Windows XP tune up

Good afternoon experts,
I installed some additional memory into my laptop last summer, I added 512M to my Sony Vaio, PCG-FRV-27. It had 512M and now has the hardware max of 1 Gbyte RAM. It drastically improved program loading. Later on in the fall I upgraded the HDD from the OEM 40 Gbyte (forever full) to a 250 Gbyte internal. I used the HDD imaging software provided with the HDD seller. I got lots of verification errors but the seller tech support said to go ahead and give the drive a try. I did, and everything seems to work fine. All settings are intact, all connectivity seems OK. All programs seem to work normally with the exception of the WMP which doesnt play videos smoothly. Sometimes the audio track is corrupted or erratic. Sometimes the videos play erratically, or slowly.
So after this long segue, my question is can I use a program or series of programs to remove unnecessary files and fragments, repair or replace damaged or missing drivers and tune up the registry? Do I need to consider reformatting and reloading the OS? This is an OEM XP Home version and its running SP3.
Thanks in advance for your advice and consderation.
Mike

 

Greetings, mnero01.

Personally, I'd suggest doing manual searches for any driver updates only if you're having specific problems. I'm a firm believer in the old axiom "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

CCleaner is probably considered the de facto standard files/registry cleaner - I do recommend it.

As far as the WMP: what type of videos (internet streaming, or local)?

 

The only thing you need to do for the registry is to follow Caliban's instructions and
use CCleaner. After that, if you like, you can use NTREGOPT to compress the registry by removing empty gaps.

To check the hard drive for errors,
Open My Computer, right click the C: drive, select Properties, then the Tools tab,
Error checking, Check Now and check Automatically fix file system errors.
Then ReBoot to enable the scan.

If you're concerned about system files,
click Start > Run and enter sfc /scannow

 

Thanks for your information. I will download the necessary programs, run the necessary updates and get back to you about the final solutions.

 

Please do.

As an added suggestion: there are many here who recommend VLC Media Player with the Shark007 codecs.

 

From this thread and other sources, the following tools seem to be good for an XP tune-up.

1. backup pc with imaging program like Acronis
2. run full scan with MRT (MS Malicious Software Tool) and/or something like Malwarebytes
3. run virus scan
4. run cmd prompt chkdsk c:/f/r
5. run cmd prompt sfc /scannow (need XP install CD)
6. run MS Disk Cleanup Tool and/or CCleaner
7. run defrag
8.ish, tried creating a 'slipstreamed Windows XP CD Using SP3, but couldne get it to work with the Dell XP disk, and dont know if there would be a 'repair' option or not.

Definitely dont want to do an XP re-install and end up reformatting the HD, been there done that, and it was a traumatic experience to say the least !

Please let us know if there are other good safe tools/steps, and/or if the above should be changed.