Windows XP Prof. acting sluggish

[whr2206]

I didnt really know exactly where to post this.. but it doesnt really seem like a hardware problem.. so I'll post here.

After installing Windows XP Professional a while back.. its started to get quite slow... Like .... just common tasks I used to perform fast now take longer than they used to. Im thinking about backing up the thigns I want and jsut reformatting my ahrd drive and install windows over. Its just I always get error reports... the computer locks up randomly.. Internet explorer acts wierd... its just a huge mess I think. But before i do that.. i was wondering is there anything to save me from that big hassle? Like should I run scandisk, correct all errors, defragment, then scan for virsuses and jsut clean out the hard drive for stuff I dont use anymroe? How much will that help out? Also where/how can I check my connection with the internet? I have high speed internet with Cox@Home but all my games lag really bad and I cant find out why.... When I download music adn programs its fine it goes plenty fast but when connected to any server playing a game.. it seems slow...

So basically I just need to know

- What I can do to clean out my system to make it run a bit faster to save me from reformatting
- How I can check my connection to Cox and why games lag soo bad.

thanks for any tips.. I just didnt really know where to post this whole problem im having with my pc getting sssssllllooooooowwwwww here are my specs:

Asus a7v-e
Tbird 900
512mb pc 133 ram
30 gb hard drive (maxtor)
32x12x40 LIte On Cd Burner
16x Pioneer DVD drive
ATI 7500 64mb DDR
Hercules Gaming Theater with 7 speakers a sub
floppy
sparkle 300w psu

[doctorgonzo]

If you haven't been scanning for trojans and viruses you should do that as soon as possible. Running scandisk may help as well. There are just too many things that could be going on with your PC, so you should start eliminating possibilities.

[whr2206]

ok I'll do that.. I dont know it just that this always happens.. after i fill up my hard drive it just gets really slow i get frustarted wipe the hard drive and start over..

[doctorgonzo]

If it happens constantly, you should be running defrag and scanning for viruses at least once a week (if not scanning more often). Especially if you use a P2P program, or if you change your setup a lot. There is no reason why you should be experiencing significant slowdowns if everything is working correctly.

[whr2206]

ok I scanned and I found 2 viruses in the temporary internet folder... and i couldnt do anything to them bu quarentine them.. nothing from my folder where i route all my p2p files... im going to try and defrag tonight...

like IE slowed down significantly.... when i updated my ati driver... although I dont know WHY that would happen..

[ktkendall]

Originally posted by whr2206 ok I'll do that.. I dont know it just that this always happens.. after i fill up my hard drive it just gets really slow i get frustarted wipe the hard drive and start over..

That could be the root right there, I believe windows gets a little freaky when harddrive gets full. Maybe a defrag and adjust the virtual mem settings, a bigger harddrive may be what you actually need for long term solution...

[Blakhart]

In any ntfs partition, I think if you use up 75% of the drive, it will run very slow, and perhaps defrag will not be able to run as well.
My bet is on trojans or other virii, if not a drive or config issue...

[bigdog92]

defrag needs 25% to run effectively you can still force it to run without that though

[Propain]

Im not sure but this might help. www.pcpitstop.com