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Slow Computer
15 Answers
Hello Please help,
My computer is really, really slow. It is a 7 year old machine and has 500mhz. Is there anything i can do to increase the speed. It takes about 5 minutes to open a Word Document. And the Internet is really slow also.
I took it to a Computer repait shop yesterday and he said it might help if you add a RAM card.
Can anybody confirm this and help...?
My computer is really, really slow. It is a 7 year old machine and has 500mhz. Is there anything i can do to increase the speed. It takes about 5 minutes to open a Word Document. And the Internet is really slow also.
I took it to a Computer repait shop yesterday and he said it might help if you add a RAM card.
Can anybody confirm this and help...?
Answers
1 to 15 of 15
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I will be really blunt here and say that I think your only option is to get a new PC.
The power and speed of PCs and laptops has increased dramatically over the last 7 years. You are trying to work with todays technology (like the internet) with a machine that was not designed for that.
It is a bit like someone entering a motoring grand prix today, with a car that was racing 10 years ago. It would finish last by a mile.
Over the last seven years the power of software has increased as the power of PCs has increased. You are trying to use today's software on yesterdays PC technology.
For example, I just opened Word on my PC (about 2 years old so not that powerful) and it took 4 SECONDS.
Although you could add memory, and it may help a bit, it is still going to be a very old PC.
You MAY be able to put a new processor in it, but moderm processors will not fit in a PC that old, and I think you would find it hard to find a processor that would fit in that PC (nobody builds them any more).
Anyway, fitting a new processor or more memory is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, you are still stuck with an old PC.
Rather than spending money on this old PC you may be better putting it towards a new PC.
I am not sure of your financial position but you could probably get a decent PC for about �300. If that is beyond you (you are retired or unenployed maybe) then come back to us and we will see if we can find you a good second hand deal somewhere.
The power and speed of PCs and laptops has increased dramatically over the last 7 years. You are trying to work with todays technology (like the internet) with a machine that was not designed for that.
It is a bit like someone entering a motoring grand prix today, with a car that was racing 10 years ago. It would finish last by a mile.
Over the last seven years the power of software has increased as the power of PCs has increased. You are trying to use today's software on yesterdays PC technology.
For example, I just opened Word on my PC (about 2 years old so not that powerful) and it took 4 SECONDS.
Although you could add memory, and it may help a bit, it is still going to be a very old PC.
You MAY be able to put a new processor in it, but moderm processors will not fit in a PC that old, and I think you would find it hard to find a processor that would fit in that PC (nobody builds them any more).
Anyway, fitting a new processor or more memory is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, you are still stuck with an old PC.
Rather than spending money on this old PC you may be better putting it towards a new PC.
I am not sure of your financial position but you could probably get a decent PC for about �300. If that is beyond you (you are retired or unenployed maybe) then come back to us and we will see if we can find you a good second hand deal somewhere.
You have two choices, as far as I can see.
1) Try backing up all your data to an external hard drive and then installing Ubuntu on your machine. This is a free operating system that would replace Windows. However, it's got less bulk than XP has, so should run faster. You won't be able to run all your windows software, but it does come with Firefox (web browsing), an email client, OpenOffice (Microsoft Office free replacement), as well as a host of other software.
2) Do as vehelpfulguy suggests, and buy a new machine.
The new machine is certainly the easier option, but it may well be worth trying Ubuntu anyway, just to see if it makes any difference.
With either choice, you'll need to backup all your personal files to another drive, so transfer either into Ubuntu or onto your new computer.
http://www.ubuntu.org
1) Try backing up all your data to an external hard drive and then installing Ubuntu on your machine. This is a free operating system that would replace Windows. However, it's got less bulk than XP has, so should run faster. You won't be able to run all your windows software, but it does come with Firefox (web browsing), an email client, OpenOffice (Microsoft Office free replacement), as well as a host of other software.
2) Do as vehelpfulguy suggests, and buy a new machine.
The new machine is certainly the easier option, but it may well be worth trying Ubuntu anyway, just to see if it makes any difference.
With either choice, you'll need to backup all your personal files to another drive, so transfer either into Ubuntu or onto your new computer.
http://www.ubuntu.org
>sorry, i forgot to mention i have Windows XP on it and since I've installed that it has made it slower.
I should imagine it would.
The early versions of Windows such as 95, 98 and ME were very "simple" operating systems and required a fairly low spec machine.
Windows XP was a much more complex operating system and was based on Microsoft's SERVER operating system and therefore required a more powerful machine.
A seven year old machine that was probably running Windows ME when it came out would be woefully underpowered for running Windows XP.
Windows XP required much more memory just to sit there and do nothing than Windows ME did when it was running 2 or 3 applications.
Any new PC you buy may have Windows Vista on it, and this requires a PC about twice as powerful as one for running Windows XP.
Dell still sell PCs with Windows XP on them and this may be a good option for you.
I should imagine it would.
The early versions of Windows such as 95, 98 and ME were very "simple" operating systems and required a fairly low spec machine.
Windows XP was a much more complex operating system and was based on Microsoft's SERVER operating system and therefore required a more powerful machine.
A seven year old machine that was probably running Windows ME when it came out would be woefully underpowered for running Windows XP.
Windows XP required much more memory just to sit there and do nothing than Windows ME did when it was running 2 or 3 applications.
Any new PC you buy may have Windows Vista on it, and this requires a PC about twice as powerful as one for running Windows XP.
Dell still sell PCs with Windows XP on them and this may be a good option for you.
I will try and explain why your PC is running so slow. I will try to keep it simple but it may get a bit technical.
You PC has REAL memory. When you start your PC up Windows and other programs are loaded into this REAL memory so they can run.
Sometimes your REAL memory fills up, but maybe you want to start a new program, like say Word.
If your REAL memory is full where is it going to put Word?
What Windows does is to copy some of the files in REAL memory out to your hard disk. This is called SWAPPING OUT.
In computer terms this is a slow process.
And as more things are loaded into REAL memory more things are swapped out to hard disk. This can slow your PC down.
It can also do the reverse, and copy things from hard disk IN to real memory, this is called SWAPPPING IN.
Suppose Windows needs something in REAL memory that is has just swapped out to hard disk.
To find space in REAL memory it needs to copy some other files out to hard disk (SWAP OUT), and then bring the files it needs from hard disk into REAL memory (SWAP IN).
If your PC is continually swapping files IN and OUT from memory to hard disk then it can REALLY slow your PC down.
In fact you can get to the stage where ALL it is doing is swapping files from memory to hard disk and back again, and it cannot actually get any work done.
This is called THRASHING, and if this happens your PC is unusable.
My guess is that the memory on your PC is so low that it spends all its time thrashing and you cannot do any work.
A simple solution would be to increase the memory to its maximum.
Find out from the documentation what memory you need, and the maximum you can fit, and put that memory in your PC.
It will improve your performance and may tide you over till you get to buy a new PC.
You PC has REAL memory. When you start your PC up Windows and other programs are loaded into this REAL memory so they can run.
Sometimes your REAL memory fills up, but maybe you want to start a new program, like say Word.
If your REAL memory is full where is it going to put Word?
What Windows does is to copy some of the files in REAL memory out to your hard disk. This is called SWAPPING OUT.
In computer terms this is a slow process.
And as more things are loaded into REAL memory more things are swapped out to hard disk. This can slow your PC down.
It can also do the reverse, and copy things from hard disk IN to real memory, this is called SWAPPPING IN.
Suppose Windows needs something in REAL memory that is has just swapped out to hard disk.
To find space in REAL memory it needs to copy some other files out to hard disk (SWAP OUT), and then bring the files it needs from hard disk into REAL memory (SWAP IN).
If your PC is continually swapping files IN and OUT from memory to hard disk then it can REALLY slow your PC down.
In fact you can get to the stage where ALL it is doing is swapping files from memory to hard disk and back again, and it cannot actually get any work done.
This is called THRASHING, and if this happens your PC is unusable.
My guess is that the memory on your PC is so low that it spends all its time thrashing and you cannot do any work.
A simple solution would be to increase the memory to its maximum.
Find out from the documentation what memory you need, and the maximum you can fit, and put that memory in your PC.
It will improve your performance and may tide you over till you get to buy a new PC.
To follow on from my answer above...
To improve performance have as FEW applications open at the same time as you can. Close down programs you are not using.
Windows XP starts a lot of system "programs" you may not need. See if you can find a web site that gives you hints on what Windows XP system programs you dont need.
XP has a lot of fancy graphics that slows your PC down, you can turn them off as follows:
Go into the Control Panel
Select "Performance and Maintenance" then "System"
Click the Advanced tab.
In the "Performance" area at the top press "Settings"
On the "Visual effects" tab select "Adjust for Best performance"
Press OK to save all your changes. You MAY need to reboot to pick up these changes.
Your desktop and windows may look slightly different, but it should boost performance a bit.
To improve performance have as FEW applications open at the same time as you can. Close down programs you are not using.
Windows XP starts a lot of system "programs" you may not need. See if you can find a web site that gives you hints on what Windows XP system programs you dont need.
XP has a lot of fancy graphics that slows your PC down, you can turn them off as follows:
Go into the Control Panel
Select "Performance and Maintenance" then "System"
Click the Advanced tab.
In the "Performance" area at the top press "Settings"
On the "Visual effects" tab select "Adjust for Best performance"
Press OK to save all your changes. You MAY need to reboot to pick up these changes.
Your desktop and windows may look slightly different, but it should boost performance a bit.
Here are some things that may help to improve performance (mind you, best thing you can do is add more memory):
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup /maintain/improveperf.mspx
http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=32
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-wi ndows/?p=157
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup /maintain/improveperf.mspx
http://www.pugetsystems.com/articles.php?id=32
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/window-on-wi ndows/?p=157
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