WinXP Pro slowdown question??

[qfg]

I've just installed it on a new IBM thinkpad and now it is very slow.. it takes over 10 seconds to open things like IE.
i disabled many programs including norton AV , but haven't done everything yet to diagnose the problem because i had to leave. im going to run a virus scan and scandisk but i dont think this is the problem.
i am suspecting the novell client right now..

any ideas? is this common?

 

[Dreadogg]

Make sure that DMA is enabled on your HD. Also how much Ram is on that PC?

 

[qfg]

there's a lot of ram, its 384 MB. i'll try the DMA, that would be in the bios right?

btw, i made a mistake, windows was actually preinstalled from the factory, i didn't install it on the system.

 

[wjsulliv]

dma is foumd by right clicking on my computer, hardware, device manager, disk drives, and finally a right click on your drive

 

[SmirnoffIsTasty]

What do you mean "and now". How long has it been running before it started slowing down? When's the last time you defragged? Did you install any new programs lately?

 

[Dreadogg]

how much cpu usage is going on at bootup?

 

[qfg]

well i didn't even get to try much other stuff. Thanks for the help though.
the person who own's the laptop called IBM and it looks like they are just going to wipe it clean and start over. doh!