My Windows XP laptop is running slow. It used to be much faster. What can I do to speed it up?

Perhaps you have some spyware, adware, viruses, or extra software slowing your computer down. We recommend a software 'cleansing':

1) Go to Start, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs. Remove anything you do not need.

2) Open Internet Explorer. Click on Tools, Windows Update.

3) Right click on the red V for McAfee in the taskbar. Select Update Now.

4) Go to http://www.download.com and search for and download Spybot. Install, update, and scan using it. Remove any spyware it finds.

5) Do step 4 for Adaware too.

6) Go to http://www.microsoft.com and download and run Windows Defender.

7) Restart your computer and run all three (Spybot, Adaware, and Windows Defender) again until none of them finds any spyware. This may take several times.

7) Turn your computer off. Turn it back on and press F8 very quickly. Select Safe Mode. Click on Start, Programs, Network Associates, Virus Scan Console. Scan your hard drive for viruses.

8) Restart your computer. Select Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Cleanup and clean unnecessary files from your hard drive. Then do Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Defragment and defragment your hard drive.