Tinkering with C: and D: drives to make Windows run less slowly

Kernel_Sanders

(This thread was originally titled Available memory is barely half of total physical RAM )
I've followed all the steps in threads like this to try to speed up my snail-paced PC, and was looking through System Info and discovered I was only using 818MB of my available 1.5GB RAM, which is less than the available RAM I had when I ran XP with 1GB. Is this connected with the slow-down, or has the virtual RAM compensated for it? I really don't understand why XP needs this virtual RAM in the first place.

Specs are:
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
System Manufacturer Sony Corporation
System Model PCV-RX407(CE)
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7 Genui

NiftyDigits

818.38 MB is the amount of Physical Memory not currently in use.

Strider590

If you used all your RAM then Windows would start using more virtual memory (swap file) which would result in your PC showing down even more than it already does.

The worst thing for slowing down a PC is Anti-virus software, in fact it slows down by more than double, because every file you open, gets scanned before opening, so it's effectively opened twice, literally doubling the time it takes to do anything.

The other issue and the reason they get slower with time, is the more data you store on the same drive as the OS, the bigger the master file table becomes, this in turn slows down the OS.

Kernel_Sanders

Thanks gents, for such prompt replies.

NiftyDigits wrote: »

818.38 MB is the amount of Physical Memory not currently in use.

I was getting confused with (usable?) RAM, i.e. that which is identical in size to the hyberfil file.

Strider590 wrote: »

The other issue and the reason they get slower with time, is the more data you store on the same drive as the OS, the bigger the master file table becomes, this in turn slows down the OS.

So can I move entire folders from C: to and expect Windows to play ball? (D: has 54.1GB free out of 58.5 whereas C: has 33.3GB free of 55.9). Is this how Chrome OS has solved this problem?

Strider590

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

So can I move entire folders from C: to and expect Windows to play ball? (D: is 54.1GB free out of 58.5 whereas C: is 33.3GB free of 55.9). Is this how Chrome OS has solved this problem?

Sort of?????

Really, the OS should be on a partition (I use 60-90GB for WinXP), this keeps the MFT nice and small.
Then all programs that are not part of the OS, should be installed to the 2nd partition.

Moving folders to another drive will make an improvement, as long as it's just file storage. Moving "Windows" or "Program files" or "Documents and Settings" will cause big problems.

Typically Windows will download files to your documents folder and desktop, so shifting downloads and other personal files away from the documents/desktop will also help. I like to create shortcuts to my D drive, where I keep all my files.

Kernel_Sanders

Strider590 wrote: »

Really, the OS should be on a partition

And there's me thinking that C: and were partitions! I clearly need to do some basic reading on this subject and will inevitably be asking questions when I have done so. I've changed the thread title accordingly to target others that may need help in this area.