I use Belarc and keep a current printout of what is installed on my computer. I find it to be invaluable.
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General discussion
How do I get my PC back in shape?
To my online virtual family of help, I'm in the spring cleaning mood and I've cleaned my house already, but now it's time to face the chore that I have been dreading for a long time. That is cleaning up my two-year old Dell computer with XP, which I think has 200MB of memory, but I'm not absolutely sure. I need to face the music and do this because it is getting slower and slower every time I attempt to use it. Programs take a long time to load and just booting up Windows takes an eternity. I'm not a technical person, but I'm a fast learner, so your assistance would be most grateful. I need some straightforward guidelines (not too technical if possible) on how I can clean up my computer to make it run faster, and once I clean it up--do whatever it takes to continually keep my computer in tip-top shape, so when the spring season comes around again, I'm not looking at a chore that I hate doing again. Thanks for your help.
Submitted by Sandy H. of Des Moines, Iowa
Answer voted most helpful by our members
Yearly Maintenance
Excellent question Sandy. Many computer users do not realize that just like your automobile, a computer needs routine maintenance to keep it in good working order. I would recommend maintenance a little more often than once per year, but a good spring cleaning is certainly better than nothing.
I think I have to start by saying that there is a fine line between a computer needing a little spring cleaning and actually being in need of repair. A computer that is starting to boot and run slowly could be a result of something as simple as some unsolicited spyware floating around, a virus infection or even a misbehaving program or driver. But it could also be an indication of something more serious such as a failing hard drive, especially if your computer is 4 or more years old. You indicated that your computer is about 2 years old, so I am going to assume, for now, that your hardware is in good working order.
If your computer has experience a major slowdown suddenly and there is nothing physically wrong like a bad hard drive, here is a quick list of the common, recent problems that I have run into. You may want to check a few of these before performing all of the steps listed below.
? Infected ? Your computer is infected with Viruses, Spyware or other malware and needs to be scanned and cleaned. (See Below)
? Norton Antivirus Misbehaving ? Norton can get out of sorts and cause all kinds of problems. I suggest uninstalling it to see if it is the cause of your problem. You can always reinstall it afterwards or install some other antivirus software.
? Google Desktop ? Some computers experience a major slowdown when Google Desktop Search is installed. This program constantly indexes all of your files on your computer and can really slow thing down. Simply Uninstall.
? Internet Explorer 7 ? Microsoft?s new Internet Explorer 7 can cause major problems on some computer. If your problems started after this was installed, try going back to IE 6 by uninstalling IE 7 through ADD and REMOVE PROGRAMS.
? Kodak Updater ? Some versions of Kodak software has been known to cause a real slowdown. Uninstall or update from the Kodak website.
? Windows Update ? Occasionally a Windows update can cause a problem. If the slow down started just after a Windows Update, remove the update.
Before I get going on actual maintenance procedures , BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP? I know, we all hear this all the time but it is especially important to backup prior to performing any service. So I will say it again. Backup everything that is important to you.
With that out of the way, let?s get started with what I would call ?Yearly Maintenance?. I am basing this on Windows XP but is similar for other operating systems:
1. BACKUP - Backup up all your data. (Enough said)
2. SET RESTORE POINT ? Before you start any maintenance, I always suggest setting a Windows Restore Point. This will give you a possible way back from a problem. No guarantees, but could help. Click on START > ALL PROGRAMS > ACCESSORIES > SYSTEM TOOLS > SYSTEM RESTORE > Select Create a Restore Point > Enter a Description like ?Before Maintenance? > Click on CREATE > When complete, Click on CLOSE.
3. TAKE INVENTORY ? Now is a good time to take an inventory of what you have and to write down some of your system parameters so that you have some data to compare next year or when something goes wrong. Check the following and Write it down. If you are handy with Excel, you can start a spreadsheet to track this information.
a. GENERAL INFO ? Write Down your computer Make, model, serial number, when you purchased it and any upgrades or repairs you have made to it over the years. I would also make a list of all the programs that you use on a regular basis. This will help you later on when you are trying to decide what junk to remove.
b. DISK DRIVE ? Take note of the total size of your hard drive as well as how much space you have used and have left. If your drive is almost full, this can account for a major slow down in system performance. Double Click on MY COMPUTER > Right Click on your C: Drive > Select PROPERTIES > Click on the GENERAL tab. You can also use this information over time to track the amount of data that you are creating to help plan for backups as well as to aid you in possible new computer decisions.
c. MEMORY ? You had mentioned that you thought you might have 200mb of memory, this is probably incorrect because memory is usually installed in multiples of 128mb and on a 2 year old computer usually in multiples of 256mb. So you would typically have 256, 512, 768 or 1024 (1gig) and so on. Check the amount of installed memory by Right Clicking on MY COMPUTER > Select PROPERTIES. The type of processor and the amount of memory will be listed near the bottom of the GENERAL tab window. You may have to wait a moment for the information to appear. Note: The amount of memory listed can be off from what I mentioned above depending on the type of graphics adapter you have. Some video systems share the main memory thus showing less memory than expected. In any case, if you are running Windows XP and have less than 512mb of memory, I would strongly suggest upgrading your memory. It is fairly common for XP computers that are 2 or more years old to have only 256mb of memory. This might have been Ok at the time, but add Service Pack 2, 80+ Windows updates and resource draining Security software such as Norton and 256mb just does not cut it. In any case, write down the memory listed and compare this to what your original invoice stated. I have seen situations where a module can go bad and you are suddenly working with only half the memory.
d. PROCESSES ? I like to take note of the total number of processes running on my computer. This gives me a benchmark to work with for future comparisons. Processes are all the little programs and services that are running in the background. To view Processes: Right Click a blank section of your task bar and select TASK MANAGER > Now Click on the PROCESSES tab. This will display a list of all the processes running on your computer at this time. Depending on your Computer and what you have installed, this number can range from about 22 to 75. Your ultimate goal is to reduce this number as much as possible, leaving only necessary processes running. But for now you are going to just write down the total number of processes running. NOTE: It is best to initially check processes after rebooting your computer and waiting about 10 minutes. This number can vary up and down depending on what the computer may be doing at that exact moment. Some programs could be requesting updates from the internet or maybe running a virus or spyware scan. If you are interested in learning more about some of these, simply enter the name of the process into a Google search.
e. TASK BAR ? Being aware of the items on your task bar can help you stay on top of what is going on. Other than the standard notifications about the status of your network connection or letting you know that there are updates available for Windows, keeping an eye on the task bar may allow you to catch potential problems before they become a major issue. I can?t tell you how often I run across someone who has ignored a big red X through a Norton Antivirus Icon only to end up with a virus infected computer and later find out that Norton had expired or stopped working the previous year.
4. INSTALL OR UPDATE TOOLS ? Now that you have taken some notes about your system we need to either download some tools that we will need or update the tools that you already have. You want to have all your tools installed and updated before starting the cleaning process. This is what you will need:
a. ANTIVIRUS ? You will need one good Antivirus program. If you already have one installed then you will need to run its updater to make sure it has the most current virus definitions. If it has expired or is not working correctly, you can download a free program from Grisoft called AVG Free http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/. If you prefer to purchase one, I would recommend Nod32, Kaspersky, PC-Cillin, AVG, E-Trust or McAfee. Make sure you uninstall your old antivirus software before installing a new version.
b. FILE CLEANER ? Cleaning out temporary junk files can be performed manually, but I prefer a little program call ATF and best of all it is free. http://www.majorgeeks.com/ATF_Cleaner_d4949.html
c. ANTISPYWARE ? You are going to want to have 3 or 4 Antispyware type programs installed. You can purchase one such as Webroots Sp Sweeper which is good or you can download some free versions. I would suggest Grisoft AVG Antispyware (formerly Ewedo), Spybot, AdAware, Microsoft Defender. Many of these can be downloaded from www.download.com. Defender is at www.microsoft.com.
d. REGISTRY CLEANER ? This is optional, if you happen to already have one installed, that is fine.
5. SCAN DISK FOR ERRORS ? Click on START > MY COMPUTER > Right Click on your C: drive and select PROPERTIES > Select the TOOLS Tab > In the Error Checking window click on CHECK NOW > Check off both boxes > Restart your computer and the your drive will be checked for errors when the computer restarts. This can take a several hours.
6. RUN VIRUS SCAN ? Now that you have all your tools installed and updated, I recommend disconnecting or turning off your internet connection before starting the process. Run a full virus scan using whatever software you have chosen to install.
7. UNINSTALL PROGRAMS ? Go through your list of programs (START > ALL PROGRAMS) and look for any programs that you no longer use or have never used. It is best to leave any that you have questions about. When you find one that you no longer need, use the uninstaller listed for that program, if uninstall is not listed, write down the name of the program to remove later. Some programs will ask you to restart the computer after uninstalling. Go ahead and do this. It is a good idea to restart your computer even if you are not asked to do so.
8. ADD OR REMOVE PROGRAMS - Now you want to remove the programs that did not have an uninstaller listed. Click on START > CONTROL PANEL > ADD OR REMOVE PROGRAMS. Start going down through the list of installed programs and remove any that you no longer need or want. Again it is best to leave any that you are unsure of. Restart your computer after you uninstall each program, even if you are not asked to do so.
9. DELETE OTHER JUNK ? Now is a good time to go through all your data in MY DOCUMENTS and delete any that you no longer need. You could also use this time to reorganize your files by moving individual files into meaningful folders. The same is true for email. If you are using Outlook or Outlook Express for email, then you might want to go through your emails and delete and reorganize.
10. DELETE TEMP FILES ? You can delete all your temporary files manually by running DICKCLEAN and then going into Internet Explorer and deleting Internet Temp files, History and cookies. But I prefer to use ATF and let it do most of the work for you. NOTE: If you delete Cookies (Which I suggest at least once per year), you will loose some of your saved login names for some websites.
11. ANTISPYWARE SCANS ? Next you want to run full scans with EACH of your Antispyware type programs and remove any problems that they find. You may have to restart your computer and scan again to remove some of the more stubborn problems. If you have multiple user accounts on your computer and depending on what software you are running you may need to run each scan while logged into each users account.
12. STARTUP PROGRAMS ? There are a bunch of programs and services that are set to run whenever your computer starts. Some of them are necessary such as antivirus programs and Firewalls and then there are others that do not really need to be started like Quicktime and Realplayer. You can access some of the startup list by clicking on START > RUN > type msconfig in the run box > Click on the STARTUP tab > you will be presented with a list of startup items. You can uncheck the box for any item that you do not want to have start. If you want to lean more about each entry, simply enter the name into a Google search. Again if you are unsure of any entry leave it checked. You can always go back and recheck any items. Reboot your computer.
13. WINDOWS AND OFFICE UPDATES ? Now that your computer should be nice and clean and running well, your should run Windows update and if you are using Microsoft Office, install updates for that too.
14. DEFRAG HARD DRIVE ? Even though many claim that defragmenting in Windows XP is not required, I still like to run this after I have performed all the previous steps. START > ALL PROGRAMS > ACCESSORIES > SYSTEM TOOLS > DEFRAGMENTER.
As far as keeping you computer clean on a regular basis between yearly maintenance procedures, the main thing is to make sure all of your Antivirus and Antispyware software is always up-to-date, install all Windows Security Updates and delete your temporary files monthly. If you have any manual scanners such as AdAware or SpyBot, you need to run these monthly as well.
There are some all inclusive software packages such as Norton 360, Microsoft One Care and McAfee Total Care that can perform many of these tasks automatically for you, but if your computer is less than state of the Art and has limited memory, many of these can really slow your computer down to a crawl.
There are many other things you can do to tune and tweak your system for better performance but this is already getting too long so I will stop here. However, I should mention that there is nothing that compares to a complete reinstall of Windows for cleaning out the cobwebs. I personally do this about every 2 years.
Also, during your spring cleaning, you really want to remove any dust that could be interfering with the proper cooling of your computer. Turn off your computer and unplug the power cord before cleaning. Remove the side cover and Vacuum out all vents and using a can of compressed air, blow out any dust that has accumulated on any heat sinks and fans inside. Note: You can damage the fans by spinning them too quickly with compressed air, so it is a good idea to stick a pencil in between the blades to keep them from spinning. Just don?t forget to remove the pencil before you turn your computer back on.
Good Luck!
Dana
Wayland Computer
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-4_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=244923&messageID=2472924#2472924
Submitted by Dana H. (aka waytron)
If you have any additional advice or recommendations for Sandy, let's hear them. Click on the "Reply" link to post. Please be detailed as possible in your answer. Thanks!
Discussion is locked
211 - 240 of 236 Posts
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Its an excellent write up on maintenace. I do some of the things mentioned like , defragmenting, periodic virus cleaning. It appears that after a defragmentation (XP)the machine acts faster.
Request
Kindly guide me to purchase a laptop computer, and if you can differentiate between a laptop and PC note book I will be happy.
thank you
prathap
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I downloaded this according to your message 4b ... does not respond when attempting to run .. tried it on 5 different occasions .. same result each time ..
Dave from Grimsby, ON
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I have read a bunch of the replies and have picked up some great new tips. I agree that CCleaner is a great program and it is free. How nice is that? I also use Spybot Search and Destroy and I still use Adaware, another really great and really free program. The one program that I happily pay for is Diskeeper Home 2007. I love this program. It quietly runs in the background and automatically keeps my drives neat, tidy, and defragmented. When I first installed it I was afraid that it would use a lot of RAM and slow down my computer. It does not. You can install Diskeeper Lite for free. It won't automatically defrag your drives like the full program does but I really think the even the Lite version of Diskeeper is better than the program that Windows provides. Another really nice very small application is something called Autoruns. It is free, it is small and it will show you everything that is running on your computer. Click on the Logon tab and it will show you every program that starts up when you turn on your computer (this can be an eye opening experience to say the least). The Logon list will also show every program that can start up when you turn on your computer. Just check or uncheck the boxes to enable or disable the programs. I find it more comprehensive and easier to use than msconfig.
I would also recommend another small, free application called Quick Access. When activated this program attaches itself the Windows Task Manager (the window you get when you press Ctrl.,Alt., Delete) which shows you everything that is running at that time. It puts an icon next to each process name in the Processes list and if you want to know what a given line actually is (because who knows what vsmon.exe is?)click on the icon and it will take you to a the ProcessLibrary.com website which will tell you what you are looking at and, most important, whether or not you can safely disable that particular item. When you are finished using the program simply right click on the PL icon in the right hand corner of the taskbar and exit the program. I have found this little application to be very helpful when I am trying to identify some of the very strange looking stuff in the Processes list.
Keep your hardrive defragmented, keep the number of programs which start up when you turn on your computer to a bare minimum, run anti-spyware and anti-virus programs on a regular basis-how often depends on how much time you spend on the internet and what kind of websites you visit (some load more spyware onto your computer that others). When in doubt run Spybot and don't forget to update your anti-spyware and anti-virus programs if they don't do it automatically. They are only as good as they are current. Run CCleaner regularly. It only takes a few moments and it can make a big difference.
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I have been in the computing repair/programming/building what ever for some time having been trained on main frames by the US Military back in 1971, and having been privileged to be part of the original ARPA Net. I personally like DELL and have had not problems with them. There are horror stories about just about all the major PC makers, including DELL; B U T!! as they say your mileage may vary.
Dell's pc's are by no means as previously reported *proprietary*, which means that if it were you could not interchange parts from a DELL into any other IBM compatible PC. For a truly proprietary system look at Packard bell's because their parts will not interchange. I recently bought a XPS 1700 from DELL and after having a problem with the battery snafu they had (btw the batteries were made by another company NOT dell), Dell not only took care of it; but upgraded me to a XPS 1710
System makers like OS is a mater of personal preference. I have at one time or another fixed just about every type of system and as I said the only *truly* proprietary system I have ever come across is a Packard Bell which use to (and may still be ) referred to by *real* PC techs as Packard He double hockey sticks if you get my drift.
I just hate to see a good company like DELL get knocked just because someone has had a bad experience. Dell is just as good or just as bad as it's employees and from my experience Dell does do a good job of only retaining those that show their self to be not only competent but proficient. If the OP has had a bad experience don't knock the entire company just because of one or more bad employees or deeds; because as my subject line says, Opinions are like noses everyone has one; but some stick theirs up in the air and refuse to see or don't want to know what is actually happening down in the trenches where the actual pc repair is getting done.
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Sandy, the short answer is simple. Throw it out and get a Mac. Yes I know that's a serious move, but the new Macs CAN run WinDoze as well as OSX...Only a Mac can run 2 operating systems. Defintely worth a look. As for Dell, that's a BIG NO NO. It's next to impossible to find anyone other than Dell to repair it. That puts in at the mercy of Dell, they can charge anything they like and there's nothing you can do about it. A friend sent his Dell back to Dell for repairs under warranty, he got it back and nothing was done. By that time the warranty had expired. He then brought it to the Geek Squard [Best Buy]. They said they could not repair it because Dell does not want to sell parts, many of which are proprioritary. Sony does the same thing on many of their products. end of rant.
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Your concern about Dell is quite true, but then this is true with most name brand computer companies. Personally, i am a computer consultant and technician and i can and do repair and fix most all and any computers including Dell. My rates are low and i get results. If it is no longer economical to repair i let you know that too. There are plenty of us out there that can fix these things. The Geek Squad is not the place to go either as they will tell you what is wrong, but not fix it. i can tell you stories about the Geek Squad.
As far as Windows, it does have its problems. Linux on the other hand makes for a great alternative and there are several good choices out there that may be worth considering. My thoughts currently are, Kubuntu/Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, SuSe, Linux Mint, and Xandros (commercial). The Mac is an alternative, but much more expensive if you want to use your existing machine. Also to note that using the Wine interface, you can use many windows programs in linux.
Please feel free to write me at "nakedcomputerman @ inbox . com", if you want to ask me any other questions or help.
randy
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Will Explorer 6 have to be downloaded after dumping 7, I have had nothing but problems on my Dell with XP.
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If you are running WinXP you need to uninstall internet explorer 7. Go to the control Panel and select Add and Remove programs. Go to the bottom of the list where you will see the IE7 listing and click on remove. Even after you do this you want to select the Automatic Updates and select the third item from the top of the list instead of the automatic update process.
Always do the custom choice over the express selection for the updates. When updates come about after that point you want to make sure that when the IE7 is brought about the next time you unselect the item in the list. Also make sure you select the "not to be notified" again for that item when it prompts you.
IE7 causes numerous problems in WINXP and is not recommended for use. Likely if you have it installed or had it installed you will need to do a significant cleanup on your system and more along the lines of what i suggested much earlier in this topic. If you need further directions please write or let me know.
randy
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Ever since I updated I get messages that the page cannot be found also the toolbar go BLACK using either Yahoo's or Google's and the Address bar. I run antivirus, antispy, anti everything form several sources, de-fragment and all that junk. I addressed this with Dell, Yahoo, not even an intelligent response. I ran only Yahoo's toolbar, then only Goggle same result.........
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Several sites have not updated / upgraded the code for their sites for many, many years (maybe even include some DOS code). IE7, I believe, has been setup for Vista compatibality, so there could very well be some code compatibality problems (XP had some problems as well in the beginning).
Yahoo and Google toolbars are well known for their hidden 3rd party links and trackers and have both been hit by trojans (from what I've read in various forums and sites over the last six months). My better half had a similar problem with her Yahoo toolbar and it was corrected by its' (clean, new-downloaded) reinstallation. Double check the links (I beleive they are in the Internet Options) as they may have been "lost" when installing IE7.
I've had a half dozen or so web sites that would not open via a link from another site (inc c/net). Some used a DOS executable to launch the site from the link which Vista can not handle.
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I don't know why people report having problems with IE7 and then suggest to get rid of it; because I have used it with WinMedia Edition with no problems on my laptop and wih XPhome on several other systems with no problems. I think it is more a case of people not knowing how to configure their system and less a problem with IE7
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I am finding with my customer base that about 1 out of every 20 people were having problems after upgrading to Internet Explorer 7. Problems have ranged from overall slow down in performance to just plain not working. Similar to Windows SP2, it seems to be more of a problem when upgrading on computers that are not completely clean of viruses, spyware and junk as well as those that have tons of old IE plug-ins. There are still many special purpose Websites and custom web applcations that are still not totally compatible with IE 7. Once installed and running correctly, I don't see very many problems.
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I found 7 to be a lot slower at opening web sites at first. Cleaned out the cache, history and cookies related to IE6 and all was right again, except for a few pages that did not support 7.
NB: About half of the pages I could not open before are opening now and more each day as they update at their end.
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I AM HAVING WIN XP2 PRO AND I INSTALLED IE7 ABOUT 6 MONTHS BACK BUT I HAVE NOT FACED ANY PROBLEM AS SUCH WITH THE SYSTEM
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I am probably speaking toooooo soon but I have been running IE7 for over an hour with none of the problems I wrote about BUT it is running with ALL add-ons disabled. If it continues to perform correctly I will have to eliminate the culprit but enabling each one by one. THOUGHTS ANYONE..............
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Having a PC that runs well is a problem for a majority of people. Even with the best computer hardware things start going downhill quickly. The most common mistake is generally installing Microsoft Windows.
Don't get me wrong. Windows has it's place. Most expensive software requires it whether it's 3D gaming or dedicated business applications. But an amazing majority of us don't use either. Yet we still waste the money only to be plagued by virus intrusions and an overall unreliable poorly designed Operating System. The inevitable 'grinding to a halt' that is Microsoft Windows.
If you're serious about 3D gaming then a dedicated games console is where you should be looking. You don't need even need to read the hardware specifications. The games will work and work well. You don't need to pay hundreds for a suitable graphics card because it's already there. Stop kidding yourself.
For the mainstream internet user a much better alternative than Microsoft Windows is something called Ubuntu. It'll breath new life into your hardware and dare I say into you. No more droning away to some CEO's idea of how should you use a computer. He's getting payed too much to make you pay too much!
From a fresh install you have access to over 12,000 free programs just by ticking a download box. Free to use. I'm not just talking generic Microsoft Windows default programs, but complete Office suites and the like. Great stuff! Updates via the internet are handled automatically too.
The best thing is not only is basically every program free but the so is the Operating System. Ubuntu is Linux based and that gives you access to the very same software that powers the internet. Take a look at your ADSL router and observe a linux powered device.
Using a computer can be fun again. You don't need to live in fear because Linux was designed to be safe from the start. It's perfect for being on the internet. Browse eBay or do online banking with a level of safety you just can't get with standard Windows. Don't tolerate Microsoft's attempts to add security to an inherently insecure Operating System as they are doing with Windows Vista.
The majority of people can do all the same tasks as they do now. Without constantly forking out money hand over fist for new hardware and new software. If you want your PC in shape than you should seriously consider Ubuntu. I'm dead serious. It's not for everyone but the other option is to re-install Windows. And it's a fool that repeats the same actions and expects a different outcome!
At least download and burn the live CD. You don't even need to install Ubuntu. Just try it, talk from experience. Do yourself the favor.
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No wonder your Hard drives go out so soon. All these automated programs running, disk defrags 1 a week what are u running, a server? 1 anti-virus, 1 ACTIVE spyware (many can be installed if you do run across malware), a back up to somewhere off ur systems hard drive. System restore is all but useless. have ur internet browser clean itself, and disk cleanup or a program like ccleaner should be the only programs ur running on a consistent basis. All the other neat programs like registry cleaners and defrags u shouldn't have to use unless there is problems or ur in a major system change.
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Well sandy you have alot of choice to choose from....
1. I would first scan my system for virus,spyware,and malicous
A few good anti-virus you could purchase if have bucks to throw out
They are Panda,MacFee,and AVG Anti-Virus. I would say Norton Anti-Virus which is great but it hogs alot of the computer memory. But AVG Anti-Virus is FREE At www.avg.com
2. Another simple thing would be to uninstall some of the programs that you don't use.
3. Also turn off some of the services that comes up in your right corner of your windows icons. If you want to stop them coming up. Click on start click run then enter the word MSCONFIG...Then this will open the System configurations Utility. After that click on the Start up Tab. And after doing that look for the names of the things thats coming up on the right corner of your screen. To turn them off unCheck them one at a time. If this is to diffcult for you to do take it to a computer tech.
4. Defrag your computer...Click Start,Progams,Accessories,System Tools,then Click on Disk Defragmenter click Analyze....Then it will
show a message telling you if the disk need to be defrag..Click Defrag
after that just take a break it will take along time to defrag. Trust me.
5. If none of the above works,I recommend you take it to your local computer store. Your friendly techs at your local store will let you know if its worth the bucks to upgrade that DELL System.
I wish you luck on upgrading your system..
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200mb and it still boots! Amazing. In order to run efficiently a computer should have at least 1 to 2 GB of free space on the hard drive just for the virtual memory. I recommend keeping more than that just to be safe. You are very lucky your computer still boots.
Simply uninstall large software program exes and downloads that you dont need anymore. If you need everything, get a bigger hard drive (80GB plus?) and reinstall everything to that drive, and uninstall it from the other one, the one that your operating system boots from.
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try inserting the old xp disc,then reboot your pc, if your pc does not boot up with the xp cd, then you can go to microsoft help and support and look there for the DOS STEPS TO REMOVE VISTA..hope this helps you ,i had to do it that way...goodluck
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want no more pc problems?download system mechanic 7 from
cnetdownload.com,save it to your documments,then open it,instal it,and put to scan your system and clic fix,youll see better performance,this
software makes,disk clean up,disk defragment,system memory recover,compact system registry registry back up's,and a whole lot more,recomended,
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This is the same history since windows 95, I think this is some kind of "underground" policy of Microsoft. Every new windows are full of problems and you can?t fix it if you have a ilegal copy.
For example I have a old computer with Windows milleniun edition preloaded and crshdown,the hard drive has formated and I not going to pay for a new licence for this old computer. I get a ilegal copy of Windows 98 second edition with all the upgrades made, and this is the most safe S.O. I ever know. This is becaus is too old and all the problems has fixed years ago.
Windows XP is going for the same path and the new one Vista to. You have a legal copy, just download the upgrades in a few months you have a good S.O. and dont forget the new software and games come only for vista
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