windows xp start too slow

I was wondering how to speed up the start-up of windows xp.

It used to be quite fast then recently it slowed down to a snails pace.

A little info:
Laptop: MSI
2.2GHz Core2Duo Intel
2G Ram
160G HD

All I have done is a defrag, and cclean then a restore.
Didn't seem to help.
My Setup menu is set to quickboot, i got rid of all the internet cookies and so on, I ran my virus scan, and spyware software....all with no effect.

It takes like 5-10min to boot up...really long time. But once it is booted up there seems to be no loss in performance. Even when running multiple programs.

Also (don't know if this is related) but my defrag crashes 98% of the time when started.Weird

Used to take about 45sec to boot up.


Is there any way to optimize the start-up?

Run msconfig, go to the startup tab & uncheck whatever you don't need to load at boot time, which is most of it. Reboot, click ok & that's it.

Hello Lindsay,

after stating that you have an issue running a defrag, I will suggest running a checkdsk to make sure your hard drive is ok.

Go to start > Right click on My Computer and select "Explore" > right click the disk that needs to be scanned > right click and go to "Properties" > then go to tools > and click "check now" > when the dialog box appears for checking disk, check both options and click "start". It should want a restart to start a proper chkdsk > hit ok and restart your computer.

right click on my comp > click on properties > advanced > performance setting > adjust for the best performance > apply

it is because of the startup options.

If you have installed a heavy weight application like oracle or norton than, your computer might get slow. In that case msconfig or goto computer management and services and make those service manual which you dont need automatic loading.

I suggested msconfig 4 posts ago but it doesn't matter. The original posters hasn't returned.

i followed all the steps , i really appreciate you , the speed of the computer increases ,

but when i purchased this computer the speed of the computer is very good.

so any suggestions for more to increase the speed of the computer.

i don't think to increase the ram , 2 GB ram is sufficient.
thansk for help me to every body.

Run Hijack This & post the log. That way I can see what's running.

i don't know how to run the hi jack.

so explain me how to run the hijack this computer.

i decided to remove the unwanted softwares and games from the computer.

Go malwarebytes.org
Download anti malware
Install it, update & run it.
Click show results.

with laptop you cannot do any modifications until you buy another new.

For your laptop i would suggest stick to those programs/softwares which you use frequently, deleting others like games etc.

Laptop is not idle for playing and it creates huge load on resources including your batt. if you play something like NFS or FIFA where continuous graphic designs are done on the RAM.

Again Laptop is not idle for you putting ORACLE servers, .NET framework etc. It will make things slow.

For those it is best to buy a DeskTop like Myself has

CORE 2 QUAD @2.4GHZ and RAM 2GB(4GB is idle)

And i have
ORACLE SERVER
SUN SERVER(for JSP)
APACHE SERVER(For PHP)
MySQL Server
java 1.6
Adobe products(including premier which works very fast) all
poser
flash
etc. etc. many things

Thats all , but still it's pretty fast, and with them i can also play NFS and FIFA.

I was testing all instances like

oracle server + NFS + Media PLayer + downloads + mozilla + IE on.
the CPU usages shoots upto 25%(50% for you) and PF usage 1.85GB

at that time i felt my computer little slow

I never saw my CPU usage crossing 50%.

And I make ORACLE server instance manual, so that i turn on oracle when I require it, These are best practices for saving loading time.

i downloaded the anti malware from the internet and scan the computer. deleted temp and prefetch files from the laptop.

i also deleted some programs from the add and remove programs .

now the speed of my laptop is increased but not the good.

for further any suggestions

thanks for every one who helped me to increase the speed.