1) Backup your data. Make sure you have external backups of your
bookmarks/internet favorites, pictures, music, documents, emails, contacts,
product keys/serial number and installable executables.

2) Purchase the maximum amount of memory (if you don't already have it or at
least 1GB, I'd say) and install it:
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=Latitude%20D610
(up to ~$52 U.S. + Shipping)

3) Update your hardware device drivers and your system BIOS to the latest
versions:
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&ServiceTag=&SystemID=LAT_PNT_PM_D610&os=WW1&osl=en&catid=&impid=

4) Uninstall unused applications. Control Panel --> Add or Remove Programs.

5) Remove any McAfee or Norton/Symantec applications. Also remove any
third-party firewall software and any all-in-one security suites. If you
uninstall any Norton/Symantec or McAfee products - reboot after their
removal and download their free removal tools and cleanup after them.

I recommend installing/using...
- Avira AntiVirus (free) or eSet NOD32 (AV only - $)
AND
- MalwareBytes (free scan/cleanup) or MalwareBytes ($ for active
protection)

6) Do a disk cleanup (using the built in tools and CCleaner) and other
tools/methods - I will give some detailed tips after the step-by-step, so
you can skip to that now if you wish to do some extra cleanup. (space
cleanup)

7) Perform a CHKDSK to verify your hard disk drive is physically okay.

How to scan your disks for errors
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315265
* will take time and a reboot

8) Do a full scan for malware using SuperAntiSpyware and MalwareBytes at
least. Remove whatever they find.

SuperAntiSpyware
http://www.superantispyware.com/

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.com/

9) Perform a full defragmentation on the hard disk drive.

How to Defragment your hard drives
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848
* will take time

10) Update Windows XP via a method I will give later in this post, after the
step-by-step. Essentially you will use the
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ web page - but after ensuring your
Windows Update feature is functioning at its best and updated itself.
(windows update fixup)

11) Check the manufacturer's web pages for other software you have
installed. Ensure you have all the patches and the latest version of any
freeware software you have installed.

12) Uninstall all Internet Plugins and such and reboot. Install the latest
versions. Programs such as Adobe Flash, Adobe Shockwave, Apple Quicktime,
Real Alternative (sorry, I don't recommend RealPlayer), Adobe Acrobat Reader
9.3, etc.

That's pretty much all you can do given the hardware you have.

<space cleanup mentioned earlier>
If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
( Particularly of interest here - #4 )
( Alternative: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 128MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS -> Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 64MB and 128MB. (It may be MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Other ways to free up space..

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.

In the end - a standard Windows XP installation with all sorts of extras
will not likely be above about 4.5GB to 9GB in size. If you have more space
than that (likely do on a modern machine) and most of it seems to be used -
likely you need to move *your stuff* off and/or find a better way to manage
it.
</space cleanup mentioned earlier>

<windows update fixup mentioned earlier>
Reboot so you start with a fresh machine. For everything here you will
need to logon as an user with administrative (installation) priviledges.

Fix your file/registry permissions...

Ignore the title and follow the sub-section under
"Advanced Troubleshooting" titled,
"Method 1: Reset the registry and the file permissions"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/949377
*will take time
** Ignore the last step (6) - you already have SP3.

You will likely see errors pass by if you watching, even count up. No
worries *at this time*.

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Download/install the "Windows Installer CleanUp Utility":
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

After installing, do the following:

Start button --> RUN
(no "RUN"? Press the "Windows Key" + R on your keyboard)
--> type in:
"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Installer Clean Up\msizap.exe" g!
--> Click OK.
(The quotation marks and percentage signs and spacing should be exact.)

It will flash by *quick*, don't expect much out of this step to get
excited about.

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Download and run the MSRT manually:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Download/Install the latest Windows Installer (for your OS):
( Windows XP 32-bit : WindowsXP-KB942288-v3-x86.exe )
http://www.microsoft.com/downloadS/details.aspx?familyid=5A58B56F-60B6-4412-95B9-54D056D6F9F4

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Download the latest version of the Windows Update agent from here (x86):
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=91237
.... and save it to the root of your C:\ drive. After saving it to the
root of the C:\ drive, do the following:

Close all Internet Explorer windows and other applications.

Start button --> RUN and type in:
%SystemDrive%\windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe /WUFORCE
--> Click OK.

(If asked, select "Run.) --> Click on NEXT --> Select "I agree" and click on
NEXT --> When it finishes installing, click on "Finish"...

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Visit this web page:

How do I reset Windows Update components?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971058

.... and click on the "Microsoft Fix it" icon. When asked, select "RUN",
both times. Check the "I agree" box and click on "Next". Check the box
for "Run aggressive options (not recommended)" and click "Next". Let
it finish up and follow the prompts until it is done. Close/exit.

Reboot and logon as administrative user.

Visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ in Internet Explorer and
select to do a CUSTOM scan...

Every time you are about to click on something while at these web pages -
first press and hold down the CTRL key while you click on it. You can
release the CTRL key after clicking each time.

Once the scan is done, select just _ONE_ of the high priority updates
(deselect any others) and install it.

Reboot again.

If it did work - try the web page again - selecting no more than 3-5 at a
time. Rebooting as needed.

The Optional Software updates are generally safe - although I recommend
against the "Windows Search" one and any of the "Office Live" ones or
"Windows Live" ones for now. I would completely avoid the
Optional Hardware updates. Also - I do not see any urgent need to
install Internet Explorer 8 at this time.
</windows update fixup mentioned earlier>

Hope that helps.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


From: Ken Blake, MVP on 9 Feb 2010 14:14
On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 08:06:12 -0800, Jaime
<Jaime(a)discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

> I'm tired, i cant find something for to speed up my windows xp, i want to
> know if really exist a program for to speed up windows xp totally free
> without to pay a lisence, and that really could speed up my pc
>
> I will be thanksful if you give me some options
>
> Thank you
>
> My computer is a Dell d610 with windows xp service pack 3.


No, no such magic program exists.

To get help, please answer all of the following questions:

1. What is the hardware configuration of your computer?

2. What applications do you run?

3. How slow is it? Under what circumstances is it slow? Please
describe the problem as best you can.

4. Has it always been slow, or is this something new?

5. If it's new, when did it start? What did you change shortly before
it got slow?

6. What anti-virus and anti-spyware programs do you run? Are they kept
up to date?


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Please Reply to the Newsgroup
From: Daave on 9 Feb 2010 15:04
Jaime wrote:
> I'm tired, i cant find something for to speed up my windows xp, i
> want to know if really exist a program for to speed up windows xp
> totally free without to pay a lisence, and that really could speed up
> my pc
>
> I will be thanksful if you give me some options
>
> Thank you
>
> My computer is a Dell d610 with windows xp service pack 3.

Here are the usual causes of sluggishness:

1. Malicious software (malware). You need to rule this out first! This
page has excellent information:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Viruses_Malware

2. Certain programs that are designed to combat malware (e.g., Norton
and McAfee). Ironically, they can slow things down because they simply
use way too many resources. Sometime they cause conflicts with other
programs. And their default mode is to scan your entire hard drive each
time you boot up. Fortunately, there are other antimalware programs
available that use far fewer resources (e.g., NOD32, Avast, and Avira).

3. Too many of certain types of programs always running in the
background -- with or without your knowledge. (Then again, many programs
that run in the background have trivial consequences.)

To determine every program and process you are currently running, use
the Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Processes tab. You should
be able to sort by CPU usage or Memory usage to get a good ideas which
ones are the resource/memory hogs. You should write down the names of
all the processes for future detective work (or take a snapshot and
print it out).

Use these sites to determine what these programs are and to learn how to
configure them not to always run at startup:

http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php#THE_PROGRAMS
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/startups/
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Sometimes it is recommended to use msconfig to configure the programs to
not run at startup. A better, more thorough program is Autoruns:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

But before you do this, you should use the preference settings of the
program in question. Otherwise, for some programs, they will return to
the startup list anyway!

If you do wish to use msconfig, it may be accessed this way:

Start | Run | type "msconfig" (without the quotation marks) | Enter (or
OK)

4. Not enough RAM, which causes the PC to overly rely on the pagefile. A
quick way to determine if this is happening is to open Task Manager
(Ctrl+Alt+Del) and click the Performance tab. Then note the three values
under Commit Charge (K): in the lower left-hand corner: Total, Limit,
and Peak.

The Total figure represents the amount of memory you are using at that
very moment. The Peak figure represents the highest amount of memory you
used since last bootup. If both these figures are below the value of
Physical Memory (K) Total, then you probably have plenty of RAM.
In case you want to explore this further, you may run Page File Monitor
for Windows XP:

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

5. You might also want to check that your hard drive's access mode
didn't change from DMA to PIO:

http://www.technize.com/2007/08/02/is-your-hard-disk-cddvd-drives-too-slow-while-copying/

and

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/


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