how do i speed up my computer, even though i have a dial up connection?

Answer 1

Dial-up only affects your online speeds but you should be maintaining the efficiency of your PC also. Here are my tips on how to keep your PC running at its best.


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 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.

Regularly clean up your browsing history, files, cookies, temp files, etc. A good program to us is Ccleaner and it is FREE. Get it here: http://www.download.com

Also, you need a “registry cleaner”. The registry can get “defragmented and clogged” with various data that you simply don’t need. The only effective way to clean this massive list is to use an automated cleaner. Go to http://www.download.com and search for Registry Cleaners. There should be several FREE ones there for you to use.

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

Answer 2

If Dial Up is all that is available, you're stuck.

BUT:

If your PC used to be faster, or is acting strangely, it's probably infected with malware. Use the link below to learn more about "malware".

Then, you need to install: ONE Anti-virus (I use AVG free), ONE Firewall (Zone Alarm free), and these Anti-spyware tools: Windows Defender, Spybot, Ad-Aware, Spyware Blaster and cCleaner (free, I use all 5 regularly).

Google for them, install them and learn how to use them (use the Help TAB).

TIP: The apps above can only clean up so much. Last resort, back up (copy to CD / DVD / external hard drive) all personal data and do a Windows "Clean Install", get more info at (www.theeldergeek.com).

Note: Use your Recovery disks, if included with your PC, not a generic XP disk. The Recovery disks may be ON the hard drive, RTFM.

Answer 3

Clear your recent documents and empty your recycle bin(while off line), clean your history (while on line), then click off line again and go to start, all programs, accessories, system tools, disk defragmentation, then click defragment and wait until completed, and final conclusion is restart computer. Most will not tell you to restart your computer, but it helps alot if you do. The reason you want to restart is everything that you have cleared, you want to make sure stays cleared. Alot of times when you delete your hisitory the history will come back 2-3 days later (you do not want this). When your history box opens right click on each day then click delete.

Answer 4

i think there's an internet site with a programme obtainable to acquire which provides a dail-up connection a similar velocity as broadband? Have a seek around im sorry that i dont keep in mind the region

Answer 5

forget about it!!! you will only be as fast as the dial-up allows and nothing you do to tweak the puter will help.Get DSL,once you do you will wonder why you ever even used dial-up

Answer 6

Get rid of dial up. It way to ****** slow.