WinXP very slow (virtual memory low)

I have an old emachine, 900MHz, 128Meg, running WinXP that is very
slow using the FireFox web browser. Sometimes it
requires a couple minutes just to open the web browser offline. I
notice quite a bit of disk activity and sometimes the disk runs for
several minutes when switching from one application to another.

Using the CTRL ALT DEL keys and looking at the task manager, I notice
about 163MB of PF (page file) usage with all applications closed.
Opening 3 or more applications sometimes generates an error indicating
virtual disk memory is too low.

Looking at the processes running, I see the list below. Some of these
are never used such as ipodService and ItunesHelper, but if I try and
end the process, I get a warning that bad things may happen when
terminating a process, so I'm unsure how to proceed. I also have a
virus scanner AVG that slows thing down a bit and is out of date for a
couple months now and needs to be upgraded. There could be a new virus
in the machine that has not been detected.

Any suggestions on how to clean up the mess and
speed up the machine?

These Processes are running:

ntvdm.exe
cmd.exe
sychost.exe SYSTEM
pctspk.exe
MDM.exe
avgupsvc.exe
avgamsur.exe
alg.exe
Spoolsv.exe
sychost.exe Local Service
sychost.exe Network Service
sychost.exe SYSTEM
sychost.exe SYSTEM
taskmgr.exe
lsass.exe
services.exe
ctfmon.exe
winlogin.exe
csrss.exe
ipodService.exe
smss.exe
itunesHelper.exe
qttask.exe
avgcc.exe
msmsgs.exe
wuauclt.exe
explorer.exe
System
SystemIdleProcess


-Bill

"I have an old emachine, 900MHz, 128Meg, running WinXP..." and you have
a question about slow performance.

[BTW: The minimum system requirements for free AVG Anti-Virus (alone)
are 512MB of RAM and a 1.8GHz processor.]

And no matter what you wind up doing, as long as you will continue to
run XP on it, it will remain slow. Your CPU is slow and you have nowhere
near enough RAM. Even if you were to upgrade your RAM to 512MB or 1GB,
you still wouldn't have a speed demon. True, your RAM would be enough to
prevent excessive use of the pagefile and yes, you would definitely
notice a lot of improvement. But that 900MHz processor would still be a
bottleneck.

If your motherboard supports it and if it is cheap, you *may* want to
put more RAM in your PC. But that money would be better spent toward the
purchase of a used PC IMO. I'm sure you could find a decent one for
around $200. And *that* one would feel like a speed demon!

You could fix the low virtual memory issue with a (much) larger pagefile and
more memory. You will never fix the slowness of a 900 mhz processor.
I think that you should be amazed that this system works at all much less
with acceptable speed.

Yes, I'm thinking of throwing out the desktops and buying a used
LapTop in the $200-$300 range, but don't know which one to get. I saw
50 LapTops for sale at a local swap meet ranging from $150 to $450.
There seems to be a good supply of used LapTops if one knows what they
want. They all seem to run XP and have WiFi and a few USB ports for
other plug-ins, but not much of a guarantee. I suppose there are many
LapTops for sale on ebay.

True. Just make sure you buy from a vendor with a very good reputation.
Good luck.

[Eve379]

I know this is a little old but I stumbled upon this site and thread while I was googling :)

What version of Firefox are you using? I'm assuming since you mentioned it specifically that its the only time you are seeing the Virtual Memory error msgs. The reason I ask is because since they released Firefox 3.5, its been a pretty common problem. Its happened with both XP and Vista users, with all ranges of memory. Obviously the worst of it has been for people like you and I who aren't overflowing with memory. Personally I only have a gig. (And yeah I know, its time to bite the bullet and go shopping!) If you are running 3.5, try to make sure you are updated to 3.5.3 because it seemed to nearly stop the memory errors. Unfortunately they haven't fixed everything yet. Still slow at times.. Still bogs down the comp at 100%, but its much more rare. Luckily, its almost time for 3.6 (aka Namoroka)!