XP very slow & CPU usage very high (new install)

[luis2423]

I recently reformatted my hard drive and installed Windows XP Pro SP1. Prior to formatting my HD, my PC was having boot problems. I received “We apologize for the inconvenience, but Windows did not start successfully I was unable to log in and it just kept rebooting and returning the same msg.

After numerous unsuccessful attempts to restore and fix my HD, I decided to reformat my HD and install new copy of XP. I successfully installed XP Pro SP1, but boot process is very slow. It takes about 5 minutes to load personal settings, when it finally logs in; I only have the Recycle Bin on My Desktop. I then check my task manager for performance and CPU usage is sometimes 30% and just recently 100%. Not sure what’s going on. I don’t think I have a virus. I have not installed any other programs or connected to the Internet. I’m running AMD Athlon 1800+ XP and 384 MB RAM. I’ve replaced RAM from diff computer and still no diff. Not sure what else to try. Please advice.

Thanks in advance,

Lui

[qt 3.14159]

Have you checked to make sure all your drivers are installed? I've had a video card driver missing and had similar experiences with slowness.

On the desktop icons, if you right click on the desktop,click properties, click on the "desktop" tab and then choose "Customize Desktop" it will allow you to choose which of the standard icons you want to show on your desktop.

[dlh6213]

I agree with qt, if you formatted your drive, the first thing you should do after installing the OS is to install the motherboard drivers, and then any additional drivers. Device Manager may not show any errors because it could be using generic drivers, not necessarily the ones best suited to your hardware.

[BlackSheep]

Might not be a bad idea to run HiJack, Spybot S&D, & a full system virus scan...... seen lots of helpers and background trojans hogging CPU threads

Hope this helps!!!

[abbasmj]

1. First restore the Defaults in your BIOS. Sometimes if the Cache is disabled in the BIOS then your system could be slow.

2. Else it is the hardware problem with the Harddrive

[epsos]

i havew update on the windows xp website bout drivers do u think that is why i am having this problem

[Catweazle]

Windows Update is not the best source for hardware drivers. The hardware manufacturer is always the best source. Is your PC a brand name one? If so, what make and model please?

[epsos]

i did a adware n spy ware check it seems to have fixed it

[wonderboyshp]

I have found on my laptop that the indexing service crashes causing 100% cpu usage and extreme slowness on my computer, I am running XP pro SP2 and the indexing service problem was supposed to be fixed, microsoft doesn't repond to any inquiries.

[Catweazle]

Fair point wonderboyshp. I find Indexing Service to cause potential problems and to bring no realistic benefit. I don't use it myself!

[wonderboyshp]

I would like to state I finally got a response from microsoft, 2 weeks after my inquiry, at 1:07 am EST, telling me to go to the windows update site.....hmmmmmm. I wrote them a strongly worded email stating i was not, infact a moron, i had tried that already, and I find it crazy that a problem supposedly fixed in SP2, was, not infact, fixed in SP2.

[qweasd]

lol, yes microsoft always treats you like a moron in replies... yahoo too.

go to device manager and check if the drive from which you boot from is set on PIO mode. i had some stupid problems of this kind, identical to what you are describing... i also have the solution for it if this is the problem.

[Vinay]

Try installing SP2...thats what made my computer go well and please post ur sys config in here !!

[qweasd]

lol, sp2. make sure you read the "Things you should know before installing SP2 for Windows XP" before you decide to do that. it causes more problems usually.

and if the problem is the pio mode, sp2 will not fix it.

[Squirty]

HI, I had the same problem. Is this the first time you install the WIn XP on this computer? If so then your computer might not be compatiable for WIN XP. That was the problem with my friend's older computer. If you updated all the drivers for everything and if it's still slow then it's the mobo I think.