It takes awhile on start up and shut down, surfing is pretty slow as well. How do I speed it up?2 people need an answerI do too

Start with the basics and post back with answers/results for further help. The First Question Of Troubleshooting: If the problem is new, what changed between the time things worked and the time they didn't? The Second Question of Windows Troubleshooting: what is the malware/virus status of the machine? If you think it is clean, what programs (and versions) did you use to determine this? Be sure the computer is clean: http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_MalwareMS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!

It takes awhile on start up and shut down, surfing is pretty slow as well. How do I speed it up?My Dell is older and slower than my new laptop--both running XP Service Pack 3. What can I do to speed up my desktop?

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Some reasons for computer slowness:1. Computer hasn't been maintained - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Maintenance 2. Computer is infected with malware - http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware 3. Hard drive is too full. Remove unnecessary stuff, uninstall unused programs. Don't forget to back up!http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Backing_Up4. Flaky third-party software. Toolbars and add-ons are particular culprits in this area. Uninstall toolbars (Google, Yahoo, ISP-branded, etc.) and look carefully at what add-ons are in use in your browser(s).5. Computer has too many unnecessary programs/processes running in the background. Manage your Startup:For XP - How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560 The free Autoruns program is very useful for managing your Startup - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/default.mspx For Vista/Windows7 - Start Orb>Search box>type: msconfig and when it appears in the Results box above, right-click and choose "Run as Administrator".Autoruns is also very useful.6. User is running a bloated/invasive antivirus program such as ones from Norton and McAfee. Replace with a better program. I recommend either NOD32 (commercial) or Avast (free). Avira is also good but the free version has an unpleasant nag screen (Google for instructions as to how to disable this). User may also be running more than one real-time antivirus/firewall/security program.7. User has installed new programs that are processor and/or memory-intensive (Photoshop, AutoCAD, Mathmatica or the like) and doesn't have the necessary hardware power.8. Hard drive is failing and is in PIO Mode (IDE drives only - not applicable to SATA drives). This is very dramatically slow (like being back in 1985). See Hans-Georg Michna's information here -http://winhlp.com/?q=node/10 If the PIO registry fix doesn't "stick" (or you have a SATA drive), the hard drive is probably failing and should be tested.http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_TshootIn addition to the above, also see http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-my-computer-is-slow.html Note: If computer has always been slow, in addition to items above user may have purchased a machine with a less powerful processor and not enough RAM (memory). For normal computer use, 512MB-1GB is usually sufficient for XP; Vista should have a minimum of 2GB; Windows 7 is less demanding than Vista but the minimum of 2GB should also be used.MS-MVP - Elephant Boy Computers - Don't Panic!