removed

Nah, I got 2GB of PC3200 RAM, 400mhz... Plenty to go around, its the drive. I have defragged, and it says I dont need to anymore, thats why I think its time for a reformat.

I really don't want to spend any more money. Especially that my computer is REALLY loud already and isn't as cool as it could be. Adding another internal drive might heat things up even more.

Perhaps I could use the 20GB for my OS, and then it leaves more space for recording on my 2nd internal, and then my external will be backup + media. hmmm

Two things to keep performance up on system.

1. Install and run freeware utility called CCleaner. Like "Disk Cleanup on Steroids"

2. Run defrag on C drive and page file.

1. CCleaner once loaded launch prog. Select "Analyze" button and wait till it is finished. First time it takes awhile. When done select "Run Cleaner" button to perform cleanup. This will actually perform the cleanup. Notice to the left there are two tabs one for "Windows" one for "Applications". This area is where you can customize what you want to clean. Default is all selected. so when you get familiar you can play with it. The other part of this program deals with the registry. Registry has a lot of pointers that windows uses to run programs. This file becomes cluttered and needs tobe cleaned. Locate and select "Issues" button. Select "Scan For Issues" button program will now scan the registry for problems. When complete select "Fix Selected Issues..." button. It will prompt you if you want to save the registry. Select yes to do and no to not backup. Recomendation Back it up. Save it to a location you can find it. Then another dialog box will appear. Select "Fix all selected Issues" button then "OK" to run it. when done Reselect "Scan for Issues" button if nothing comes up you are done. If more comes up then perform the fix as stated above.

2. Defrag- Go to Start > Control Panel > System(under Performance maintenance XP view) > Advanced tab > Performance "Settings" Button >Select Advanced tab> Virtual memory Select "Change" button > write down current page file settings. Select the radio "no page file" > select "Set" button then "OK" You will be prompted to restart the computer as you close out the windows. Let the system restart to enable change. When system is rebooted we are ready to defragment. Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt . This will brin up the DOS prompt window. At the Prompt > type "defrag c: -f" without the quotation marks. Select enter button. This will force windows to run defrag for all off C drive plus page file area. when done the prompt will reapear. If you want you can defrag the other drives. same way just substitute the appropriate drive letter. When your done defraging close out the command prompt window. Navigate back to System>> Advanced tab > Performance "Settings" Button >Select Advanced tab> Virtual memory Select "Change" button. There you will select and enter the original page file setting and click the "Set" button to change. Then select "OK" and exit out of th control panel. You are done.

It sounds like a lot but the cleaner takes care of alot of the problems. Unfortunatley defrag doesn't get the page file unless you follow the above.It sounds like a lot but the Ccleaner takes care of alot of the issues.
Unfortunatley defrag doesn't get the page file unless you follow the above sequence of steps. I found this out by locating some sites that tell you how to "optimize XP" perfomance. You can do a serch and find even more recomendations. But I found if I do this at least once a month it keeps things running smooth. Unless there are trojans or viruses. Whole 'nother ball game.
One thing you might want to looke into is some Recovery software Such as Norton Ghost. What this program does is save an immage of your whole hard drive to DVD's. If something goes wrong you can Load the DVD and it will restore your system back to its original state at the time of the backup. This is fast because you dont load the OS, Drivers or programs. They will all be there after the recovery. Were talking recovery in 30min vs one day wasted. I use it at home and work and it has kept me up and running for years.

Hope it helps you and others :D

removed

I think you should go to "LavaSoft" and get "Adaware PE". So many of my friends come to me with the same problem. None of them needed a fresh load. They all thought they were protected? They're running other types of antivirus software that supposedly gets rid of "ad ware" and "spy ware" but this stuff has made a huge difference for everybody, that the other stuff doesn't get. Since you indicated you have lots of MP3s, I just figure you have been doing quite a bit of surfing? You've picked up all this crap and not even realized it.

Please wipe your feet
Ms. Remy Ann David

Adaware works wonders. To get the most out of it install it and update the signatures.

Then reboot the machine. Press F8 while it is booting and select "Safe Mode". Safe mode loads only the bare minimum of services. This keeps the network connection down and prevents any nasty stuff from starting or rebuilding itself from the net while the cleaning is done.

Run a full scan and remove everything it finds.

Next, run an ADS scan. ADS stands for Alternative Data Stream. In simple english, some software can live in locations on the disk that the OS doesn't know about. This scan looks for those things.

When both scans are complete and the problems removed, reboot and startup normally.

Then install Spybot and enable the protection tools. This is not the best idea for a DAW machine but if you are on the net with your DAW its a must.