Hi:
1) Is the keyboard lag evident primarily when you first boot your computer? If so, your computer is busy booting up. You can know:
a) watch the icons in the lower right hand corner of the screen. Count the icons after everything settles down and then you will be able to gage how far the system load has progressed.
b) Observe the hard drive access light. If it is on freqently, your system is loading the OS and other programs that have installed themselves in your start up routine.
2) How much memory do you have? I was recently running XP SP2 with 1/2 GB and everything was fine. I upgraded to SP3 and everything was very slow with problems similar to what you have described. I purchased a 1 GB board and added it to the system (giving me for 1.5 GB). The computer has never been faster (what a pleasure).
3) What programs are starting when you start your computer? Check the system tray in the LRHC of your screen - disable unneccesary programs.
4) Are you familiar with Task Manager? Right Click a blank space opposite of the start button and Task Manager will be one of the options. Open it and observer performance:
a) if your CPU useage is running above a few percentage, you system will be slow.
b) Click on processes - if you have a process that is taking a large amount of CPU resources, this will likely be the problem. Copy the process into Google to search - you may come up with answers.
c) Click on applications. Close unnecessary applications. If performance improves you are gaining insight into the problem.
5) Has this problem activated after loading an application? Use Control Panel/Add-Remove Programs and remove your recently installed program. Does performance improve?
6) Have you loaded an application that may have changed your registry? Are you familiar with Restore Point. Try it.
7) What antivirus and adware probrams are you using and are they active when you experience the problem? Deactivate and reboot your computer. We have had problems with popular antivirus programs using too many resources as they scan the system at startup.
This is not a simple problem. If you are inexperienced in these issues, find a friend - they have saved me many times. I found a teenager next door - he does amazing things for $20 and frequently refuses to take any payment.
I've told you everything I know. If you have not subscribed to Komando.com you may wish to do it now. I like "tip of the day" and learn at least one valuable thing every week. There is also a weekly news letter and daily news. It is free and it provides amazing advice for the novice computer user.
Good Luck
