PC is lagging

Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i use
my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or is
it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better. I
have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not the
prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time

You have already answered your question, maybe the 8 years old statement!
Replace it, not worth putting a dime in it, just my suggestion, mind you!

WT

"Azy" wrote in message
...
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i
use my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or
is it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better.
I have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not
the prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time

You have already answered your question, maybe the 8 years old statement!
Replace it, not worth putting a dime in it, just my suggestion, mind you!

WT

"Azy" wrote in message
...
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i
use my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or
is it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better.
I have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not
the prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time

Azy wrote:
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i use
my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or is
it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better. I
have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not the
prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time

I wouldn't bother with it, I think it's time to retire the old horse.
Even if you did upgrade the processor you would still be at the bare
minimum RAM wise. In my opinion you are better off putting the money in
another box, you can get a reasonably good 3 year old second hand box or
factory refurbished for about $200.

John

Azy wrote:
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i use
my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or is
it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better. I
have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not the
prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time

I wouldn't bother with it, I think it's time to retire the old horse.
Even if you did upgrade the processor you would still be at the bare
minimum RAM wise. In my opinion you are better off putting the money in
another box, you can get a reasonably good 3 year old second hand box or
factory refurbished for about $200.

John

Hello,

It is possible that your hard disk is running in PIO mode.

Try reinstalling the IDE Controller, by uninstalling the Primary and
Secondary IDE Channel in Device manager and restarting your system.

More info he
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817472 (see workaround)


____
http://www.tompangbuddy.com
Share Cab, Carpool and Save Earth in Singapore
http://www.bootstrike.com/VHSVideoConvert/
Video Conversion Service VHS Video8 Hi8 miniDv Digital8 VHS-C S-VHS tapes to
VCD/DVD
"Azy" wrote in message
...
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i
use my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or
is it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better.
I have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not
the prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time

Hello,

It is possible that your hard disk is running in PIO mode.

Try reinstalling the IDE Controller, by uninstalling the Primary and
Secondary IDE Channel in Device manager and restarting your system.

More info he
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817472 (see workaround)


____
http://www.tompangbuddy.com
Share Cab, Carpool and Save Earth in Singapore
http://www.bootstrike.com/VHSVideoConvert/
Video Conversion Service VHS Video8 Hi8 miniDv Digital8 VHS-C S-VHS tapes to
VCD/DVD
"Azy" wrote in message
...
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i
use my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or
is it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better.
I have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not
the prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time

Azy schreef:
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i use
my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or is
it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better. I
have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not the
prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time



Did you do a good defragmentation?
Extra memory is the only worth while option, providing you can get it
cheaply.

Azy schreef:
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i use
my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or is
it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better. I
have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not the
prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time



Did you do a good defragmentation?
Extra memory is the only worth while option, providing you can get it
cheaply.

"Azy" wrote in message
...
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i
use my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or
is it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Technically, it *can* be changed *if* the motherboard supports it.

The CPU fits in a socket, so the replacement CPU has to match the number of
pins on that socket, and work with the chipset that's on the board - that
part can not be changed.

You would also want to add memory, to the limit of the board, which
unfortunately won't be that high.

To get an idea of the absolute maximum speed, disable all startup items and
every service that isn't critical to the system just running.

The clock speed of the CPU itself is not the only factor in the speed of the
system, and a faster CPU frankly isn't likely to make a lot of difference on
that system.

So while this may be possible on a technical level, this is worthwhile on a
practical level is another story entirely. Compare the costs of the parts
and the results of the short test immediately above, with the approach
mentioned below.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better.
I have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not
the prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time

When I see clients with machines like this, now, I often suggest to the
client that they take a different approach, which yields vastly better
results for a comparable - and possibly lower - cost. Part of the reason
that the cost is lower is that they pay me for fewer hours if I am not
waiting for the PC.

That different approach is to purchase a used-but-good replacement unit.
Where I am, it's easy to get name-brand PCs, without keyboard or monitor but
with a valid XP Pro license, a CPU near 3gHz, between 512 and 2 gig RAM and
a 40 to 80 gig SATA hard disk, for a little over $150. I usually then
replace the hard disk, as a matter of policy - drives *do* have a life span,
and again where I am, a new 500-gig hard disk is in the $90 range.

HTH
-pk

"Azy" wrote in message
...
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses, temp
files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up and
ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to jump
about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with pentium 4.

I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase i
use my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get out of
welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and everything else
dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but still lagging a bit.
BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at start up (msconfig).

So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher one. Or
is it something that comes already on the pc and cant be changed.

Technically, it *can* be changed *if* the motherboard supports it.

The CPU fits in a socket, so the replacement CPU has to match the number of
pins on that socket, and work with the chipset that's on the board - that
part can not be changed.

You would also want to add memory, to the limit of the board, which
unfortunately won't be that high.

To get an idea of the absolute maximum speed, disable all startup items and
every service that isn't critical to the system just running.

The clock speed of the CPU itself is not the only factor in the speed of the
system, and a faster CPU frankly isn't likely to make a lot of difference on
that system.

So while this may be possible on a technical level, this is worthwhile on a
practical level is another story entirely. Compare the costs of the parts
and the results of the short test immediately above, with the approach
mentioned below.

Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function better.
I have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the internet is not
the prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50% free HD space.
Thanks in advance for your time

When I see clients with machines like this, now, I often suggest to the
client that they take a different approach, which yields vastly better
results for a comparable - and possibly lower - cost. Part of the reason
that the cost is lower is that they pay me for fewer hours if I am not
waiting for the PC.

That different approach is to purchase a used-but-good replacement unit.
Where I am, it's easy to get name-brand PCs, without keyboard or monitor but
with a valid XP Pro license, a CPU near 3gHz, between 512 and 2 gig RAM and
a 40 to 80 gig SATA hard disk, for a little over $150. I usually then
replace the hard disk, as a matter of policy - drives *do* have a life span,
and again where I am, a new 500-gig hard disk is in the $90 range.

HTH
-pk

Keep your old desktop Azy. As you said, it isn't your primary computer
anyway. I have a desktop about the same vintage as yours which I built and
I still use it every day. Although I'm ready to build a new one to take
advantage of at least a dual but perhaps a quad-core CPU, what I have is not
noticeably slow and it sure doesn't take 8mins to bootup. My system has a
single core 1.5GHz CPU but it does have 1G of RAM.

Something is wrong with your system and replacing the CPU won't fix that.
You should apply all the standard remedies; run antivirus scans, spyware
scans, remove all temp files, defrag HD, repair Windows, etc. Make sure all
your peripherals work and that a lack of response isn't hanging your system.

By far the biggest improvement you can make is to increase the RAM. I'd go
as high as your budget (and your motherboard) allow and you should shoot for
1GB.


Azy wrote:
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses,
temp files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up
and ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to
jump about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with
pentium 4.
I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase
i use my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get
out of welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and
everything else dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but
still lagging a bit. BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at
start up
(msconfig).
So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher
one. Or is it something that comes already on the pc and cant be
changed.
Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function
better. I have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the
internet is not the prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50%
free HD space. Thanks in advance for your time

Keep your old desktop Azy. As you said, it isn't your primary computer
anyway. I have a desktop about the same vintage as yours which I built and
I still use it every day. Although I'm ready to build a new one to take
advantage of at least a dual but perhaps a quad-core CPU, what I have is not
noticeably slow and it sure doesn't take 8mins to bootup. My system has a
single core 1.5GHz CPU but it does have 1G of RAM.

Something is wrong with your system and replacing the CPU won't fix that.
You should apply all the standard remedies; run antivirus scans, spyware
scans, remove all temp files, defrag HD, repair Windows, etc. Make sure all
your peripherals work and that a lack of response isn't hanging your system.

By far the biggest improvement you can make is to increase the RAM. I'd go
as high as your budget (and your motherboard) allow and you should shoot for
1GB.


Azy wrote:
Ok, let me tell you what I know slows pc's down...spyware, viruses,
temp files, junk like that, registry problems and almost full HD.
I have deleted 1 of 4 user accounts to free more space. used clean up
and ccleaner, used ad-aware and AVG, used registry editor, etc.

my 8 yr old Dell has a sad 40 GB HD and the ram is 256 MB (nothing to
jump about). It runs XP home and the processor is 1.79 ghz with
pentium 4.
I recently replaced a power supply. I rarely use this desktop becuase
i use my laptop. But, today when i turned it on it took 8 min to get
out of welcome screen and just as long to load desktop. and
everything else dragged. I restarted it and its doing better. but
still lagging a bit. BTW, I made sure that i only have necessary items at
start up
(msconfig).
So is it possible to replace the 1.79 GHZ processor with a higher
one. Or is it something that comes already on the pc and cant be
changed.
Knowing what you know, what else can I do to help the pc function
better. I have high speed internet so even that was slow; but the
internet is not the prob....its the pc. I still have more than 50%
free HD space. Thanks in advance for your time