My old dell is very slow.

nosmo-king

My old dell desktop is very slow over the past good while. Computer is really only used for internet.
Is there anything free and easy I can do to speed it up.
I have done virus check and defrag.
It can take 4/5 minutes to start up.
Any ideas please and keep it Easy.

Thanks n adv.

biko

Download CCleaner, it'll clean out some not needed stuff.
Look at the startup folder, does it contain lots of programs you don't need?

EKRIUQ

May need some more ram or a complete reinstall, a lot of computers do after a while and it's not a bad thing as long you have things backed up.

For the start up problems

Go to start--> Run --> Type msconfig

Then click on the startup tab and untick the programs you don't need on startup

nosmo-king

Magnus wrote: »

Download CCleaner, it'll clean out some not needed stuff.
Look at the startup folder, does it contain lots of programs you don't need?

I downloaded ccleaner. Found 1250 problems.(is that a lot)
In order for system to be cleaned up I have been asked to register. Is it ok to do this . What does that mean/involve.

Tks

gamer

download privacy mantra FREE program ,set it settiings,options,.tick all boxs,apart from cookies and REGISTRY, does the same as cc cleaner ,deletes all old files,fragments,temp files,ccleaner doesnt find problems, it find s old temp files.untick clean registry.there s no need to register 4 ccleaner,like privacy mantra, do full scan ,it, says clean, which means delete,all old files,temp files.DO NOT Clean the registry,too risky,coud stop windows loading.untick box,fix registry,clean registry. You need at least 3gig free on the hardrive,for winxp,otherwise it gets slow,you could aways put more RAM , memory in the pc,winxp uses 3gig max.RAM memory.1250 old files is average,.RAM 2gig is now very cheap .

Cuddlesworth

gamer wrote: »

download privacy mantra FREE program ,set it settiings,options,.tick all boxs,apart from cookies and REGISTRY, does the same as cc cleaner ,deletes all old files,fragments,temp files,ccleaner doesnt find problems, it find s old temp files.untick clean registry.there s no need to register 4 ccleaner,like privacy mantra, do full scan ,it, says clean, which means delete,all old files,temp files.DO NOT Clean the registry,too risky,coud stop windows loading.untick box,fix registry,clean registry.You need at east 3gig free on the hardrive,for winxp,otherwise it gets slow,you could aways put more RAM , memory in the pc,winxp uses 3gig max.RAM memory.1250 old files is average,.RAM 2gig is now very cheap .

Nearly two thousand post and not one paragraph. That's some good going.

zilog_jones

nosmo-king wrote: »

I downloaded ccleaner. Found 1250 problems.(is that a lot)
In order for system to be cleaned up I have been asked to register. Is it ok to do this . What does that mean/involve.

Tks

Where did you download that from? CCleaner should not ask for registration as it is free software - I have used it many times!

MunsterCycling

Maybe they are getting the back up the registry prompt?

MC

Capt'n Midnight

How old is the old dell, only asking because Moore's law suggests a ten year old PC will have 1% of the processing power of a new one.

If running windows wiping and reinstalling will usually speed up. But you have to back uop your data and reinstall all your apps and shortcuts and tweaks so maybe you will save enough time on the faster pc to recoup the time spent installing.

biko

Use CCleaner and Spybot to get rid of rubbish, this alone should speed up things a bit.

nosmo-king

EKRIUQ wrote: »

May need some more ram or a complete reinstall, a lot of computers do after a while and it's not a bad thing as long you have things backed up.

For the start up problems

Go to start--> Run --> Type msconfig

Then click on the startup tab and untick the programs you don't need on startup

There are lots of things in there. What are the necessary items to leave.
ps should have said on origional posting ..bit of a novice here..

Tks for help.

nosmo-king

Magnus wrote: »

Use CCleaner and Spybot to get rid of rubbish, this alone should speed up things a bit.

I downloaded spybot but how do I now uninstal it.
Tks

nosmo-king

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

How old is the old dell, only asking because Moore's law suggests a ten year old PC will have 1% of the processing power of a new one.

If running windows wiping and reinstalling will usually speed up. But you have to back uop your data and reinstall all your apps and shortcuts and tweaks so maybe you will save enough time on the faster pc to recoup the time spent installing.

My old dell is about 8.
Tks

nosmo-king

gamer wrote: »

download privacy mantra FREE program ,set it settiings,options,.tick all boxs,apart from cookies and REGISTRY, does the same as cc cleaner ,deletes all old files,fragments,temp files,ccleaner doesnt find problems, it find s old temp files.untick clean registry.there s no need to register 4 ccleaner,like privacy mantra, do full scan ,it, says clean, which means delete,all old files,temp files.DO NOT Clean the registry,too risky,coud stop windows loading.untick box,fix registry,clean registry. You need at least 3gig free on the hardrive,for winxp,otherwise it gets slow,you could aways put more RAM , memory in the pc,winxp uses 3gig max.RAM memory.1250 old files is average,.RAM 2gig is now very cheap .

I have done that but start up speed is the same.
Tks for try.

MunsterCycling

Did ccleaner work for you, the default setting is to ask for you to backup your registry that's prob what it asked you about earlier. How much RAM do you have installed?

MC

Pat Mustard

Are you using Anti Virus software? Lots of AV use a lot of processor speed, slowing down older computers.

nosmo-king

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Did ccleaner work for you, the default setting is to ask for you to backup your registry that's prob what it asked you about earlier. How much RAM do you have installed?

MC

There is 256mb of Ram. ( I have no idea what that means, my L plates are on.)

nosmo-king

The Mustard wrote: »

Are you using Anti Virus software? Lots of AV use a lot of processor speed, slowing down older computers.

Super antispy and avg are installed.

PogMoThoin

nosmo-king wrote: »

There is 256mb of Ram. ( I have no idea what that means, my L plates are on.)

There's ur problem, 256MB ram just doesn't cut it today, its barely enough for XP to tick over smoothly. No amount of scanning, cleaning or deleting will fix this

MunsterCycling

What is the make and model number?
256MB is a bit too low in this day and age if you could double that to 512MB you should see a huge improvement.

MC

O'Coonassa

Fdisk, format & reinstall Windows and it'll be as fast as the day you got it.

MunsterCycling

O'Coonassa wrote: »

Fdisk, format & reinstall Windows and it'll be as fast as the day you got it.

And you expect them to be able to do this let alone know what you mean?

nosmo-king wrote:

There is 256mb of Ram. ( I have no idea what that means, my L plates are on.)

O'Coonassa

MunsterCycling wrote: »

And you expect them to be able to do this let alone know what you mean?

It's hardly rocket science is it now? About as complicated as making a cup of coffee. If the OP wants step by step instructions to print out and follow they're on the Dell support website and umpteen other tech support websites.

bushy...

You could try the following it might suit , if you don't like it , just remove the cdrom disc and reboot and you pc will be back to the way it was



Download this :

ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/puppylinux/puppy-4.2-k2.6.25.16-seamonkey.iso

and use this to burn it onto a blank cdrom

http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

Get a friend to do it if your pc doesn't have a cdburner.


When the disk is made , just put it in the cd drive and reboot your pc .

If it starts back into windows again , you will need to tell your pc you want it to boot from the info on the CDrom you just made.

MunsterCycling

Nice suggestion bushy, I was thinking of Puppy Linux too.

MC

EKRIUQ

MunsterCycling wrote: »

Nice suggestion bushy, I was thinking of Puppy Linux too.

MC

I was playing with this all last weekend with a old laptop as well. Great little operating system very basic and fast. Its perfect if it's just the net email and a few basic programs you need.

Worked fine on an Ethernet and Wifi on a more modern laptop but couldn't get it configured for dial up(Won't recognize the modem).

But worth a try if the OP can figure out the download and install.

nosmo-king

nosmo-king wrote: »

I downloaded spybot but how do I now uninstal it.
Tks

Do you have any ideas.
Tks

ch750536

Add/remove does the job for me, assume you must mean you have no entry for it there?

nosmo-king

ch750536 wrote: »

Add/remove does the job for me, assume you must mean you have no entry for it there?

Found it. Uninstalled. All well
Tks

Pat Mustard

Have you considered uninstalling AVG and installing Avast instead (also free)?

Avast should use less processing speed.

nosmo-king

I didnt know about it. Does it do the same job.
Should I instal new first and then uninstal old.