Speeding up

[frostbite]

Without overclocking!

A friend's computer is slowing and I have offered to try and get it back to a decent speed.

Aside from virus checks, I intend to check the Registry for errors, delete all .chk & .tmp files and then finish off with Defrag.

Anything I've missed?

[Saab Dastard]

Go on, gis a clue!

What spec. PC? CPU? how much RAM, HD disk size (spae left?), OS? What do they DO with it? How many users? Networked?

SD

[frostbite]

Oh! Alright then. (Actually, I didn't think it was a machine specific question)

It's a Dell Dimension 3000 which, as far as I can recall, has a 2.4gig Celeron, 512mb RAM, 80gig HD >50% free, running XP, standalone.

[Mac the Knife]

The best way to lose a friend is to offer to "fix" their computer.

When the damn thing won't even boot and he's lost all his files (all stored, unbelievably, on the Desktop) he'll hate you for ever.

I have a T-shirt that says, "No, I WON'T fix your computer!"

Let him take it to the shop where some PFY will tell him that he has to reinstall Windows. He'll have lost all the driver discs so when the PFY tries then NOTHING will work! Then he can blame the PFY....

I'll do it for strangers, usually for money.

:=

[Conan the Librarian]

Nice one Mac. Friends and computers do make you a bit circumspect, don't they? I get asked three or four times a month to do something for someone, etc. etc. and it now gets so bad, that when I do go out into the village, I am said to have a haunted look about me.

Fixed one, just as they were moving rooms so that the decorator could get in and then a fortnight later was told it wouldn't boot - the implication being that it was the fault of yours truly. I popped over to them a few nights later, thinking the worst, only to find that the silly sods had not replugged the CPU tower into the mains.

Conan

PS If you want a helpful little tool to clear out all of the gunk, then try CrapCleaner. It is free and very good, but do check that passwords, etc. are known beforehand.

[Saab Dastard]

frostbite,

Knowing the nature of the beast is half the battle!

Apart from viruses, the most common reason that I have come across for PCs slowing up is a proliferation of "helper" items that automatically start when the PC is booted / user logs on. Anything from MS Office to Quicktime seems to want to run at startup and jump into the system tray!

If they have a predilection for installing freeware off cover CDs - like my Dad - then there's probably lots of the little buggers.

Clear out all the crap (or politely suggest that they do) in the Startup folder, and the Run registry key. Especially target anything to do with MS office and indexing unless they really need / use it. Turn off unnecessary features - like Messenger on a standalone PC. Or do you mean it's connected to the internet but no other PC?

If they are connected to the internet and use a software firewall is it configured correctly? Perhaps moving to a hardware firewall would allow the software one to be removed, or reduced. Some will say that you still should have a software firewall even with a hardware one, to protect against outbound abuses. But I don't think that the default MS supplied one is of any use in this respect.

Any AV / spyware real-time monitor can impact the performance, as they are often set to check every file that is opened / written by default. Have a look at those settings, and perhaps build an exclusions list. I find that the Java Runtime executables are a particular pain in this respect, for example, so I add them to the AV exclusions list.

It can be useful to run a performance monitor so that you can see what is loaded into memory and what's chewing up the CPU cycles. The Task manager alternative mentioned on this forum recently is excellent in this respect.

Pagefile fragmentation can be a problem - the manual method of dealing with this is:

Eliminate the fragmented pagefile
Create a temporary page file on another drive
Reboot
Defragment the drive that held the original page file
Eliminate the temporary page file
Recreate the original page file
Reboot


Or you can use a freeware tool such as this (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/PageDefrag.html).

You ought to check the BIOS, just to make sure that the fastest settings for RAM and disk access are enabled - amazing what people fiddle with.

Is there a particular application that is performance-challenged? Is it that they have too many windows open? Even having too many icons on the desktop can have an impact on performance!

This is by no means exhaustive - I'm sure that by googling and / or searching the MS website with appropriate keywords you will come up with more ideas.

Cheers

SD

[frostbite]

Thanks all, especially SD.

I will take all that on board when I go over to their house. From past experience, they are not too bad regarding installing stuff but they do have a son who visits, and meddles.

[Conan the Librarian]

Think the odds on the cause might just be nicely weighted towards the son who meddles. All of a sudden, I might also suggest checking the spyware status and if necc. installing Windows Defender, Adaware or Spybot for them too. (all free)

Why is it, that when anyone mentions sons, daughters and their friends, I keep thinking of those 'orrible mobile phone ringtone sites?

Conan the crusty