SillyDog701

[Antony]

ok, i sorta get ya. Say hypothedically if i kept alot of that stuff enabled, with my athlon 1.92 GHz processer, would an uprage from 512 MB to 1.0 GB be a fair investment, in your opinion?

For speeding up your computer? In my opinion, No. Unless you use some heavy weight applications, such as Photoshop, video edition, or very huge and complicated document editing.

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[Mandrake]

Windows can use the extra ram for it's file cache. But, in reality, 512mb is enough for most people unless you play games or uses apps like Photoshop.

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[keith]

Oh ok thanks. I have a friend whos computer is sorta slow starting up. I think shes got a couple bigger programs that load at start up, would more ram quicken that up any?

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[Antony]

Oh ok thanks. I have a friend whos computer is sorta slow starting up. I think shes got a couple bigger programs that load at start up, would more ram quicken that up any?

No. Usually, if you have more RAM, the starting up would be longer.

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[keith]

ohhh, haha ok thanks

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[wvachris]

YES, YES , YES,,

one simple reason, if you think about RAM and what it does,,Ram takes information from the HDD, before it goes to the Processor,,Well, Windows is suppose to do Multi tasking.. well, The less Ram you have,, The less Multi tasking you will be able to do with it,, cause if your RAM is Small in amount,, and your multi tasking..(we all do it) You will(WILL) run out of RAM.. when you run out of RAM.. it starts taking information from the HDD,, when it does that, it will slow your machine down(cause your HDD is slower than your RAM..and if you use large Programs your going to run out faster, and if you use a large program and a smaller program and so on so yes RAM is important.. (GET MORE RAM) it will help.. get the right RAM though...

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[wvachris]

start up depends alot on what you have loading at start up.. and also what test you are having you computer running at start up.. if you have the system checking the RAM at start up it will slow the pc down,, there are settings in BIOS you can disable that will speed up start up.. and there are services you can disable from the admin controls to speed up start up.. so will adding RAM slow your computer down.. Not the RAM itself.. only if you dont diable test setting in BIOS

(even with that you have to ask your self,, slow start up or benefits from RAM while trying to use your computer)

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[ace]

Go to start, all programs, accessories System tools, Disk Dleanup and do Disk Defragmenter.

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[Norman1]

I don't know what are you talking about.And I think this website is not good.

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[rcmichelle]

There are three main reasons that computer slows down: registry errors, spyware and adware, viruses. Actually, however, according to the statistics, 90% of computer problems are caused by computer registry, so it is important to constantly clean up your computer registry to ensure that your computer runs in a good condition. Now there are two good software on the Internet: Tuneup360 and Norton systemwork, but the latter one is a little bit difficult. For the beginners, Tuneup360 is a good choice.

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[Fulvio]

I have hardly anything on this flaming computer, actually I have 67% free, but my system resource is only 6 %, it is very low and some programs may not run. Lovely. I closed my email window and now I have 8% system resources. I have Netscape running, real player icon, Zone Alarm and McAfee in systray.
I was just told in IE POGO that I didn't have enough memory.
That I only have 3 MB
This is the only window I have open.

Lorraine, you have Win 98, or a close relative. And, probably a miserable amount of RAM. When I used Win 98, I had to shut down almost everything.

That I only have 3 MB

Of what? MB of RAM left?

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[sweetemo22jd]

First of all, I want to say Thank You for your helpful post on how to speed up Windows XP. I am currently using Windows XP as my operating system and your post was indeed very helpful. I hope that this also help other computer users who want to improve the performance of their computers. Anyway, I want to share that you can also speed up your computer by clearing out your registry. You can get a registry cleaner and remove the files that cause your computer to slow down.

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[James]

Anyway, I want to share that you can also speed up your computer by clearing out your registry. You can get a registry cleaner and remove the files that cause your computer to slow down.

I'm sorry but in truth... "clearing out the registry" seldom "speeds up" one's computer. Instead it puts your computer at risk. Going into the registry, particularly with a so-called registry cleaner program, is a fool-hearty thing to do by the uninitiated. Unless you have the ability to clean out redundant and orphan files yourself manually, you definitely should stay out of the registry. Furthermore, it's been shown time and again that any increase in speed is negligible when these files are cleaned.

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[Mandrake]

If anyone is interested in speeding up their PC these days, then there are two simple upgrades that are the best way to do so. The first is a simple RAM upgrade - 4GB or even 8GB can be had for a pittance these days. An even better upgrade is to pop an SSD into your computer. I had a pair of 74GB 10,000RPM Western Digital Raptor hard drives in a RAID0 array, and a single OCZ Vertex II SSD blows them both away. Any application just opens instantly. It's fantastic.

Simple and effective upgrades that will produce real results. Mucking around with registry cleaners won't do a thing to improve performance.

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[PaulD]

Observation on RAM: in 32-bit XP, the system cannot user more than approx. 3.2G. Anything installed over that is a waste. The numbers for Vista and Windows 7 are a little different, but the same limitation applies.
Do a search for [ windows max ram ]. Some 32-bit computers can have more installed, but it can't be used.

To use more than 4G the architecture must be 64-bit.

There are three variable that affect 'speed': processor speed, amount of memory (RAM), input/output rate.
Mandrake's preceding observation on SSD touches the I/O rate.

Since, for 32-bit systems, RAM may be a constraint, one wants to reduce as much as possible the occupation of memory by 'unproductive' programs. That is, 'things' that don't contribute to 'what I am trying to do right now'. Windows, and vendors' products, all tend to load up memory with these 'helpful' services.

As Mandrake recommended in his 06 Jan 2004 post, an excellent tuning reference is Black VIper.
Specifically, for XP SP3, here.

Also see this article for more information on memory.

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