Welcome guest, is this your first visit? Create Account now to join.
  • Login:

Welcome to the OldVersion.com Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 27

Thread: How To Speed Up

  1. #1
    the observer
    Guest

    Default

    im running a desktop pc its 240mb ram , a 600mhz processor and its as slow as a snail, the operating system is windows me,, any suggestions on system settings ot anything that could make it so slow, i run regular updates on my antivirus and have run spybot , it just seems to have slowly lost performance over time, i look forward to any suggestions and appreciate the HELP that this site gives,

  2. #2
    CALM
    Guest

    Default

    Run your system defragmenter at least 1x a month and have your computer set to dump your temporary internet files when you close your browser. (not sure if there is a setting for that on IE, there is on Netscape and that is all I use.)

  3. #3
    Super Moderator
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    3,496

    Default

    Originally posted by the observer@Dec 6 2003, 03:41 PM
    im running a desktop pc its 240mb ram , a 600mhz processor and its as slow as a snail, the operating system is windows me,, any suggestions on system settings ot anything that could make it so slow, i run regular updates on my antivirus and have run spybot , it just seems to have slowly lost performance over time, i look forward to any suggestions and appreciate the HELP that this site gives,
    A 600mhz system should run very well. Since you have plenty of RAM, again, system should run well.
    You should tune the system as much as possible, as Windows is not designed out of the box to be as effective as can it be.
    as the other posters have pointed out, you should check for any spyware, and defrag the HardDrive often.
    You should not leave any apps in the system tray that that your not currently using; plan to use. So eliminate alot of the unecessary start-up apps. this you can do by shuttin them down after the system boots up, or disable them from loading - which can also speed up booting process. You can disable those apps by looking in the C:\Programs\Startup, and if you see something not needed, just right click and delete the shortcut. you can also disable these programs via the msconfig utility. Click the START, RUN, type msconfig, move to the startup tab, and uncheck options you wish to disable from loading.

    You should also use a fixed swap file. Windows usually is set to automatically resize the swap file as needed, this can create fragmentation on the hard drive, as it is increasing/decreasing the size of the swap file. So you will want to set a fixed Min/Max size. The size of the sawp should be 2 1/2 times the amount of installed RAM, but no more than 512megs RAM. In your case you will want to use 512megs for Min/Max file sizes.
    To make the changes you need to go to the system properties, you can access this via using the shortcut key combo, which is the keyboard's WINDOW key, located between the ALT & CTRL keys. You will want to press this key with the Pause/Break key, press them at the same time.
    Then select the Performance tab, then Virtual Memory. Enter in the sizes for Min/Max Virtual Memory (swap space.) Windows will give an error about managing the memory, you can ignore this.

    Next you will want to set a specific amount of vcache, which is the amount of RAM you will permit each app to use. This will keep apps from hoggin up all available RAM for themselves. Again, you will want to set a Min/Max size. You can set this via the earlier mentioned msconfig utility. Once loaded, look for the system.ini tab, then scroll down til you see the [vache]. you will want to add 2 options.
    MinFileCache=60000
    MaxFileCache=60000
    As the amount is in kilobytes, and would give 60megs to the cache.

    Another thing which can help is to reduce the number of fonts installed on your system. If you have more than 250, you might wish to reduce this number. 64 fonts requires 1% GDI resources, so the more you have installed the less resources you will leave available.

    If you had a second hard drive, you could move the swap file, temp, tmp and internet temporary files to this drive. Which will permit simultaneous read & write access.

    Be sure to check if your Disks; Hard Drive and CD/DVD-Rom, are using DMA (Direct Memory Access). This can be enabled under the System Property's. - the Win+Pause key combo. Then select Device Manager, Disk Drives, IDE. select the IDE, and then Propetys, and see if the CHeck box is checked for DMA. Then go to the CDRM drive, and also enable it there as well.

  4. #4
    the observer
    Guest

    Default

    the first two posts helped a lot, but once again locustfurnace hit the nail on the head, i didnt realise what was running on start up, no wonder when i clicked on performance i only had 47 percent system resources free, anyway m8 done that and now running like a race car, and system resources are 91 percent free most of the time when i check it,nearly everything in my system tray was wot i dont use but didnt know how to stop them from starting up automatically , i have learned heaps from this post, and sorry but i gotta go now, im gonna register , with the no1, oldversion.com, and as the terminator would say, ILE BE BACK :P

  5. #5
    Goslow unplugged
    Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by the observer@Dec 7 2003, 05:32 AM
    :D the first two posts helped a lot
    :huh: One of them has dissappeared

    !! BTW I dont like the subtitle of this thread
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Task Manager)
    You can indentify what those mysterious programs running in the background are here > TASK LIST PROGRAMS & Start-Up Applications + Pacs home page
    see what you prolly should keep and see what you can switch off.
    ----------------------------
    BIG
    BLUE
    If you don't like those kinds of thrills wait until the software is "out of" beta.

  6. #6
    Super Moderator
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    3,496

    Default

    Originally posted by Goslow unplugged@Dec 19 2003, 08:40 PM
    :huh: One of them has dissappeared
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Task Manager)
    I think he means 2 tips? not necessary posts? if there was another, I did not delete it.
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Task Manager) ~ Windows 9x
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Task Manager) ~ NT Logon
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Restart X) ~ X11
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Reboot) ~ DOS

  7. #7
    CALM
    Guest

    Default

    Someone posted a link to this site the other day.
    http://www.xptweaks.org/services_2.html
    I had fun turning off all sorts of stuff til the next time I tried to go online ---
    anyway I picked 4 and turned them back on and am back online. who says computers arent fun

  8. #8
    Super Moderator
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Posts
    3,496

    Default

    Yes, i am not sure why Microsoft even has some of them turned on, since there should have been some sort of distinction between Home and Pro versions of XP. But MS seems to go with the 1 size-fits-all.
    Most people using XP home are using it, well, in the Home, not in the Office, so dont see why they need to leave on some of those services that would really only be necessary in a larger networked environment, which then would most likley be runnin XP Pro versions.
    This used to be why there was a NT road and a 9x road, to limit some of the capabilites that would generally not be necessary in a home computer.

  9. #9
    the observer
    Guest

    Default

    Originally posted by locustfurnace+Dec 19 2003, 08:02 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (locustfurnace @ Dec 19 2003, 08:02 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Goslow unplugged@Dec 19 2003, 08:40 PM
    :huh: One of them has dissappeared
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Task Manager)
    I think he means 2 tips? not necessary posts? if there was another, I did not delete it.
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Task Manager) ~ Windows 9x
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Task Manager) ~ NT Logon
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Restart X) ~ X11
    (Cntrl+Alt+Del Keys=Reboot) ~ DOS [/b][/quote]
    your correct again locustfurnace, i did mean tips and not posts, a shame not everybody carries your superior level of intelligence.

  10. #10
    Goslow unplugged
    Guest

    Default

    &#33;-(
    Originally posted by the <s>absurder</s> observer@Dec 20 2003, 05:37 AM
    your correct again locustfurnace, i did mean tips and not posts, a shame not everybody carries your superior level of intelligence. ;)
    That sounds like a load

    Well the <s>voyeur</s> observer
    just feel free and go ahead and say what you mean next time
    but actually I was not relying on your garbled composition but my own double vision .
    Hmmh I wonder if the waybackmachines spyders caught it.
    and now I&#39;m not going to tell you about EndItAll some nice freeware from PC Magazine :P


 

Similar Threads

  1. Test Your Connection Speed
    By The Dude in forum General Discussion
    Replies: 78
    Last Post: 12-20-2007, 02:43 AM
  2. Speed Optimizer
    By tiku in forum Requests
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 07-22-2005, 10:13 PM
  3. Acrobat Reader Speed Up
    By mommabear in forum Programs / Support
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 04-01-2004, 08:35 AM
  4. Cd-rom Drive Speed Problems?
    By lightsup55 in forum Programs / Support
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 01-03-2003, 01:18 PM
  5. Advanced Speed Typing Tutor
    By dingdong in forum Requests
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 11-22-2002, 12:10 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •