Why is my PC so damn slow???

Tojo_Ralph

Purple...

If you want to know ANYTHING about what's inside your PC... This is the dogs nachos.

Run this from Belarc and as the man says...

"Whether you're troubleshooting, shopping for an upgrade, or just want to check what's underneath the hood, it's helpful to know what your PC has. Belarc Advisor gives you the scoop on what's installed on your desktop or notebook. It scans your computer and generates a profile of everything installed on it, from your main circuit board to software. Version, manufacturer, and serial numbers are listed, as well as statistics such as available memory slots and hard drive space"



http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_description/0,fid,8078,00.asp

If anyone is selling a PC it's a great tool for giving a complete nuts and bolts description of what exactly is for sale.

purplepatch

Thanks TR

Have run the Belarc advisor and it comes up with lots of info, but all it seems to say about memory is that I've got 120mb installed. Can't see anything about available slots etc.

Where would I find this information, do you know?

Toxteth_OGrady

What does Belarc say your Mainboard is?

:cool:

TOG

p.s. You can re-install Windows, without having to format your disk, as a "Repair Install" so you don't lose any of your data files.

996ducati

I thought it maybe Micro$oft antipsyware as my personal experience was that is slowed down a resonably fast machine of mine.

There are two options.

1) remove & replace with Ad-Aware SE which is a 2.72MB download as oppsed to Micro$ofts 6.6MB (link Below)

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

2)Set th M$ antispyware to limit is resource useage. Set real time protection to in-active for Internet agents,System Agents & Application Agents. Also set it so you perform manual updates every few days.

You may see a small increase in system performance.

purplepatch

Toxteth_OGrady wrote:

What does Belarc say your Mainboard is?

:cool:

TOG

p.s. You can re-install Windows, without having to format your disk, as a "Repair Install" so you don't lose any of your data files.

Motherboard is 601-686A - is that a mainboard??

Are photos and music data files? Where does one do a "repair install" from?

Sorry, told you I wasn't a techie

noyman

Don't know if anyone else has posted this, but try down loading Ad-aware. They have a free download for personal use. Some sites put spy and adware on your pc without you knowing. This really slows your PC down, it did mine. This software searches and clears them.

Sorry don't have the link, just try ad-aware in the search enginee.


Cheers

Toxteth_OGrady

@P_patch

Easy to follow guide on repair install here. Word of caution though - follow the steps very closely. Do not make the all-too-common mistake of selecting 'Repair using the Recovery Console' when you enter set-up.

It's ok you will not lose any data, including your photos and music by doing this.

Do you have your original Windows XP install CD? Did you buy it recently enough for it to include SP 2. If not you seriously need to consider slipstreaming SP2 onto an XP install CD before you do the repair install. Good guide to slipstreaming here. Dont be daunted by this; it's very easy if you follow the guide carefully and it will save you bags of time after your repair install because you wont have to download/install 12 months' + worth of Critical Updates.

Although the repair install will restore the performance of your machine to a degree, your biggest problem is still your lack of RAM.

:cool:

TOG

Toxteth_OGrady

This is the RAM you need to buy. This plus your existing is enough for the system you have and Windows XP. Unfortunately it appears to be out of stock at the moment but give them a call and ask about new stock date.

As you can see from the web page the Scan rep clearly says that if it doesn't work on your pc you can send it back.

:cool:

TOG

Another p.s. have you had chance to work thru the 10 step guide I posted for download earlier and has it come up with any further clues for you?

p.p.s. More generic RAM in stock here.

2ax

I'd go with the Crucial memory and just add 256MB. 384MB should be enough for most things, for that cost compromise. Sdram costs are higher now than the newer DDRram, which is probably why most people are thinking £40 sounds a bit high.

I have a P3 1GHz, and that was my plan until I took the memory out to look at it and the static on my hands or somewhere blew it up. So I bought 512MB of Kingston memory from our ex-neighbour PC techie and let him fit it - first time he'd heard of someone blowing memory up - you guys can have a laugh at me if you like.

Go for Crucial or Kingston, the best quality, and be careful if you install it yourself. Use one of those anti-static straps on your wrist. Depending on your use, you might spend some on a graphics card

Toxteth_OGrady

Go for Crucial or Kingston, the best quality

Why spend £35 - 40 on memory for a 4 year old Celeron rig? It just doesn't make financial or performance sense. Yeah, I could recommend specific Corsair or Crucial sticks but imho it's not worth it when you can get generic for half the price. It's like saying always put higher octane super-unleaded gas in a Lada!! Horses for courses.

The Pc was probably built with OEM generic in the first place. Plus SDRAM's been around for so long now that the generic chips are probably the same.

Equally I know of a few instances where people have paid extra for CL2 RAM and the SPD underclocks it at CL3 anyway. Because they have an OEM bios it then can't be correctly manually clocked to CAS 2; ergo, a waste of money.

:cool:

TOG