usaweapon777 Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 well i have a friend who wants me to speed up there old computer. Its a dell running xp sp2, 256mb ddr ram, single core celeron @ 2.6. I've built some pc's now and upgraded parts but i'm not sure how to really speed this old one up. At first i thought there would be a lot of junk on it but suprisingly its pretty clean. There aren't any programs hogging cpu performance in the backround but its still slow to respond. I went to do a harddrive defrag and windows said it didn't need one. I figured i'd get him 2 sticks of 512 ram to help, since to me 256 seems ridicoulously low. Do you guys think i need to do a clean os install or do i just need to add the ram, or both? any advice appreciated Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 Add the RAM and see if it helps. You're right, 256 is too low for XP. Also, go here and use the guide to disable unneeded services. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Verran Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 You don't NEED to do either of those things, but both of them would really help. Formatting can have a tremendous affect on performance on installs that have been in use for several years. As I say, I really do believe Windows incorporates "planned obsolescence". Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munkypoo7 Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 Maybe installing a Linux Distro would be a good option, and heck its free, although I'm not really a fan of linux, it is fast... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fight Game Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 since it was surprising clean, I wouldn't worry about a clean install. Did you run some cleaner program(s) to confirm this? yes, 256mb is really low. make sure the motherboard will accept the 512mb sticks. You can also download a free defragmenter, with an older system this might help, especially considering there isn't one installed it probably needs it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
usaweapon777 Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 thanks for all the quick responses guys... next time i'm over i'll try out the 512 sticks, and bring a disk defragmenter on my flash drive. i'd do a fresh install but i'm not sure they even have the oem disks anymore, and i've yet to order myself a harddrive to back up anything. but i think the ram and defrag will help a lot, if not i'll be back lol Thanks again. p.s linux is cool but my friend is completely computer illiterate considering he thought you unistalled programs by dropping the icon in the recycle bin. lol Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardnrg Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 i'd do a fresh install but i'm not sure they even have the oem disks anymore Google: Windows key finder or something along those lines... you can find the serial for the current install of Windows... then just borrow the same edition (Home or Professional) of XP, and reinstall I find using a fast (or secondary) hard drive, and setting a large fixed size pagefile, helps performance of low-RAM systems running Windows (I do it regardless of the amount of RAM though, and recommend it) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 Pardon the slight hijack, but for Steve: does the pagefile tweak yield results if you've already got plenty of RAM? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fight Game Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 The more ram you have, the less of a difference it will probably make. It depends on how fast the hard drive is that your os is on, and also how fast the hard drive is that you put your pagefile on. Assuming they are about the same speed, it *should* help. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkrow21 Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 (edited) 256mb RAM is ridiculously low? My 128MB RAM machine with a 900MHZ Pentium II ran XP fine, along with Counter-Strike. Edited June 12, 2009 by tkrow21 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fight Game Posted June 12, 2009 Posted June 12, 2009 ok, I misunderstood the op. I thought you said there was no defragment program installed. What do you mean, it says it doesn't need one? It should run the program, whether it think it needs it or not! The hard drive isn't nearly full is it? There is enough space for the pagefile, right? Is it slow to respond to anything at all? Or only certain times or doing certain things? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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