I am running WIn XP on a backup PC. It is very slow, even though only an 18 month old system. I did a scrapedown 4 months ago, but it is slow again. I run zonealarm, AIM, spywareblaster and AVG on system always. Yes, I constantly use CCLeaner to empty temp internet files, and everything else imaginable. And I defragged weekly. Is there ANYTHING else that might cause or alleviate a CONSTANTLY slow system on a relatively new computer with lots of RAM?
It's likely either a software application or in the "cleaning", files which should have been left intact have been corrupted or deleted. I'd try these in this order... Run "sfc /scannow" (without ""s) from Start/Run and see if XP can repair itself. You'll need your XP disk. Suggest you backup your important files, then uninstall programs one-by-one. Check the system performance after each program is uninstalled. You could also reinstall WinXP again from scratch, and evaluate it's performance before adding each program. That way you may be able to determine which is causing the problem and find an alternative. A few years ago, I stopped using CCleaner because in cleaning it always knocked out a program or two. I've given it a try again and have not had the same problems as before, but I think it's safe to say CCleaner (and any other cleaner) has the potential to mis-identify some files which should not be deleted.
I run XP on a laptop that is 2 years old, it is super fast and stable. I rarely defrag, and I never use cleanup programs. Unfortunately, it's an HP, so when I reformat, I have to uninstall a lot of junk, but just wanted to say I don't think XP is the problem.
really shut down ZA, see if that help. It could also be you have many anti virus softwares keep scanning your data folders in real time. You need to excluse the data folder.
screen shoot of windows task manager would be nice(tab with processes) along with basic system specifications(start->control panel->system->general) specifically-screenshot of task manager when system is slow. agree on CC cleaner-should be avoided. i would prefer clean install and keep it clean.
Is you CPU running as normal or is it close to flat out? If it's busy you have a virus AVG has missed. Also try Security Task Manager (much more detailed than Windows) and check every process running is as you expected. Check especially red flags. If that doesn't show anything try a different antivirus like Antivir. It might pick up something AVG has missed.
Recommendations to speed up your computer: 1) Turn off System Restore 2) If you have real-time Anti-Virus scanning software, turn off the realtime scan feature or better yet, uninstall it and just use a free online scan when you need it like http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ 3) Use Ad-Aware 2007 AND Spybot Search & Destroy to remove any Spyware. Both of these programs are free. 4) Defrag your hard drive. If all of that fails and the computer is still painfully slow, I'd back up the data on the computer and do a clean install of Windows XP with SP2.
You might want to check the bottom part of the processes page.. below the slider. For what you've shown, nothing is hogging the CPU. Unfortunately, that means the troublemaker is not obvious and you'll likely have to find it by trial and error. And the problem could be due to something CCleaner "cleaned" but should not have. If you get to the point of reinstalling your OS and software, evaluate performance having not used CCleaner... that is, CCleaner should the the last thing you do.... any perhaps not use it at all.
click on CPU tab header one or twice to resort the percentage to see which process eats up CPU the most.