need suggestions for sluggish computer

[vbforge]

i know the box is not that great it is a emachines t2040 runnign windows xp. I use threat fire, avg, spybot, malware bytes anti malware and adaware. The computer comes up clean I dump the temporary internet files regularly. I am eager for tips. I'll try anything to speed up

[SpywareDr]

How much RAM is installed in your system? (Press [Winkey]-[Pause/Break] or right-click "My computer" and select "Properties").

You want at least 1GB with XP.

You can go to: http://crucial.com , click the "Scan My System" button and it should be able to tell you how much RAM you currently have, the maximum RAM your system will support and then make suggestions as to the type of RAM you'd need to upgrade.

[fink]

Also, many computers gradually pick up a lot of unwanted programs running at startup (not necessarily malware, but that's always a possibility too).

Here's a good list of startup items to look for and see if they're necessary or not.

http://www.castlecops.com/StartupList.html

[lgbpop]

Defrag your system as well. It does make a difference. One thing I also do two or three times a year is to go through the list of installed programs; there are always a few (at least) that are taking up space as well as sometimes running in the background. Weed them out!

[TrueGreen]

You're using alot of anti-malware programs and these could be conflicting. I've had problems with threatfire and no longer use it. I would suggest you remove all anti-malware programs except for avg. If this helps you might just stop here. If it helps and you feel insecure add one of the programs you have at a time until you get a slowdown.

[Welshjim]

vbforge--Here is a low tech summary of procedures that may speed up a sluggish PC. Forgive where it mentions procedures you have already done.

1) You say you have scanned the PC for viruses, spyware, etc. (Be sure you used updated reference definition files. Delete whatever these programs recommend. And if you did find malware you should also probably install and run HiJackThis.
http://www.download.com/Trend-Micro-...-10227353.html
You can post the log in the HiJackThis forum for assistance in deciding if any further cleanup is needed.)
2) Disk Cleanup. There are several ways to reach it. One is Start|All Programs|Accessories|System Tools|DiskCleanUp. That will start a scan of the PC to tell you what files might be deleted compressed. (The scan takes a while.) I would certainly delete Temporary Internet Files, Temp files, Downloaded Program Files and probably Compress Old Files. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312 for details.
3) Then I would run ErrorChecking. (left click on MyComputer||right click on C:\ drive icon (assuming that is your hard drive)|Tools|Error Checking. Check the box "Automatically fix files system errors". Click Start (within the error checking window). You will be told to reboot. Do so. Error checking will then run as part of the reboot. It can take a while.
4) Start|Run|type MSCONFIG|OK|Startup tab. WinXP actually needs very few thirdparty programs (the ones you see in msconfig) to run at start. Antivirus, Firewall, Antispyware, programs associated with wireless connections such as mouse, network, etc. would be among the few. Uncheck the box to the left of any program you feel you do not need at startup. Click Apply. This site will help you make decisions what you do and do not need http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
5) Run Disk Defragmenter. ((left click on MyComputer||right click on C:\ drive icon (again assuming that is your hard drive)|Tools|Disk Defragmenter|Defrag Now click Analyze) Unless the analysis shows defragmentation is not needed, proceed to run Defragment. That also takes a while.
Any better performance?