I have recently reformatted the harddisk and installed Windows XP Pro sp 2 in replacement of Windows XP Home, after some nasty Spyware/Adware attacks. It runs slower than before the malware entered. Also I have some discoloration (red shimmering in pictures and movies), and some erratic sound (as in oldfashioned crackling telephone lines), both appearing after the reformatting. I love the machine. It is small and light, and I use it for work while on the move. Unfortunetaly, it now stalls too often, and may require restart while documents arent saved.
Any good advice on how to fix the problems described and keep the machine as fast and lean as the hardware allows? Are there any services I might disable safely in Windows, for example? I have uninstalled games and Windows messenger.
Many thanks in advance for any advice from novice ivero!
Some facts:
Hardware:
Gateway Solo 3350
Pentium III 597 MHz
128 RAM
Gigabyte WMKG Cardbus WLAN wireless card
Software used regularly:
OpenOffice waiting in tray from startup (might be removed from there? replace with MS Office?)
Counterspy free edition moitor running in tray (seems to be a good program, but there might be a faster alternative?)
FreeRAMXP Pro 1.52 running in tray (seems to help a bit, automatically adjusting/freeing memory)
Skype running in tray
Adobe Reader
Windows Media
Opera 9.1 (my first choice browser)
I often use Creative Live Cam video IM on the USB, but the Camera only works with with Skype. otherwise, my main use is writing, surfing and the occasional downloading of movies and music. The latter is not important, though.
Typical processes running:
Right now FreeRAMXP Pro 1.52 reports these processes running, ca. 18 % of RAM (128) and 23 % of virtual memory (299) are available with Opera and OpenOffice Writer open, and the stuff in the tray.
