I just upgraded from dail-up to Comcast high-speed and the speed hasntt improved much....could the problem be my computer?? If so, what can I do to fix it?
2007-02-21 01:50:40 · 9 answers · asked by Candice J 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Other - Computers
Well here are some tips for you.
First you may want to test your download and upload speeds that you are actually seeing at your PC. Go to the following web page; scroll down a little, and choose one of the location shown to run the test from.
Heres the site: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
It takes a minute to run so be patient.
Also, here are some things to do to make your PC run efficiently.
A major cause of slow PC's is fragmentation of the hard drive.
You need to defragment the HD at least once a week if not more depending on how much you use your computer, and what you do with it.
One way is to use the defragment utility built into Windows XP. It is slow but does the job rather well. Go to:
Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools and then click on System Defrag to run the tool. It may take several hours, so let it run overnight or simply walk away from your PC for a few hours.
A great program for defragging automatically is Diskeeper. It costs $30 but is well worth it. Go to http://www.download.com and search for Diskeeper. Read the Publishers Description and the Editor and User reviews. It can be scheduled to run automatically as the program deems necessary, and if you are using your PC and the program launches itself, it will take a backseat to whatever you are doing and give you the priority for CPU usage. I think you'll agree it's a good program to have. It precludes your needing to remember to defrag at regular intervals.
Another major cause of a slow PC is programs that are running in the background. Here's another really good Microsoft tool. It’s called Autoruns and it was written by SysInternals who were recently bought up by Microsoft.
Before you download the program create a folder under program files called Autoruns. Leave Windows Explore open.
Launch Internet Explored and go to the following Microsoft web page.
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/autoruns.mspx
Go to the bottom of the page and download the Autoruns program. After it downloads open the file. It is a Zip file. Unzip the file and you will see 4 files. Drag and drop those 4 files to the Autoruns folder you created under Program Files.
Once you have the 4 files in the C:\Program Files\Autoruns folder you can double click on the file titled “autoruns”.
This will bring up a window with several tabs at the top. Click on the “Logon” tab. It will list the programs that are running on your PC and eating up resources. Look them over carefully and turn off any that don’t absolutely have to be running. Simply click on the “check mark” in the little box beside the program name. Clicking on it will remove the check mark. Once you have edited the Startup list, click on Apply and then on OK.
NOTE: Leave items that show Windows; System 32; Program Files; etc. alone. Shutting them off may cause some things not to work.
Once you have exited the window, reboot your PC for the settings to take effect.
WARNING: Don’t go into the other tabs and start deleting things. You will probably give yourself major headaches if you do that. Stay focused on the “Logon” List only.
Another good thing to have is a little program called FreeRAM XP Pro. It is free and is available from http://www.download.com This program puts a little RAM meter on the System Tray and shows how much RAM you have remaining that you are not using at any given time. I think you may be surprised at how little RAM you have to run other programs. Also, once it is installed you can right click on the little meter, then click on RESTORE and it will open the RAM display window. You can tweak the settings so it will display your CPU usage also. Then just click “Minimize” and then “To System Tray” to return to the Task Bar.
What happens when you run out of or run real low on RAM is that the OS recognizes the low or no RAM situation and starts using a section of your hard drive as memory. This is called virtual memory, or a swap file. The PC is constantly writing and reading from your HD. Comparitively, it is a very slow process. Check your motherboard manual and determine how much RAM each slot can hold. It will also tell you what type of RAM you need. You can also go to http://www.crucial.com or http://www.4allmemory.com and run their analysis utility to determine what kind and how much RAM is installed in your PC. Depend on your MoBo manual to determine the RAM limits of each slot though.
Hope this helps
2007-02-21 02:11:13 · answer #1 · answered by Dick 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You should get significant improvement going from dialup to cable. You only get this improvement using your browser.
If your browser is slow then the problem is most likely the speed of your processor.
There are several things that you can do to improve the speed of your computer. Add memory. Upgrade the processor. Make sure that you have available disk space and increase the amount of "swap" space available.
You can also get a new computer.
Why don't you edit your question to add some details about the computer or send email with that info.
2007-02-21 10:18:47 · answer #2 · answered by Ernie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The speed which should improve is "how fast web pages display" and "how fast files download." The switch to Comcast won't speed up any thing else. If this speed hasn't improved, you probably have spyware and adware on your computer. Get rid of it and use a good virus scanner.
2007-02-21 10:03:49 · answer #3 · answered by bob_whelan1944 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Could be you have too much stored on your computer, files, old programs you do not use... check your Control panel, check your space on the hard drive, also look at your add/remove programs you may need to filter out some stuff. But i would recommend talking to your Internet provider and checking w/ them as well, that should be included in your purchase, any maintenance situations and performance.
2007-02-21 09:57:59 · answer #4 · answered by hugabug 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
speed on surf regarding on, list from most effect
1. line speed,
2. hard disk speed,
3. computer ram
4. cpu speed.
so if there is a bottle neck. u will counter the problem. eg, old processor (pentium pro), but u run windows xp.
there is a chance to if ur computer effected with computer virus. i has experience on that. after clean up the virus, internet connection come normal again.
2007-02-21 10:00:11 · answer #5 · answered by mmir_tech 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
comcast is the fastest internet out there. It must be your computer. you probably maxed out the RAM on ur hard drive and thats y its bein slow, or u could be running 2 many programs at once.
2007-02-21 09:56:06 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it could be your network settings on you computer. Also could be available memory. What are the machine specs?
2007-02-21 09:55:55 · answer #7 · answered by Fat Bastardo 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
ya try a registy cleaner heres the link
http://www.download.com/CCleaner/3000-2144_4-10634975.html?tag=lst-0-1
2007-02-21 09:55:48 · answer #8 · answered by michael 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Please only post your question once.
2007-02-21 09:53:40 · answer #9 · answered by Yoi_55 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋