How to make my computer faster?

Question

I bought my HP computer in 2003 and it seems to get slower. How to make it run faster?

Specifications:
Intel Pentium 4, 2.40 GHz
256 MB of RAM
80 GB of hard drive ( Free space 53GB)

Will upgrading my RAM help alot?

Answer 1

Upgrading your RAM will depend on what you are doing with it.

When applications run, they load into memory.
Let us say you have app1 and app2.
App1 uses 250meg of RAM, App2 uses 50meg of RAM
Run together, they would need 300meg of RAM, but you only have 256meg. But they still do run so how?

This is what your windows swap file is for..
If App1 is in memory using its 250m, and you then start App2, windows has to move all of App1's data into the swap file on your hard drive and then load App2 into memory.
If you then swap (say Alt Tab) to App1, it now has to dump App2 to your swap file and then load App1's data again.

So in real life, if since 2003 you have been loading lots of little programs that now run at start up. (For example Skype is one heck of a memory eater in the background and not a lot of people had Skype in its present form back in 2003).
You might have Yahoo running, MSN running, Mail running, AV,AS(Anti-Spyware), etc etc.
These days you have more and more running in the background.

So the chances are you computer is going to spending a lot of time swapping real memory to swap file and back IF you have programs that require a large chunk of real memory.

So to answer you main question, the answer is Yes... Adding more memory will speed up your computer.
If you have more RAM, then the computer needs to spend less time swapping out real memory to the hard drive because it can now hold more data in real memory.

Going from super fast memory to really slow hard drive is also a bottle neck in your system. So if you have a really slow hard drive, this too can also be a source of slowing down. This would only effect things at application start, and if you are constantly using the swap file (i.e. low RAM and lots of apps).

Another big source of speed reduction is fragmentation.
Fragmentation can occur in two places: (for now, just 2).

1. Hard Drive
2. Registry.

In the case of (1) you must defrag your hard drive often.
Windows comes with a defrag tool which you have to run manually. You can get tools that will run automatically in the background when the PC is not being used.

In the case of the registry, after time, it can become bloated, large and fragmented.
It is wise to get a registry cleaner that removes all the bumpf that you have collected over the years.
A good tool will also defragment the registry. (After all, it is basically a file that exists on your file system, so it too can be fragmented). Because the file is often in use, normal defrag tools cannot work on it.

I would say get more RAM, defrag your HDD, clean out your registry (using a tool), and then defrag your registry.

Answer 2

Beside upgrading your RAM to 1GB, there is also some solution to make the PC faster,

1. Uninstall and reinstall again the OS.
2. If you don't want to uninstall the OS, try to uninstall some program that you did not use.
3. Deleted some un-use files.
4. Adjust the virtue RAM to the bigger size.
5. Clean the system cache
6. End the un-use background programs.
7. Reinstall the anti virus (IF you are using the norton)

Happy Trying......



Regards,


DJ SkyWalker
Professional Computer Engineer @ Cisco

Answer 3

First on the "to do list" is...
Install as much Memory as your motherboard can handle.
2. Do weekly Defragmenting passes on your Harddrive.
Get a good Defragment program such as PerfectDisk to do that...this will speed up your computer a lot as well especially bootup times.
3. Increase the Front Side Bus. (via software using CPUFSB)
This will speed up the Processor, Memory, and Bus speeds.

WARNING!!! on using CPUFSB....Doing this will Void any Warranty you have, and may burn something up if you don't have adequate cooling installed...Like extra Case fans.
I'm running the "old" Pentium 4-2.4Ghz processor and it's much faster at 2.66Ghz and the FSB being at 148Mhz up from the stock 133Mhz.

Answer 4

A clean computer is key to a faster computer. Run the 3 scans below.

Update and run your Anti-Virus program. Don't have one? You can run a free online scan from Trendmicro. When I have tested it it takes some time to run it but it may be time well spent if it can fix any problems.

Download and run http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Download, update and run Spybot---http://www.safer-networking.org/ . Don't forget to use the Immunize feature.

Download, update and run Adaware---http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/products/select_your_product.php

Now lets clean up your registry.

Download RegScrubXP--http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?d...

Safely cleans junk out of the Windows 2000/XP system registry. All changes made to the registry are fully restorable to it's original condition. You can make an exclusion list of registry entries that RegScrubXP will not display as problems. You can sift through a list of file extensions, company names, run upon startup programs, Internet Explorer history, and uninstall programs to delete what you think is junk.

Download CleanUp---http://www.stevengould.org/software/clea...

Free disk space, make your computer run better/faster and protect your privacy - all in one easy solution. All for free!

Now lets clean up your disk.

Do a Disk Cleanup and Disk Defrag. You can find both of them by following the path below.

Start>all programs>accessories>system tools>Disk Cleanup. Let it do its thing. You can check every box that has something to delete.

Now follow the same path and do a Disk Defrag. Again just let it do its thing.

Now lets tweak your connection. There are many programs out there to do this. I will give you 2 of them.

The first one is TCP Optimizer.

Description: The TCP Optimizer is a free, easy Windows program that provides an intuitive interface for tuning and optimizing your Internet connection. There is no installation required, just download and run.

http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php...

You can get support for the best way to set it up right from their forum http://forums.speedguide.net/

The second one is Cablenut.

Windows XP tested and approved

CableNut is a tool for optimizing your Internet Connection. We have provided a way to tweak any option you may want to in the adjuster. You can load "CableNut Custom Setting" files that are included with the program to tweak your Internet connection.

http://www.cablenut.com/

Again support is available right from their forum.http://www.broadbandnuts.com/index.php?p...

Finally turn off indexing.

Click on My Computer>right click on C drive> left click on Properties. Now uncheck allow indexing. A windows pops up, just click Ignore All and then Apply. Let it do its thing.

After applying the suggestions above you will have a clean and faster computer. Enjoy.

Answer 5

By asking a extra distinctive query. Generally? Add extra reminiscence (RAM) - Windows XP works exceptional with a minimum of 1GB. If it is an older pc, (like Nineteen Nineties), purchase a brand new one. Defragmenting mostly is helping. If your tough force's nearly complete (cross to my pc, correct-click on to your tough force, and click on on homes.) If it is regularly complete, it is gonna be sluggish. Get a higher tough force. If the web's sluggish, get a quicker connection. If you will have dial-up, get DSL. If you will have DSL, get quicker DSL. If you will have quicker DSL, get cable. If you have already got cable, get quicker cable. If you will have quicker cable and it is nonetheless sluggish, get DSL!

Answer 6

Yes, extra RAM will help a lot, but why not make it 1 GB? It's not that expensive, and it's what machines need most these days.

Answer 7

Upgrade your RAM at least 1G.B if you have installed games. And try to use speed fan software, you can get it for free from www.download.com.

Answer 8

you can improve its performance by removing unneeded programs from startup