I have returned my works computer and started using my old home PC. It is glacially slow. The spec is AMD Sempron 3000+ 2.01 GHz with 448MB RAM.

I don’t want to spend much on it but I am guessing upping the rRAM is the most cost effective way to improve the speed (8 minutes to boot up, 7 seconds to open Internet Explorer).

1) What is a reasnable amount of RAM?

2) Are there likely to be limits to how much i can get and if so how do I tell?

Can you check to see what Ram you have, I’m about to bin what’s left of an old computer, there may be some ram in there.

easiest way to speed it up would be to backup any docs etc you have on there, wipte the hard drive, reinstall windows/linux/os of choice and then only install apps you really need.

Most pc’s run slow ‘cos they have 60 services runniong for apps that are never used.

If you go to crucial’s website they have a tool which should tell you how much you can have and what type of RAM you need.

Reasonable amount of RAM? as much as the PC will take. It’s cheap just get whatever you can squeeze in. I’d recommend 4G nowadays.

What motherboard do you have? Get PC wizard and install it, that’ll tell you everything you need to know to be able to go to crucial and buy the ram

I’d recommend 4G nowadays.

Remembering that any more than that is pointless in 32bit computers

actually anything over 3GB of ram is pointless in Windows 32 bit systems, even with PAE. So buying that extra Gig is just a waste of money

What virus scanner are you using as if its AVG thats seems to have turning into bloatware and kills systems, kaspersky seems to have much lower memory demands.

or if you just want to read email, and write basic documents (no games) Ubuntu is worth a punt.

2Ghz sempron is fast enough for normal stuff. Half a gig of ram though is woeful. Get some more, 2gb should only cost you what, £20?

as per above get 2Gb of ram (use crucial to id the type required), and re-install or at least wipe all the temporary files.

I’d be inclined to reinstall the OS.

But first do try a “Disk clean up” [programs->accessories->system tools->disk clean up] to make sure all the junk is removed.

Then do a defrag, found in the same place.

Also if you have anything by “Norton” on the PC, delete it ffs it kills PCs.

Go through the “add remove” programs list and take off whatever you dont need.

I’d do all that before throwing money away on RAM.
The PC should run much quicker than that even with your current amount of RAM.

format C:\

IMO adding RAM doesn’t always result in a drastic speed increase.
Going from 512mb to 2gb on my XP Centrino laptop made no detectable difference at all.
Maybe spend a bit more cash on something like THIS…
And sell what you’ve got.

More RAM.

Also how many processes do you have running. A mate asked about his glacially slow XP PC and there were something like 80 active processes running on bootup incl Norton Security suite.

I’m with Takisawa2 on this…..I doubled the ram on my computer after everyone saying that it will really speed up my computer…..it made it marginally faster.
I think I need to format and start again as suggested on here. It’s just a massive ball ache.

Probably worth trying more ram as it is cheap, but you will be limited by your motherboard. Cruicial will tell you how much yours can accept.

Get the maximum amount of RAM your PC will support, but first download Microsoft Defender from the MS website – free download. Go to “software explorer” and select “startup programs”. Check all but essential start up programs then reboot. This will shorten the boot time significantly and keep RAM use to a minimum.

I used to run my old P4 1.7G on 512 RAM and it would boot windows in about 20 seconds.

More RAM will not help you.

It just needs cleaning up (best clean obviously being format).

I forgot to mention http://www.ccleaner.com. Another free download. This will clear out all the temp files and cache etc. There’s also a registry cleaner. Definitely need to run this.

Get the maximum amount of RAM your PC will support, but first download Microsoft Defender from the MS website – free download. Go to “software explorer” and select “startup programs”. Check all but essential start up programs then reboot. This will shorten the boot time significantly and keep RAM use to a minimum.

You can just type “msconfig” in the run box to do this – no need to download anything

My PC was running SO slowly a while ago, the hard drive was virtually full so there was no reserve space and it had a tiny amount of RAM.
Fitted a new hard drive, cleaned out the original one, added as much RAM as the system would cope with (www.crucial.com will tell you all the info re what type/how much RAM you need). Then wiped all the applications that were slowing it down on boot-up, defragged the whole lot and it works much faster now. It’s still too old to run a lot of stuff well but I’ve just got a new laptop for so I can cope with this one being a bit decrepit.

I rebuilt an old pc for media pc use using old parts advertised here (thansk folks).

XP2600 Barton 2Ghz
2 gig ram (windows xp)
x8 agp gfx card 9550 bios as 9600 pro (Same board and chip)
Other stuff I can’t remember!
Old M board.

Anyway it works fine for movies (Hi def 720 its fine but struggles for 1080i blue ray etc can hesitate a fraction)

I’ve noticed the security stuff has slowed it down but it’s worth it. New security stuff is less intensive-even Norton jumped on the band wagon…

A friend had 256mg and 3gz processor so we just stuck in 2gb of ram and it’s stopped crashing and surfs/office etc fine. Plays movies etc.

It does the best it can do now but even that is limited to the gfx and cpu being old.

Also old hard drives can slow down if the bearings are going-check for loud noises.-No rattles-then it should be ok.

Using a dual core processor-sure I noticed a difference when multi tasking but not that much and I don’t play games on pc or engineering programmes except video editing that can use dual+ cores fly and on my old media unit takes ages-so I don’t use it for that.

My laptop is a better spec that my media pc lol.

Besides wait for USB 3 to come out later this year and the Jan multi cores to come down a bit.

As above-crucial scanner.

I have a mac too-but I won’t be the one that says buy that! lol.

£20 upgrade is a bargain to get more life from your pc then next year windows 7 and usb3 and cheaper quad cores-build a new pc if you need it.

Hey uplink, do you want to post user instructions for the method needed to disable startup programmes using the DOS command window?

If not, Windows Defender has a nice easy to understand user interface and also adds a layer of security protection to your PC.

How do you know which processes can be stopped/deleted etc, there seems to be dozens running on mine and I have no idea what they are?

More ram will help but it’s diminishing returns. Going from say 2 to 4 won’t make a lot of difference but from 0.5 to 2 will transform it. 0.5 just isn’t enough these days.

How do you know which processes can be stopped/deleted etc, there seems to be dozens running on mine and I have no idea what they are?

You can search online but the best way to do it is with msconfig as that’ll give you more info as to what the programs actually are. You can also use the administrative tools to turn off services you don’t need. There are loads of articles online telling you how to do this, along with comprehensive lists of what all the services are. If you are unsure of what a startup option does or a service, just google its name.

Hey uplink, do you want to post user instructions for the method needed to disable startup programmes using the DOS command window?

Start > Run
Type msconfig
Select the start up tab > uncheck what you don’t want to run at start up
Click apply & close the box
You have to confirm it when you next start your PC too

Okay, so RAM first and then ditch the unnecessary services.

I am guessing that this is the RAM. It is marked up as 512MB DDR RAM. Do I just replace the entire thing or do I add to it? Does it have to be DDR or is there newer faster stuff?

Here is the slot it goes in in case that make a difference. There are two long green slots and it was in the left one.

How do you know which processes can be stopped/deleted etc, there seems to be dozens running on mine and I have no idea what they are?

Winpatrol

Best utility I ever bought

Just ran the Crucial check and the max I can get is 2GB of DDR apparently.

Thanks for the help so far

WCA do yourself a favour and put the RAM back in and read my post above.

512MB is not a lot for Windows, so 2GB _and_ a cleanup is the best bet, as the host will be swapping like crazy with that little RAM in it, and thrashing the disk.

OK put 2G in and then come back and ask why it’s no different 😛

Thanks uplink!

bit OT: hey richc, ive noticed my computer running STUUUUPIDLY slowly recently, and i run AVG, i will try what you suggest!
ta!

WCA do yourself a favour and put the RAM back in and read my post above.

I’d guess the fact he’s posting on here he has put the ram back.

BlinbBling – Today I have run CCleaner, I have run defrag, I have run MS defender. These have improved things. I do follow advice. Memory seems a cheap extra option to try if it is about £20 for 2GB.

Remember DDR and DDR2 do nt work in the same board (not yours anyway) so get the right type.

Also the speed of the RAM is limited by the mobo chipset.
My guess is your is DDR400 (PC3200).
If the RAM is too fast it will just run at the max speed the chipset will allow and not cause any problems.

play or amazon normally have offers on kaspersky, so for £15 a year its well worth a look.

How much space is left on the HD? This can also cripple computers.