Computer Question

[Classic Finn]

Hello everyone.

We have a question for you concerning our computer. Its been very slow.
What can I do to speed it it up more. Ive basically gone and cleaned it from all possible extra temp files and so on. Is there a free program that can clean it up ? Or what more can be done.


Classic Finn

[PaulC]

Heikki, have you run defrag lately?

Cheers
Paul

[digimark]

A computer always runs at the speed it did when you bought it. The things that change over time are:

1. Your perception of how fast it should go. (Based on seeing newer machines run faster, what friends have, new software that comes along and really needs better hardware to operate nimbly, and the experience of using that software over time.) I usually tell people, "the computer you bought three years ago is just as fast today as it was then, but your expectations on how fast it feels, can change." Not much you can do about that except adapt or buy new...
2. What programs the system is running -- the operating system changes over time with new patches, new software that you install, all the little programs that run in the background (look at the list of processes in the Task Manager on WinXP, for instance), etc. This group also includes malicious software you didn't ask for like virii, spyware, stoopid little toolbars/free software packs that come with the software you buy/download, software systems like MS Office or the anti-virus packages like Symantec/Norton that have fifteen little things running "to help you" (they don't), as well as the dumpware that comes with the machine. etc. You can make a dramatic difference by disabling or de-installing a lot of this junk. What the computer really needs to work properly is a small subset of what is usually running on the average PC.
3. Check to make sure you have installed all the available latest updates from the vendors for the OS and software packages -- these will include bug fixes and enhancements that may make a speed difference.
4. Defragmenting the disk can help, but the newer the OS, the less the need for this, as they handle this chore in the background automatically. But make sure you have adequate free space on your hard drive -- if you are running 99% full all the time, the system will slow down as it has to constantly move things around to make room for whatever it's doing at the moment.
5. If you run a lot of programs simultaneously and switch amongst them, more system memory (RAM) will help. And the system will use the extra memory you're not using as a disk cache for speeding up access to materials on the hard drive.

Of course this presumes there isn't really a real hardware failure. But once you've gone through all this, if the computer's mainboard can support it, you could look into replacing the processor, possibly with a dual or more processor). Most of the time though, depending on how old your current computer is, a newer computer with a variety of improvements over the current one is usually less expensive than trying to upgrade the old one.

Hope this helps.

[rxc463]

I have found that running a registry cleaner on occasion makes quite a difference in performance. Follow instructions carefully and do a backup before making any manual or software initiated changes to the registry.
Nonags freeware has several good free registry cleaners in their power tools section.

[WesGrimes]

Hold the windows key and hit 'r'
The Run dialog box will open.
Type 'msconfig' click ok to open the System Configuration utility.
Click on the 'Services' tab.
Put a check in the checkbox that says "Hide all Microsoft Services" (it is near the bottom of the window)
Click the 'Disable All' button. (You may want to selectively enable certain services, such as you antivirus)
Click on the 'Startup' tab.
Click the 'Disable All' button.
Click the 'OK' button.
Reboot
Enjoy the new found speed.

You should probably defrag a couple of times as well. I find that once is never enough.

Wes Grimes
Microsoft Certified System Engineer

[Classic Finn]

Heikki, have you run defrag lately?

Cheers
Paul

Hello Paul and greetings from the far nort

No I havent run defrag. I,ll do that next.

Thank You Paul

[Classic Finn]

Hold the windows key and hit 'r'
The Run dialog box will open.
Type 'msconfig' click ok to open the System Configuration utility.
Click on the 'Services' tab.
Put a check in the checkbox that says "Hide all Microsoft Services" (it is near the bottom of the window)
Click the 'Disable All' button. (You may want to selectively enable certain services, such as you antivirus)
Click on the 'Startup' tab.
Click the 'Disable All' button.
Click the 'OK' button.
Reboot
Enjoy the new found speed.

You should probably defrag a couple of times as well. I find that once is never enough.

Wes Grimes
Microsoft Certified System Engineer

Thank You Wes I,ll follow up on your advice

[Classic Finn]

Ohh since Im no expert at this.. When I defrag I wont lose any of my data correct? Ive got all info backed up now as well.

Thanks Everyone

[WesGrimes]

Ohh since Im no expert at this.. When I defrag I wont lose any of my data correct? Ive got all info backed up now as well.

Thanks Everyone

No, defraging just rearranges where the data is stored on the hard drive.
It speeds it up because the hard drive armature does not have to seek all over the disk platter to open a file because the contents of the file will be inline after the defrag.

Short answer: nope, no data loss.

[Classic Finn]

Ohh since Im no expert at this.. When I defrag I wont lose any of my data correct? Ive got all info backed up now as well.

Thanks Everyone

No, defraging just rearranges where the data is stored on the hard drive.
It speeds it up because the hard drive armature does not have to seek all over the disk platter to open a file because the contents of the file will be inline after the defrag.

Short answer: nope, no data loss.

Thank You kindly Wes. I also did the registry check and it repaired a whole lot there. Ok I,ll defrag now.

Back in a bit

[Classic Finn]

I have found that running a registry cleaner on occasion makes quite a difference in performance. Follow instructions carefully and do a backup before making any manual or software initiated changes to the registry.
Nonags freeware has several good free registry cleaners in their power tools section.

Well Russ that seemed to do the trick. Thank You

[Classic Finn]

Ohh since Im no expert at this.. When I defrag I wont lose any of my data correct? Ive got all info backed up now as well.

Thanks Everyone

No, defraging just rearranges where the data is stored on the hard drive.
It speeds it up because the hard drive armature does not have to seek all over the disk platter to open a file because the contents of the file will be inline after the defrag.

Short answer: nope, no data loss.

Defrag run. I need to install a set of seat belts on the computer now. Lot faster for sure.

[john curtis]

Have you tried running Windows Clean Up 4.0 .Very small program for free.Look in Google.I run this program befor I shut down daily.You will be amazed at how much junk it gets rid of.
John

[Classic Finn]

Have you tried running Windows Clean Up 4.0 .Very small program for free.Look in Google.I run this program befor I shut down daily.You will be amazed at how much junk it gets rid of.
John

Hi John

Must admit that I have not. But I,ll check into it. Thanks for the tip.

Classic Finn

[Arne]

Wes Grimes: is there a good registry cleaner out there, or in windows xp?

I tried a free one a couple of years ago and I had to take my computer to get it fixed after the cleaner screwed things up. The repair shop told me never to try to clean the registry in windows xp.

I've read a lot of comments like this:

Don’t…I’ve “experimented” with a variety of registry cleaners including ccleaner and though in most cases any damage could be reversed, in my last “experiment” it failed miserably and windows was totally trashed. Well not totally I could still boot but it was full of errors that only got worse as I attempted fixes. Ended up buying a new drive, restoring from my original restore CD and then installing only minimal programs. I kept the old drive to access data as I needed it. I must say things run fast now. Now that is a good registry cleaner ;-)

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CF, all computers slow down as we add stuff to them. They just have to handle more crap we stick on it......

I defrag about once a week... the longer you let it go, the more work the computer has to do to get things back together....