OT: Speeding up a slow computer

Renegade 13 · #1 December 3rd, 2007, 05:23 PM

Currently I have 2GB RAM (4x512), and had always assumed that'd be sufficient for a Win XP system

Is it?

I have the drive partitioned mostly for convenience and organizational purposes; it's a hell of a lot easier to access a file when you know at least which partition it's in!

Would removing a bunch of unused programs serve to speed it up, at least a bit? For example, games I no longer play, etc.

Xrati · #2 December 3rd, 2007, 08:25 PM

Do the Control-Alt-Delete and see how many processes you are currently running. This will give you a good idea of how much of your resources are being devoured by 'background' programs. Virus programs as Norton or McAfee will totally suck up your resource space.
If you have more then 40 processes running (ideally you want between 32 to 40) you will need a program (like Spybot S&D or there are others) to turn off some of those processes, reclaiming memory for you to run the programs you want.

Fyron · #3 December 3rd, 2007, 10:29 PM

Xrati said:
(ideally you want between 32 to 40)

Where did this range come from?

Xrati · #4 December 4th, 2007, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Xrati said:
(ideally you want between 32 to 40)

then Fyron said: Where did this range come from?

Fyron, that is an average I've found from personel experiences working for many companies over the years. The more processes, the slower the computer.

When you install Win XP, right after the final reboot but before you install any programs, if you do a ctrl-alt-del you will have about 16 processes running. After that it just goes up as you add on programs. Quick launch programs get put into memory and become active processes that slow down your performance. You can create shortcuts to these rather then have them in memory waiting to be used. Also defragging once a month will help disk efficiency. A good registry cleaner used monthly will also keep small bits of lost or deleted files from building up in your registry. Also, for those who keep the power on all the time, a reboot will flush memory and release some of the registry entries for cleaning up. Good maintenance will keep your computer in good running condition.