Advice on OS/Setup

Adam

Hi guys,

I'm looking for advice on the best way to utilise my Compaq Presario, 1.3GHz 256MB RAM, 40Gig HD, DVD-RW etc.

Its currently running XP Home SP2 and all I really use it for is web browsing, music listening, downloading and a bit of html/php programming now and again.

The annoyance is it can be dog slow a lot of the time, boot up takes a good 5 mins to get everything running and idle, ready for program requests etc.

So my question to ye is what is the best rememdy? A different OS? What should I be able to expect? Obviously I'm not looking for it to fly like my 3.02GHz 1Gig RAM desktop, but something better than what I'm getting would be nice!

Open to any and all suggestions, thanks guys!

PogMoThoin

Get more ram.
A lot of progs launch at startup, like itunes, quicktime, windows messenger. disable this in their settings. Anything in the tray at the bottom right of your screen is started.
What Av prog you using? Northon & McAfee are complete hogs on resourses and slow down startup also. Consider changing to better progs. I'll advise later if this is the case.

Cuddlesworth

Linux?

tman

add another 256MB ram at the very least, and then wipe it and reinstall XP. (depending on how old your current install is)
could always try installing 2K instead if buying more ram is out of the question
or install a seriously stripped down copy of XP (i'm not going to name any names here...)

Adam

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I've disabled most things on start up, except graphics (obviously) and AV(symantec btw).

More ram isn't really an option at the moment, though I may further down the line. How much for a stick of 256MB these days for the lappie?

@tman

How's that now?? Stripped down copy?

And I thought about 2k, are there any issues to consider? Where are the major differences?

@krazy_8s

Also thought about linux, but I really dont feel like programming the whole OS for compatibility! I know for a start that there aren't any linux drivers for my belkin wireless card, which I need.

Ruu_Old

Norton AV is it, if so thats one of the biggest resource hogs? Chuck it in the bin and get one of the free AV scanners available. Avast!, Anti-Vir or AVG will do nicely. Whats the model number of the Presario and can find what type and the maximum RAM the mobo can handle.

Adam

Ok guys, I just installed a new OS under tman's guidance.

I have a few problems though, in System->Device Manager I cant get the drivers for the following:

IEEE 1394 Controller
Multimedia Audio Controller
PCI Modem
PCI to Cardbus Bridge(PCMCIA driver? cant install my wireless belkin card...)
Video Controller
Video Controller (VGA Compatible)

Anybody got any ideas on where to go? Everything seems satidfactory really bar the lack of wireless card...

EDIT: Its a Compaq Presario M2000

irlrobins

You need to install chipset drivers. Prob from intel. Look on the support website for them, or download from intel.com.

Karoma

As above.

For more detailed info on your machine, have a look on http://www.pcservicecall.co.uk - Desktops -> System Information. (If they have your model)

Anti

me thinks you work for pc world.

Or maybe you have owned a pc from pc world before.

hmmm

/me scratchs chin

Karoma

Nope. Just a handy resource for information (For system config's, and BIOS screens, etc.).

Adam

EDIT: Sorry, I thought anti was referring to me not knowing what I was on about! Apologies!

Karoma

fade_to_grey wrote:

Methinks you need to grow up and stop stereotyping just because a user may not be as knowledgable as you.

?

ED: anti's post was directed at me, fade_to_grey, not you. PC Servicecall do out-of-warranty repairs/technical support for PC World(And Dixons, and Currys) machines.

Blazer

fade_to_grey wrote:

Ok guys, I just installed a new OS under tman's guidance.

I have a few problems though, in System->Device Manager I cant get the drivers for the following:

IEEE 1394 Controller
Multimedia Audio Controller
PCI Modem
PCI to Cardbus Bridge(PCMCIA driver? cant install my wireless belkin card...)
Video Controller
Video Controller (VGA Compatible)

Anybody got any ideas on where to go? Everything seems satidfactory really bar the lack of wireless card...

EDIT: Its a Compaq Presario M2000

for the sake of €100 for a gig of ram it's a lot of hassle..xp was designed to run on minimum spec of 512mb but ms caved in to the oem's as memory was expensive compared to now..the thing is they're still doing it to this very day...anyone who's tried the beta of vista will know that 1gig won't leave you much ram left for apps afterwards..it's pretty memory intensive, same as when xp came out..

Adam

Ok not to worry, I found my (dusty) Driver & Apps restore CD, got it sorted! Thanks guys!

EDIT: Actually, not quite, my CD doesnt seem to contain the 1394 Controller driver, or the cardbus driver. Can't seem to track them down on teh interweb Anybody know where I might get these?

aidan_walsh

fade_to_grey wrote:

Anybody know where I might get these?

Either from the manufacturer's site, or DriverGuide?

Adam

I tried driverguide, I gt this file: IEEE 802.11g PCI cardbus adapter - Texas Intstruments

Which I'm pretty sure is correct, as when I try to install the drivers from the recovery cd it registers as Texas Instruments PCIxx21/xx515 Controller...

But directing the driver update to that downloaded file didn't work...

Ruu_Old

IEEE 802.11g PCI cardbus adapter would be a wireless network card. Windows XP should really supply a generic driver for that firewire (IEEE 1394) card.

Adam

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Not worried about the firewire tbh, never use it anyway! But for the life of me I cant get the PCMCIA adapter to work!

I've searched three different XP installation disks too and nothing!

That is really odd. Windows should use a generic driver for 1394 and CardBus. Maybe try to install the generic driver by selecting it from a list?

Adam

Its slightly less of XP than usual so no generic drivers...

If you've a real XP CD, not a QuickRestore disc, then you can expand the pcmcia.inf file off it and use that to install the driver.

To do that, open the CD drive in My Computer, open the i386 folder and copy the file called "pcmcia.in_" to your hard disk. Rename it to pcmcia.cab. Now double-click it and save the file inside it to c:\windows\inf. Now you should be able to install it.

Adam

Ah you legend, that's the ticket!

zilog_jones

Also, check out the HP site, and go to "Software & Driver Downloads" on that and put in your laptop's model number - there'll be much newer/better drivers there than what's on the CD that came with it, and there should be everything you'll need there. I've had to re-install many a Compaq/HP PC in the last few months, and have always found the right drivers there.