Do you notice your Windows XP slow down over time? It's not uncommon when a Windows machine becomes sluggish as you use it more and more. And believe me, there is nothing worse than a Windows machine booting up for five minutes. It feels like you are waiting for a lifetime.

Malware infection initially comes to mind when your PC slows down. Spyware, adware, and viruses will really slow down your system because these are malicious programs that run in the background. But what if you know that your Windows machine is free from malware? What can cause sluggishness if it is not infected with malicious code?

Do you know about the Windows registry? Virus infection aside, Windows can also slow down due to Registry congestion. You see, during the lifetime of your Windows machine, any install and uninstall you do on that PC will result in registry entries. Your operating system will slow down due to these invalid entries that will congest your registry.

Using Industrial strength registry scanners can easily tidy up Windows XP registry. Make sure that you are using the right tool to clean Windows XP registry properly. You have to compare registry fix software to find the best one that can really help fix your Windows machine.

Here's how you can compare registry fix software available online.

1. You have to make sure that the registry cleaner comes with its own built in system restore program. Yes, Windows XP does have a system restore option, but the point is, registry cleaners should always ask you to save a restore point before you do anything to the registry. It is very dangerous to tamper with the registry and you may permanently damage your Windows XP install beyond any point of repair.

2. Registry scanner and cleaner should be thorough. You should compare registry fix software with real great scanners. Every good registry cleaner should scan for malicious registry entries and not just invalid and orphaned entries.

3. Your registry cleaner should have auto update so that you can stay on top of things whether you are conscious about it or not.

The gaming platform of choice is windows. It has the best driver support and the best titles. You just can’t see top of the line games played on Linux or the Mac OS X. Yet the beast has a big burden - it is unsecured and sometimes can be very unreliable if not maintained like an old grandfather clock.

Good things come with great sacrifice. Well, not really that big of a sacrifice. You just need to be aware that your Windows XP should be maintained and sometimes pruned by crafty hands. The machine has a user, it can’t possibly maintain itself. This is the only thing you need to do in order to keep your Windows XP machine healthy and always mission ready.