I'm at a loss at what is causing a lag in my performance. I have a 2.8 P4 with 160 gig HD and 1 gig RAM. I purchased this computer a year ago. Since then I've added a 300 gig HD. I'm running Windows XP Media Ed. Yesterday, I tried turning on my comp and it took FOREVER (~5min) for Windows to boot up. After which I went to safe mode to look for any viruses using Symantec's online virus search. No viruses (supposedly). I then defraged and my computer started up quickly again, BUT whenever I initially try to open up a folder or a program, it lags for a minute (literally), then opens up and then runs fine. This happens for every file/folder I try to open. But once it opens, it runs smoothly. It also had issues shutting down. I had to manually shut it down a few times before it could actually complete a shut down on its own. I ran a disk scan and it came up fine. But then the HD started making weird sounds. I suspect it may be heading to the graveyard, but I don't want to replace it if I don't have to....it's a pain! Any insights? Thanks!
how many apps are on it (include any you have uninstalled) it may be time to do a clean reinstall of XP
Have you checked the Windows Event Viewer for application and system errors? Report anything you find, including the Event ID
