Topic awaiting preservation: slow pc

My kids have a PIII 1.4ghz running windows xp pro. They've just installed norton antivirus 2004 and now say the pc has slowed way down. any ideas why or what can be done?

I don't know what it is but norton seems to be able to suck stuff out of a vacuum... if you know what I mean. =)

Here's what I did and it helped.

Uninstall norton..defrag and all that good stuff then reinstall norton but only install the antiVirus and webtools. If you use the other stuff.. utilities, cleansweep etc. run those off the CD. Install only those items you use 'very regularly' like every day.

Also look in whatever it is that XP has for a Startup and make sure you don't have a dozen things running in the background...that you really don't need on startup.

The other thing I just thought of... is peer to peer downloading via kaza and the like... if they're into that and don't really know what they're doing.... there'll be a bunch of crap, eg, gator...sucking up resources.

good luck.

Here's a simple solution: Uninstall Norton. Replace current coffee cup coaster with the Norton install CD.

i always found norton to be a pain in my a$$

If you read a recent thread I started about Norton Internet "In"Security, you'll know that, after I installed Norton AV 2003, I couldn't access my WinXP anymore - after the rebooting - no way. There were nothing I could do to fix the problem. If I didn't have an image of my partition as a backup, I'd have been in a hell of a situation.

Nortaon Anti-virus in the most resource intensive anti-virus that I know of. I have take to disableing mine (Right click Diable auto protect) when I am doing something big on my computer.
Aside from doing a minimal install, defraging the drive, and disabling NAV when not surfing or checking e-mail a lower resource anti-virus is the only other option.

__________________________
"Show me a sane person and I will cure him for you."-Carl Jung
Eagles may fly high, but beavers don't get sucked into get engines.
tj333- the semi-Christ

There are some people using XP at my work, and their computers all suck. Slow as hell. Compared to my super-fast Windows 2000 computer. No one is sure what the problem is, but even windows explorer is real slow.

I have Win2k and WinXP in my machine. I use mostly WinXP because it has a more beautiful interface but Win2k is better and faster. Whenever something goes wrong with my WinXP, I use my Win2k installation to restore WinXP to a usable state.
I decided to pay the price (slower, more unstable) just because I want the better look of XP. But if you are serious, Win2k is a better choice. I'm not serious. And I ain't joking.

Hmmm.... I've never had any problems with NAV and XP working together. I noticed some slow downs a while ago but after going through the windows update procedures those have been cleared up. I would suggest taking a look at the updates page and see what hasn't been installed. It may seem like a hassle but it has made a BIG difference on my machine. Where is the slow down that they are talking about? Mine was always at startup/login. As I mentioned.... the Windows Updates have fixed that issue. Warm boot time is down to 5-6 seconds depending on how fast I type my password. Cold boot is maybe twice that. I'm running a P4 1.9 Ghz, so kinda comparable.