Windows XP was released in the early half of this decade (around 2002) and has been a stable operating system for millions of PCs ever since.
Not only was it a revolution when it was launched, but XP has been one of the most versatile and durable operating systems to date...
with thousands of users still using it every day on their computers.
Now, although XP uses relatively few system resources (compared to VISTA), it can still have the tendency to run incredibly slowly.
This is down to a simple problem that affects ALL Windows operating systems...
the system registry.
The 'registry' is simply a database of settings and files which Windows relies on to operate smoothly.
It's basically like the menu for your computer, detailing everything from your desktop wallpaper to your Internet favorites.
Every time you use your PC, this registry is constantly being changed and updated to suit the latest settings it needs to cover.
The problem arises when your Windows XP machine accidentally corrupts or deletes any of the vital files in the registry.
This slows your computer down because instead of being able to find the files it needs, Windows needs to make detours to locate any missing files it can...
and this uses system memory which makes it run slow.
Think of the computer's registry as like a highway, with all the files as the cars.
When one car crashes (the file is lost or corrupted), all the other cars either stop or go slow around it...
until they find a detour to get past it.
This is exactly what's happening in your registry and is why Windows XP will get slower and slower over time.