That Dell came from the factory with 256meg RAM...unless it was increased optionally (most are NOT). If he is running XP Home (another standard for Dell), he hardly has enough RAM to kep Windows running, much less other programs! Get thyself to computer store with the computer (leave monitor, mouse and other things at home). Let them open it and tell you how much it will cost to go up to a minimum of 512 Meg Ram, more if you can afford it. It will then 'run faster' until you fill it up again. THEN it's new computer time. 2001 was a long time ago, computer age.

 

What Bud said Good info.

Marty

 

One of the things I've noticed, that seems to be a holdover from the pre-XP days, is that most folks don't have any idea how much their system is bogged down by Temporary Internet files and files stored in the Recycle bin. Empty both of those, for starters.

The first thing I've always done on a clean install is to go to the browser's options, and run the size of the cache WAY down. I set the size of the temp files to 1MB in IE, and set it just as low for Firefox. But, I'm on broadband for internet, so the speed hit isn't noticable.

I also turn the size of the Recycle bin way down, as well.

Buckeye, how full is your taskbar (bottom right, by the clock)? You said you have the full Office package. That thing is a resource hog if you load the Office taskbar at startup.

If I run it pretty clean, I can run XP acceptably with a 700Duron, w/256 MB RAM, but a novice user would definitely be better off to use at least 512 of RAM if they're not savvy about resource management. More RAM and a larger 7200 RPM hard drive with an 8MB cache might be a cheap fix to get a little more life out of the old hardware. I don't run leading edge hardware, so I try to get the most life out of my old components.

The drive can always be migrated to a new computer when you upgrade.

 

Lot of info here, Thanks yall. I think I will end up taking it to a computer store to up the speed. I really don't think I need a new one. I am already graduated from college so I only really use my computer for internet and to listen to music.

 

Did you check any of the things I mentioned ?

I'm trying to help save you money and help you learn about your computer

 

Mil1ion, sorry but I don't get to see this site much from home, but here I am tonight.

Lets give this a try, here are all of the processes running right now:

iexplore*****
taskmgr*****
hprblog*****
hpqste08*****
EasyShare*****
svchost*****
hqqtra98*****
msmsgs*****
qttask*****
MSASCui*****
hpwuSchd2*****
Monitor*****
jusched*****
apdproxy*****
BCMSMMSG*****
tbmon*****
UpdaterUI*****
shstat*****
wdfmgr*****
explorer*****
sdhelp*****
vstskmgr*****
mcsheild*****
FrameworkService*****
maPrdMgr*****
spoolsv.xe
scvhost*****
svchost*****
scvhost*****
MsMpEng*****
svchost*****
svchost*****
lsass*****
services*****
winlogon*****
csrss*****
smss*****
alg*****
System
System Idle Process

 

The free speed test says I am running 5 megabytes per second, I gather that this is fast. Maybe it is my computers inabillity to process the information recieved as fast as I can recieve it?

 

When you looked at the Process list in the task manager did you notice what was in the CPU column?

If you have a program that is using to much CPU time it will show up here.


You can also Try running with minimum applications.

Goto Start
Run
Type in MSCONFIG
Select OK
On the General tab Select the Diagnostic startup option.
Select OK and reboot your computer.

Does this speed it up?

If it does then you have a program that is causing the problem.

To find out which one just select the Startup tab in MSCONFIG then uncheck the boxes.


Also from the list I see you are running Mcafee Antivirus and also Microsoft Defender Antispyware.

I have had a few customers who complained of being slow and I found mcafee is the problem. Try uninstalling it and it should be faster. I believe it is the firewall portion of MCafee that causes the slowness. I believe you can just uninstall the firewall and leave the antivirus portion.

 

computers are like cars or trucks -- the more hp and the less weight, the better they go

processer Pentium 4 at 2+ GHz ( GHz = 1000 MHz)
some Celerons are OK, but there is a tradeoff called 'cache'. Newer ones
are better ==this is the HP

Memory 512MB or better -- Windows moves stuff around. If you have more RAM, it can do this better

Separate graphics card -- various movies, etc can interfere with other processor functions -- this includes using MediaPlayer

Clean up the desktop -- if you have a bunch of aninmations on your desktop, they will eat up the processor ( this is like extra weight)

Listening to music ties up resources.

Basically the more performance that you want, the more that you have to
eliminate nonessentials.

Every new Microsoft system is a bigger hog. 95 to 98 to W2K to XP -- every one used more stuff then the previous. Fortunately, the hardware has improved to match.

As an experiment, simplify your system as much as possible. See what happens as you add things in. ( Task Manager -- available with ctrl+alt+del
has a performance section that can help show what's happening)


Have fun


ford2go