My Computer

[GreekGoddess]

Don't worry, I'm not going to attempt to take my HD apart to clean it...just open up the case and use some compressed air.

And to answer some of the questions here, my system restore disk is issued by Compaq, I don't have a seperate disk for XP Home Edition. I would downgrade, but I do like XP and personally, I don't have the cash to afford me a new MS OS. Now, I haven't tried avdvens suggestion of using the CD from DOS, etc. I am going to try cleaning out my registry, see what happens. I got a great defrag program to try, and additional advice, thanks to micael.

Rebooting does not solve the problem. It's just that after a while, from a fresh start (going back to a factory restore) my computer starts to lose it's performance, I get tons of error messages, and I don't do anything to get them, after a while, some programs refuse to open, freeze, it's as if my computer just slows down and dies after some time and the factory restore is the only thing that seems to solve this. This is the first computer ever that I've had a problem like this with. This is my first Compaq, and my first time using XP.

One problem that I am going to run into is that my computer hasn't started to slow down yet, but I know it will soon, so I won't be able to tell for sure if the suggestions are working, I guess it will be a matter of time to see if my system performance starts to decrease. Another thing that gets me, is that I LOVE this computer...It's a really nice computer, exactly what I wanted, but Avdven was right again in saying that Compaq support is crappy. They don't seem to really care now that I've bought their product. But, it was what I could afford, and there were so many bonuses to the package I bought, the software, additional hardware I received at no cost....But if the problem persists, I'm going to work through it this time instead of getting frustrated and factory restoring, if that means I have to spend a little cash to let a tech look at what's wrong, then so be it. I really shouldn't be having these problems. I wanted to get input and try to fix the problem though before I started if it was something I was doing wrong. I should know very soon whether or not it was not doing one or more of the things that you suggested.

Thanks for everyone's help!!! I really appreciate it.

[Noia]

GG, not everything need's to be bought..... especialy Digital information.
I am saying nothing now, and I said even less before

- Noia
PS: Formating is always a plus, if you can that is.....

[avdven]

You mentioned a few times about defragging your hard drive. What defrag program are you using? I remember reading somewhere a long time ago that within Windows 2000 and XP, nearly all of the defragmentation programs (such as Norton Speedisk and a few others) are all just the built-in Windows Defrag program with a new wrapper. I personally use Executive Software Diskeeper (www.diskeeper.com) and it works wonders for me. They claim that it is the only 2000/XP defragmentatino program which has been approved by Microsoft which uses different technology then the built-in Defrag. There is a 14 day (I think it's 14) evaluation available from their site... I recommend trying that. I think you'll get better results.

AJ

[captfb]

GG,
It appears to me that if you can completly eliminate the hardware from the equation, then the issue must be with the compaq restore disk and the image that is created from it. As far as removing apps and such, I wouldn't trust an image even if you manually remove all the applications/files that you do not use. We all know how Windows can run or not run once "key" OS/manufacturer components have been removed. Would it be possible for you to give a more detailed description of the error messages that you receive? I am curious as to the error messages that XP is giving you. I have had many issues at home and at work with restore "cd's" Please follow avdvens advice as that looks like the only way for you to do a clean restore. Good luck.
Captfb

[whitedragon]

Hey GG, All the the above are correct like reinstalling from scratch cleaning the registry but I will also try something with the hw, I dunno what model of Cpq do you have but I'll recommended to anybody who has a Compaq Computer to Upgrade to the lastest BIOS, cuz in my experience working with those puters solve a lot of problems and is the first thing they will ask you if you call support at compaq. They calles ROMpaq and each model has one
if youneed some help with that free feel to ask

[Jabberwocky]

i can't say that i'm a huge fan of compaq's, i was once working on a friends machines with the case door off....until it started to smoke you can safely eliminate hardware as your problem though.

i haven't used windows xp on my own computers yet, but my experience with windows products in general is that you need to reinstall the operating system every 3 or 4 months. reformat the hdd, start from scratch, just give yourself a fresh system entirely. i hope this helps.

[cheesegoduk]

It really does annoying me that you have to reinstall windows or whatever everyonce in a while to keep the pc at a decent speed, In an ideal world you would'nt have to do this. I mean it does get annoying that every few months you have to reinstall the os and everything, then have to redownload all the windows updates and so on. If you don't do it for some reason the windows file seems to get bigger and bigger, on my dads pc which as been running for 3 years with windows 98 and the windows file is over 1.5gb(why does it do that) Problem is he won't let me reformat it for 3 months whist he gets all his stuff off.
I have'nt really been using windows xp for long on my laptop, so i am not really sure how that copes with the problem.
Anyway I wish you good luck with sorting out your pc

[kadeng]

Try this http://www.symantec.com/nu/nu_9x/
Also works on xp

Trial for free.

[Vorlin]

Restore cds have been the same over the past 10 years...they have proprietary stuff by said company that they force onto the machines and whatnot to make sure everything's there, including specialized drivers and other important stuff. This being a compaq, this surprises me none. You can't just go get a copy of XP Pro/Home off the shelf and install it because unfortunately, the copy you have for your compaq is made for it and those 'specialized' drivers won't be there when you reboot, hence half your hardware will disappear. This happened with 98 and 98SE...

Even though XP is supposedly better with memory management, I would suggest getting Cacheman from www.outertech.com and using that for free (or register it for 10 bucks). Actually, I'd do the following:

1: rebuild from restore cd, bailing on everything you don't want/etc if you can...which I doubt because it's a restore cd and you're at their mercy.
2: go into it after it's all said and done and remove everything you don't need.
3: defrag at this point. This preps the disk for anything new you put on.
4: lay down all the new programs. Because of said disk defrag, it'll all be nice and orderly (or should be at least).
5: install cacheman and set them using the wizards to get your swap file, memory usage, etc etc all set up. This monitors and frees up your memory as needed as well as unloading dlls no longer being used. Windows completely SUCKS at memory management. Period. End of story.
6: go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com and patch the ***** out of the machine.
6: defrag one more time and reboot clean.

You should be VERY good at that point. Memory will now be monitored/cleared (and can be done manually), nothing in startup is being loaded that's not needed, your disks are clear and clean...

Hope this helps. PM if you need more help/assistance.

[Reality]

I make it a habit to format and reinstall about once every 6mo. I've gotten pretty good at using my burner for back-up And there is nothing like a clean registry to brighten your day and speed up your computer. Same with your font folder. Loading gobs of fonts on your computer can also cause it to slow down.