PC extremely/unreasonably slow/slower

[piaqt]

Here's how to save $500:
Wipe an NTFS hard drive by using the Recovery Console on the XP CD. To use the Recovery Console to reformat a drive:

Press F2 to go into your BIOS to change the boot sequence to make your CD-ROM drive your primary boot device.
Boot from CD
After all the drivers have loaded (shown along the bottom), press F10 or wait and choose the recovery console (item #2).
In the "Recovery Console" (see http://support.microsoft.com/default...en-us;314058&), specify the appropriate Windows installation. If you have never assigned a password, just hit ENTER. To turn off the password prompt: learn how here http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;312149.
Next, type: map and hit ENTER. Note the drive that you want to reformat. The drive letters may be different in the Recovery Console from what they are in Windows, but to reformat the C: drive, it's likely the largest.
Next, type:
format C: /fs:ntfs
and hit ENTER. Type: y, then ENTER to continue. When the formatting process is finished, type exit and then press ENTER to reboot.

When you type these commands, PRESERVE SPACING.

[Tinker]

You might want to try this first (IMHO)

1] Defrag the hard drive.
http://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/window...ons/defrag.htm

2] Buy and install another 256MB of ram. XP likes memory and you should have at least 384MB and 512MB would be even better.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...2006&CatId=543
(You do not have to buy the ram from here but it will show you what you are looking for. You should be able to get it from Best Buy.)
When you at tigerdirect.com be sure to watch the video on how to install the memory.

3] Check out these Performance Tweaks.
http://www.tweakxp.com/performance_tweaks.aspx

4]