Computer geek help needed....

[RB26powered74zcar]

No offense intended using the word computer geek I just wanted to grab the attention of you computer gurus.

 

 

I need basic info in simple (me) terms on what I can do myself, at home, to upgrade my PC's performance. I'm fairly handy with the computer, but I'd call myself a computer dummy, so I need this explained in layman's terms.

 

What can I buy online to install into my existing PC to make it faster (open pages faster, download faster etc.)?

 

 

This is what I have now:

 

OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600

OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation

System Name JOEL-D0F670B45A

System Manufacturer Compaq Presario 061

System Model ER978AA-ABA SR1803WM NA620

System Type X86-based PC

Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 9 GenuineIntel ~3201 Mhz

BIOS Version/Date Phoenix Technologies, LTD 3.06, 12/19/2005

SMBIOS Version 2.4

Windows Directory C:WINDOWS

System Directory C:WINDOWSsystem32

Boot Device DeviceHarddiskVolume1

Locale United States

Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"

User Name JOEL-D0F670B45ACompaq_Owner

Time Zone Central Daylight Time

Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB

Available Physical Memory 77.41 MB

Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB

Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB

Page File Space 1.03 GB

Page File C:pagefile.sys

 

 

What I'm hoping for, is something I can purchase and install myself to make this PC faster and more memory....

What do you think??

[jnjdragracing]

With XP more memory is always better. From your list you have 512mb. You need to find out how many available slots you have open and add more ram. You could have 1 stick of 512mb with an open slot so you could add another 512mb, or you could have 2 256mb with no open slots, so to upgrade you would need to buy 2 512mb.

 

Memory is important, also check your system tray / startup. If you have a lot of junk starting up or in the system tray this could be eating up valuable resources.

 

Hope this helps, I did search the compaq website and could not find anything on a Compaq Presario 061.

 

John

[rags]

Joel,

 

From your description it looks like you are concerned with how the computer connects to the internet. Is that where you'd like to see the improvement?

 

Joe

[tannji]

Yeah, with that processor (Pentium4?) You don't have too many options other than memory. As JNJ said, 512MB is marginal, and an indication of that is the fact that your spec sheet says 77MB physical RAM available... which means that as you sat there, XP and what ever you had running at the time was eating up almost all of your ram. I would check to see how many ram slots you have, and if you have 2 with one open, I would just buy 1 stick of 512MB ram. Here is the rub though... Your Ram is old... and systems can be picky about not only what ram they use, but what they will use mixed. You may not be able to find a new stick that will work with the old stick. It may in fact be better to get rid of the old stick all together and buy new. Before you do that, try to find a list online that lists memory that is known to work with no issues with the motherboard in your machine. Odds are that almost any RAM you buy will work just fine, especially if you get rid of your old stick first. But its worth checking on before you invest the time and money. Unless you do any gaming or use programs like Photoshop that are noticeably slower than they should be, 1GB of ram should work very well for your machine. Don't forget to look into what is running in your system tray... that can kill performance as well.

[RB26powered74zcar]

Thanks so far with the responses. I have no idea where or how to check my "ram slots" or how many are open. Can you please explain?

 

Here is whats in my tray:

 

Google talk

AGV anti virus

Antivirus Guard

system volume control

 

Please explain how to check what you suggest to try, I'm computer lay...

[280zwitha383]

You can figure out what's using all of your resources by hitting ctrl/alt/del and then going to the processes tab. If you're just sitting there and don't have anything opening and some program is using 99% of your cpu then that program is probably malware for lack of a better term. If that program is using more than say 50,000k of memory I would suspect it also. Programs like this usually have weird names or will even show a blank. If you're not sure type the name as it appears into google.

If you want to control what starts running at startup go to start and then run. Type in msconfig and go over to startup. Look for anything that seems out of order and research it or just try unchecking its box and see if anything doesn't work (like your printer or whatnot) after you restart. You can look into the services tab and check the box at the bottom that says hide all microsoft services. Anything funky should be researched and eliminated.

You do need more ram but something that's running on your computer is using more of it than it should and I think once you get rid of it you will be a lot happier. I would suggest learning the normal processes that are running in system config (when you press ctrl/alt/del) so that when something else suddenly pops up you can identify it. Sometimes with malware you'll get a process that keeps coming back and reloading even though you close it out. There's probably a better way to do it but I usually reboot in safe mode and delete the program from the hard drive (you have to run a search for it). Anyway, that ought to keep you busy and really this is about the only way to really keep things running right.

[280zwitha383]

http://www.tutorialsweb.com/computers/pc-motherboard.htm

 

see #5

 

they look like this, yours is probably something very close to the bottom one

[SteelToad]

Upgrade your bios too, Compaq/HP made some significant improvements in cpu/bus utilization. But definately increase your memory as well

[RB26powered74zcar]

Joel,

 

From your description it looks like you are concerned with how the computer connects to the internet. Is that where you'd like to see the improvement?

 

Joe

 

 

Joe, its mostly to do with using the internet. I'd like to be able to download stuff while surfing, and listening to music etc. It just seems like its slower than it use to be, and I like to save every nice pic I run across online, and videos too.

 

Thanks every one who offered a suggestion. I'm trying to comprehend it..

[jtmny1999]

I suggest getting a usb hard drive, there u can save ur pics videos music. Clean up ur pc by uninstalling programs you don't need that sometimes get installed. For example tool bars, adware ect. Then you can add few sticks of memory to make it faster. If you only have 512mb that means ur pc is slow =D. Check what model PC you have and see what is the max memory upgrade you can put in it. You can ask the compaq/HP people or check their website. Also run some Spybot/adware removal prog. That should get u up to speed!

[v8wannabe2]

Have you run a spyware scan lately? I downloaded a free version of Ad-aware and clean 20-30 pieces of spyware every time I run it. If you have a bunch of this junk running in background it will eat up your memory and make a fast machine run a lot slower.

[260ZRED]

Your computers specs are "perfectly OK"

 

You DO NOT need to buy anything extra. You dont need to update the BIOS (cmon guys you know that computer will never turn on again if we send him re-flashing the BIOS)

 

Here's a couple really really easy steps that will help. If they dont help enough THEN you can go out and spend $$$. YOU HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR A BLISTERING FAST COMPUTER, especially for loading web pages, etc.

 

1. clear the dektop. dont just nest files or folders. move them to C: or somewhere else. Leave as little items as possible.

 

2. Turn off all animations, windows visual effects. bubbly fonts, etc. To do this right click anywhere in an empty space on the desktop. select properties. select appearance. Windows classic styles always load faster. Check that you don't have any effects (unless you like them for some reason)

 

3. Try using Opera internet browser. Many tests have shown it kicks Internet Explorer's butt in almost EVERYTHING. It might take some getting used to but its worh it, if you need that extra speed. Pages load A LOT faster.

 

4. Show us what you have in the windows start up. "Start" --> run--> type in "msconfig" and open the start up tab. If you have 4, 5, or more items that is BAD news. (typicly)

 

 

Hope this helped. Use at your own risk though.

 

p.s. thx for bidding on my VLSD diff =)

[RB26powered74zcar]

Have you run a spyware scan lately? I downloaded a free version of Ad-aware and clean 20-30 pieces of spyware every time I run it. If you have a bunch of this junk running in background it will eat up your memory and make a fast machine run a lot slower.

 

 

Yes, I use a couple different programs to remove spyware, and add ware etc.

 

Spybot Search and Destroy

Spyware Doctor

AntiVir Guard

[RB26powered74zcar]

Your computers specs are "perfectly OK"

 

You DO NOT need to buy anything extra. You dont need to update the BIOS (cmon guys you know that computer will never turn on again if we send him re-flashing the BIOS)

 

Here's a couple really really easy steps that will help. If they dont help enough THEN you can go out and spend $$$. YOU HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR A BLISTERING FAST COMPUTER, especially for loading web pages, etc.

 

1. clear the dektop. dont just nest files or folders. move them to C: or somewhere else. Leave as little items as possible.

 

2. Turn off all animations, windows visual effects. bubbly fonts, etc. To do this right click anywhere in an empty space on the desktop. select properties. select appearance. Windows classic styles always load faster. Check that you don't have any effects (unless you like them for some reason)

 

3. Try using Opera internet browser. Many tests have shown it kicks Internet Explorer's butt in almost EVERYTHING. It might take some getting used to but its worh it, if you need that extra speed. Pages load A LOT faster.

 

4. Show us what you have in the windows start up. "Start" --> run--> type in "msconfig" and open the start up tab. If you have 4, 5, or more items that is BAD news. (typicly)

 

 

Hope this helped. Use at your own risk though.

 

p.s. thx for bidding on my VLSD diff =)

 

 

 

Here is a screen shot of whats in the start up tab. I had to take two shots to be able to show them all....

 

 

 

I'm running Mozilla Fire Fox, isn't that as good as Opera?

 

Please explain to me more on how I can accomplish this advice you gave me>>

 

" 1. clear the dektop. dont just nest files or folders. move them to C: or somewhere else. Leave as little items as possible "

[tfreer85]

I agree with 260ZRED, memory would be an easy upgrade though. I try to have the fewest programs loading at all times, turning off or uninstalling things like msn messenger, automatic downloads (will download program updates for programs you don't have and store on your hard drive), etc. etc. that'll help things load from the beginning, other things for internet usage, clear out your cookies, and internet history. Also if you know where you cable modem is you can unplug it for around 30 sec to a minute and then plug it back in. It can help out sometimes...

 

Good luck,

 

Tyson

[280zwitha383]

I would ditch the google talk programs at least unless you use them. Firefox is fine. I use it on an two older pcs and I enjoy it a lot more than IE with no speed problems.

 

Next if you would show us your processes running in your task manager maybe there is something that sticks out there.

[tfreer85]

Here is a screen shot of whats in the start up tab. I had to take two shots to be able to show them all....

 

 

 

 

" 1. clear the dektop. dont just nest files or folders. move them to C: or somewhere else. Leave as little items as possible "

 

You see how you have shortcuts for everything? You want to get rid of as many of those for external programs. I'm on my mac but the same idea applies: this is my desktop

 

There are almost no other programs on the desktop besides the hard drive and my dock.

 

Tyson

[RB26powered74zcar]

I would ditch the google talk programs at least unless you use them. Firefox is fine. I use it on an two older pcs and I enjoy it a lot more than IE with no speed problems.

 

Next if you would show us your processes running in your task manager maybe there is something that sticks out there.

 

Here ya go..

 

[260ZRED]

Your startup is very cluttered. Im also running WINDOWs XP and here is mine...

 

 

FROM EXPERIENCE, my computer is very slow if I have a lot of programs in start up. Clear what you don't need.

 

Sort your programs running like this:

(by memory use) so we can see what programs are hogging it.

 

About the desktop thing: windows constantly refreshes and reloades every item on the desktop. The less MEGABTYTES OF DATA sitting directly in your desktop you have, the faster your computer will be. (up to a point of course) If you have any big files such as folders where VIDEO or PICTURES or MUSIC are stored, move them from the desktop to somewhere else like the C: drive..

 

Hope this helped.

[Cruez]

Available Physical Memory 77.41 MB

 

Something is really eating up your memory for sure..