I was just wondering for For How Long does your OS last fast, stable and workable?

I am running windows xp on pretty good machine and mistically after about 1 month or month and half it becames unworkable (it loads for 5 min, takes 2 min to open damn IE etc) so every 1-2month i have to reinstall it since nothing gould be done, i tryed system restore but it is still very slow after it, and Yes i defragment my drive and more 50% is always free.

My friend has windows 98 and every 6 month he have to format his drive and reinstall windows since it gets so slow that untill it loads agame or a msn messenger u can go to showe and back and then it will only load.

So my questions are these:
For how much time ur OS is fast?
And is any way to speed up it back when it gets damn slow?

You listed only one maintenence item "defrag". How often do you delete your temp internet files, how often do you check and eliminate the spyware programs that have found their way onto your computer, and do you do a lot of program downloading and program changes. What firewall and antivirus programs do you use?

yes i delete all cookies and idont download much from internet except movies and music.
I have an Xp Antispy and Norton firewall aswell as antivirus scans all drives weekly, also 50% of my ram is always free and i have as least baground programs as i can have.

Have you tried to use Scannow? Go to START - RUN and type in CMD. Once it has opened type...... sfc /scannow

But before you do anything place you WinXP disc in your CDROM, click on Exit so that it doesn't try to start.

Once scannow starts up you will see its purpose.

Another thing you want to make sure you do occasionally is empty your TEMP folder. Its the folder right above your TEMP INTERNET FILES folder.

Also, go to START - Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disc Cleanup. Check all boxes and run it.

Your system should run literly forever without any problem of slowing down. Taking into consideration you haven't downloaded all these so called wonder programs that cause more troubles than they cure. Leave your OS alone and let it do its thing. Good luck with it anyway.

Cessna

thanks cessna for scannow thing
Take care

Ad-Aware 6.0

Spybot S&D

Cessna

Ad-Aware 6.0

Spybot S&D

Cessna

Thanks

Your welcome!

Also you should try to keep the number of icons in the tray area (next to clock), which are background running programs to as few as possible. You do not want these programs to "start with Windows", such as Instant Messenger or file sharing programs like WinMX or Kazaa Lite to name a few.

Only Norton antivrus starts thats it and nothing more
Thanks for respondoding OPS

"For how much time ur OS is fast?"

It really depends on how you use your pc. Someone that does very little (such as checking email and surfing the web) shouldn't have any problems going at least a year between reinstalls.

Power users always seem to be reinstalling Windows more often. Either cause we're too picky (me lol) or tweaked one thing too many. Three to six months is a more realistic time frame for a power user.

Installing and uninstalling a bunch of apps will also reak havoc on your system eventually.

"And is any way to speed up it back when it gets damn slow?"

Yes reinstall :(

Sandman

Yes that how it is but for me the window is about 1-2 month because i really take all from my computer as it almost works 24/7

If your constantly tweaking things and installing programs a 1-2 month time frame isn't really that bad. Up until I upgraded to Windows Server 2003 I never really went much longer than a month and a half without reinstalling Xp either.

Four tips to help keep things running smoothly,

1. Be careful what you install on your pc. If you dont need it don't install it.

2. Learn what tweaks really work and which ones do not. This takes the longest but is worth it.

3. Do cleanup maintenance on a weekly basis, not daily.

4. Install Windows Hotfixes and service packs.

Sandman