Log on as an Administrator.
First delete/un-install all programs/applications/games you no longer use (especially those you have disks for).
Burn/copy to CD/DVD/flash drive any and all music/pictures/movie files and delete the originals.
Download install and run Ccleaner, both 'Registry' and 'Cleaner' parts...
http://www.ccleaner.com
Run Disk Cleanup (Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools) check/tick all boxes, they're all safe to remove.
Run Disk Defragmenter (Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools).
Re-start.
Increase Virtual Memory...
Open Computer Management, click Start, and then click Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
XP
In the console tree, right-click Computer Management (Local), and then select Properties.
On the Advanced tab, click Performance Options, and under Virtual memory, uncheck the check box of Automatically manage paging file size for all drives, click Change.
In the Drive list, click the drive that contains the paging file you want to change (usually C:).
Under Paging file size for selected drive, type a new paging file size (4095 for both) in the Initial Size and Maximum Size box, and then click Set.
Click Apply and OK.
Vista/Win 7
1.Open Control Panel>System and Maintenance>System.
2.In the left “Tasks”, click on Advanced System Settings.
3.Click the “Advanced” tab. In “Performance” section, click on Settings button.
4.Click on Advanced tab.
5.In the “Virtual Memory” section, click on Change button.
6.By default, “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” setting is selected so that Windows Vista system can manage the paging file without user’s interruption. If you want change the paging file size,uncheck the check box of Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
7.Select and highlight the appropriate drive that users want to change the paging file settings under the box of “Drive [Volume Label]“ Usually 'C:'.
8.To fix a permanent size for the paging file, click on Custom size button, and set the values of Initial Size 4095 (MB) and Maximum Size 4095 (MB). To make the size of pagefile.sys static. Then click on Set button.
Click Start>Run (or type in search bar) and type "msconfig" (without quotes " "),click the Startup tab and uncheck anything that's not needed at startup.
Go to this site to check which services can be safely stopped/removed...
http://www.blackviper.com/
Or... buy more RAM. Download and run the scanner here to find type/speed of RAM needed...
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/?click=true :)
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