# Why is Windows XP not as bulletproof & stable as it used to be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 29, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662 "2008-08-29T12:12:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/1 "2008-08-29T12:12:43Z")
When Windows XP first came out some years ago it was (and is) a huge improvement over the older 98/ME stuff especially with respect to stability and the ability shut down offending apps. It was pretty tough to crash it. As the years have gone by, across a variety of PCs, I have noticed that XP is more easily locked up by misbehaving apps than it used to be, and it can get the point, especially with browsers and net centric apps where it’s so locked up you have to restart the machine. This virtually never happened when XP was young. Why is this? You’d think it would be getting more stable over time not less. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/2 "2008-08-29T12:30:57Z")
I’m not seeing the issue with XP on campus here. We rarely have problems with XP locking up. My guess would be that there is more spyware around, which may be the cause of problems. We don’t run our computers with users having Admin rights, and they work fine. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/3 "2008-08-29T12:33:34Z")
Personally, in the couple of years I’ve been familiar with XP, I’ve never really noticed any problems that I don’t suppose could be solved by more RAM, or a faster processor. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/4 "2008-08-29T12:36:01Z")
I just went two years without a Win XP crash, and added software often. About a month ago a bad program messed up the registry file and I had to reinstall. It was the program that was at fault not Win XP. Win XP has been very stable for me for the last 4 years. The first couple years I did have to reinstall often. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/5 "2008-08-29T12:36:37Z")
I have noticed the opposite - it runs really smoothly for me these days. Apps do lock up and crash occasionally, but I can’t see a reason to blame XP for that. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/6 "2008-08-29T12:41:02Z")
The only crashes I’ve had on my current XP laptop or the one before it were caused by video card overtemp and hard-drive problems respectively. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/7 "2008-08-29T12:58:41Z")
I wonder if just the rate of problems seemed low at first, compared to 95/Me, but then as time goes on you forget how much better it was and then just see the problems. Just a perception-type thing, and the problems rate is still about the same. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/8 "2008-08-29T13:08:16Z")
Is it possible it’s a hardware problem on your machine? If the cooling fan or power supply is starting to get worse, that could cause lock-ups or crashes, and they’d start happening more often as the component got worse. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/9 "2008-08-29T13:29:20Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] I wonder if just the rate of problems seemed low at first, compared to 95/Me, but then as time goes on you forget how much better it was and then just see the problems. Just a perception-type thing, and the problems rate is still about the same. [/QUOTE] Probably true. Even the occasional lockup seems like a big PITA these days. Used to be they were everyday occurrences. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/10 "2008-09-03T13:25:14Z")
The last time I regularly (as in, not just once in a blue moon) got Windows XP in general, not an application, to lock up was when I had hardware issues. I use XP SP 2 at home and XP SP 3 at work. Both are very solid. ---
**Author:** ![akrako1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@akrako1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akrako1)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/11 "2008-09-04T21:13:00Z")
How long have you been running on this install of XP? How often do you install/uninstall software? If you’re a heavy installer of new software, games, etc., this might be your problem. All Windows OS’s use a ‘registry’ to control nearly everything. Every time you install a program, a ton of entries get added to the registry, and they don’t always get removed after an uninstall. The registry file is loaded into memory at bootup, and resides in memory at all times. As it gets larger, the system gets slower, and IMHO, more unstable. I would suggest you backup all pertinent data, and completely wipe clean the drive that holds your OS files. Install a fresh copy of XP - or so a ‘system restore’ if you can. And you’ll be shocked how fast things runs. You’ll be floored when you say ‘shutdown’ and the computer is off within 10 seconds. Then, only install the applications that you actually use on a daily basis. Once you’re done, you’ll have a speedier, more stable machine. ---
**Author:** ![Satellite\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Satellite\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satellite_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/12 "2008-09-05T03:49:01Z")
Possibly, (and this is just me WAGging my ass off) it might be because newer applications are more resource-intensive than they used to be, asking more of XP than the app’s of old would have. ? S^G ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-windows-xp-not-as-bulletproof-stable-as-it-used-to-be/461662/13 "2008-09-05T13:33:36Z")
XP compared to 98/ME? Are you guys forgetting about 2000? Or never used it?