VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Dave · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 3:17 pm Post subject: Computer question

Ok, first of all I don't think I'm a complete idiot. But that might be somewhat in question because I'm a looooong time Mac user :wink: A Mac I know my way around and seldom get stumpted.

BUT...

Last year I bought a PeeCee/Windoze machine and have never really gotten the hang of it. Specifically, the programs are sluggish to open, respond etc. On my Mac(s) I just allocate more memory and TAA_DAA all is well. But how do I do this on a P-4, XP home, 512 meg of ram???? Do I just need to buy more ram (and I know there's hardly any such thing as too much) for everyday stuff (Word, Quickbooks etc). I'm not doing any audio on this machine and the way it acts I'm not totally sure it can handle it.

Your advise, head whacking and or hand-holding is appreciated. Confused

Dave
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Charlie Channel · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 3:48 pm Post subject:

Here's a couple of suggewtions. First, make sure all updates have been installed, e.g., Service Pack 1 & 2. Second, get the Spyware Beta from Microsoft and run it. You may fiund that a ton of resident programs have been, somehow, loaded into RAM on start up.

Do Start -> Run -> msconfig. There's a tab for "Start Up". It contains all the stuff that are loaded in RMA when you start your system. Eliminate anything that's not necessary (easier said than determined, but that's what you may need to do).

I'd take those steps, first.

C

Dave · Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 4:38 pm Post subject:

nick reed · Guest

Dave,

Your computer has more than enough horsepower for your relatively light tasks. My first guess would have been a spyware problem. Are your Ad Aware and Spybot the most recent versions with updated whatchamacallits, profiles or sig files or something? This can make a difference. These clever spy authors are always coming up with something new that requires a new way to catch it. I guess everyone has their favorite spyware program. I think Ad Aware is one of the best.

If you have updated Ad Aware from top to bottom and that doesn't help, the next thing that I would do is defrag your harddrive. If you don't know how to do that, PM me.

Also, if you have added and/or deleted a lot of programs on your machine there may be a problem with your registry. I don't know if there are any freeware registry fixes. I use "Registry Mechanic" on my machine (which is similar to yours). I can't remember how much I paid for it, around $30, I think.

Let us know how you are doing with it...

Nick

Dave · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:23 pm Post subject:

Bailey · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:48 pm Post subject:

Dave,

Is your computer running slow... all of the time?... or just when you run a particular program? The P4 is faster then what I'm running at the present time. Mine usually slows at bit when video clips are run. You might try De-fragging the hard drive...whether it needs it or not.
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nick reed · Guest

Dave,

A registry fix may help, it's worth a try. Do a google on "registry freeware" and you should come up with something. I found Registry Mechanic on a site other than PC Tools (who own the program) and IIRC it came with a 30 day trial. It worked so well that I bought it, but I didn't try looking for freeware at the time, there may be some good ones out there. I just looked at PC Tools and they did not appear to offer a free trial on their site but again, a google search may show a 3rd party site, which may offer a free trial.

Nick

Deirdre · Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:15 pm Post subject:

... and we are using a Pee Cee because....?
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billelder · Guest

I'm stil using Windows 98SE, but isn't 512 of ram kind of lite for XP? Would a GIG of RAM give better performance?

I've used both MAC and PC, but back in the early 90's when I got my first "two 5 & 1/4 floppies" computer the mac's were expensive. The same reason I have a BETAMAX machine here. <g>

schaer · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:31 am Post subject:

512k of RAM is too lite for an XP. I'd definately buy more memory. On the other hand: DB's question hits the nail on the head.... Wink

Bernard
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Dave · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:55 am Post subject:

Charlie Channel · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:15 am Post subject:

SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:42 am Post subject:

Man, now do I know why my poor PC runs so slow - I've got 256 megs of RAM. At the time I figured I was set for a while. That was less than 2 years ago! Guess it's time for another upgrade - sigh - it's always something, isn't it? This time though I'll go up to a gig. That should keep me for a while.
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Dave · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:05 pm Post subject:

Dave · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 12:17 pm Post subject: