# How do i speed up my computer



## white feather (Nov 18, 2004)

I bought a new computer a few years ago and it just seems to get slower each day, im on dial up so i know part of my problem is that, i have only installed yahoo IM and a spy ware on the desk top, i run maintence and clean out web brousing and cookies and history but it doesnt seem to help much, i dont play games on it, can someone tell me what i can do to speed it back up again, thanks, WF~


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

white feather said:


> I bought a new computer a few years ago and it just seems to get slower each day, im on dial up so i know part of my problem is that, i have only installed yahoo IM and a spy ware on the desk top, i run maintence and clean out web brousing and cookies and history but it doesnt seem to help much, i dont play games on it, can someone tell me what i can do to speed it back up again, thanks, WF~




What operating system are you running?
What kind of processor do you have?
How much memory do you have, and how much is free?
What are you doing when the computer seems slow?


----------



## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

how computer savvy are you?

Alot of it goes into uninstalling non-essential programs. One thing is to go into your registry editor and turning off as many programs as you can at start up.

There are other tweeks you can make, but past that, it depends on how savvy you are in going into the behind the scenes things on the computer.

I forgot all the places I went to for all the tricks been so long. Other times, I just let it have it's ways.

Deleting cookies, clearing cache and other little things.


----------



## white feather (Nov 18, 2004)

My computer is a Dell Dimension E521, it has XP 2000 installed, it has a tag on the front that says AMD Sempron on it, i dont know what that means, i dont know how much memory it has or how much memory is left, sorry im so dumb about computers, sometimes it will load the desktop fast and sometimes it doesnt, i turn it off and un plug it with the storms were having, already got the TV, i sometimes try to watch videos people will send me or try to look at U-tube but it takes forever, tell me how to look up the info you need and ill do it and post it here, i hope to get a faster internet service as soon as i get back to work, thanks, WF~


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

white feather said:


> i dont know how much memory it has or how much memory is left


Memory is critical to performance. To see what you've got right-click in the My Computer icon and select properties. In the General tab under Computer you will see how much memory (RAM) you have.



white feather said:


> try to look at U-tube but it takes forever, tell me how to look up the info you need and ill do it and post it here, i hope to get a faster internet service as soon as i get back to work, thanks, WF~


It's going to take a long time to get a youtube clip with dialup. Even a short clip will take several minutes. With dialup, figure that it will take roughly 5 minutes to download each megabyte. It's not unusual for fairly short (3 or 4 minute) youtube clips to be 3 or 4 megabytes, which will take 15 to 20 minutes to download.


----------



## joseph97297 (Nov 20, 2007)

One of the first things I tell my neighbors to do is get CCleaner, and first run it, then click the startup button to see what is loading up on startup (seems to be easier than msconfig). Start unclicking those programs that you may not use or rarely use and reboot.

Is it running slow once it gets loaded or are you just wanting a faster boot time? If it is slow during use, I agree, RAM is important, our desktop just dropped a 2 G strip and now it seems as if it is a Pentium 3.

What programs do you have installed? Anything important on the computer, ie pictures, movies? I use to reformat my old desktop 3 times a year, regardless. 

But I agree that you need to post more info as asked earlier.


----------



## bignugly (Jul 13, 2011)

A lot of your problems may not be because of your particular computer. Many websites are built with excessive amounts of fancy programming lie flash that will slow your computer down. Like any other media, everyone wants the nicest looking pictures or nicest music to make themselves unique and memorable. There has been a lot of changes on the Web and a computer a "few years" old can be outdated fast.


----------



## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

white feather said:


> it has XP 2000 installed, ~


I'm assuming you have Windows XP (Windows 2000 is a completly different operating system).
Click on Start and you'll see a box that says Run where you can type something. Type in msconfig and hit the OK button.
When the System Configuration window opens go to the Startup tab and tell us what is listed (just the first column).

If you have dial up, videos will be painfully slow even if you otherwise have the fastest computer in the world.


----------



## white feather (Nov 18, 2004)

mnn2501 said:


> I'm assuming you have Windows XP (Windows 2000 is a completly different operating system).
> Click on Start and you'll see a box that says Run where you can type something. Type in msconfig and hit the OK button.
> When the System Configuration window opens go to the Startup tab and tell us what is listed (just the first column).
> 
> If you have dial up, videos will be painfully slow even if you otherwise have the fastest computer in the world.


Here is what is listed.

stsystra

nvCpl

nwiz

NvCpl

nwiz


NvMctray

MSASCui

PDVDDXSrv

hpztsb10

hpcmpmgr

Spyware terminator

PCRxTray

msmsgs

Yahoo messenger

Adobe Reader

Adobe Reader Spe

Office Max.org 2.5

I have 384 MB of ram, hope this will help, thanks, WF~


----------



## homstdr74 (Jul 4, 2011)

A poster above stated that some websites are more user friendly than others, and that is also what we found when we had dial-up. Another thing may be the amount of storage that you have. We noticed that the more pictures and files we stored the slower the responses from the machine. Perhaps that is coincidental, but I don't think so.


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

white feather said:


> I have 384 MB of ram


Is that total RAM or free RAM? Did you get that from the My Computer properties?


----------



## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

As far as MS Config, go back into it to the same tab.
If you use Yahoo messanger leave the checkmark on that but really I don't see much else that is necessary for running the computer.
Everything checked on that tab runs in the background taking up memory. Personaly I would take the checkmark off of everything and then hit apply and ok and you'll probably need to reboot your computer. Now when it starts up it will say something about being in diagnostic mode - just click ok and try it for a while see if its any faster.


----------



## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

mnn2501 said:


> As far as MS Config, go back into it to the same tab.
> If you use Yahoo messanger leave the checkmark on that but really I don't see much else that is necessary for running the computer.
> Everything checked on that tab runs in the background taking up memory. Personaly I would take the checkmark off of everything and then hit apply and ok and you'll probably need to reboot your computer. Now when it starts up it will say something about being in diagnostic mode - just click ok and try it for a while see if its any faster.


You can do the same thing in the services too, and turn many things off completely or to manual. It makes it faster than simply turning things off in msconfig, but is a bit more complicated.


----------



## white feather (Nov 18, 2004)

Nevada said:


> Is that total RAM or free RAM? Did you get that from the My Computer properties?



Yes i did, i would like to think everyone for your kindness in helping me, WF~


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

white feather said:


> Yes i did, i would like to think everyone for your kindness in helping me, WF~


You really need 1 gig of ram for XP these days, I would be surprised if you could live with 512 mb.


----------



## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

I agree with Nevada, 384 mb of RAM is just not enough. 
I think Microsoft says minimum for XP is 512mb and personally I wouldn't run one without at least 1GB.


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

mnn2501 said:


> I agree with Nevada, 384 mb of RAM is just not enough.
> I think Microsoft says minimum for XP is 512mb and personally I wouldn't run one without at least 1GB.


Yeah, 512 mb ram XP worked pretty well in the early 2000s, but the service packs have required progressively more memory. You really need 1 gig today.


----------



## white feather (Nov 18, 2004)

Thanks everyone for your help, looks likw i need a new computer with more ram, im running very little on this one, only have about 20 pictures on here and no games, the new computer will have to waite till im employed again, wish time for now, take care everyone and have a great day, WF~


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

white feather said:


> Thanks everyone for your help, looks likw i need a new computer with more ram, im running very little on this one, only have about 20 pictures on here and no games, the new computer will have to waite till im employed again, wish time for now, take care everyone and have a great day, WF~


Why not add more memory to the computer you have? Memory is cheap.


----------



## white feather (Nov 18, 2004)

Nevada said:


> Why not add more memory to the computer you have? Memory is cheap.


You will have to explane this to me, i use my computer for e/mails and keeping in touch with friends on Yahoo IM and looking for a job, but sometimes friends will send me something that takes an hour to download and it sometimes will time out before it gets downloaded with some of my friends who are terminal i like to be able to see what there sending me, so any help is very much appreciated, sorry i dont understand much about them, WF~


----------



## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

You are on dial--up adding more memory may not do much good at all. Even getting a new computer would be better IF it had Dial Up capabilities that is.
So adding RAM memory won't do very much at all in downloading a Huge E Mail.
Although more RAM sure would make the over performance better Dial up is Slow, And huge files coming in on e mails Ouch.
Most people now days are on such high speed lines they think nothing of sending embedded videos in e mails. Not thinking at all that a few still might be on Dial-Up.


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

white feather said:


> My computer is a Dell Dimension E521, it has XP 2000 installed, it has a tag on the front that says AMD Sempron on it, i dont know what that means, i dont know how much memory it has or how much memory is left, sorry im so dumb about computers, sometimes it will load the desktop fast and sometimes it doesnt, i turn it off and un plug it with the storms were having, already got the TV, i sometimes try to watch videos people will send me or try to look at U-tube but it takes forever, tell me how to look up the info you need and ill do it and post it here, i hope to get a faster internet service as soon as i get back to work, thanks, WF~


As I said, memory is inexpensive. That's particularly true if you only need 1 gig. It shouldn't be more than maybe $15 at worst.

First, let's make sure you need it. Right-click on your My Computer icon and select Properties. On the General tab under Computer it will have your major computer specifications. Report back here with exactly what it says under Computer on the General tab.


----------



## white feather (Nov 18, 2004)

Here is what it says.

System

Microsoft Windows XP

Home Edition

Version 2002

Service Pack 3

Reg. to me

Computer

AMD Sempron (TM)Processor

3400+

1.80Ghc 384MB of ram

Hope this helps, thanks, WF~


----------



## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

When just surfing the web and viewing web sites you can often get around some speed issues by turning off Java Script. It is easier to turn off and on with certain browsers. Quite easy with the Firefox browser. 

You will find that you have to turn it back on to click on some things however.

Try http://www.hutchnews.com with it on and off and you will see the difference in speed but will also see quite a notable difference in content. 

If you use Firefox you can use Adblocker to prevent ads from loading which also speeds page loading.


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

white feather said:


> Computer
> 
> AMD Sempron (TM)Processor
> 
> ...


Yes, you need more memory for sure. Are you up for opening your case if we give you specific instructions?


----------



## simplegirl (Feb 19, 2006)

One way I got around receiving large files in email was to get a Yahoo email address. That way my emails did not download to my computer. Helped a lot when I had an older computer without much memory and dialup internet. Also kept out some nasty viruses too.


----------



## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

white feather said:


> I bought a new computer a few years ago and it just seems to get slower each day, im on dial up so i know part of my problem is that, i have only installed yahoo IM and a spy ware on the desk top, i run maintence and clean out web brousing and cookies and history but it doesnt seem to help much, i dont play games on it, can someone tell me what i can do to speed it back up again, thanks, WF~


Two things..... get on a dsl service.... and buy a mac. If you cant get dsl in your area at least get the mac.


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

Yvonne's hubby said:


> Two things..... get on a dsl service.... and buy a mac. If you cant get dsl in your area at least get the mac.


While I agree that his Internet browsing experience will be much better with DSL service, I hardly see how changing to a Mac will solve his memory problem. Mac's still use memory.

I would prefer to see him resolve his memory problem with $15 worth of RAM and use his existing machine for another 3 years (until XP update support ends).


----------



## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Mac users are nutty like that. They think the world revolves around Apple
$15 worth of memory verses a new high end computer.

I do agree that dial up is the issue here, even more memory is NOT going to download big files faster.
You might remind the people sending you this stuff that you are on dial up and to cut down on the big files


----------



## white feather (Nov 18, 2004)

Nevada said:


> Yes, you need more memory for sure. Are you up for opening your case if we give you specific instructions?



Yes im up to it, just hope i can do it i dont know much about computers, and as soon as i can afford it ill get a faster internet service, Thanks, WF~


----------



## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

white feather it is a piece of cake and these folks can guide you through it easily. I added memory to a computer several years ago. Pretty much just plugging the chip board in and locking it into place. While the case is open clean it out too and I'm sure they'll advise the correct procedure for that so as not to create static electricity, etc.


----------



## pcwerk (Sep 2, 2003)

Nevada said:


> You really need 1 gig of ram for XP these days, I would be surprised if you could live with 512 mb.


this is my problem but the last time i tried to buy some extra memory online they
sold me the wrong stuff and then disppeared ;-(


----------



## Kung (Jan 19, 2004)

mnn2501 said:


> Mac users are nutty like that.


SOME are. I'm a Mac user and I most certainly don't think that.


----------



## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Kung said:


> SOME are. I'm a Mac user and I most certainly don't think that.


 Nope I would never say that in that context to make a putter faster. maybe when It comes to all those viruses, malware, spy are and such I might say something on that order.
But even now there is at least some bars things floating around for Macs.
So I have put on virus protection for this Mac just in case. LOL


----------



## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

Yyes, you could spend the money to update, but you system is old enough, it might be nicer/ cheaper to just find a new system on sale


----------



## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

farmerj said:


> Yyes, you could spend the money to update, but you system is old enough, it might be nicer/ cheaper to just find a new system on sale


Ya for sure as the prices are rock bottom now, and even getting a bare bones new computer at 350 or less, is still going to have more memory a whole lot faster.
And we have a place in our town that takes in computers from places like businesses, clean off the hard drive, down to maybe just the OS, and sell them at a huge discount.
A used one 250 bucks XP Pro lots of memory and is better then trying to upgrade and update a older computer that just has not got the internal guts anymore to work with all these updates and such coming in from MS. Service Packs and such.


----------



## farmerj (Aug 20, 2011)

Not even that.

Architecture is entiely updated technology updated etc.


----------



## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

white feather said:


> Yes im up to it, just hope i can do it i dont know much about computers, and as soon as i can afford it ill get a faster internet service, Thanks, WF~


Okay, you'll need to trun your computer off and open your case. Look around for the RAM modules. They will be in the mainboard and look like this.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...13B91DA7E8F09EF6B5DE6D786&first=0&FORM=IDFRIR

What you are looking for now is exactly what kind of memory you have. Your computer model takes several kinds. What you want to do is pull the white thumb tabs on either end of the module down, which should release the module. You are looking for something that looks like:

PC-5300 or DDR2-677

If you can't find anything on the modules that looks like either a "PC" model or a "DDR" model, then scan the module and post the image here.

All we're trying to do now is find out what kind of memory you need to get. When you get done, reinsert the memory module in the same slot you took it out of until it snaps. Verify that the thumb tabs snapped back up. Finally, close your case back up.


----------



## white feather (Nov 18, 2004)

Nevada

Ill take a look and see what i have in a couple of days, got some kinda stomach bug and cant hardly get out of bed, where can i purchise the part i need to add more memory, thanks, WF~


----------

