upgraded pc to 4gb ram...but still slow???

crxsi09

I have a dell Dimension c521 which had 512mb ram. i now put in 4gb ram and it runs better, but it should be a lot faster.. It seems to me it needs to be dropped into a place to get wiped etc..but is there anything i can do myself..
I still get the blue screen of death when i put a disc in and have to reboot, the pc seems to still run sluggish and occasionally when im on the internet the pc will freeze and i have to reset.
Any ideas or anything i can do to help?

Thanks

Jonny7

Go to download.com

search for windows care

get the latest version - the free version

install it, then start to clean all the accumulated junk from your PC

It will defrag your harddrive, your registry, clean up a certain amount of spyware, get rid of junk files, it will just speed up and optimise your PC.

Check your harddrive space as well, if your PC is too full then it will go slow.

99% of the time a PC slows up is because of too much spyware and crap building up on the PC. Regular cleaning/defragging goes a long way.

If the above does not work, then try a full resintall of your operating system.

If that still does not work, then as a last resort maybe upgrade is needed - although 4 gig ram should be more than enough even with the oldish c521 processors.

Jonny7

wont let me edit in work

ps - for the cdrom bluescreen problem - just defrag, clean the pc up first, get all the spyware etc off it, then after you've done all that try to tackle the cdrom problem

An operating system reinstall might be needed for that

There are plenty of options

Fanny Cradock

A full format and fresh install might be your best option. I find that even with careful maintenance (defrags, spyware checks, reg cleaning etc) over time the system will collect crap that will negatively impact the performance. A yearly format is a good idea, IMO - especially if your get the BSOD

Hank Scorpio

If your running a 32 bit OS (which i assume you are) chances are its only detecting 3-3.25 GB of memory. You need a 64-bit OS to use 4 and upwards.

I`d recommend backing up user files and doing a fresh installation of xp

cherryghost

Have you too many programs starting up on boot? That's also a common issue that can be solved almost effortlessly

crxsi09

hi guys, i downloaded Advanced SystemCare Free and ran it. It found a few thousand things and fixed them.. It seems to have speeded up the pc alright and the blue screen is gone. Can now play dvd's again.

Cherryghost---- I have quite a few programmes on the task bar down near the time that are always open/running. ranging from media players to control pad software. About 5 in total. I dont really use any of them.It would be great to remove them from starting up. Could you tell me how to do that? Thanks(im a pc novice)

cherryghost

An easy way is to go to

Start -> Run
and type
msconfig
and hit return

A box should open up, a startup tab on the right. Hit that. Now its up to yourself to judge what should boot or what not to boot. Anything with an address of System32, do not untick the boxes on them. Some startup applications might be named easily so you know what it is, untick it if you wish. You can identify some programs by the address on the middle column.

Anywho, if you're not too confident of disabling what you think is best, best leave it, but I dont think anything would go wrong as long as you follow my steps

Groinshot

nuxxx wrote: »

If your running a 32 bit OS (which i assume you are) chances are its only detecting 3-3.25 GB of memory. You need a 64-bit OS to use 4 and upwards.

detects 4GB total memory...

CaSCaDe711

Download and install the free Glary Utilities, a nice suite of software, which includes (amongst many other things) a Startup Manager, found in the Optimize & Improve section. Here you can disable whatever you don't want to run on startup, and any you are not sure about, right click and search Google for info on what the entry is. Very handy.

Nothingbetter2d

bsod's tend to mean one of a few things

1. Buggy/corrupt drivers
2. Corrupt Registry
3. Faulty Hardware
4. Overheating (incorrect cpu/fsb setting or overclocked without proper cooling)

if its 1. try updating your drivers

if its 2. the best real option is a clean install of your os

if its 3. replace the faulty hardware

if its 4. go into your bios and reset yur cpu/fsb settings to default mode