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Community Newsletter: Q&A: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer?
- 8/15/08 9:58 AM
In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer?
by Lee Koo (ADMIN) - 8/15/08 9:58 AM
Question:
Can anyone please explain, in plain English and step-by-step instructions, how to speed up a slow computer? In previous newsletters answers that cover this topic are very confusing. The posted answers say don't use register cleaners, de-fragging won't speed it up, and the most confusing one is, update the drivers! How does a person update the drivers and what exactly is a driver? The answer of "going to a manufacture's Web site to update a driver" is meaningless to me, cause don't know what I am to update or how I find the drivers installed on the computer. All I want is a simple list of methods (step-by-step instructions) for any nontechnical person like myself, to follow and understand in order to speed up my computer and also what routine and steps to take thereafter to keep my computer in good running state. Using a Dell desktop with Windows XP SP2. Thanks for the opportunity to ask a question.
--Submitted by Gail E.
Here are some answers from our members to get you started, but please read through all the submissions within this discussion thread for more helpful advice and information.
Here are a few member answers to get you started:
General cleanup --Submitted by waytron
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=303211&messageID=2825529#2825529
Speeding up your Dell desktop --Submitted by Precede
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=303211&messageID=2824467#2824467
Here is as easy as it gets. --Submitted by dukethepcdr
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=303211&messageID=2824704#2824704
I strongly suggest you find a knowledgeable friend... --Submitted by rae2_2
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=303211&messageID=2824540#2824540
What you're asking is not easy --Submitted by High Desert Charlie
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-10149_102-0.html?forumID=7&threadID=303211&messageID=2828021#2828021
If you have any addition advice for Gail, please click on the reply link below and help her out. Please be as detailed as possible when providing an answer. Thanks!
things I use to speed up my pc
by Jay2040 - 8/1/08 7:30 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Gail,
A couple of programs I use for my pc are start up cop pro and startease. StartUpCop pro helps when I first log on to my pc. It starts certain programs I want running when I go online. Startease helps with the shut down. Even if your pc locks up a little Startease ususally turns it off in a few seconds. I downloaded both of these from pcmagazine.com where for a nominal fee you can download as many of their programs you want. On each one it explains something about the programs and how to use them.
Speeding up your Dell desktop
by Precede - 8/1/08 7:33 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Gail,
There are many reasons why a computer may lag in performance. You may not have enough computing resources to handle your current computing tasks. Each year, software vendors add new enhancements and security updates to their software packages. The more robust a software package becomes, the more resources (i.e., RAM, and hard drive space) it consumes. So, even with a perfectly healthy computer over time the performance may lag due to increasing computing workloads with no change in key hardware components.
My company builds custom computing systems. I tell all of my customers that the single most computing resource, in my opinion, is RAM. I always encourage them to buy at least 2GB of RAM.
Hard drive space is also very important. As you begin to fill your hard drive up with files and applications, performance may also drop due to a phenomenon called virtual memory.
So, here are my recommendations:
1. Add more RAM to your system. If you're running 512MB or 1GB of RAM, upgrade to at least 2GB. If your motherboard will accomodate 4GB, you should upgrade to 4GB. RAM is very inexpensive these days. Retails prices are roughly $50-$60 per gig. Maybe lower depening on where you source it.
2. If your hard drive is more than 85% of capacity, you should remove unused programs and files. If all these programs/files are critical, I suggest having a local IT provider install a second hard in your desktop chassis.
3. Windows hard drive properties - One of the easiest ways to boost performance of your PC is to use some of the included Windows utilities. If you right click on you "C" drive, you will see multiple tabs. on the "General" tab, you should do a "Disk Cleanup". The disk cleanup is an automated tool that shows you items on your computer that could safely be removed. After doing the "Disk Cleanup", go to the "Tools" tab. Run a "Defragment". After the defragment, you should check your hard drives for errors by clicking the "Check Now" button. The error checking will require you to immediately reboot your computer before the error checking will start. Once your computer comes back into error checking mode, it takes a long time. Roughly, it will take 45 minutes to an hour. When I have customers that have some program working improperly, this is the first thing I run and it has a pretty high success rate.
4. This last option should be done in lieu of number 3 if you have some time on your hands. Backup up all your data and reinstall everything on your hard drive. Most manufacturers have recovery tools built into your system. Or they supply you with recovery DVDs. Its a lot of work installing everything again, but your machine will run like new.
5. There are many 3rd party tools that claim to optimize your PC, but I don't have any first-hand experience to give a recommendation.
Happy computing.
4 gb ram?
by vanzam - 8/9/08 4:27 AM In reply to: Speeding up your Dell desktop by PrecedeJust a note, Windows XP virtual address space is 4gb which must be shared with other things such as graphics card, IO mapping, etc.
The 4gb of ram you suggest buying wont totally be seen by the OS (depending on OS flavor such as 64 bit) and wont make any difference.
For a pretty much any dell, 2gb is perfectly fine.
Adding RAM to my Dell Inspirion 1100
by klempel - 8/9/08 12:55 PM In reply to: 4 gb ram? by vanzamReading today's Q&A was very informative - especially since my Dell is runing slower and slower. I run all the weekly diagnostics and cleanup but it is getting worse. We added RAM a couple of years ago and I check today to find that the poor thing currently has 640 MB of RAM - yikes.
My question is - how much RAM can we add? I want to increase it to 2 GB but I am not sure that I can add that much. I called the DELL support line and was told that the wait was over ten miuntes. Is there a quick wasy to find out this info?
Thanks - Karen
Upgrading RAM
by oregonlj - 8/9/08 3:14 PM In reply to: Adding RAM to my Dell Inspirion 1100 by klempelYou will have to look at your documentatioon to see how much RAM you can add. (This is a hardware limitation so if you have an old desktop it may not be able to handle 4 gig even though you have XP SP2.) To see how much RAM you have currently and how many DIMMS (slots for RAM) you have, use Belarc Adviser. It is great. It produces a complete report on your PC. It will also tell you the keys to your software. It is a good thing to print and file the report. Belarc Adviser is free and can be downloaded from CNET. I recently upgraded RAM on my Dell Dimension E510. I ordered it from Newegg and it was a breeze to install.
If you no longer have your documentation you can find it at the DELL website. Be sure to check this first as I made that mistake when upgrading an old laptop and ordered more RAM than the PC could handle.
Answer to your 1100 Ram Question
by Finge - 8/9/08 3:59 PM In reply to: Adding RAM to my Dell Inspirion 1100 by klempelAlthough these posts are for Gail’s problem, here’s an answer to your Ram Question, another process a good tech will pursue.
To find out about your computer’s Ram, you need the manual.
Look on the back of your Dell for the Service Number, write it down.
Go To:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/product_support/product_support_central?~ck=ln&c=us&l=en&lnki=0&s=gen
Select “Choose Service Tag” and enter the number. This should take you to the information page about that specific computer. If you’re presented with the machine’s page, fine.
I suggest that you make the page a favorite, renaming (shortening the link name) to the reflect your model and service number.
Or, you can go to this URL direct:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/product_support/product_support_central?~ck=ln&c=us&l=en&lnki=0&s=gen&SystemID=INS_PNT_CEL_1100
One of the Categories is “Manuals”. This will provide all the manuals Dell has available concerning that comp.
To Get the Service Manual (doesn’t include specs)
Choose HTML Documents / Service Manual / View. This will open the manual in Internet Explorer.
Immediately select File / Save As / direct your save to destination and rename the file as you wish, but importantly, under “Save As Type”, choose mht, then save the file. This manual does show some different and same info as it’s Owner’s Manual pdf counterpart.
To get the User Manual which includes servicing and specs (also where you’ll find Ram Specs on page 115)
Download the Inspiron 1100 Owner’s Manual (.pdf) for more information about your computer.
The manual says 1 Gig max at 266 MHz (PC2100 Sodimm) with two sockets available, so you can utilize 2 x 512 sticks. I suggest two 512's as opposed to 1 x 1 gig.
Also, checkout this URL:
http://www.memoryx.net/dein11me.html
Or, Google using PC2100 Sodimm for more options. Stay OEM for the 1100, Kingston, or Samsung brands.
Hope this helps. Finge
Adding RAM to my Dell Inspirion 1100
by gtmark1 - 8/10/08 7:25 PM In reply to: Adding RAM to my Dell Inspirion 1100 by klempelhiya Karen:
go to www.crucial.com. they have a tool that will scan your computer and tell you if you can add RAM, how much, and of which type.
good luck.
gtmark1
SpeedUp PC
by harralrw - 8/9/08 8:46 AM In reply to: Speeding up your Dell desktop by PrecedeI have had very good experience in speeding up my Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop by doing the following:
Add RAM to 2 GB.
Add a second HD (external) that is big enough to get the utilization of each HD down to 50 to 60%. Migrate data from the system HD to the external HD to get the system HD to 50% or less capacity.
Defragment the HD. I use Diskeeper 2008 which is the expanded version of the utility built into Windows XP.
Run Registry First Aid Platinum edition to remove accumulated junk in the registry. This utility should be run a couple of times to be sure you get everything.
Run System Mechanic 8 to further clean out the junk and optimize the operation system.
I prefer SpyBotSD and XoftSpySE to some of the other spyware removal utilities, but several good ones are available. The thing to remember is that seldom will one spyware removal utility get rid of all spyware. Pick a couple and run them periodically.
And last, manage the processes running in the background using a utility such as Startup Inspector so that the system overhead is reduced.
By doing these things I returned my laptop to its like new speed. If you want to preserve this configuration, the make a bootable disk image of the HD containing the operating system and the applications software. Use a new, external HD. When finished disconnect the backup HD and save it for later use.
In response to Precede answer
by mausmith - 8/9/08 9:10 AM In reply to: Speeding up your Dell desktop by PrecedeGail: Precede gave you and excellent answer. He has apparently had some of the same experiences I have in my 28 years of building custom systems, so I won't go over his good advise. Performance on new systems seems to be good regardless of who made it or where we got it. That is until we get updates, service packs, and a whole host of other stuff on our systems. Downloading "free" software is probably one of the most dangerous things we all do. Trust me "it anin't FREE". It costs us in many hidden ways, like spyware, trogans, keyloggers and gobs of other junk. If is "FREE" my advise is be wise and think twice before falling for the word "FREE", because there isn't any free lunch it is paid ofr in some manner sooner or later and in computers it is usually sooner.
Also, we all need to remember an basice fundamental performace is based on the foundation hardware on any system. On inexpensive off the shelf systems they are built to sell at a low price point. Therefore, low price (cheap) and quality are not in the same system it is one or the other not both. I have had personal experience in taking the CPU out of a working DELL or HP and installing it on a good quality motherboard and have a speed increase of anywhere from 25 to 45%. DELL is not known for quality hardware but rather to build inexpensive systems (for consumers or businesses). They want "market share" and when you have your sights set on that priority, rather than customer satisfaction, the word quality goes out the window because they are using price (low price) to gain market share
That said precede gave you factual and honest answers and there is no easy quick fix due the complexity of the computer. Kind of like an automobile, unless you are a mechanic it is difficult to fix a car today. I use to fix my own cars years ago when you could look under the hood and you could see the engine. Today it, too, is complex and best left up to those who have experience fixing them. Trust me I get systems in that people try to fix or have a friend fix, and they are in worse shape than if they had just brought them in here first.
Your local independant computer reseller can be your best friend in getting your system back to the way it use to be. And if he is good, and honest, he won't break you bank account either, because he wants you to recommend your friend to him/her.
Note on resources needed
by Gsosa--2008 - 8/11/08 6:09 AM In reply to: Speeding up your Dell desktop by PrecedeAverage users DON'T need more than 2GBs RAM. More will really be a waste unless you are a real intensive applications user. Maybe Windows Vista would benefit of 4GBs and that's depending on the version of Vista. I have 10 Windows XP Pro machines with 512MB each and they work perfectly fine. The secret? I only installed the really necessary apps (Office, IE, Firefox) and nothing else on them.
Hard drive space is normally not an issue today since they are big and again: Average users don't use it all. Of course if you have less than 2-4 GBs free in your HD, you should definitely consider freeing up some space.
The real problem with Windows machines is a worse one. Window's nature is to slow down over time. The more apps, drivers, dlls, etc you install over time, the slower the machine gets. Unfortunately the only real answer in a Windows world has always been: Format an reinstall. I don't know if any of the tools out there that offer optimization work well.
Maybe you need more memory
by Marty Varon - 8/1/08 7:47 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Many things can cause a system to be slow including a processor that is just old and slow, but what has always had the biggest impact in my experience is to add memory. That is certainly different than adding disk space. Memory is where programs run and data resides while a program is running. If there is not enough memory to run a program, then the computer will use disk space as "virtual memory" and will keep putting pieces of the program and data in that space as the program runs. Disks are much slower than memory, so the process of swapping code and data on and off the disk will definitely slow your system down.
Hope this helps. Good luck, Marty Varon
(NT) I Agree. More RAM always helps.
by Precede - 8/1/08 7:50 PM In reply to: Maybe you need more memory by Marty Varondell speed-up
by wkgdyw - 8/1/08 7:57 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I recently went through the same thing with a Dell laptop that became s-l-o-w in its later years. I took it to a repair shop, which identified three issues: Memory / disk space, heat (overheating can cause the processor to slow down), and software running in the background. They did three things. 1. increase RAM to 1Gb, and took me from a 30Gb hard drive to 110Gb (the largest my unit will accept); 2. thoroughly cleaned the insides and replaced a broken cooling fan; and, 3. removed all traces of two anti-virus programs (one expired, one active), and installed AVG anti-virus. Labor on this was in the low $200s, including 'image-copying' everything to the new hard disk and testing. Unfortunately, the fan part was hard to find and cost $95. But, end of the day, for less than the cost of a used replacement, my computer went from unusable to very much usable, and I didn't have to re-install any software. So, step-by-step: pick up the phone and call a pro. It's not a straightforward issue, and time and heartache are worth something.
Updating Drivers, cleaning cookies
by pjlindsley - 8/1/08 8:06 PM In reply to: In plain English, how do I speed up a slow computer? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
About updating your drivers, it could automatically be set up to do it on it's own, if it was set up that way. Go to start, then control panel once that is opened up, you will see in alphabetically order (Automatic Updates) click on that. It will open up a box and just make sure that Automatic is checked and you can choose the best time for it to update. (usually best when your not using it)
Another good thing to do is clean out the cookies, history and temporary files. On internet explorer 6 look for tools at the top of the toolbar (if have internet explorer 7, it will be to the right on the tool bar. left click on tools, go to the bottom of those options and click on internet options. This will open up a box with 7 tabs on top, make sure you are on the general tab. you will see where it says browsing history click by temporary internet files, where it has delete files, once you click on that it will bring up a box asking if you are sure (and you are) depending on how much is in there it may take a few minutes for it to clear them all out, you will know once the box disappears, next one will be cookies, delete cookies, then delete history. then at the bottom of this box you will see apply, click on that before you click okay. Once you do that, reboot your computer & they will clear out all that you have removed. If you don't find that your computer is any quicker, you may need to have some more memory/ram added.
Hope that helps!!
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