There's a MS article here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/northrup_restoreperf.mspx In general, this means too many programs loading at startup, virus/spyware problems, need to defrag or run chkdsk. You might take a look in Event Viewer for disk errors or the like, but this is usually just a housekeeping task. A program like Windows Defender or Spybot will likely be a big help. Low RAM doesn't really affect startup. but this machine would benefit enormously from an upgrade. LarryB wrote: > I have a Dell which is a neighbor computer that is very slow on startup. > It is a Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop, 1.6g processor, 798mhz and 256 ram. > The HD is 33g with 23g free. Running Windows XP with SP2 > Now it takes 5 plus minutes to load the icons on the desktop and another > 1 minute for the tray. Then it is ready to go. I have the tray down to > AVG anti and fire wall, and Wireless, Audio, and power. > I pull up Ctrl+Alt+delete and the performance is CPU 0 to 1% while the > PF usage is 402 MB. This is with no applications running. > > I am presently doing a complete vir*s scan as my first step in trying to > speed this computer up. Any help would be appreciated. One question is > could it be that 256m of ram is too small? They use OE and IE as their > main applications along with QuickBooks 2003. > Thanks ========================= The list's FAQ's can be seen by sending an email to PCWorks-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with FAQ in the subject line. To unsubscribe, subscribe, set Digest or Vacation to on or off, go to //www.freelists.org/list/pcworks . You can also send an email to PCWorks-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with Unsubscribe in the subject line. Your member list settings can be found at //www.freelists.org/cgi-bin/lsg2.cgi/l=pcworks . Once logged in, you have access to numerous other email options. The list archives are located at //www.freelists.org/archives/pcworks/ . All email posted to the list will be placed there in the event anyone needs to look for previous posts.