Please help, I will explain my problem as best I can

I am on Windows XP and have been for of course a long time. This problem has been going on for awhile now and I have just been dealing with it, so long in fact that I have got "used" to it, learned to just "live with it". Well recently, I got to go 7 days, almost 8 without the problem. I have no idea why it "went" away temporarily after a reboot, after steadily ongoing for many, many months I would say, like it did the last 7 to 8 days but it did and now I want it to be back like that, you know, NORMAL. Okay now onto the problem. My computer experiences an internal I guess you could say HEAVY lag within programs and functions of My Computer like opening a folder with a lot of files in it, I mean a lot, takes many minutes just to open. I know this is not normal as previous, problem-free experience. And of course if you did Thumbnail view for pictures, say pictures all in the folder for example, that is virtually impossible, would take longer than many minutes for them to all show up with tons of "lag" and the hourglass and (Not Responding) type errors. This problem did happen long ago but I have just stuffed it down and put up with it and as I said I do not want to anymore, I want my computer to run like normal!!!!!!!! I am sorry this is not some big explanation as to the problem, but that is accurate. A lot of programs take a long time to load, if at all, and cannot properly function within this lagged state. Not such small ones as Winamp but say a Android Recovery one for example I attempted to install and use would not do it. Also, loading and singing into Yahoo Messenger takes three or four tries of signing in as the lag does not let you do it instantly like it should when you are problem free. This is not a problem with internet related stuff, say Firefox and the web, though I may, just may experience a slight lag there, but nothing like the example of within My Computer but more so "software" related I guess. Something within the Windows I imagine. This problem is not a Malware Spyware related I am sure of it. Can someone out there please solve this problem for me I do not want to go through computer life like this anymore.

 

Can you tell us about your computer's hardware? If you don't have a program use Speccy. The summary info is usually enough. Also, how fragmented is the hard disc? If you don't know, run the built-in Windows Disk Defragmenter, take a snapshot and upload it.

 

For going to Control Panel to get to the System option I remembered the screen saver takes awhile to load and to return from saving the screen, both ways, as it would if there was no problem causing the lag. So with that said I have 1 GB of ram and the computer is a Dell 2400 series. I guess the P4? I remember going to the System option and it telling me what I had. The type of processor and all that, some strange reason it is not displaying that information. Looks like it is "missing" information. As far as the disk defragment goes I know I have not done that for even longer than this problem has been going on but I am not sure if that is the problem, as I said, for some strange reason, I thought it was going to be for good, I was hopeful but very doubtful, it was gone, but for 7 to 8 days that problem was just gone (I just rebooted now and upon that reboot discovering the problem was back as I am sure it would be I came here to write this.) And honestly I don't know if I can even defragment because of this problem. I hit Analyze, nothing happens, same with Defragment, just tried it. Also, I doubt if Speccy will even run with this heavy "lag"

 

Thanks for the replies but I have tried all these things before. I already do have CCleaner and I am able to do the registry scan and have done so. Also, this is not a ram amount problem as I was fine, completely fine before I got the second stick of ram that allowed me to get to 1 GB. Before that I had less ram and I never had this problem. I am beginning to wonder if the one stick of ram I put in, though it was not an instant problem, but maybe could have happened, is a BAD STICK OF RAM? Only you would know if that was possibly the case. I do have my pagefile jacked up real high. Also, addressing the system being old, it was not lagged like this for the longest time. I have had more than one different hard drive as well so it is not that it is an old system that is the problem. I know if I formatted the hard drive (really out of the question) this problem would be gone.

 

The ram came from the same DELL. I bought the same DELL to get the same power supply because buying a new power supply was going to cost more or the same so I just bought the same used DELL and got much more than a power supply and it had the ram in it so I took it out because it was more than my second stick I had in there. But like I said, it was not instant, did not start after I put that stick in right away or whatever, of course there was no positive or negative or difference or even any change when I put that new ram stick in and not long after though this problem started. I would say weeks after. Not sure if it has to do with the ram or what. But like I said, why would this problem go away after a reboot just recently? One time, out of nowhere? There is nothing wrong with the system itself, being old or whatever. Before this problem started it was perfectly fine this is just a problem that needs to be found and eradicated. Could the stick of ram have gone bad or whatever? Is that possible? Or even my other stick I had in there originally? I mean I know things go bad, die, and all that, the power supply died and that is why I bought the same DELL just for that part. And I cannot reinstall Windows either, same as formatting, both are out of the question. I did the Crucial Scan and I got this:

512MB
DDR PC2700
512MB
DDR PC2700

 

I definitely understand. I need to attempt the safe mode option. I have not done so yet, been on the internet just waiting and reading and trying the other things stated here before going to reboot. I also generally have always kept low free space on the main hard drive, in the megabytes. It is always, always changing. That has never ever been an issue for me. And for startups I have always kept that to a very minimum. Bare. It is always around the number of 30.

 

I meant 30 processes in the Task Manager. Is that what you were meaning? It is very early here and I have not slept and about to pass out. I thought that is what you meant.

 

As I also explored google to find out information, someone, for someone else said to look at the Event Viewer and what it does, this was for another person's different problem but I went to look in my own as I never have before and I looked in the System section and there is a constant, every minute, every 5 seconds of every minute, DCOM error?

 

Only have 9 enabled Startups.

 

HDDHealth
WallpaperChanger
IgfxTray
HotKeysCmds
snpstd3 (webcam related)
KernalFaultCheck
InstaLAN (Belkin Router Monitor)
SunJavaUpdateSched
HP Digital Imaging Monitor.lnk

 

I use Kerio Firewall and have for the longest. Not sure why it is not there, listed but it is always in my Task Manager Processes and my bottom right hand corner stating running. I have always had the firewall in place. Plus I have a router. Are you sure about IgfxTray and HotKeysCmds? they are in the SYSTEM32 folder. I know HDDHealth is my own HD monitoring program for health. I know WallpaperChanger is my own self explanatory program. Never had any problems with them and always used them for a long time. I guess I will disable the SunJava. Have had the HP Printer and software for a long time too, problem free. The router software, this problem did happen after I did get this router, NOT immediately after. So you are saying I do not need the router monitor running for the router to work splendidly? And in general, when I disable I am only disabling them from running at startup and if needed, something else, whether by action of a program function or manually they will still run fine without flaw or fault?

 

What about what I stated up there, could be an unrelated problem, but it sure seems to be a strange problem, happening on my system, as stated in what I posted up there: "As I also explored google to find out information, someone, for someone else said to look at the Event Viewer and what it does, this was for another person's different problem but I went to look in my own as I never have before and I looked in the System section and there is a constant, every minute, every 5 seconds of every minute, DCOM error?" Is this a major issue? Is this something I should correct at once? I am not familiar with it at all.

 

I just kept the things in there that seemed to be needed on startup to be able to run without error. I mean the HDD Health is a constant SMART HD monitor, I feel that is needed.

 

Going to pass out now. Upon the time after awakening I will do the safe mode defragment and also run spyware terminator which I do have. I welcome more, any and all possible solutions to the problems at hand.

 

It is just the free Kerio Firewall. And this is not about speeding up an older computer. This is about some problem that is lagging the computer that was not lagging it for the longest time. It is some problem that came about recently that I have ignored for a long time. It is a problem that can be solved and done away with to have the computer returned back to normal and as I said I have replaced the hard drives more than once.

 

This is not about speeding up an old computer, it is about bringing that computer back to what it should, how it should normally perform, which to me is not slow. Sure it is not the fastest there is, but it was perfectly fast enough for me. This is something that is "bogging", "lagging" it down-like. Something is happening that is creating that internal type lag, this is the situation. The firewall works great and it is what I am used to.