More speed to my computer?

Question

I have a HP pavilion zd8000 with 512 ram and a Pentium 4 at 3.0 ghz.
Lately my computer is running slower than usual and i don't know why i alredy check it for virus and spyware. I make fequent defragmentations and registery maintenace. My hardrive isn't full (in fact it has plenty of space) and i haven't installed anything in more than a month. Any ideas how i can speed it up or least make it as fast as it was?

Without having to buy more RAM

Answer 1

The following steps should speed up your PC and will make any game run better and smoother. Do all of the steps with patience. Please note that deleting unnecessary and junk files are necessary to attain smooth performance of your PC.

1. Run Disk clean-up. Then delete unused files. (start>program>accessories>sys... tools> disk clean-up)
2. Check for disk errors. (right click on a disk-drive>properties>tools >error checking, then restart)
3. Run disk defragmenter, no matter what it says.
4. Delete cookies. (you can do it from your browser options: tools>internet options)
5. Delete cache or temporary files. (you can do it from your browser options) or, click on 'start", 'run', type 'temp' then click ok. Whatever shows up, just delete.
6. Delete all history files and search history. (you can do it from your browser options, or, CTRL + H, then delete)
7. Empty recycle bin.
8. Delete unused icons & short-cuts from anywhere including desktop.
9. Uninstall any software or game that you use only once or twice in a week.
10. Delete temporary internet files. (you can do it from your browser options: tools>internet options)
11. Delete all recent files. (click on start, click run, then type "recent", delete all the files which show up)
12. Run a full virus scan. If any threat found, eliminate that completely.
13. Run a software which can remove any spyware or adware.
Like: Ad Aware, Windows defender etc.
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10399602.html?tag=lst-0-1
http://www.download.com/Microsoft-Windows-Defender/3000-12771_4-10598014.html?tag=lst-0-1

* Updating: (Needed only when updates are available)
14. Update your Windows by installing latest updates.
15. Update your audio & video drivers.
16. Update softwares, browsers, games that you use.

Use CCleaner to get rid of unnecessary junks:
http://www.download.com/CCleaner/3000-2144_4-10315544.html

Speed Up Your Windows (CNET):
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10165_7-5554402-1.html

Answer 2

Below I will list some general tips to improve performance. Even if you have done them recently it will not hurt to do them again.

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 CA.

http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

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...






All programs are FREE!


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

Answer 3

Install this program from Microsoft (originally from sysinternal) http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/ProcessExplorer.mspx

This program gives you a list of all the programs that are currently running. This will help you identify the program that are taking up too much of memory. There is a graph in yellow that shows your current system memory consumption. You can get rid of all the stuffs that you don't need.

This program helps you identify all the programs that runs automatically. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/ProcessesAndThreads/Autoruns.mspx
Uncheck the programs that you don't want to run on system startup.

Answer 4

I'm guessing you already emptied temp internet folders, so are your fans dirty? If not, thencheck to see how many programs are running at startup, and in the background while you're doing other things. If that's not it, then I'm not sure what it could be.

Answer 5

yeah using the msconfig is a good idea, but it also depends on how many icons u have on the desktop screen this can cause slowness. also i would advise going to http://www.pcpitstop.com and run a full scan. this will advise on things u can do to windows to improve performance.

Answer 6

Goto:

Run and enter "msconfig" goto startup and uncheck what you dont need. Its more than likely the programs during boot are taking up your memory.

Jockee

Answer 7

without adding more ram? nope, because that's EXACTLY what you need to do. 1G or more and your computer will run much faster and smoother. and it really doesn't cost much

Answer 8

there is a program called tuneup utilities which can do tha trick