drive work ? or what are some other options?
2006-09-02 06:04:31 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Add-ons
I don't think it's the files.
I think it'd be the processes?
If you look down at the bottom right of your screen, the little icons are things that are running. If you can stop some of them, the speed might improve.
Good luck!
2006-09-02 06:08:14 · answer #1 · answered by wrathofkublakhan 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All good answers. More RAM is always desirable, XP works great with 1 or 2gig of RAM and RAM is cheap these days. Just make sure you get compatible RAM for your machine.
The little icons at the lower right of your screen are programs known as TSR's, which stands for "Terminate Stay Resident" and it's a collection of programs that you have loaded on your PC that activate themselves during your boot process, then they kinda sit in the background waiting for you to use them. The analogy is the guy on the bench hollering "Put me in Coach, I'm ready to play". Those programs are constantly polling (asking) the CPU if they are needed. The fewer you have, the quicker the machine.
When you access a program, it pulls the files needed to run the program from where they are stored on your h/d into RAM or your disc cache. When you close a program, those used files are put back on the h/d, not necessarily from where they were pulled the first time. That is the reason to DEFRAG. Another analogy, this is like reading a book at home, but the pages are not bound together, you have to hunt all over the house for page 35, then page 36 is in the kitchen, page 37 is under the carpet, page 38 is in the freezer, page 39 is in the mailbox by the street and your sister has page 40 in the bathroom, etc. Defraging puts all the files used by a program together in one contiguous location on the hard drive. The larger the hard drive, the longer Defraging takes.
Another thing to consider is how full your h/d is. You should leave at least 10% of a h/d empty to allow it space to move those files you're using around or places to put new files you create.
2006-09-02 13:46:18 · answer #2 · answered by Fuggetaboutit_1 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
an external hard drive will help take some of the load off that you have accumulated. a regular defrag will help also. check into some of the utility software like pc doctor or system mechanic. they have programs that will run a diagnostic and tell you you have duplicated files, orphaned shortcuts and other problems that will slow down your computer. make sure you dont have other programs, or automatic downloads running also. they can cause your system to slow down. if you are not maxed out on your memory card, try upgrading that also.
2006-09-02 13:20:10 · answer #3 · answered by xoro 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no switching files to a external will make it slower.
best idea to speed up a machnie, is basic maintaince eg diskcleanup, scandisk,defrag all can be accessed from start all programs, accessories, system tools.
or to download a program called system mech pro 6 from http://www.iolo.com it has a 30 day trail but really good at running and cleanup up files.
also a RAM upgrade with also help matters.
2006-09-02 13:10:41 · answer #4 · answered by Paultech 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Transfering all your files to an external HD will do absolutly nothing in speeding up your computer.
If your trying to speed up the loading time of programs, get more RAM.
If you trying to speed up your graphics rendering, get a new video card.
Although an external HD will not speed up your computer, it is generally good to have if you do a lot of downloading or if you need to transfer lots of data from one computer to another.
2006-09-02 13:57:30 · answer #5 · answered by Solar_Ecliptor 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The simplest, easiest and most likely, the cheapest way to speed up your computer is to add more MEMORY....
HOWEVER, when most people say the want to speed up their computer they're referring to webpages, pics, games, (basicly graphics) to be displayed.
Most, if not all Emachines have built-in video graphics which are (at their best) barely able to display grpahics at any sort of appreciable speed.
I'd suggest you install a VIDEO CARD if you want to REALLY see a speed increase........
2006-09-02 13:39:32 · answer #6 · answered by mrresearchman 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Double up on the memory. not expensive. Perked up my kids emachine nicely
Moving files will not help.
Also, turn off the XP voice recognition stuff (settings)
check for adware/spyware. defrag the hard drive
2006-09-02 13:11:13 · answer #7 · answered by pops 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Defrag the hdd, it will speed up looking up files and use ccleaner.
2006-09-02 14:32:35 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get more ram for your computer
2006-09-02 13:11:13 · answer #9 · answered by dogwash m 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That might actually make it slower, try doubleing your ram.
2006-09-02 13:09:38 · answer #10 · answered by Dragosh 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋