well my cousins comp is really slow and i was just wondering how i could make it faster

 

without buying anything for it

 

 

 

it's pentium 4

 

2.4 ghz

 

256 ram

 

windows xp

 

64mb display card

 

 

 

i've closed all background programs and it's still very slow

Disk Cleanup, Defrag.

Disabling superfluous startup programs like instant messaging programs and the like can improve load times. Cleaning out the machine, and keeping it generally clear of dust can also reduce thermals, which will improve heat and system stability.

Open the side panel, get a vacuum cleaner and gently remove all the dust, especially from the heatsink.

yeah i should have mentioned i have done disk cleanup and disk defrag and stopped all those windows messanger programs and stuff at start up

Beyond that there isn't any magical program which will make your computer run faster, especially on such an outdated machine. The easiest upgrade would be the ram (256mb is painfully low even for xp) although if it's a DDR motherboard and not DDR2 the RAM will be more expensive.

 

 

 

 

 

The only thing I could see him doing is moving to a lightweight linux distro.

well the thing is this computer used to be relatively fast it's slow to run mozilla and messanger at the same time and takes like 10 minutes to start the comp

well the thing is this computer used to be relatively fast it's slow to run mozilla and messanger at the same time and takes like 10 minutes to start the comp

 

if he/she doesnt store anything important on it, or has some way to backup his/her stuff, and the machine is a pre built it probably will have a recovery partion or disc. you could use it to restore windows to factory condition, which will almost certainly improve speed, but by how much depends what hes/shes been using it for and what programs he/she has installed over time.

 

 

 

if its a ddr2 mobo, i would certainly upgrade the ram. i just looked on ebay and found a stick of 256mb ddr2 for 5 bucks (aus). (enough to double the ram). ddr2 is cheap as chips and its stupid to be still using 256mb if you have ddr2.

 

if its ddr then i wouldn't bother. a decent 1gb ddr stick cost me $100. considering the rest of the pcs specs i wouldn't be spending anymore than $50 or so on it.

 

 

 

otherwise theres probably not much you can do. you didnt specify exactly what model video card it has, but seeing its only 64mb i wouldnt imagine it would be very high powered. you can only improve the rest so far untill you have to start finding old video cards that fit the old mobo.

CCleaner may speed it up a bit, though the RAM will be a real bottleneck. My dad's computer has the same specs that you listed and still takes about 3 minutes to boot after I removed a lot of unwanted things from it. The main problems I found were things like internet browsers (Firefox will easy use more than 100Mb of memory), and Antivirus.

256mb of RAM? That's is painfully bad for XP :wall: Before you do anything, you'd have to get more RAM.

Add a 512 or 1gb stick of ram, it would improve performance massively.

 

Install and run the following programs.

 

CCleaner (untick the unused file extensions box on the registry function.

 

Auslogics Disk Defrag (runs about 5 times faster then the windows one)

 

Auslogics Registry Defrag

 

Mike Lins Start-up panel (Disable any non essential programs, eg java update scheduler, msn, google update)

 

 

 

Depending on the usage of the PC in question it might be worth running a few ad/mal/spyware scans to see if there's anything extra adding to the issue.

 

 

 

If theres not printer attached and they don't plan on using a printer then disable the spooler service.

10 minutes to start up? I've got an eleven year old laptop (256 mb RAM, 366mhz processor, no graphics RAM) running on Linux that boots in half that time. If your cousin doesn't use games or anything Windows only I would say move to Ubuntu.

 

 

 

Which sounds pretty short until you realize that half of 10 minutes isn't that snappy either.

ok thanks for the help, i think it is the ram that has 1 cutout near the pins i don't wanna open it up and fool around with [cabbage] that can make it lose data as there is a fair few photos on here was just wondering if there is programs like the ones listed above to help clean it up a bit i know that 256m ram isnt much but i also know that it is sufficient to run basic stuff like messenger and a browser

 

i will test those programs later on and if worst comes to worse ill have a look in cashies or at a pc store for some cheap ram

An easy way to find out the type of ram is this site. The ram isn't too badly priced neither and it was free delivery last time I checked.

all that ram scan did was open up the black command prompt looking screen for about half a second and that was it

Add a 512 or 1gb stick of ram, it would improve performance massively.

 

Install and run the following programs.

 

CCleaner (untick the unused file extensions box on the registry function.

 

Auslogics Disk Defrag (runs about 5 times faster then the windows one)

 

Auslogics Registry Defrag

 

Mike Lins Start-up panel (Disable any non essential programs, eg java update scheduler, msn, google update)

 

 

 

Depending on the usage of the PC in question it might be worth running a few ad/mal/spyware scans to see if there's anything extra adding to the issue.

 

 

 

If theres not printer attached and they don't plan on using a printer then disable the spooler service.

 

 

 

Perfect list but I also like to use Glary Utilities but it's not as user friendly as the others.

 

 

 

Have you scanned for viruses and spyware lately? Use a lightweight virus scanner like Avira Free.

yes ihave done several scans, that was the major problem as there was 1500 virus/spyware

yes ihave done several scans, that was the major problem as there was 1500 virus/spyware

 

im guessing most were just tracking cookies or something, i dont think ive racked up 1500 viruses and serious spyware in my life.

 

 

 

ok thanks for the help, i think it is the ram that has 1 cutout near the pins i don't wanna open it up and fool around with [cabbage] that can make it lose data as there is a fair few photos on here was just wondering if there is programs like the ones listed above to help clean it up a bit i know that 256m ram isnt much but i also know that it is sufficient to run basic stuff like messenger and a browser

 

i will test those programs later on and if worst comes to worse ill have a look in cashies or at a pc store for some cheap ram

 

This might be helpful identifying the ram. it might even have the type listed on the actual stick (one of the stickers).

 

if its to hard to see in the computer, don't be afraid to take a stick out. make sure your touching the metal case of the computer at all times though with one hand, and use the other to unhook the clips (to prevent any possible static). ones you have it unhooked put one finger on one end of the silicon board, and the other on the other end and pull it out gently (dont touch the little chip thingys on the board, especially the pins on them. and dont touch any of the metal contacts where the stick plugs in). once its out don't do anything stupid like rub it along the carpet (no one would anyway) or anything else that could generate static.

 

if worst comes to worst and you do manage to destroy it, dont stress out because none of the photos or anything are stored on there.

yeah thanks um i know basic stuff of installing and removing stuff like that but coz this isn't my comp i don't wanna be stuffing around with the organs of the computer

yes ihave done several scans, that was the major problem as there was 1500 virus/spyware

 

 

 

What scanners are you using? I'm thinking they all didn't fully remove and you still have some left.