Windows XP suddenly slow!

[RjS]

My pc is becoming slower and slower i am on Xp can some one give me a tip or trick how to make it fast ?

[admil]

It can happen that Windows becomes slower when it functioned very well before. Before want to reinstall your OS, try to apply this trick!

Warning! Using this trick can sometimes create a complete crash the machine! Use therefore as a last resort before going to reformat!

Following several errors on the disc under XP, it is possible that next restart, Windows recognizes the primary IDE PIO mode (instead Ultra DMA). It must then uninstall the driver in Device Manager and restart the machine.

To do this, you must perform the following:

Right-clicking on My Computer, go to Properties, Hardware, Device Manager, IDE ATA / ATAPI controllers. Then right-click Primary IDE Channel and choose Uninstall.
Then restart your machine.

For example, Windows will recognize once again the primary IDE Ultra DMA and not PIO in, then your PC will regain its speed of execution of origin!

[Wingit]

there's a very good program available, it's called 'a search robot'. Google for something like 'windows xp speed up boot' (or do a search on the forums), a lot of guides are available on the net and they usualy do tell you the same:
1) use msconfig to stop useless applications from starting up
2) stop useless services from starting
3) defrag your hdd
...
and a lot more tweaks

[opaper]

here are some tips to run your windows pc faster How To Make Your Windows Fast As Never Before

[Aikonik]

This trick, yet quite known, can be misused. Indeed, many people prefer to activate defragmenting the boot. But if you regularly use a defragmenter, defragmenting the boot then slowed the start (it is unnecessary). Disabling the defragmentation will accelerate the startup of Windows XP.

Open Regedit (Start menu, select Run ... and type regedit)
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Dfrg \ BootOptimizeFunction
Change the value of the key Enable N (Y default)
Restart.

Warning: If you do not practice regular defragmentation as noted above, it is advisable to leave Enable results.