I have a Windows XP system which has only 256 MB of ram, and unfortunately upgrading the RAM is not an option (it needs DDR, a DDR2 chip didn't fit and I'm not in town long enough to order one online). As you would expect, the system runs at the speed of molasses. It belongs to my 8-year-old nephew who'd love to be able to run basic programs, play flash games, etc. Is there anything I can do, short of adding more memory, to make it at least feel more responsive?
While Windows XP lists 128MB as the minimum recommended amount, I'm waiting 3-4 seconds for the start menu, and that is somewhat ridiculous.
Best Answer
With nothing else running, XP runs quite well with 256MB. Thus, I'd wonder what else is running. Grab something like Autoruns from SysInternals and see how many apps/utils/bloatware you have running at startup and prune that back.
You might also make sure you have current video drivers to ensure that start menu "lag" isn't video driver related.
Final note: Turn off that default crayola theme and run it in "Classic" mode. That'll make a huge difference.