How to speed up my computer???

B

blando3

Well-known member
I have a Dell PC with dual processors, 4 gigs of RAM, 7200 RPM hard drive, etc.
However, it is now a few years old and operates noticeably slower than when it was new. Fore example, it can't smoothly play an uncompressed Quicktime movie.
Is there anything to do about this?
What about running software such as System Mechanic?
What about wiping the hard drive and starting over?
Thanks,
Andrew
 
Formatting is always a good idea. Do you regularly run spyware and adware cleansing programs? Regular virus checks? If you don't want to reformat for fear of losing certain things (regardless of backing up), you can also defrag your drive. That should be done every once in a while anyway to keep everything organized on your drive.

System Mechanic is good, but in my experience its more of a last resort and not a very good one at that.

-Kegan
 
I'd buy an external drive, backup every file and program you need, reformat and go through the installation process for everything again. That should get rid of all the extra junk slowing down your computer.
 
HBlack said:
I'd buy an external drive, backup every file and program you need, reformat and go through the installation process for everything again. That should get rid of all the extra junk slowing down your computer.
Click to expand...

I agree with that. Open up Task manager and see what programs and tasks are running that shouldn't be. Then goto Start > Run and type in MSCONFIG then goto the last tab and you will see a list of all the programs that start when you boot up. Deselect which ones you dont want to start up, probably will me most junk stuff.

Cheers,
Nathaniel
 
It sounds like you have enough RAM, so that's probably not an issue. How's your hard drive space? Some of the newer virus suites will really slow an older machine down as well. Too many spyware/adware blockers/scanners can slow you down too , everything adds up. If your system tray (all those icons by the clock) goes halfway across your screen, you'll need to uninstall some stuff. A lot of people like the msconfig route, but that can't always disable the more malicious programs. You may need to rebuild (format and reinstall) your machine. To keep it clean in the future, the are a couple good methods. If you browse a lot (and therefore pickup nasties that way) you might want to consider doing it inside a virtual machine. The best preventative measure is diligence.

http://www.answersthatwork.com/ has a "task list" that will help you figure out what the things in your task list are.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130869/article.html has a comparison of antivirus software and has some metrics on price, performance, and system slowdown.
 
All good suggestions. Do you get online with this machine? PCs are pretty vulnerable to spyware and data miners, whcih can be a nightmare to get rid of. If this is your edit machine I would take it offline and only get back on for necessary updates. I use a completely different machine for editing and that's all it is for. Even though i switched to a mac and they are less vulnerable to that crap, I am paranoid about it.

But it really could just be a maintenance issue. You should defrag and check for errors at least monthly.

My wife's PC starts with about 25 apps or so and runs like molasses. So I would look there as well.

And if, as suggested by HBlack, you have your files on a separate drive, reloading your OS and apps isn't that big of a deal for a clean machine.
 
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