# Old XP Machine



## Surge223 (Jun 27, 2008)

I was given an old desktop computer running XP Pro. It is SOOOO slow it isn't usable. I would like to format the Hard Drive and re-install, but I wasn't given the XP disk. Any way of doing this without having to buy new software?


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

You would need all the operating system software. Rather than reformat, try cleaning it up. I used ccleaner (with two c's), available free at piriform.com on one computer we had that was basically unusable - it at least made it usable again.


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## Rustic Femme (Aug 8, 2011)

Also, it could be that it runs slow on XP period. It might be from the Win98 (or God forbid, the Win95) days and was upgraded to XP.

If you want to check, find out the system specs: processor speed, RAM, and hard drive size/speed, and then do a search for WinXP Pro system requirements. If your system meets the bare minimum or falls below them, a fresh install of XP (if you able to get a hold of the discs) might not give a significant boost in performance, though it will probably show some improvement.

But as suggested, you may want to just try a cleaning with _CCleaner_ and see if it shows any noticeable performance improvements. 

If it still seems unbearably slow, you can find information online how to disable unneeded services which will help improve the speed of your system, as will doing things like using a Windows basic desktop scheme, since higher-end graphical schemes require system resources and sacrifice performance for the sake of cosmetics.

You may also find that the system isn't running on the maximum allowable RAM for that motherboard. A RAM upgrade will probably improve performance in some areas, and since it is an older system, the upgrades may not cost that much.

If you have another computer, you can set this one up to exist as a server of some kind, maybe hosting your audio or video files, photographs, etc, which could then be accessed over a network by any other computers that may be on the same network.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

I have been given choked down XP laptops and desktops without the disk sets and using Ccleaner. Superantispyware, spybot search and destroy, tweaknow and Microsoft security essentials, malicious software removal and performing Windows update have gotten them running faster.

Of course with the XP o/s you only have until April 8. 2014 for update support.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Format it and put a free Linux operating system on it, you'l have a clean fresh computer that runs faster than most Windows computers.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

Shrek said:


> Of course with the XP o/s you only have until April 8. 2014 for update support.


Too bad too, it was one of Microsofts best

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Surge223 said:


> I was given an old desktop computer running XP Pro. It is SOOOO slow it isn't usable. I would like to format the Hard Drive and re-install, but I wasn't given the XP disk. Any way of doing this without having to buy new software?


It probably won't help. The thing is that XP used to run well on 256 MB memory, but then updates and service packs made XP require 512 MB. Today you really can't get away with less than 1 GB memory.

Adding more memory is more likely to help than a reinstall. To see how much you have, right click on the My Computer icon and select Properties. You'll see how much RAM you have under the Computer section.


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## 349141 (Oct 16, 2012)

mnn2501 said:


> Format it and put a free Linux operating system on it, you'l have a clean fresh computer that runs faster than most Windows computers.


I am going to agree here. Even an old machine will generally run a Linux OS pretty good.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

jonathco said:


> I am going to agree here. Even an old machine will generally run a Linux OS pretty good.


For that machine, Linux is probably a better long term solution than a reinstall of XP. I say that because Microsoft will be discontinuing update service for XP this coming April. Without security updates that machine will become a sitting duck for hackers and malware.

While I can't say for sure, there's also a good chance that the XP machine isn't upgradable to Vista, Win7 or Win8 due to limited driver availability for older hardware. Of course those operating system also have higher memory requirements than XP.

Honestly, Linux isn't a bad way to go for that machine right now.


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## Surge223 (Jun 27, 2008)

I finally got ccleaner to run and all I can say is what a difference! WOW! Once I turned it loose on the registry, I could see immediate results. Now I'm going to look into the other programs recommended and get them downloaded.

This is an old Gateway machine. 256 mb RAM and a Pentium 4 CPU running at 3 GHz. All factory.

I have a few old Hard Drives I want to hook up to it and store movies on the Network. Maybe a Minecraft Server?

Any other recommendations for software (free is good) that will help with this old boat anchor?

I was really going to try Linux, but looks like this is going to work out without the format.

Thanks to all that helped. I'll report back after some downloads.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Surge223 said:


> This is an old Gateway machine. 256 mb RAM and a Pentium 4 CPU running at 3 GHz. All factory.


That's what I suspected. Cleaning your registry probably freed-up memory. If I'm right then your feet will be stuck in the mud again pretty soon. If you want to stay with XP I suggest you add some memory. You should be able to go to at least 512 mb, probably to 1 gb. It won't cost you much.

I suggest that you open your box and look at the memory you have now, then get more of the same. If you can't figure out what kind of memory you have then put the memory module on a scanner and scan it, or take a close-up digital photo of it for us. Post it here and we'll tell you what you need.


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## Surge223 (Jun 27, 2008)

Yes, stuck in the mud again. Firefox keeps crashing. HD indicator light stays on constantly. Trying to update everything. Takes minutes for something to happen. 

Windows security updates won't download. Maybe I should try IE?

Cleaning the Registry let me move from window-to-window much faster, but now it's stuck in the mud, and no 4-wheel drive. 

I DO have a .44 option. lol


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

You just aren't going to be able to run XP without more memory 256 mb is way short of what you need. The little bit of memory you need is inexpensive and easy to install.

Really for XP you have a terrific machine. A 3 GHz P4 processor is great for XP. MY daughter runs Win7 on that processor. You machine is worth putting a little memory in.


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## Surge223 (Jun 27, 2008)

OK Nevada, I have a lot of memory sticks laying around here. I'll see if any of them are compatible. If not, I'll buy some new ones. But why does the HD light stay on all the time? I went through the start-up files, and very little there.

If I switch to Linux, can I access it through my wireless network with my main Windows 7 machine?

Thanks for the help!

Surge223


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Surge223 said:


> But why does the HD light stay on all the time?


The hard drive light is on all the time because you're out of resident memory. When you're out of memory the system starts using "virtual memory", which takes a part of the hard drive as memory. The problem with that is that the hard drive is on the order of 10,000 times slower than memory modules.


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## wannabechef (Nov 20, 2012)

Nevada said:


> The hard drive light is on all the time because you're out of resident memory. When you're out of memory the system starts using "virtual memory", which takes a part of the hard drive as memory. The problem with that is that the hard drive is on the order of 10,000 times slower than memory modules.


Ive found that an old hard drive will also just become slow due to wearing heads so there will be many read/writes because of this.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

wannabechef said:


> Ive found that an old hard drive will also just become slow due to wearing heads so there will be many read/writes because of this.


 b Yes hard drives as they get older do slow a machine. That was one of the things wrong with my Dell I had besides low on Ram memory had 512 wanted to add more but luck would have it my Dell took ONLY Proprietary Memory only, and had to buy it directly from Dell at a Horrible inflated price, Plus to really get a good running machine again the hard drive should have been replaced. I ended up Parting It out. Was not worth it to stick in hundreds of dollars. It would have been over 400 bucks with jumping the memory up to 1gig and a new hard drive.
So that is when I decided that was it with PC's and now have this iMac and going on 5 years now still is just as fast as it was when new. And RAM Memory as whole lot cheaper, in some ways even cheaper then PC are. LOL
Like I went up to the maximum from 2 gig to 8 gig and only was 47 bucks including shipping~! That is cheap~! And I ordered it not from Apple, but from Crucial. And took me all but 3 minutes to put it in too~!


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

At only 256 mb memory with XP, I think there's no question that he's out of memory and the system is using virtual RAM. If has adds memory the hard drive light will go out.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

I agree 100% 256 is Way too low even for XP. Was sort of OK when XP first came out but as time went on especially after SP3 came about the memory requirements went way up and even my machine at 512 was even at the low end so low that most things a person wanted to add cameras etc. Wanted a MINIMUM of 512 just To Load on the machine, say nothing about running those things. 1 gig or higher now is the minimum for running XP.
have a friend that I help out a elderly lady and her machine is 512 and is slowing up more and more as time goes on. She does a lot of printing cards, extensive ram working I would think it is. So I may just get some added RAM for her and put it in. 
OR Just wait till next year and have her move up to another machine as prices have gotten so reasonable now that you might as well get a new one instead of trying to fix up a antiquated one to run on todays extensive memory requirements.
Heck it is nothing now to see machine at 8 like mine is now to be upped to 10, 12, or even double mine at 16 Gigs of Ram


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## Surge223 (Jun 27, 2008)

OK, been running different programs to get things cleaned up, and it has really helped. Then Windows popped up and said that my virtual memory was low and that it was going to increase it.

So that did it. I yanked the plugs and opened er' up. Found a few old RAM modules. Pulled out the two 128 Mb chips and shoved in two 512(?) Mb chips and fired it up. Booted much faster and recognized a little over 1 Gb of RAM.  So I then pulled the two 512 chips and put in two 1 Gb chips and it wouldn't boot. So back to 1 Gb total. I tried adding in other memory, but it insisted that it be the same across both banks and channels. It's OK, up to 1 gig :banana:

Now to test it out. Thanks for all the help! More questions to come.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

You should be ok with 1 gb.

Good luck!


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