Hank:

Yes, I agree with you. I have to say, however, that one of my big pet peeves
is the amount of time needed for maintenance. I always update my anti-virus
and anti-spyware programs and run them regularly (although I generally
practice safe hex). I do the Windows Security Updates. I back up regularly.
This crap sure seems to be annoying to do and it takes a lot of time.

But, regarding your other points, I do look at my startup menu and that
Startup tab within msconfig. I am not always sure what each program does so
there may well be some crap I don't need. Especially when I check the
running processes, there is always a sh&tload of stuff there, most of which
I have no idea about. I have checked at some sites which explain some of it,
but it's hard to be sure. And, again, this takes time, too. I do have some
time, but not loads of it!!!

Incidentally, I keep reading about all the problems with Dell customer
support (and I just had problems with Turbo Tax support). But, my first line
of support is this very newsgroup!! You guys are great. And, given the
hassle of dealing with Dell at times, you guys are FASTER. I bet in the time
it takes being on hold with DELL, I can post the problem and get meaningful
replies here!

Mel



"Hank Arnold" wrote in message
...
Glad to hear it worked out. I'd suggest, if you haven't already done it,
that you also look at running several spyware detectors as well as have
updates AV sigs. Also, review the programs that are automatically started.
Many apps add programs to run at startup to speed up the loading time for
the applications. This uses up RAM and can slow things down considerably.

--
Regards,
Hank Arnold

"MB_" wrote in message
...
I posted recently about the sale at Staples. I have a Dell Dim 2400. Over
the years it has gradually slowed to a crawl on booting, and more and more
the drive just starts going and slowing things up. I'm reasonable sure it
isn't any one program (but I could be wrong).

I only have 256 MB and with XP and stuff, I suspect it just swaps excess
stuff to the disk quite often.

Anyway, the memory is called K-byte. I got a 256 MB stick to put in my
one vacant slot. It definitely starts up much quicker and seems to be
perkier. It did recognize the new memory immediately upon start up. So,
hopefully this will work out.

Previously, I added memory (Kingston) and it also started out good but
then I started getting blue screened. Memtest showed problems with the
memory. When I removed that chip (returned it to Best Buy) all was well
as far as the blue screen goes, but of course I was back to the crawl.
hopefully, this is now okay.

If I start getting blue-screened again, do I conclude that the problem is
in the slot???

(I know I could have just moved the original memory chip to the second
slot, but I kind of didn't want to mess with the known good memory (just
hesitant about breaking something!)

Mel