Ever notice that the most common question people have is why their computer slows down over time? I run ad-ware and virus programs and still it's noticeable how much it has slowed. Any general ideas welcome plus two specific things: Can running more than one virus/ad-ware program slow it down, and 2) ever so often my hard drive seems to take off for several minutes of continual work for no obvious reason during which time everything slows to a crawl.

There are probably many ways to speed up your computer

Insider Secrets: Speed up Windows XP - CNET reviews

tips to speed up your computer-xp - Google Search

Hope you find some that will help you

When someone says it's slowing down "over time" (i.e. getting worse), I think there's also something to be said for just simply reinstalling Windows and all your programs clean every once in a while. Stuff gets corrupted over time and things can get quirky. Of course, you need to know how to get everything you need backed up and how to reinstall Windows, drivers, etc.

And yes, I can imagine that running more than one AV could slow it down, though I don't know that for sure. Running two of those at the same time just isn't a good idea anyway because they don't always play nice together.

For one, there's no reason to run more than one anti-virus program (it can actually mess things up pretty severely). You can have a couple anti-spyware/anti-adware programs, but only one anti-virus.

For another, try turning off indexing. It'll make Windows search slower, but the indexing might be slowing you down.

Finally, check out what other programs are running in the background. If you have tons of stuff launching at startup, it can cause a slow PC, as well as a <a href="http://startupspeed.com/">slow startup speed</a>

The very last thing I would ever do is reformat the drive and then reload it. There are no guarantees that you will not bring an embedded virus back into your system if it is a Trojan Horse.

However, I would start at the simple things first. Run a virus scan and make absolutely sure that your PC is not infected.

Create a Systems Checkpoint after the virus scan.

Now starts the fun stuff. For example, (Windows PCs only) Make sure your "Recycle Bin" is empty.

Next delete your Internet Temporary Files.

Defrag your disk. This somewhat time consuming but your data files will be protected. Defragging the drive allows you data file to concatenated. This reduces the seeks that the Hard disk heads will make to find data.

Get a program that can scan and repair your Registry. I use RegCure.

Also, delete any data files that you don't need any more.

Please let me know if that helps you any.

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The very last thing I would ever do is reformat the drive and then reload it. There are no guarantees that you will not bring an embedded virus back into your system if it is a Trojan Horse.

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You just got caught in an old thread. :p

But I'm going to answer that since I wrote it. The only way reinstalling everything is going to "bring back" a virus is if it's in a downloaded .exe or something. And then only if you got rid of the thing are you worse off. If it was still there, how are you worse off? And chances are reasonable you'll get rid of it. If not, likely you'll have to go through a lot more trouble anyway.

Besides, sometimes things just slow down and get corrupt over time. I reinstalled from scratch a couple of times a year or when things start getting quirky or slow. Slow isn't always a virus, and I was referring to the "getting worse over time" type of thing that isn't a virus.

If your computer is running slow these may be the causes:
Hard disk drive is short on available disk space.
Several software programs have been installed/uninstalled leaving behind bad files and/or confusing the software.

1. Data Corruption.
2.Missing Windows updates / Outdated drivers.
3. Computer is overheating.
4.Corrupt OS.
5.Bad Hardware.

Here is how to fix it:

Not enough hard disk drive space:

Verify that there is at least 200-500MB of free hard disk drive space. This available space allows the computer to have room for the swap file to increase in size as well as room for temporary files.

Hard drive corrupted or fragmented:

Run Scandisk or something equivalent to help ensure that there is nothing physically wrong with the computer hard disk drive.

Run Defrag to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order.

Background programs:

Remove or disable any TSRs or programs that automatically start each time the computer boots. See document CHTSR for additional information. If you're wanting to see what programs are running in the background, how much memory they're using, and their CPU usage open Task Manager. Also, if you are running Windows 7, you can run Resmon to find out which programs are taking up a lot of space.
If you've got an anti-virus scanner on the computer, spyware protection program, or other security utility make sure it's not running in the background as you're trying to work. Often when these programs begin to scan the computer it can decrease the overall performance of your computer.

Hardware conflicts:

Verify that the Device Manager has no conflicts. If any exist resolve these issues as they could be the cause of your problem.

Update Windows:

Make sure you have all the latest Windows updates installed in the computer.

Update your drivers:

Make sure you've got the latest drivers for your computer. Especially the latest video drivers. Having out-of-date drivers can cause an assortment of issues.

Computer or processor is overheating:

Make sure your computer and processor is not overheating, excessive heat can cause a significant decrease in computer performance some processors will even lower the speed of the processor automatically to help compensate for the heat related issues.

Memory upgrade:

If you've had your computer for more than one year it's likely you're computer is not meeting the memory requirements for today. I suggest at a minimum the computer have 1GB of memory.

Erase computer and start over:

Finally, if none of the above solutions resolve your issues, it is recommended that you either reinstall Windows and/or erase everything and then start over.

Hardware issues:

If your computer continues to be slow after going over each of the above recommendations it's possible that your computer is experiencing a more serious hardware related issue such as a failing component in the computer. This could be a failing or bad CPU, RAM, Motherboard, or other component.