reformatted and still slow

Hi, was having problems with my dell vostro 1500 becoming slower and slower, to the point of stopping dead. I used the emergency recovery discs and reformatted everything. I run xp home,with sp2.
The major problems were definitly fixed, however my computer did not have that new computer zipp to it. Even with a completly clean slate, I even removed the dell media player, and did not reinstall works program.
I am thinking that the problem could be, my neiborhood had a surge in hardcore games using a lot of the cable bandwith. Or I need to upgrade from one gb of ram to 2 or 4 gb. Or that the feds put something specific in my computer that survived the reformatt process. I know the feds monitor my computer, but in the past there bots and tool bars never slowed down my machine.

 

I am not exactly following you. What is slow on your computer. You said your computer was slow but than made a comment about internet. Is your internet slow or is your computer slow.

 

I hate to ask what you are doing with your computer that has the feds monitoring it, never mind I don't want to know.

Back to your question. I would blow away the original partitions and use the CD's that came with your computer. You can also download a copy of Killdisk which will wipe your hard drive clean. I personally use Webroot System Eraser but that costs $29.99 and Killdisk is free.

I've run XP laptops with 1GB of memory and it runs well enough. If after that your lappy still doesn't have that zippy feeling I would add more ram as it's dirt cheap nowadays. 4GB of Crucial PC5300 at Newegg.com $73.98 with free 2 day shipping.

 

Wow I didnt thinkthat was possible!

 

Another wiping option is DBan. Probably isn't any better than Killdisk, but it also is free, and you can run it "Quick" mode which wipes my disk in 30-40 minutes (the hdd in my machine is a Raptor).

Sounds from your description, though, that your problem is more of an Internet issue, the likes of which I haven't experienced. I think I'd check for firmware and driver updates for the router and card, and maybe switch channels and see if that gives a performance improvement.

Last, I think I'd take a look outside to see if there were lots of black helicoptors in the area, and stock up on tin foil. lol

Good luck.

 

Yup i'm typing on a Inspiron 1501 with 1GB of ram running SP3 and no problems whatsoever.

ROFL

 

XP runs just fine with 1 GB of RAM. I've had 256 and 512 MB systems that ran XP well.

But anyway, to the OP, I would use the actual XP OS disc to do a reformat and reinstall, not a restore.

 

Wait a minute, memory sticks at 1MB do exist? You better tell me what you wrote, is a typo error.

 

The restore disk is likely a real os disk just with a oem sticker on it.

 

Now I see what all the hubbub was about. 1GB sorry.

 

from the sound of the problem, it sounds like your fans are clogged. i had this problem with my inspiron 9100 but oince i cleaned the fans, it was running like new.

 

I blew my 8 month old vostro out the other day and man i was surprised at the dust cloud that blew out of there. Looking at it i didn't see anything on the fan blades but it was there.

Btw, i didnt use a wimpy compressed air can, i used a 175 psi 25 gallon craftsman air compressor

 

Do you have to open it up to do that? Or do you just blow into the vents?

 

Just blow where the intake is on the bottom and on the exhaust on the sides. I wouldn't take it apart.

 

I live in the middle of the desert, it is very very dusty here. I will look into taking my laptop apart. If not I will blow it out. Air from a compressor has water in it, is that safe? If anyone was interested, some evil person grew some pot plants on a retired dea guys property. Somehow I got the blame. Then that got the ball rolling. Black helicopters and all, no kidding.
As for the slow thing, it seems like internet and the computer are both slow. I do not know the correct terms here, when I "reformatted", I called Dell and I put the first disc in(windows xp) set up some sort of partition. I think it was fat 32 111,000mb. But I am not exactly sure. Then installed the drivers disc. the end.
So this kill disc program will completly clear my hard drive, as where that recovering disc will not? In order to reinstall xp I will need to use that recovery disc? It would not make sense to have to buy xp again? My phone help with dell (if you want to call it help) ends soon. Can someone explain simplified steps I should take to completely "restore" my computer. I will probably have someone smarter than me help, I just want the general direction I should take.

 

Don't worry about that extra partition. I believe it's linked to MediaDirect (or whatever it's called) and it's complete rubbish.

Just run killdisk or Darik's Boot and Nuke. Reformat a new partition, make sure it's NTFS, and install all your drivers.. include chipset and Dell's Notebook software.