:?:As you can tell by the time im writing this, and the title of my post, i cannot troubleshoot this problem, and it has gotten the best of me to the point im still up in the middle of the night... Which is why i seek help from somebody who know what there talking about, or been through the same situation...then i stumbled upon these fourms and there maybe hope for me after all...Heres what im working with :
SPECS :
Motherboard : Matsonic - Model # MS9367E
Support Socket 478 Pentium 4 1.5GHz~3.06GHz or faster processor 400/533MHz system interface speed. 184 Pin DDR DIMM max 2GB/support DIMMs of DDR266/DDR200
Processor : Pentium 4 2.80GHz 1.525V max. System Bus 533MHz, 512KB L2-Cache, PGA 478 PKG
Memory : Samsong 512MB DDR PC2700 CL2.5 x2 (Two installed on motherboard)
PC2700U-25331-Z / M368L6423FTN-CB3 / Samsong Korea 0350
Power Supply : Turbolink Switching Power Supply - Model # CWT-420ATX-12V (420W.max.)
HDD : Hitachi "Deskstar" - Model # HDS722512VLAT20 ATA/IDE
123.5GB / 7200RPM / LBA.241.254.720 Sectors ?
CD/DVD : 1 Sony CD-ROM drive / 1 DVD-RW drive
OS : Windows XP sp2

My moms friend custom built this desktop (i think 2004, so 3 years ago) mainly for media needs, so when she is ready she could design her own web-sites for her business, lots of digital photo editing, and some video editing...Everything ran great, but now it barley boots up windows xp (as long as u wait 20 mins, it gets there....) and is basically completely worthless at this point. Cant even connect to the internet anymore...My moms friend dosnt work with her anymore, so i though i might be able to troubleshoot it myself if i could narrow it down to a specific hardware or software problem, but was i wrong...at this point i wouldnt be surprised if it was both...My mom never used her computer at all (maybe once a month for photo editing with her digital camera and a game of freecell, or 5...) but my sister and her friends did, and would download all kinds of crap, while leaving it on all the time. Now my mom wants to start designing a web-page for her business, and cant even use her computer at all. I have my laptop and a wireless router for now to help me get this desktop back to life. But need help...

So far I have the Matsonic CD, and i have slipstreamed a Windows XP CD with service pack 2, so now im thinking re-format hard drive and start with a new beginning, but have never done this before so i dont trust myself 100% yet...So far i've tryed to boot from XP disc, went to new install, it found the previous windows installed, selected windows directory, and pushed R to repair, but after re-boot 1/2 way through "copy error, migregdb.ex_" along with many other .ex_/.dl_ files that are on the CD, and in the i386 folder ! So i cancel out many windows, and windows XP comes up but still the same, SLOW...Went to System icon in control panel, Hardware tab, device settings window, and no X's / ?'s / !'s nothing, everything looks right there...Im sure there had to be a virus of some sort on this system at one point in time, so i think what im asking is can anybody help me test my hardware so i know for sure i can go about a new install/re-format without any problems and my mom once again will have a new computer ! :o)

Also if anybody has any feedback on hardware upgrades i should look into before i start this journey for a once again new computer. Im thinking of getting back into drafting (CAD/CAM) and know some programs min. requirements are 1GB of RAM, and recommend more...(system icon in control panel says currently running 992 RAM now) The way i look at it, seems like a good idea to at least upgrade RAM before i start all of this, just REALLY hoping all other hardware is still good. I opened it up (unplugged on wood shelf) and it was pretty dusty, so i bought a can of compressed air and went through it compleatly...Everything seems to run, and nothing looks like its been overheated, but i could be wrong...I have a high quality digital camera and will take some pictures if it will help at all...

Sorry i wrote so much, but i would GREATLY appreciate any kinda of help, tips, or direction i should go from here...Once again, thank you for taking your time and reading my first post...:shock: