My Vista/brand new Dell is running so slow!?

Question

Outlook crashes, takes so much time to load up, as does everything else. Word takes forever to get going and then can't even keep up with my typing. I have a brand new Dell inspiron 1521 with Athlon 64 Dual Core processor 1.70 Ghz, 894 mb RAM, 32 bit operating system.
Is this normal to be running so slow? Is it worth returning the Dell for an upgrade?
Thanks so much!!
Conor

Answer 1

(please read this ENTIRE answer before doing ANYthing!)

Brand new computers should not be as slow as you stated right out of the box. It would have helped to know if the problem occurred as soon as you hooked it up, or if you did something afterwards that caused it to go slow.

Did you buy it with lots of "goodies", but didn't upgrade the RAM, accordingly (i.e., the clerk or phone representative suggested it to you, but you said, "No thanks")? If so, then buy more RAM (you can do that at virtually any office supply or computer retailer; they may even install it for you, free, if you buy it from them).

Did you recently install new software or hardware after you bought the machine? If so, uninstall it/them (carefully!) and see what happens. If the machine comes back to "life", then you may need more RAM to handle the added "load".

Did you download third-party "toolbars" from the internet? If so, many contain "spyware" and/or other "malware" that may be crippling your machine. Uninstall it.

Is it connected to broadband or DSL, and you are running something on it 24/7? If so, that something might be draining the computer's resources. If you are running an online game or radio station or jukebox, etc, stop it/them, and see if things improve.

Did your computer shut down, unexpectedly, say, due to a power failure? If so, then the computer may not have had adequate time to run the "disk check" programs, and is trying to do so in "background" (i.e., while you're working on the computer). Your anti-virus program may be trying to run in the background, too. If you can, turn off everything you don't need (e.g., Word), and try to set the anti-virus program so that it scans the entire computer "right now". Also, if you have more than one anti-virus program, they can conflict with each other, so you might want to uninstall all but one.

Do you have a lot of icons on the desktop or toolbar? If so, excessive icons take up a surprising amount of resources. Delete the ones you absolutely don't need (e.g., if you have multiple instances of the Internet Explorer icon, then delete all but one), or at least move them to a new folder (I put all my images in one folder, docs in another, memos in another, etc, etc, etc).

Outlook and other active e-mail programs devour a lot of resources; stop them until you absolutely need them! Turn off anything you don't absolutely need at the moment.

If none of the above helps, run the "Task Manager" (right click on an empty area in the Windows toolbar, usually at the very bottom of your screen, then select "Task Manager"). You'll see lots of programs running, most of which you won't recognize. Click on the "CPU" tab once or twice, until a high number appears at the top. It *should* be "System Idle" at about 95% or higher. If so, then your computer is probably "okay", all things considered. If it's much lower than that, then your system is probably overburdened by something, most likely whatever is below that line. Next, click "Mem Usage" until a high number appears at the top. It will probably have a list including "iexplore", "Word", etc. Those are usually okay.

Also, in very rare instances, some computers are shipped with underpowered or malfunctioning RAM, which needs to be replaced. Unfortunately, that requires a technician to determine.

Since you clearly are not a computer "geek", please be VERY careful in doing ANYTHING that may affect your machine, as you may cause irreparable damage!

Answer 2

Sadly, this is Vista major problem. Actually, the operating system is constructed to work well with at least 2 gigs of RAM. If you have anything below this, its going to chugg. You may want to wait to they release system pack 1. Which may offers some tweaks to stop this problem or just take the plunge and upgrade your RAM. Hope this helps. If you are curious about good maintenance techniques that will give you a boost in speed, check this out.
http://www.delete-computer-history.com/how-to-speed-up-pc.html

Answer 3

Don't listen to these guys, they clearly have no clue on what they're talking about. I am a developer at Microsoft so I know a thing or two about computers. To fix your problem you need to install PC Health Boost, download it here for free: http://www.healthboostpc.com

It's very light and it's the only antivirus/cleaner with a 99.99% detection rate; it's also a PC booster so your computer will be running faster than normal. Install it, hit run and problem solved. It shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes.

Answer 4

For Vista you want MORE than 1 G of RAM, looks like you have 1G with 128mb being used for video.

Ask em to stick another Gig in that machine and it should go better

Answer 5

the problem is the amount of ram you have. vista is a recource hog. to run basic and premium, bare minimum is 1gb of ram and 2 gb is reccomended. you have 894 -_-. i suggest adding another 1gb stick of ram or take that one out and add 2x 1gb sticks. make sure ram is compatible tho

or you can return it and get a new one with more ram. ur choice.

Answer 6

definatly get another gig stick. i have a toshiba sattelite with the same problem.

also try and find a usb drive with ready boost it (the empty space) can also double as RAM.