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 Slamdunka |
Sat, 29/12/07@23:06
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Ok heres the thing i have a dell dimension b110 and an acer aspire 5110 i love the acer it runs so fast and as much as i think vista will never be my friend i think something is going to happen and i will need it.... So anyways i was just wondering what would i could do to get my dell going faster i have been looking into ram but before i spend some money i just wanted to see other ways and if the ram is the best way to what site should i buy from cheapest price
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Percy Vere |
Sat, 29/12/07@23:26
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Slamdunka You are paying the price for
" buy from cheapest price "
The Dell B 110 is a poor cheap machine. You would need to put some serious money into it to make it a reasonable machine.
What cpu, ammount of memory and operating sysem is it using?
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Slamdunka |
Sat, 29/12/07@23:36
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xp home 256 ram intel celeron d and i know it is a crummy machine
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Slamdunka |
Sat, 29/12/07@23:36
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xp home 256 ram intel celeron d and i know it is a crummy machine
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Fruit Bat /\0/\ |
Sat, 29/12/07@23:36
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before spending any money 1. Software
a) Clear out all temporay files and folders -- use Crap Cleaner click here
b) Scan for malware spyware and viruses --Free Anti Spyware :-
Adaware click here
Spybot S&D click here
Spywareblaster click here
a2 click here
Windows Defender click here
Free Antivirus software
Avast4 click here
or
AVG antivirus click here
c) Clean the registry -- Free Registry cleaners :-
RegscrubXP click here
Regseeker click here
TweakNow RegCleaner 1.3.2 click here
Easycleaner click here ( Use with care, It advises you to back up the registry first, this is a good idea as it cleans rather aggressively. )
d) Pagefile (Virtual Memory) -- Rght click MY Computer - select propeties - Advanced tab - Performance - advanced tab - Virtual memory click change, you can put the page file on a differnt drive (if you have one), click custom size and set Initial size to one and a half times the amount of memory you have fitted i.e. 512MB memory = set to 768MB, set maximum to double your memory amount i.e. 512MB memory = 1024MB click ok.
If your hard drive is full and there is not enough room for the pagefile this can slow down, freeze or even cause the PC to crash (restart).
e) Cut down on the programs that load at startup -- Start - Run type msconfig - startup tab- untick everything except for firewall, antivirus and antispyware
and the services that run in the background. click here
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Fruit Bat /\0/\ |
Sat, 29/12/07@23:37
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2. Hardware
a) Hard drives / IDE Channels:
i) Check the transfer rate, you need to have the transfer mode set to DMA not PIO.
Right click My Computer - Properties - Hardware - Device Manager - Expand (click the + ) IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers right click Primary Channel - Advanced Settings Tab -
If transfer Mode is PIO then follow the instructions at click here to change.
ii) Check for errors and defrag your hard drives -- My Computer - select drive - properties - tool tab - Error checking / Defragmentation.
ii) If you are using Windows XP, it's a good idea to convert your system drive to the NTFS file system if you have not already. In addition to providing numerous security and data recovery improvements over FAT32 (the file system of choice for Windows 9x/ME and XP Home) it can also speed up your system slightly.
In fact, the only real reason for sticking with the FAT32 file system for any of your data is if you have more than one operating system on your PC and the other OS's can only see FAT32 partitions (as would be the case with Windows 98, for example, which is incapable of reading NTFS data).
To convert your drives to NTFS:
Right click on 'my computer' and select 'manage'
From the computer management window, expand storage and select 'disk management.'
Using the 'file system' column of the upper pane of this window, you can easily check what file system each of your logical drives is using. Make a note of this information.
Now open a command prompt window by going to 'start\run' and typing 'cmd'
To convert a disk to NTFS, type 'convert (drive letter): /fs:ntfs'
So for example, if you were going to convert your C: drive, you would type 'Convert c: /fs:ntfs' at the prompt.
b) Divers
Obtain the newest drivers for your hardware
This may seem a bit obvious, but keeping your system's drivers up to date can give both your performance and stability a boost. Video card manufacturers release updates especially often, and these can often give "significant boosts" to gaming performance as video card in question is "optimized."
Don't neglect the other components of your system either. Your motherboard manufacturer may have released newer versions of its Input/output drivers for your board, and sound cards and other peripherals can also benefit from newer software.
and if you decide to spend monet on it
c) Memory
Add more physical memory, this of course means opening the "box" and fitting a memory module, make sure you buy one that is suitable for your PC. Crucial .com click here will guide you through the process of slecting the correct memory. click here for a guide to fitting memory.
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Percy Vere |
Sat, 29/12/07@23:48
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Slamdunka Sorry for the facts of life:-( but there you are.
It depends on what you want to use it for, it ain't going to be a gaming rig.
Do what Fruit Bat /\0/\ suggests to clean up your system.
Unfortunatley the system has only onboard graphics and no agp slot, so more ram the better, but old ddr sd ram is getting quite expensive. To upgrade to the max would see you shelling out around £83. You could get a PCI graphics card for around £25 that would play a few games but not at the best resolution and would need a lot of the trimmings turned off.
The cpu is poor with low level 1 and level 2 cache. You could slot in a old P4 for around £40.
So on balance. the ram would give you a quick boost. Ram and cpu upgrade would turn it into a reasonable everyday machine. Add a PCI graphics card and you could play some medium games.
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Percy Vere |
Sat, 29/12/07@23:56
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Slamdunka "but before i spend some money i just wanted to see other ways "
Fruit Bat /\0/\ has given you a comprehensive list on how to trim a machine to it's best ability.
PS
If you are thinking of buying memory off ebay or the likes, you must check the configuration of that memory, as the market is being flooded with unusable high density ram. This memory is limited into which the machines it can work.
Crucial may cost a few bob more but you are sure it will work.
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