Why is my pc so slow sometimes?

[Curio]

I often do maintenance on my pc, like scan checks, defragmenting etc, but tonight my pc is........ oh so slow. Has this got anything to do with the ISP? Is it perhaps because the server is very busy? It can be so frustrating.

[picanin]

Curio before you can have the question answered you need to clarify something. When you say your PC is slow do you mean just the web browser / email side of things? Or do you mean that even when you open programs like say Word they run like dogs?

If it is the first then yes it could be that your ISP is slow. It is Friday evening and peak hours in SA for web useage. Also dont forget that most SA connections peer via the US. The Yanks are all still working hard right now and using all that internet bandwidth that we could be using for more enjoyable puruits.

If it is the second, then it is a differnt kettle of barbel. Many things can make your PC slow. Windows is not a very efficent operating system and things do start to degrade after a time. Do you leave your PC on all day and night? If so reboot it every now and again and you should see an improvement. Secondly make sure that you ahve enough RAM on your PC. 256meg is really the minimum you should run XP with. 512meg is more of a realistic minimum if you really intend using the PC for **** than just a window or two. Thirdly scan for trojans, virii and all of the other nasties that Windows users pay to get.

HTH if not shout.

[Curio]

Thank You for the reply Picanin. Much appreciated.
I think its just that the ISP is slow.