When you have had your windows XP computer for a while it starts to slow down and it takes longer to open any program. If you do not do anything about it will become slower and slower until it just crawls along. This is inevitable with any Windows operating system, but you can do something about it.

When you add programs to your computer they start to fill up your hard drive and as more and more data is added, things slow down. This does not happen because there is too much data on the drive. The problem arises because the programs are spread out all over the drive and the computer has to spend time looking for what it needs. Using the windows defragmenter program will prevent this.

The other reason for these problems is because all these programs do not just use disk space but they use memory as well. Adding new applications fills your registry with data and leaves this behind, even when you delete programs.

There are several other steps to take to prevent these problems.

#1 It is essential to run antivirus software but many antivirus programs slow down your computer by using too much memory or not being up to date and letting viruses loose inside your computer. Look around for an antivirus program that does not take up too many system resources.

#2 Increasing your system memory will also speed up your system. It is quite a simple job to add memory to you system and it will make an amazing difference. You can either add extra memory or increase available memory by removing programs you do not need, because they use memory as well.

#3 Windows XP registry problems will slow your computer to a crawl. Fixing registry errors can speed up your computer dramatically.

You can do this by running a free registry scan. This will help get rid of what you don't need and tidy up the registry. Windows relies on the registry for everything from running programs to using hardware and fixing this will make your computer run like new again.