Very slow performance using WinXP Pro

Sorry to hear you are having problems.  Bring up Task Manager (right-click on task bar at the bottom of your screen), click once on the "Processes" tab.  Then click once on the "CPU" section in the bar.  Then click the "CPU" section again.  This will show you what is using up all of the CPU time.

Some of the other software you may want to download and use are: CCleaner (cleans up the hard drive), Recuva (recover lost files), Defraggler (another defragmentor program), Ad-Aware (similar to Spybot), and Avira (best anti-virus software I know).

Check out av-comparatives (Google it).  It will show you just how good McAfee is.  Same test given to sixteen of the top rated anti-virus programs.  All of them are tested against several million viruses.

I use WinXP Pro myself and my system is idle 99% of the time and runs very fast.  Only when I'm recording videos or editing them does CPU usage get into the 50% range.  I do get the occasional spurt up to 90-100% when I'm programming and stress testing my software (or when I'm defragging or letting the anti-virus software do a deep scan - but that's only because I have six other hard drives attached to my system so that can put a strain on the dual cpus.  BTW: I'm just running a Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop.  Not some max'd out desktop/laptop.)

You might want to check out www.majorgeeks.com.  I haven't checked in there in a while but those people are hard core geeks who can help you diagnose what is wrong with your computer and get you set up so your computer will run nicely again.  There is a program they use a lot call hijackthis (from McAfee I believe) which will tell them if you have a virus problem or not.  Then they can go about telling you how to fix it if that is what is the matter and other things to try if not.

Thanks for your reply. I was not aware of majorgeeks.com. They have several downloads that look interesting.

Hi William and welcome to DeLL Forums.

There are a number of issues that can make a PC sluggish. The first thing that comes to mind is an infection, but it may not be the case. Before posting in a malware removal forum, read this:

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic87058.html

If you are sure you are infected, you can post your HijackThis log here:

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/3521.aspx

But please read this first to have better help and to know what to do:

http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19251122.aspx

Be awared that DeLL Removal Forum is short handed because of the Holidays, so you can also post your log here, but it is recomended to post only in one forum.

http://spywarehammer.com/simplemachinesforum/index.php?board=10.0

Another interested web page to know what services you can stop in your system to make it faster is this:

http://www.blackviper.com/

By the way HijackThis is by TrendMicro.

Hope this helps.