Speeding XP Up

  • Thread starter Thread starter Endulini
  • Start date Start date
E

Endulini

Hi All,

I've been charged with the onerous task of trying to speed up my mother's PC
which is currently running at glacial speeds. I've cleared out as much
detrius as I dare and have puirged the start up of as as much spurious
software as I'm happy to. Shes's running an AMD Athon 1.60 GHz with 496MB of
RAM. Before I put an order in for more memory (I figured 2GB) is there
anything else I should try. Is this spec realistic for XP bearing in mind
we're not talking gaming applications here more a bit of e-mail/word
processing/scrabble? It's been virus/spyware checked and is clean

Thanks
 
You dont need more than 512mb, 2gb will do nothing such use
How does it run if booted in safe mode?
 
I've been charged with the onerous task of trying to speed up my mother's PC
which is currently running at glacial speeds. I've cleared out as much
detrius as I dare and have puirged the start up of as as much spurious
software as I'm happy to. Shes's running an AMD Athon 1.60 GHz with 496MB of
RAM. Before I put an order in for more memory (I figured 2GB) is there
anything else I should try. Is this spec realistic for XP bearing in mind
we're not talking gaming applications here more a bit of e-mail/word
processing/scrabble? It's been virus/spyware checked and is clean
Click to expand...

Half a Gb of RAM should suffice. (Why 496 Mb? What brand of
motherboard does she have?) Obvious ways to speed operation are:
1. At boot, load only the minimum of essential apps and utillities.
Beware suites like MS Office and printer managers for MFCs
that offer to load front ends just in case you need them. (You
do not, and these preloaded front ends delay other processes.)
2. Select software which loads fast and runs fast. I never
use MS Word because it is so slow. The reason for this is
that it is heavy-laden with all sorts of fancy office software
(e.g. printing "watermarks" and elaborate headlines) that
the ordinary letter writer does not need.) Within a software
package, features like automatic spell checkers make all
processes slow.
 
I suspect the problem lies more in the harddrive. 1/2 gig of memory is
plenty for XP. Check that the drive is running at DMA access instead of
PIO, which will happen after several read errors. See Device Manager,
IDE subsystem, look at the Properties of the Primary IDE channel
Advanced Settings, if set to DMA but running PIO, Uninstall/remove it
and then Scan for new hardware to reinstall at DMA.
 
Endulini said:
Hi All,

I've been charged with the onerous task of trying to speed up my mother's
PC which is currently running at glacial speeds. I've cleared out as much
detrius as I dare and have puirged the start up of as as much spurious
software as I'm happy to. Shes's running an AMD Athon 1.60 GHz with 496MB
of RAM. Before I put an order in for more memory (I figured 2GB) is there
anything else I should try. Is this spec realistic for XP bearing in mind
we're not talking gaming applications here more a bit of e-mail/word
processing/scrabble? It's been virus/spyware checked and is clean

Thanks
Click to expand...
I should add that she's running McAfee anti-virus and was wandering if that
was hogging all the resources?
 
Download and install Process Explorer which is one of the applications
contained in Sysinternals Suite. Then you can see how much of a "hog" McAfee
is, as well as any other applications.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

ColTom2



Endulini said:
Hi All,

I've been charged with the onerous task of trying to speed up my mother's
PC which is currently running at glacial speeds. I've cleared out as much
detrius as I dare and have puirged the start up of as as much spurious
software as I'm happy to. Shes's running an AMD Athon 1.60 GHz with 496MB
of RAM. Before I put an order in for more memory (I figured 2GB) is there
anything else I should try. Is this spec realistic for XP bearing in mind
we're not talking gaming applications here more a bit of e-mail/word
processing/scrabble? It's been virus/spyware checked and is clean

Thanks
Click to expand...
I should add that she's running McAfee anti-virus and was wandering if that
was hogging all the resources?
 
Endulini said:
Hi All,

I've been charged with the onerous task of trying to speed up my mother's
PC which is currently running at glacial speeds. I've cleared out as much
detrius as I dare and have puirged the start up of as as much spurious
software as I'm happy to. Shes's running an AMD Athon 1.60 GHz with 496MB
of RAM. Before I put an order in for more memory (I figured 2GB) is there
anything else I should try. Is this spec realistic for XP bearing in mind
we're not talking gaming applications here more a bit of e-mail/word
processing/scrabble? It's been virus/spyware checked and is clean

Thanks
Click to expand...

I wouldn't bother with purchasing more memory; it won't make much
difference. Get a faster unit. I regularly see used HP brand, 3gHz P4's,
between 512 meg and 2 gig of RAM, with valid XP Pro license, for about
CDN$150.

If you want to know how fast, or less slow, the machine can be, go into
MSCONFIG and disable everything in startup, then most of the non-MS services
(disconnect the network cable for safety).

HTH
-pk
 
Also download and install CCleaner which will clean out redundant and
unnecessary files with just a click of the mouse. It is the best Freeware
utility out in this regards. http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

During the installation be selective of the options, as I do not install any
Toolbars or items related to the Recycle Bin.

ColTom2



Endulini said:
Hi All,

I've been charged with the onerous task of trying to speed up my mother's
PC which is currently running at glacial speeds. I've cleared out as much
detrius as I dare and have puirged the start up of as as much spurious
software as I'm happy to. Shes's running an AMD Athon 1.60 GHz with 496MB
of RAM. Before I put an order in for more memory (I figured 2GB) is there
anything else I should try. Is this spec realistic for XP bearing in mind
we're not talking gaming applications here more a bit of e-mail/word
processing/scrabble? It's been virus/spyware checked and is clean

Thanks
Click to expand...
I should add that she's running McAfee anti-virus and was wandering if that
was hogging all the resources?
 
496?

you likely have two ram
chips of different sizes
and you may have room
to add another chip or

may need to remove one
of them to add another
512 to memory which
costs less than 1 gig or 2.

memory over 512 megs
is ideal for running the o.s.
plus the added antiviral
plus programs.

then use the money you
save to add a video card
with 256 megs or more
to the motherboard.

then you might want
to add another disk
drive that is equal to
or larger than the disk
the computer has now.

that way, you can move
"my documents" off the
system partition.

having the additional disk
splits the burden of seeking
data by the cpu and the
o.s. which is now limited
to one disk.

the above should cost
less than 100 bucks which
is about 70% cheaper than
buying a new system or
motherboard.

something else that might
help is to disable the floppy
disk controller, via cmos/bios.

and enable it if and when
you are going to use floppy
disks.

disabling it will also keep
it from cycling to death which
will also de stabilize the o.s.,

having you erroneously believe
the pc is infected or something.

the above is hardware
improvements.

you can also tweak the
o.s. via software.

but wait to see the
results from the hardware
upgrades first.
--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen
 
yes, mcacrap and
symancrap are notorious
for degrading system
performance.

however, they are like
squids and sometimes
do not permit themselves
to be cleanly uninstalled
without taking some of
the o.s. with them -

as revenge....

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen
 
I've been charged with the onerous task of trying to speed up my mother's PC
which is currently running at glacial speeds. I've cleared out as much
detrius as I dare
Click to expand...


Exactly *what* detritus? From where?

and have puirged the start up of as as much spurious
software as I'm happy to.
Click to expand...


Exactly *what* spurious software?

Shes's running an AMD Athon 1.60 GHz with 496MB of
RAM.
Click to expand...


So she has 512MB of RAM and 56MB of it is used for video support on
the motherboard, rather than for Windows.

Before I put an order in for more memory (I figured 2GB)
Click to expand...


It's *highly* unlikely that that will help at all. How much RAM you
can make effective use of depends on what apps she runs, but for most
people the amount she has is enough. Adding more (especially as much
more as 2GB) almost certainly won't help her.

is there
anything else I should try. Is this spec realistic for XP bearing in mind
we're not talking gaming applications here more a bit of e-mail/word
processing/scrabble?
Click to expand...


That pretty much confirms what I said above. She probably already has
more RAM than she needs, and adding any more is just a waste of money.


It's been virus/spyware checked and is clean
Click to expand...


My very strong guess is that it's *not* clean, and her performance
problems result from a malware infection. Exactly with what did you
check for viruses and spyware?
 
Exactly *what* detritus? From where?




Exactly *what* spurious software?




So she has 512MB of RAM and 56MB of it is used for video support on
the motherboard, rather than for Windows.




It's *highly* unlikely that that will help at all. How much RAM you
can make effective use of depends on what apps she runs, but for most
people the amount she has is enough. Adding more (especially as much
more as 2GB) almost certainly won't help her.




That pretty much confirms what I said above. She probably already has
more RAM than she needs, and adding any more is just a waste of money.





My very strong guess is that it's *not* clean, and her performance
problems result from a malware infection. Exactly with what did you
check for viruses and spyware?
Click to expand...

I agree. For email, word processing, and Scrabble, this machine should fly
like the wind. In reality, you should not be able to detect any difference
in this machine than one designed to satisfy a gamer's wet dream.
 
Ken Blake said:
Exactly *what* detritus? From where?




Exactly *what* spurious software?




So she has 512MB of RAM and 56MB of it is used for video support on
the motherboard, rather than for Windows.




It's *highly* unlikely that that will help at all. How much RAM you
can make effective use of depends on what apps she runs, but for most
people the amount she has is enough. Adding more (especially as much
more as 2GB) almost certainly won't help her.




That pretty much confirms what I said above. She probably already has
more RAM than she needs, and adding any more is just a waste of money.





My very strong guess is that it's *not* clean, and her performance
problems result from a malware infection. Exactly with what did you
check for viruses and spyware?
Click to expand...
I checked it with Spybot, AdAware and the McAffee virus checker, with no
obvious problems
 
I checked it with Spybot, AdAware and the McAffee virus checker, with no
obvious problems
Click to expand...


Then that supports my guess that you are infected. McAfee is next to
the worst antivirus program (only Norton is worse). And you are not
using the best anti-spyware program either.

Please download and run MalwareBytes Anti-malware.
 
Don said:
Half a Gb of RAM should suffice. (Why 496 Mb? What brand of
motherboard does she have?)
Click to expand...

Only 16 meg for Video, could make for slow visual, but this isn't a
gaming PC.
 
Ken I totally agree with your last comments about both AV applications and
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

Maybe you should have given him the Malwarebytes download site:
http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

ColTom2


I checked it with Spybot, AdAware and the McAffee virus checker, with no
obvious problems
Click to expand...


Then that supports my guess that you are infected. McAfee is next to
the worst antivirus program (only Norton is worse). And you are not
using the best anti-spyware program either.

Please download and run MalwareBytes Anti-malware.
 
Endulini said:
I should add that she's running McAfee anti-virus and was wandering
if that was hogging all the resources?
Click to expand...

McAfee is indeed a resource hog and should be jettisonned ASAP. I've
seen it bring many a system to a crawl. There are a number of quality
free alternatives, including AVG, Avast, and Avira. For antispyware,
MalwareBytes' Antimalware and SUPERAntiSpyware are both quite good (and
there are free versions of these, too).

Purchasing more RAM is a waste of money unless your mother ever wants to
upgrade to Vista (or 7) or decides to start running memory-intensive
applications like graphics or video editing programs. The Athlon
processor is not a speed demon, but it should be adequate for how your
mother uses the PC.

When you decide to uninstall McAfee, note that you will likely need to
use the program listed here:

http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS100507
 
if she were infected
than mcafee would
have discovered it.

instead the degredation
in performance can be
attributed to a combination
on things, in addition to
mcacrap.

most likely the system
not only needs a tune up,
but a hard ware upgrade
wouldn't hurt as well.

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces
- Microsoft Partner
- @hotmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~"share the nirvana" - dbZen
 

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