Community Newsletter: Q&A: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one
- 5/12/05 2:31 PM
Ditto on the WOW!
by smearly - 5/13/05 4:52 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Great answer Dana ... Very thorough and well done. I too will be printing out a copy for future reference.
more memory ??
by tilburyre - 5/13/05 4:56 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I totally disagree with the comments re adding memory.
I run similar workloads (internet, mail, MSOffice) on 512mb and 1gb. The 1gb is not twice as fast obviously but there is a very noticeable difference. There is a law of diminishing return but to say that the difference is not noticeable above 512mb is just not correct.
Roger Tilbury
It is true on some systems
by law_john - 5/13/05 5:57 AM In reply to: more memory ?? by tilburyreOn some systems more memory can in fact slow you system down. This is the same with other upgrades, particularly the CPU-Graphics card relationship. Basically what happens is that your processor cannot handle that much memory.
Lets say you get a brand new Intel Extreme Edition CPU (the fastest they sell); if you still keep a three year old graphics card, your system may run slower because the CPU will send data to the graphics card faster than the graphics card can process it.
Think of it like a tunnel with a fan pumping air into it. As the tunnel fills up, more presure is put on the fan because the air is building up with no where else to go.
The same is true with more memory but almost opposite, if your system isn't fast enough then you will cause the CPU to think more on where to put the data. Also if you have two or more RAM cards, the CPU must decide which card to put the data on too. Also, the CPU has to thin every time it pulls data from the RAM too.
-John
More memory will help the user in question
by Soul of Wit - 5/14/05 9:02 AM In reply to: It is true on some systems by law_johnI won't go into the questionable merits of the "more memory can hurt you" theory. Suffice to say that modern operating systems manage more memory quite well. I will emphasize that the argument is moot. The user with the original question has a machine which will benefit from more memory. Running several applications at once (even a casual user often does this) will be speedier with more memory.
More memory will also make the box more stable when you hit a peak of memory usage. Memory is a good investment for when you do need to run that memory hog program. Shame on the PC vendors for selling an XP (or an OS X) box with 256 MB. Memory is a cheap upgrade.
All of that said, this user obviously has a serious performance degradation problem which has nothing to do with memory. Great overall answer by Dana.
Absolutely great advice with one exception!!!
by Vengier - 5/13/05 5:19 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Uninstall Microsoft Anti-Spyware after you finish using it. I have found that disabling it doesn't work, as it re-enables itself on restart and although it is a fairly good scanner, it's drain on resources is not worth the results you get while running it in the background. My one piece of advice: Try clicking no once in awhile. Usually slowdowns are caused by "pebcak" errors.
PEBCAK: Problem exists between chair and keyboard.
Are you sure about that?
by jp69 - 5/13/05 5:51 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Dana H. wrote:
"It is not like the days when increasing memory from 32MB to 64MB on a DOS machine really did make a big difference in performance."
Oh yeah, I remember those 64MB DOS machines. They had 56K acoustic modems and 600dpi dot-matrix printers, too.
Like the saying goes, the older I get, the better I was.
Another thought
by ezlinxweb - 5/13/05 6:07 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I noticed a problem with my Dell P4 slowing down, and this helped a lot... When booting, enter your bios setup. Look at hard drive acoustics mode. I have mine set to optimal. Other settings can reduce performance as it tries to "silence" the churning of a hard drive. I've noticed that even the suggested decreases performance. Also check for Low Power Mode, with this on, your computer will be dramatically slower as it uses less power. Just some things I have learned.
my opinion on your slow puter
by sword - 5/13/05 6:09 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
first off you probably have nortons works. lose it it slows ya right down. second get xoftspy run a check on the puter for spyware and data miners. third 768 in my opinion speeds you up as lnog as the frequency of the ram sticks are equally matched.did you hook both pcs up to a hub? hubs slow you down try a router .
All three anti-spywares?
by sandeeparora - 5/13/05 6:09 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi
Wouldnt installing all three antispywares also slw down the computer or should two of them be deleted later
TIA
Sandeep
Re: All three anti-spywares?
by edenney - 5/13/05 11:59 AM In reply to: All three anti-spywares? by sandeeparoraYou have everything to gain and nothing to lose (aside from a tiny bit of hard drive space) by utilizing all three of those free adware/spyware scanning tools. I have the same three programs on my computer and recommend all three of them for free spyware/adware protection. You don't have to activate the real-time protection of all or any of these programs to scan your computer for spyware/adware. Personally I'm very conscientous about what websites I visit, never click on any ads or popups, and don't like the overhead of using real-time spyware protection so I scan my computer using at least two different programs at least once a week.
At the very least I highly recommend using two different scanners as there are always some items that one programs finds and another does not. For a lower level user I'd recommend using the real-time protection of one of those programs (I used to prefer Ad-Aware but I'm leaning toward the MS Anti-Spyware Beta now). Opinions will vary and you'll get a lot of them here so do a little research if you have any reservations.
Good luck!
(NT) Windows XP and SP2 problems.
by jeffchele - 5/13/05 6:13 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello, I have been having issues with SP2 and have a little contention with how good it is. I tried installing it on my desk top, Compaq Presario s4220nx with AMD Athlon xp2600+ processor and have not been able to get a good install with my newer ATI video card, ATI all in wonder 9200. I found out the hard way about the difficulties with the ATI drivers loading through buying one, but am not dissatisfied with it. Now that it is up and running with SP1 I have been using it with video editing and watching tv, with some recording for fun. ALL in all it works well. I tried installing SP2 but it would not work with the ATI card. A few of the functions of the card would not work. I had the card working fine and then installed SP2. it didn't work for the tv watching at all. I reinstalled both SP2 and ATI drivers but no go. The only solution I recieved from ATI was retry drivers and then a few months ago, after I had given up on SP2, I got an email about a new driver for the video cards. I got no answer from microsoft about the problems with 3rd party drivers or components for the service pack. I reinstalled SP1 and have been running this fine. I have visited many forums and have seen some difficulties others have with SP2 and 3rd party software. I understand about SP2 not being a fix for the computer and just an upgrade. I have no spyware or adware. I am running spybot S&D,adaware,spyware blaster,Bazooka,Tweaknow reg cleaner & winpatrol. These all seem to work well together and I have no problems, between all these I catch many spyware, adware and other things going on and my computer is fast. I play some 3d shooter games and notice how well they work. I think when some people have these 3rd party software problems and are just going back to SP1. that seems to be the concessus on a few of the web sites I have been to. Just thought you might like to know that SP2 does have it's share of problems, not with working on it's own but with some 3rd party software and drivers.
5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one
by fdsmuseum - 5/13/05 6:17 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
A message to all, there is a bug, Oooops! there is another bug with SP2, having to do with the spooling sevice. What ever you do don't kill the service, most printers won't work then. If you have any print jobs that didn't quite make it to your printer or were cancelled, you have been left with garbage which is causing the problem. Do a file search for *.spl and *.spd files and simply delete them (assuming you are not in the middle of printing anything) and it will fix the problem. You can actually create a DOS ''What the (*%&^%#%$) is that? BAT file to delete them the commands being del (full directory path) *.spl, and Del (full directory path) *.spd Run the BAT file as needed.
I have three machines with different directory paths so you need to fill that in.
One quick and simple fix to a plague experienced by thousands.
Regards,
Jonathan
FDS Museum - TDM&TM Project
PS. There is plenty of info to create a simple BAT file on your system do a quick search.
hola
by tatikto - 11/28/09 9:55 PM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by fdsmuseumfrom an old friend how are u doing??? besos from Mexico
got a better Ideal
by 4jackie40d - 5/13/05 6:33 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Try going back to Windows 2000 Pro ( They have all the fixes made for it ) and it will like all the memory you want to add to it ! ! When I made the junp from 512 to 1.5 gig of DDR memory it made a MAJOR jump in speed and I run major graphics programs and do things like VCR tapes to DVD transfers . . I also have Cache Pro running its a program I got from PC-World.com I run a 2.8 Gighertz
P4 478 socket processor with a 64 meg DDR ATI AGP video card and it screams ( But I do not use IE or outlook for any thing ) I also use Sygate for a fire wall MUCH better than MS stuff, and AVG PRO for Anti Virus much better than any other program I have seen
Thanks for the Information on My New PC performing worse
by masoro10271946 - 5/13/05 6:39 AM In reply to: 5/13/05 My new PC performing worse than my old one by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Thanks for such a wonderful information I have a brand new Pc and it does take a long time and slow down after the installation of certain SP2. I am going to follow your suggestions and let you know.
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