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I know there are other topics about that, but they don't quite solve my problem. So the PC is not my personal, so I don't really know how was it treated, what has been installed/uninstalled and the leftover files from that. It is slow at startup, at usage, at everything (usable, but annoying).

I used the Disk Cleanup on all the partitions, Defragment as well, ran the antivirus (Avast), disabled the unused services and also the processes from the Task Manager that are not needed. I also used some free tool for "fixing the PC and making it faster", in any case it is still slow.

I want to know how to fix it as that guy, who was coming home, when I was small, and fixing my PC by doing some alien stuff. :D

UPDATE: Got to know that the computer acts normally until the Internet (the router) is turned on. So I guess there are some services (or tools from the antivirus) that start together with the web connection and slow the whole thing.

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  • How old is this machine? How long has it been that XP has been installed? The best "fix" is to reinstall XP.
    – terdon
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 19:12
  • The machine is like... 10 years old. The XP has been installed a year ago, but reinstalling of the OS is not quite acceptable, because there are lot of specific programs that need authorization of 3rd party, etc. (long story). I used to fix it by reinstalling, before, but I don't think this is the best way.
    – Milkncookiez
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 19:15
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    Is this a laptop? What is your hardware? Define "slow", it is slow compared to what? Was it ever faster? How much RAM? Have you ever cleaned it? Does it get hot?
    – terdon
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 19:22
  • You could install another program named wireshark - this will make your laptop even more slower, but then you could watch what internet connections are active and how much data is sent.
    – ott--
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 21:13

2 Answers 2

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Try uninstalling Avast and only reinstall it when you want to run a scan. Avast is a terrible resource hog and 90% of the time it is not

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I'm just taking pot shots in the dark here, but I would venture to say that this "free program for fixing and making the PC faster" is one culprit and Avast is a very close second in reducing the overall performance.

If its an old XP box chances are you're running on 1 gig of memory tops, on top of an ANCIENT OS running resource hogging apps probably designed with newer OS's and chunkier hardware in mind.

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  • Ehm, most of the apps are not for newer OS's and are running okey with XP (like Office 2007 and so on - they are all old). But do you recommend to change the antivirus and if so - which other should I choose ?
    – Milkncookiez
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 19:18
  • I reccomend NO antivirus. AV is next to useless especially when the underlying OS resembles SWISS CHEESE from a security perspective. Like an old trusty car that's reached its last days - nothinh you can do except run it into the ground.
    – Scandalist
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 19:28
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    Any antivirus is better than none. The whole point of them is to attempt to fix the "swiss cheese" of the underlying OS. You can google for a better antivirus than Avast if you want, but removing it altogether is just asking for trouble. There is no reason than an old but fundamentally sound computer can't keep going. A RAM upgrade may help, if possible, and is quite cheap these days.
    – MattDMo
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 19:53
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    @Scandalist - nice move posting that as a comment, because comments can't be downvoted. Seriously bad advise though, so bad that it's probably worthy of being flagged. Configured properly, antivirus software doesn't have to be a performance drain.
    – user5024
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 21:00
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    @Scandalist I didn't downvote your answer as you make a good point about the 'free program', which I wholeheartedly agree with. It's your comment I take exception to.
    – user5024
    Commented Jul 17, 2013 at 22:22

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