Programs running in the background

I may be a geek, but i am not a very knowledgable one. I have a computer I have found much much adware on. THey have been deleted, but this baby is slow as molasses. It is a celeron, and loads and runs slower than a pentium running windows 98.
I think there is too much running in the background, but I can't figure out how to check that or how to stop them.
Can any of you higher level geeks with more geek experience help me figure out what to do? My gratitude would be endless.
Many Thanks;
John

 

Woops, sorry...

I am running XP.

 

Re: Woops, sorry...

start - run - services.msc
Use www.blackviper.com to find recommended settings for each (be carefully here, any problems change them back)

On top of that use CCleaner (search MajorGeeks to find it) to get rid of junk. A defrag always helps too.

Jimbo

 

You should show the specs on your machine too. What size processor, how much RAM, how big and how many RPMs is the Hard Drive.

Unless I am mistaken, a Celeron running Windows XP would run slower than a Pentium running 98, if the two processors were the same MHZ. Alot depends on the RAM as well.

XP has much more bulk to it, quite a few more processes in the background than 98. I have an older machine that I intend to put 98 on, since it just wouldn't handle XP.

XP needs 512 RAM to run optimally, 98 needs 256, so you can see the differences. XP WILL RUN on 256, I believe, but optimally, it needs 512. More is even better.

Get back with some of those specs, and we can see what it needs.

Eric