very very slow computer

Ms-Pacman

HI i there, Can anyone help with a very very slow computer that I'm trying to get working.
This is one that has been used recently with no problems but has ground to a halt for some reason, potentially faulty memory

I've run the latest malware bytes and it found nothing, I used CCleaner to tidy it up and it did find a bit of a mess which has also been cleaned up. I'm using the computer to write this and although I can get most things to run its just very very slow.

The computer's details are: 1.29 ghz, 112 mb ram, running XP vista.
It is an oldish computer but it it is being used by someone who just uses basic interent like messenger and email.

any suggestions / hints apart from get a new computer as that is not an option for the lady who uses it.

Ms-Pacman

incidentally I've just downloaded service pack 3 as this was not on, could this be one cause?

Browntoa

I confused are you running XP or Vista ?? ( I suspect XP from the age and SP3)

I suspect you could do with more RAM in the PC

go to

http://www.crucial.com/uk/

and use the system scanner to see what it has and the maximum it can take

prowla

If you do Ctrl-Alt-Del, you can bring up the Task Manager which shows the running processes. There should also be a tab to let you look at performance graphs (cpu, memory use).

In the BIOS (press F2 or Del, or whatever key it tells you to get into setup when the system is booting) you may be able to turn off fast (or quiet?) boot, so it does more checks. That might tell you something.

DCFC79

112mb of ram for running xp, man it must be slow,

Money_Grabber13579

If it's running XP, it needs more RAM. Can't be running Vista since you've just installed Service Pack 3. I have a computer with 256MB of RAM and it's dead slow. I'm surprised your computer even runs! Ideally, you'd like to have around 1GB RAM.

computershack

128MB of RAM is the minimum recommended for XP but even 256MB runs like a dog. Unless the OPs machine is a decade old or has a fault, its unlikely to be running 112MB.

Anyhow, recently I've found Microsoft Security Essentials finding things that Malwarebytes has missed so might be worth giving it a go with that.

In addition, defragment the hard drive as well.

Ms-Pacman

its never been super fast, well not in comparison to my laptop, this one is for a neighbour who uses a computer for basic internet.
Its never been this slow before as its an old one of mine that I have given to her now I don't need it as her old one is ancient.

sorry its on xp, not sure where the xp vista came from, I'm typing quicker than my brain I suspect! Adding ram is an option but I first need to get it back to the basics that it was when I was using it. I used it for all sorts of things including games and burning cds, so I can't understand why it has ground to a halt.

I'm just now going to do the requests above so please give me a minute, thanks for all help btw!

Ms-Pacman

ok details from crucial scan thing are as below:

Maximum Memory Capacity: 1024MB
Currently Installed Memory: 128MB
Available Memory Slots: 1
Total Memory Slots: 2
Dual Channel Support: No
CPU Manufacturer: AuthenticAMD
CPU Family: AMD Duron(tm) Processor Model 7, Stepping 1
CPU Speed: 1294 MHz

Money_Grabber13579

It might well have been okay when XP was first released, but over the years, security updates have been added, and obviously each time this has occurred, it gets more resource hungry. So that amount of RAM now is totally inadequate even to start it up!

Millionaire

Ms-Pacman wrote: »

ok details from crucial scan thing are as below:

Maximum Memory Capacity: 1024MB
Currently Installed Memory: 128MB
Available Memory Slots: 1
Total Memory Slots: 2
Dual Channel Support: No
CPU Manufacturer: AuthenticAMD
CPU Family: AMD Duron(tm) Processor Model 7, Stepping 1
CPU Speed: 1294 MHz

There's the problem. Upgrade the Mem to 1GB and all should be well.