Computer performance slow after formatting

[richo]

Hello

I recently formatted a PC and re-installed Windows XP Pro SP3 - however after installing windows it was taking a good 4/5 minutes before windows would boot fully and allow me to open internet etc.

I've replaced HDD and RAM in the computer recently as the RAM needed upgrading and the previous HDD wasn't great (it's only an old PC thats used for internet browsing and word processing).

The computer spec is as follows:
AS Rock GE-PRO M2
2x 1gb PC2700 333mhz RAM
Intel Pentium 4 2.2ghz
160gb Seagate HDD (IDE)
Nvidia MX420 GFX

I'm a bit stumped as to what is causing such slow performance, generally after a fresh windows install the computer runs fine and is nice and quick however it has just become very bogged down and slow.

If anyone has any ideas that would be great.

 

[Cookie]

Did you put any antivirus back on?

 

[richo]

Did you put any antivirus back on?

Yes I re-installed AVG Free.

 

[richy22]

Yes I re-installed AVG Free.

Ewwwwwww

 

[JackJack]

Never had a problem with AVG always been spot on for me.

 

[Darren S]

Have you reinstalled the AGP and IDE drivers?

http://asrock.com/mb/download.asp?Model=GE PRO-M2&o=XP

Windows will run without them, but quite often there's a significant performance benefit from installing core drivers.

D.

 

[welshname]

Was just going to suggest making sure all drivers are installed. XP isn't great for installing them on it's own.

 

[richo]

Have you reinstalled the AGP and IDE drivers?

http://asrock.com/mb/download.asp?Model=GE PRO-M2&o=XP

Windows will run without them, but quite often there's a significant performance benefit from installing core drivers.

D.

Thanks for the suggestion Darren - I checked device manager and had assumed all drivers had installed ok but I think you may be right. I'll certainly give this a go and see what happens.

Was just going to suggest making sure all drivers are installed. XP isn't great for installing them on it's own.

Thanks mate will give it a shot.

 

[welshname]

Also get rid of AVG free and replace with Avast Free instead. Much less resource hungry and far better imho.

 

[richo]

Also get rid of AVG free and replace with Avast Free instead. Much less resource hungry and far better imho.

Thanks for the suggestion - i'll look into this. I've used AVG Free for a long time but this new 2012 version does seem a bit more resource hungry.

 

[Silent_Scone]

might be a chipset driver issue..although I've been using an old P4 HT at work temporarily and it's FCUKING atrociously slow. not sure how you can put up with it.

Also miss matched or faulty RAM / CPU could be an issue... if you're alright with doing it, take the CPU out and get a pencil rubber on the back and rub all the contacts gently

 

[richo]

might be a chipset driver issue..although I've been using an old P4 HT at work temporarily and it's FCUKING atrociously slow. not sure how you can put up with it

I understand where your coming from but in all honesty it worked fine before, albeit slowly.

 

[Silent_Scone]

well you;'ve formatted, so have you installed the latest chipset drivers from the Asrock site?

Also ignore what I said about taking the CPU out, yours is probably socket 478 so cpu has pins

 

[richo]

well you;'ve formatted, so have you installed the latest chipset drivers from the Asrock site?

Also ignore what I said about taking the CPU out, yours is probably socket 478 so cpu has pins

I'll install the drivers again this evening as i'm going to do another fresh install.

Unsure of the top of my head if the CPU has pins i'm happy taking heatsink off to access it but i'll check this once I get home.

 

[Dink]

this might not be an option but have you tried linux? (namely ubuntu)

being as you just do web browsing and word processing

you can download a live cd (or even a usb version) and try it out without making any changes to the pc (but will run slower off cd)

 

[Munson]

Is it okay when it's actually booted up? Slow to boot but ok when running?

 

[richo]

this might not be an option but have you tried linux? (namely ubuntu)

being as you just do web browsing and word processing

you can download a live cd (or even a usb version) and try it out without making any changes to the pc (but will run slower off cd)

I haven't considered Linux - I could always have a USB version.

Is it okay when it's actually booted up? Slow to boot but ok when running?

Well I formatted it again yesterday and installed Windows XP from scratch. I installed all the drivers from ASROCK website and installed my graphics card drivers.

I've booted it this morning and windows xp loads, the toolbar starts loading and then I just get a black screen. Restarted and tried again and got exactly the same thing. It doesn't seem to have any issues at the moment with performance however i'm having an issue with the screen going off after Windows XP is booted.