hmm....

Format Drive

Load 2k pro SP4

get fresh drivers.

load mozilla

load firewall/antivirius/spyware remover

Dont install any other programs.


No more complaints.

I don't think the hardware has anything to do with this. Maybe a fresh install will make it all better.

Hans.. more like this:

Autoclave disk [highest overwrite you can bare]

Install your fave distro of Linux [I use Gentoo.. but its REALLY HARD to insall].

Try to find drivers for your generic components for 5 days --install

Update to latest version of Firefox

Don't run as root.

No complaints

On a serious note. How long have you had the system? How long has it been since it'* last formatting? Sol may be right, in that a format might be the answer. I used to format my windoze partition [the one with all the core windoze files and such] every 3 months. But, I stored all my data on other partitions, and always had a backup so it really only took me a few hours. 2000 is better than XP, IMO. SP4 is a must, just like Hans said.


-justin


-justin

If you don't want to reinstall Windows, you can clean it out. I've been using this install of XP for a year and a half, and with basic cleaning, it still runs like new.

Get a virus scan at:
http://housecall.trendmicro.com

Keep it spyware free using various programs out there.

Clear the many folders full of TEMP files on occation.

Uninstall programs you don't use anymore.

Find a registry cleaner ... this helps a lot.

Run a defrag on occation.

i dont think anything is actually wrong with ur system, u said it only has a problem when working with mpeg codecs. mpeg codecs require a lot more processor time when compaired to uncompressed media formats. u might also want to check ur memory usage while running the applications u were talking about.

well i reformatted about 2 months ago and cleaned up alittle
i unistalled programa i dont use anymore

Make sure you have intels HT enabled and I would recomend installing spybot it is free the reason you should run this it will block and remove the programs that other programs because one program will not remove all of them. Another you might want to try is Ad-Aware that is the other one I use.

After you have ran spybot and restarted in run type "msconfig" then go to start up and uncheck all programs you do not use, want or know what they are you can always go back and enable what you need. Do not mess with the services tab you can disable programs that windoWs needs.

I would recommend going to http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks1.htm it is a great guide will tell you how to disable the unneeded services and much more.

To optimize your internet connection check out http://www.speedguide.net

Have fun optimising your computer I did all of this and my install runs like the day I intalled it after removing XP beta.

2.66 doesn't have HT.

You have the 4x00 series, which didn't get RDRAM. My 8200 has a 2.26Ghz P4, 512 RDRAM, PCI Sound card, USB 2.0, Ethernet and modem. It had a 4200 Ti GFX card, but now i'm running a 9600 XT VPU.

After a reformat she'* good, but all the programs do get down on it after a while. Between AIM, MSN, Steam, Gmail, Wireless, Antivirus, ATI control Panel, and all the backround services windows runs it does slow her down some. Some tweaks don't help you out at all so be careful.

EDIT: Try maing a new user account and see how fast it is.

I have two Dells. A Dim 4550 2.66 768mb ram and an 8200 2.4 768mb ram. Both are quite fast with XP and SP2. Have you checked out the Dell Community forum? Lots of good advice there. Check the Dimension forum, CD/DVD devices.
http://delltalk.us.dell.com/