I have had this pc for almost a year had no problems now it takes almost 4 minutes to boot up what can be the problem?i have win xp

Have u just upgraded to winxp? If so get more ram! 256 ram is probably not enough for xp anyway. Get more ram! I suggest another 256.

XP slow boot & other problems . These are tips from others & my own experieces . By far , my biggest problem , was caused by a 8 speed cd rom . ( Samsung SCR-830 ) Installing an even older 4 speed rom , fixed the problems . There were no conflicts in Device Manager & the latest drivers were installed . The same rom worked perfectly in 98 ( and still does ) It pay's to isolate your problems , by disconecting all your cards / hardware & reinstalling one by one . Problems were . 1 . Very slow boot . 2 . Some times failed to boot . 3 . Very slow opening of some programs . 4 . Select different folder ( when using WinZip ) very slow to open . 5 . Music CD's would not work . -------------- http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/winxp_services/services-3.shtml http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/winxp_services/index.shtml http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/wfp/index.shtml If your system hangs about 2 or 3 minutes at startup, where you can't access the Start button or the Taskbar, it may be due to one specific service (Background Intelligent Transfer) running in the background. Microsoft put out a patch for this but it didn't work for me. Here's what you do: Click on Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools then Services. Go to the 'Services' tab, find the 'Background Intelligent Transfer' service. Disable it, apply the changes & reboot. Or if you don't want to disable it . Background Intelligent Transfer Service. Uses idle network bandwidth to transfer data. For the majority of Users this feature should be of little use & as such I’d recommend setting it to Manual. Those on highly active Networks may benefit from having this set to Automatic, although it may be worth testing out to see if it does. ------------ http://rogier.xszone.nl/windows/wintricks.html • Defragment boot files The boot defragment option is usually enabled by default, but it may be disabled, or not properly enabled. If it's not working, XP may boot dog-slow. To enable it: - Edit HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction, find the string called Enable. If the string value is set to N, change it to Y. -------------- http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=308041 Resources for Troubleshooting Startup Problems in Windows XP ------------ Run a virus check from 1 of these & then give it a good clean out . Online Virus check ( free ) http://housecall.antivirus.com/ http://www.coledata.com/virusalert.htm http://www.cybertechhelp.com/html/misc/av.php http://www.pandasoftware.es/activescan/activescan-com.asp --------------- http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm http://www.blkviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#Network%20DDE Enable Quick post in BIOS setup , as long as you have a have a lot of memory . The normal memory test , is tested three times & that alone may take 60 to 90 seconds. --------------- You can protect your comp from Spyfiles by using these 3 programs . http://beam.to/spybotsd What does SpyBot-Search & Destroy? SpyBot-S&D searches your hard drive for so-called spy- or adbots; little modules that are responsible for the ads many programs display. But many of these modules also transmit information about your surfing behaviour and more to the net. If SpyBot-S&D finds such modules, it can remove them - or replace them with empty dummies in case their host software won't run with its bot removed. In most cases, the host still runs fine after removing the bot. For a list of 'supported' bots see the feature lists below. The Spybot-S&D interface is so easy, that updates just require replacing a file of about 80k in size. Those updates are distributed by my software mailinglist, over this page and are also available from inside the programs update section. Another feature of Spybot S&D is the removal of usage tracks, which makes it more complicated for unknown spybots to transmit useful data. The list of last visited websites, opened files, started programs, cookies, all that and more can be cleaned. Supported are the three major browsers Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator and Opera. Make sure you use the SpyBot > Online > Update button regularly . ----- http://www.wilderssecurity.com/spywareblaster.html SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed. How? By setting a "kill bit" for the CLSIDs of spyware ActiveX controls, it prevents the installation of any of them from a webpage. You can run Internet Explorer with Active-X enabled, but you will never even get a "Yes/No" box popped up, asking you to install a spyware Active-X control (Internet Explorer will never download or run it!). All other Active-X controls or plug-ins will work fine. The SpywareBlaster database contains information on these known spyware Active-X controls. Make sure you run the Check For Updates feature frequently to get the latest database! (And make sure you check the new items to protect your system against them!) As a side benefit, setting this "kill bit" will also prevent the spyware Active-X from running, in many cases, if it is already installed on your system.* --- http://www.lsfileserv.com/index.html http://www.lsfileserv.com/downloads.html Ad-Aware Get rid of spyware now! Download the most recent version of our award winning , free multi spyware removal utility . --------------- Curing Sloooooooow Restarts http://www.techweb.com/winmag/columns/explorer/2000/08.htm http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-04-10.htm http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-04-13.htm ---- http://www.pcforrest.freeserve.co.uk/streamlining_startups.htm http://ww2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Uncheck.htm http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm#F http://www.3dspotlight.com/tweaks/startup/start4.shtml http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/Running_items.htm ------- http://www.windows-help.net/WindowsXP/troub-07.html http://www.tweak3d.net/tweak/winstartupnew/ Disable the Windows XP Prefetcher Windows XP has a Prefetcher component, which shortens the amount of time it takes to start Windows and programs. When trouble shooting either Windows or program start-up issues, it might be helpful to disable the prefetcher, because it runs as a background service while other applications are running or loading. To disable the prefetcher: Start the Registry Editor Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ SessionManager \ Memory Management \ PrefetchParameters Double-click the EnablePrefetcher value (remember the value that EnablePrefetcher is set to!) Change the Value data to 0 to disable the prefetcher . Close the registry editor and reboot the computer for the changes to take effect When done troubleshooting, you can re-enable the prefetcher by changing the Value data to its original value. Values for EnablePrefetcher are: 0 - no prefetch 1 - prefetch applications only 2 - prefetch boot only 3 - prefetch both applications & boot (default) I find 5 is best . It may also be useful to periodically clean up the prefetch folder, as it may contain obsolete links. The Prefetch folder can be found in the Windows folder on your system drive. Select all the files, and delete them. When done, reboot your computer. --------------- http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/47.htm Application Slow-Downs in Windows XP Control Panel > Network Connections > Right-click your main network connection , choose Properties > Double-click "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" > Click Advanced button > Select WINS tab . The solution I've seen recommended and posted in various places is to remove the check mark beside "Enable LMHOSTS lookup" on the WINS tab and/or "Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP." People report that the application slow-downs go away . --------------- Not networking , this will help . 1) Control Panel -> Internet Options 2) Connections tab 3) LAN Settings 4) Uncheck "Automatically Detect Settings" --------------- http://www.xtremepccentral.com/forums/archive/39/2002/04/4/1003 Start Regedit. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control. Click on the "Control" Folder. Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" Right click on it and select Modify. Set it a value lower than 20000 ( can go down to 200 ) --------------- Run Scandisk Standard ( do not Tick > Automatically fix errors ) Scandisk log records the errors . http://users.iafrica.com/c/cq/cquirke/scandisk.htm http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q158705 How to Disable the Find Fast Indexer http://www.remainsecure.com/whitepapers/hacking/mshidden.htm 8. THE TRUTH ABOUT FIND FAST --------------- http://shellcity.net/cgi-bin/DB_Search/db_search.cgi?setup_file=alphapage.setup.cgi&submit_search=yes&alpha=0-9 http://www.1cleanup.com/ http://www.1cleanup.com/download.cfm 1CLEANUP..........Clears your computer of Unneeded Files: These may possess any attributes left to be specified by the user. In addition, all zero length files and folders are included automatically. Recent Documents: Recently accessed files which are displayed in Start Menu-> Documents and stored in Windows' Recent folder. Favorites and Bookmarks: All favorites and bookmarks created and stored over time by the user. IE Cache: This includes cookies, history and Temporary Internet Files created by the Internet Explorer. Dead Shortcuts: Shortcuts to files that have been moved to another location or deleted from the computer after the shortcut was created.....(free).....GO THERE! And / Or , http://www.fsm.nl/ward/ Spider finds hidden Url's that other mean's don't . Cleans > 1 . Hidden Url's . 2 . Temporary Internet Files . 3 . History Files . 4 . Cookies . Click on Spider , not Spider Bite . And / Or Xen . compatible with 95/98/98SE/ME/NT/2000/XP http://www.sover.net/~whoi/Security2.html http://www.x9000.net/downloads/xen.zip http://www.x9000.net/ http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mrx9000/ http://216.239.35.100/search?q=cache:YWd9fw8mgIEC:www.x9000.net/+Xen+and+Xen+tweak&hl=en Xen Protects privacy and frees up disk space - runs on win 95,98,98SE,ME,NT,2000 and XP - cleans up more temporary files than any other cleanup program - cleans up browser cache completely ! (even index.dat) - cleans out cookie files completely ! (even index.dat - cleans up web history files completely ! (even history.dat) - cleans up recent history - removes application debugging information - removes temporary pc health files - removes temporary setup files - removes temp files left behind by windows - cleans up literally 100's and 100's of different temporary files - cleans up your history trails in windows and also in 100's of different programs - cleans out registry entries and optimises registry - cleans out some major spyware that is out there and stops it from starting up - cleans recycle bin - scandisk and defrag options for startup - backs up and restores your registry and keyfiles - backs up and restores your root files - backs up and restores your user profiles - backs up your my documents - backs up your outlook address book and data - backs up your pgp keys if exist - backs up drive completely to another drive - backs up and restores your CMOS - backs up and restores your master boot record - security check for trojans - security for VBS scripts and other scripts - automatically detects user profiles and utilises them, even in windows 9x - frees up memory on exit - self sufficient and creates its own files. And why not try XenTweak...the new tweaker on the block? http://www.x9000.net/downloads/xentweak.zip --------------- Solution for Index.dat files dilemma http://www.markusjansson.net/eienbid.html

Holy explainations Batman! Or you could add RAM and defrag the hard drive. borelli34

Don't waste your money buying extra Ram 256 is sufficient ( min required 128 ), unless you do a lot of video editing. Try looking what programs you have running in the background which you don't use and uncheck the boxes. Type in Run box .... msconfig/start you will then be asked to reboot HTH Andrew

XP is slow to start with, it uses a lot of CPU. I switched to 98se, and solved ALL the prob.