it's running really slow if i take it back to factory settings will i lose all that i have downloaded running windows xp and will it speed the computer up back to the way it was when i first had it

ade, June 2007

If "take it back to factory" means reformat and reinstall windows xp, you will lose everything, which may not be bad depending on your documents. First save those to CD, if that part is working. Then do the reformat/reinstall. If you have a recovery CD, you will lose it all, so backup those docs, if you care about them. You will need to reinstall your programs. Some companies, and Dell too, put in a lot of junk programs you will never need, that slow you down.
I recommend using a program like ghost to back up your pc. It works like this:
Redo your computer to the way you want, including all installed programs. When you get it where you like it, use ghost to back it up to an image. If it is a large backup, image it to a hard drive. Then, if it ever goes bad, you can use ghost to take your computer back to the day you made your image. It is basically another way to do System Restore. Of course System restore is Microsoft, so it's junk and never worked right anyway. I recommend turning it off.
Good luck

Daniel Zee, June 2007

thanks t

ade, June 2007

If it is running slowly then going back to factory settings (whatever you mean by that) is to make your PC run faster.

If you are running XP SP2 ensure that you have at least 512MB RAM.

Second clear out any applications that you don't use as they could be loading stubs at boot time.

Finally defragment your hard drive. You may need to do this several times.

t, June 2007