Running slower after reinstalling Windows

[bakemm]

hello,

After lots of computer troubles last week, I reinstalled Windows on my laptop, wiping data and starting over (going Ctl-F11 on startup). Things are back to the beginning when I purchased the computer, but the problem is, it seems to be processing A LOT slower than it used to.

I can't figure out why this is. I reinstalled a second time to see if maybe I had contracted a virus early in the first reinstall. But it is just as slow. It isn't unusable, just slow.

One thing: My Computer says that I have 179 Mhz, 512 MB of RAM (the first number seems small to me, but I'm not expert). Other than that, I can't see anything that is slowing this thing down. It's essentially in original shape, except for being slow.

Other specs:
Running XP Home
Dell Inspiron 600 M
1.5 GB processor

Any help or potential diagnosis would be truly appreciated. Thank you

[GX1_Man]

If you can post your service tag (a 6-7 digit combo of numbers and letters either on the machine or in the BIOS boot up screen, bottom right) we would know what we are dealing with in terms of hardware.

This was a restore CD you used, rather than an actual Windows CD?

[pcdoc4christ]

bakeman:

Also, is the laptop connected to the Internet or to a wireless local area network in your home or office?  The Internet Protocol might be configured incorrectly and Windows may be waiting to try different ways to connect.

You can try this:

1. Click Start and Run
2. In the Run dialog box, type CMD and click OK
3. In the CMD window, type IPCONFIG and press Enter on your keyboard
4. If the IP Address begins with 169, then Windows took the time to connect, but finally gave up, and this may be what took so long

Doc