My computer is extremely slow and i dont know if its the system of xp.
it takes 6 seconds sometimes just for the start menu to pop up or the file menu to fall down.
here is what me gots:
Hewlett Packard Pavilion
Intel Celeron
1.10 GHz
128 MB RAM

 

128mb of ram and XP dont mix.

 

celery and no workspace... and probably too many things on the table....

(read: get rid of the celeron, get more ram, close things that are running in the background = speed)

 

i always make sure that everything that doesn't need to be opened is closed.
this is my parents comp so i might just have to build one of my own. whats a good one to look at or build or whatever?

 

do a ton of research and don't go amd or get a dell or alienware.

 

a friend at work was telling me i could get one that starts with an "A" (i dont remember) for like $400 w/o monitor.

 

in xp, visual styling and extras make performance suck. turn off the shadows and other stuff, and it might help. i personally like amd and would go with them, but it's a personal pref. i suppose. the new p4's with hyperthreading really move though. more ram is always better (for the most part). and realize that you do get what you pay for. if a really fast computer is really cheap, be leary. make sure you get fairly well known brands for stuff because they usually have better warrantees and stuff. i've built my own for the past 5 years and always go with name brand stuff for everything.

 

click the start button then along the menu that pops up, it should say what OS you have (vertically).

 

at least 256 megs of ram.....and get rid of the celeron cpu

 

buy a 512, they're cheap now.