Speed up XP

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rts
Posts: 1637
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.09

I've got an old computer which I use for browsing net etc. It runs on XP. The problem is it's sooooo slow. I've removed desktop background etc to try speed up but it still takes five minutes to open Firefox.

Does anyone know any cunning tricks or software tools to speed it up. All it needs is Windows Live Messenger and Firefox. It's been really quick in the past so I'm at a loss as to why it is so slow despite only running two programs.
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Sput
Posts: 7543
Joined: Wed 20 Aug, 2003 19.57

What are the specs of the computer, is it taken care of in terms of viruses and spyware, and how old is the install of windows?
Knight knight
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rts
Posts: 1637
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.09

Erm, I'm a bit retarded when it comes to this, but I've worked out the following:

XP Version 2
Version 2002
Service Pack 3
1.49 GHz
256 MB Ram
Pentium (R) 4 CPU 1500 MHz
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marksi
Posts: 1892
Joined: Wed 07 Jan, 2004 05.38
Location: Donaghadee

rts wrote:Erm, I'm a bit retarded when it comes to this, but I've worked out the following:

XP Version 2
Version 2002
Service Pack 3
1.49 GHz
256 MB Ram
Pentium (R) 4 CPU 1500 MHz
I'd spend a few quid on some RAM (identify what you need at crucial.com then try 7dayshop.com as they're very cheap), backup what you need to and do a clean install of XP onto it.
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rts
Posts: 1637
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.09

The mad thing is there's hardly anything on the machine. Although about 18 months since the last clean install it's clearly picked up some gremlines.

Re: RAM, is it a matter of just buying some, slotting it in, and rebooting?

Is there any good disk-clearup software I could download and run too?
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Sput
Posts: 7543
Joined: Wed 20 Aug, 2003 19.57

If you've not got a virus scanner then at least get a trial version of a big-name one, it might identify any problems. Also there's Lavasoft Ad-Aware that'll clean up your spyware, and there's a free version of that.

Aside from those, do what Marksi said: Get more RAM. Ideally a gigabyte in total. 256 really isn't enough for XP and modern web browsing.
Knight knight
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rts
Posts: 1637
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.09

Good advice guys, thanks very much. I'll get on it.
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Alexia
Posts: 2999
Joined: Sat 01 Oct, 2005 17.50

rts wrote:Erm, I'm a bit retarded when it comes to this, but I've worked out the following:

XP Version 2
Version 2002
Service Pack 3
1.49 GHz
256 MB Ram
Pentium (R) 4 CPU 1500 MHz
Mine is quite similar but I have 1.96 GB of RAM. It does help but because the processor is Celeron M 1.3GHz it can't send the electron quick enough to avoid occasional stutters.
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rts
Posts: 1637
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 14.09

So it looks like RAM is the way forward. I popped onto Crucial.com to find out what exactly I need. I know it's a Packard Bell computer, but have no idea to what model. It's not my primary computer and can't find any of the old user manuals etc.

Is there any prompt I can type in to get this information?

Picture below the those more astute than me with this kind of business.

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Pete
Posts: 7592
Joined: Fri 15 Aug, 2003 13.36
Location: Dundee

don't crucial have an activex gizmo that tells you the exact model you need?
"He has to be larger than bacon"
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marksi
Posts: 1892
Joined: Wed 07 Jan, 2004 05.38
Location: Donaghadee

Hymagumba wrote:don't crucial have an activex gizmo that tells you the exact model you need?
Yup, that's why I suggested it!

http://www.crucial.com/uk/index.aspx?click=true
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