what causes a computer to be real slow other then not enough memory

My sister has a Dell 2400 series Desktop computer and it runs super slow. She lives in Canada and I'm going there the end of this month. We did establish that she needs to upgrade her memory since she only has 512. I did get the chips to upgrade to 2GB. If that wont work can you give me some advice as to what might cause that problem? I sure would appreciate any suggestions.:

 

Other problems may include:

1. Unnecessary startup programs
2. Low disk space
3. Bad sectors in hard disks
4. Logical corruption on hard disk partitions
5. Malware & viruses

Take your pick.

 

Would any one let me know what are the nessecary startup files for windows xp? I don't know which of the start up files windows needs to run. I don't like to disable any if I dont know which ones I can disable. Any help would be appreciated

 

You can safely disable anything which you don't use on regular basis like Adobe Reader startup, ITunes.

In XP also disable File Indexing as it brings computer to its knees.

 

Hi Gerdy,
Too many desktop shortcuts will also decrease speed!
Running things like disk-cleanup & Defrag; there are many suggestions on BBS as to good defragmenters (windows Defrag will do the job if done regularly); will help speed up the computer, have a look at the processor speed & if it can be upgraded?

regards Jac

 

A lot of people store their files/folders on the desktop, that slows things down and causes instability from my experience. I relate it to a physical desktop and several thousand files might be stacked on it. The desktop is not a "normal" directory, it runs themes, a background, etc. You wouldn't let your computer desk get stacked to the ceiling with paperwork.

If access is needed from the desktop, I put the files/folders in the My Documents directory, then make shortcuts for them on the desktop.

Matt