What is the best way to speed up my computer?

Question

Internet, more processes at once, faster loading, faster downloads (if possible), ect. I have already made sure my computer is completely clean of all unneeded files, temp files, ect.

I am thinking of maybe getting a new harddrive or RAM card. My current Harddrive holds around 70 gigs and my RAM is 128 I believe. So, should I get a bigger harddrive, RAM card, even graphics card, ect.? I really don't know what is best, because I am new to figuring out all this computer tech. Thanks!

Answer 1

ram.. or a nice motherboard with a fast bus speed, you want to find your lowest common denominator in terms of speed, and increase it.. you should get at least a gig of ram

Answer 2

These are ranked on what should be done first.

1 COMPUTER SPECS.
Get to know what you have for a PC. by clicking Start, Run, and type DXDIAG, A window will pop up with lots of information This is the DirectX version of what PC you have. For the windows version click the more help tab and then click MSInfo, Copy both sets to a note pad and save it somewhere, Its always nice to have quick access to your system specs.

2 SPYWARE REMOVAL
Scanning your pc with AD-Aware, and SpyBot. Removing everything they find would be starters.
Links can be found here,
http://forums.techguy.org/security/110854-security-help-tools.html
Refer to the "Parasitic" section. For the spyware removers.

3 UPGRADING RAM
Your going to notice improvement by getting more ram. Commenly known as upgrading. (Not actually a upgrade, just adding more).
You can determin what kind of ram you need by going here,
http://www.crucial.com/store/listmfgr.asp?cat=RAM and follow the steps.

4 PROCESSOR
You can upgrade certin chipsets. Like if you have a K4 1200 you could upgrade to the K4 1700 or something of that nature. Just do a search on google when you figure out what your processor is.. Or check the manufactures website. This useually consists of changing a setting in the Bios, and/or switching littles "Dip switches" on the motherboard. Some bios and boards don't have this option.

5 VIDEO CARD
Depending on what your system is, upgrading the video card may improve performance.

6 Upgrading your Hard Drive
Getting a larger hard drive is more for adding more space not speed. (There are different read\write speeds for them) But I have one thats about 8 years old and I cant tell the difference from the one thats 2 years old as far as how fast my computer accesses the files.

7 OVERCLOCKING
Another option is to overclock it. This is not reccomended as its probably not going to improve the speed of the pc by much.
Here is a good link on overclocking.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overclocking

8 Depending on how your connected to the internet, Dial up cable, DSL or Network.
If you have say a 10\100 ethernet card, you could get one thats faster.
If you have dial up, get Cable.
If you have DSL, get Cable.

9 PCI - E
Lastly and most importantly, Check to see if your pc is even worth upgrading, If its not PCI -E, then its not worth upgrading some parts. Upgrading the ram is still reccomended if you only have 128, or 256....



I hope this helps you..

Answer 3

Hard drive that is fast should be SATA with NCQ and 7200 rpm.
RAM at least 512MB.
Graphics card is only for boosting the performance if you play games.

Best is if you can change the entire system because your motherboard may not be able to support SATA hard drives nor faster RAM. The speed limit is there already.

But then, the simplest way is just to add RAM. This will follow everything to run faster and smoother. And of course, get a larger capacity hard drive if you feel you are running out of space.

Answer 4

you can add unlimited things but in your situation if you want the biggest bang for your dollar you need to add ram. 128 isn't even sufficient for winxp you should run 512 at minimum, 1028 would set you up real well and it's cheap. even adding a 512 to your 128 would be alright and only cost you 30 to 50 bucks. a xp pro system at work had 256 and was sluggish we added 512 to that making 768 and it runs like a dream now.

Answer 5

128 MB of RAM for Windows 2000 and XP is WAY TOO LITTLE. For today's applications, Windows 2000 systems should have at least 384 MB of RAM. For Windows XP, you should have 512 MB of RAM. For all other released versions of Windows, 128 MB is sufficient and with the exception of NT4, it's unlikely any more RAM will help you much.

Answer 6

Wow... 128 RAM...That's All You Need To Get Few More Bars Of RAM...I've Got 4GB's Of RAM, And My Comp Is Toooo Fast LOL...But I Love It..And I've Got 2.0TeraBytes Of Hard Drive Space Gotta Love External Hard Drive Towers...LOL And USB 2.0, Firewire.

Answer 7

you dont need another hardrive depending on what your storing if its movies n videos that you have lots of then i would upgrade to a bigger harddrive, you definitly need another ram card ,around 512 mb should do , and to speed up your startup get rid of programs that you dont need to start up , to do this go to "run" in the start menu n type in msconfig then pick the programs you dont want to run when you turn your computer (you can still manually run the programs) hope this helps :D

Answer 8

If you want faster computer you got!

You need higher Processor Pentium 4 is okay but the GHz need to be increase.

Memory needed increase by 512mb(If you are playing games).

To faster the download from the internet you need DSL connection this is faster internet(if you playing online games).

Video card if you are playing games need to be increase if your are not don't upgrade it.

Answer 9

You need RAM bad, no less than 512MB, 1 GB if you are a gamer. Some programs will now ever run without at lest 512MB of RAM.

Answer 10

whoa! a lot of people says u need to upgrade ram... Me too, I'm using my 128mb ram....and is even SDR...(cause my 512ddr won't run that good-it's too loose for the slot).... what i notice is my pc does fine with 128sdr but upgrading your ram should be the best choice... or why not use antivirus/spyware removal... it makes your pc so much sloooooower!.... it's from what i have experienced..... or even backup your files then REFORMAT it!!! It'll surely make it even better...