Do i need a new pc?

carlih1

Hi ya,

over the past few months i have been having a number of problems with my desktop. It is running extremely slowly so i cleaned up all usused files, moved photos, music, video and my files to disk.

I removed all unused programmes, and cannot load on my word or excel, the internet is very slow, slower than a snail and crashes constantly.

I am running windows xp with mcafee and windows defender so all should be watertight as far as infactions go.

Any advice or do i need a new one?

c x

lee634

what is the spec of your PC
Processor, Memory etc???

Browntoa

I remember your thread from before where we tidied your PC up

you were clean of infections/spyware at that time so I suspect that the PC is getting old but more Ram may halp, but you also had a small hard disk with little space so may be cheaper and easier to update

Browntoa

this small program

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

will tell us what we need, tells you processor, ram etc

csarge

If your computer is a branded one, hopefully it came with some recovery disks.

I usually wipe my computer once every year or so and re-install everything using the recovery disk that came with it. It puts it right back to factory settings and makes it run far smoother (for a while till start putting more junk on it)

So I'm quite happy using my p3 - 1ghz laptop for net, emails and office type work.

Even cleaning some computers of spyware etc still leaves all sorts of bits and pieces scattered all over the place. (Most of it seems to be caused by the registry being bogged down with thousands of extra entries making your pc slow to load)

Just a last resort before you go buying a new pc.

NOTE - chances are doing a recovery will wipe out all the data, so back it up first!

leesmithg

Well what I do every 3 months is create an image to my external HD.

I have made sure it's been scanned, cleaned and defragmented.

I then format my windows partition, then restore an image.

Gets it back to tip-top.

carlih1

Operating System System Model
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600) Compaq Presario 06 DA393A-ABU 6520 GB350 0bQ0411RE101XENO3
System Serial Number: CZ30601831
Enclosure Type: Desktop
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
2.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6577 020
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 3.10 01/09/2003
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81.94 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
60.70 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

CyberDrv CW058D CD-R/RW [CD-ROM drive]
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3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]

Maxtor 6Y080L0 [Hard drive] (81.96 GB) -- drive 0, s/n Y2AXQ3ME, rev YAR41BW0, SMART Status: Healthy 512 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot 'A0' has 256 MB
Slot 'A1' has 256 MB
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carlih1

csarge wrote:

If your computer is a branded one, hopefully it came with some recovery disks.

I usually wipe my computer once every year or so and re-install everything using the recovery disk that came with it. It puts it right back to factory settings and makes it run far smoother (for a while till start putting more junk on it)

So I'm quite happy using my p3 - 1ghz laptop for net, emails and office type work.

Even cleaning some computers of spyware etc still leaves all sorts of bits and pieces scattered all over the place. (Most of it seems to be caused by the registry being bogged down with thousands of extra entries making your pc slow to load)

Just a last resort before you go buying a new pc.

NOTE - chances are doing a recovery will wipe out all the data, so back it up first!

I have recovery disks for this computer. how would i go about doing this, and backing up what is already on here?

carli

carlih1

leesmithg wrote:

Well what I do every 3 months is create an image to my external HD.

I have made sure it's been scanned, cleaned and defragmented.

I then format my windows partition, then restore an image.

Gets it back to tip-top.

Ok far to technical for me, im sure i would be able to do it. with some instruction?

carli

csarge

edit: to leesmithg

That's just sad.

But it's absolutely essential to keep your computer in top notch health, which says a lot for the people who program it. (Tries to avoid the whole m$ debate).


I'm toying with the idea of trying to use knoppix and keeping all my docs etc. on a 2gb keyfob. And essentially not need a hard drive at all. Unfortunately I need MS access for some of my business stuff. It uses custom forms etc. so I can't use open office. The only way to use it is through windows....dual booting is a pain in the butt, I'm not going back there again.

Although back to the original post, I'd be willing to bet more memory and a restore would cure problems.

csarge

carlih1 wrote:

I have recovery disks for this computer. how would i go about doing this, and backing up what is already on here?

carli

Ok, backup - right this can be complex. Depends on what you want to keep.

If it's just documents, photo's etc. you can just copy them onto cd(s).

If however you want to keep emails etc then it's a big bit complicated - this does not apply if you use hotmail, or aol, or other web based email. So if you use outlook/outlook express then this applies to you.


Once you've got your stuff backed up, on your machine when you first turn it on and you get the red compaq logo tap the F10 key a few times.

It should then say something like starting system recovery. And it'll give you some options....

Partial Recovery (doesn't erase data and probably won't fix your problem)

Recovery No format (Keeps your data and moves it out the way)

Complete Recovery (Destroys everything)


The "Recovery No Format" is normally the easiest option as it saves most of the backup process - although I'd always recommend saving valuable information to cd!

Edit: Meant to add, if you do the recovery remember you'll need to reinstall everything like your printer, broadband, camera, scanner, webcam - essentially anything that wasn't in the compaq box - so make sure you have the disks for them.