performance problem [Archive]

Nicholas

December 11th 03, 09:21 PM

Visit www.pcpitstop.com and run the tests.

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Nicholas

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"Carol" > wrote in message: =20
...

| I have a compaq pc for almost two years. I've always had=20
| a problem with the speed. Is there some kind of wizard I=20
| can run that will determine why it runs so slow?

Ron Martell

December 11th 03, 09:22 PM

"Carol" > wrote:

>I have a compaq pc for almost two years. I've always had
>a problem with the speed. Is there some kind of wizard I
>can run that will determine why it runs so slow?

One cause of poor performance is lack of RAM.

If there is not sufficient RAM installed in the computer to meet the total
memory requirements then Windows is forced to shuffle things back and
forth between RAM and the paging (swap) file. Accessing the paging file
on the hard drive takes up to 1,000 times longer than accessing items in
RAM so if there is a lot of swapping back and forth the impact can be
quite noticeable.

With Windows XP if you have less than 256 mb then you will benefit from
added RAM, regardless of how much (or how little) you use the computer.
With more than 256 mb the potential benefit of added RAM is more variable,
depending on just how the computer is being used.

You can download a free utility to track the actual usage of the Windows
XP Paging file from http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm or
from http://billsway.com/notes_public/WinXP_Tweaks/

If that shows more than 50 mb or so of actual paging file being used then
adding more RAM is going to provide some performance benefit. You should
add at least an amount equal to the largest value being reported for
paging file usage.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."