computer smarties... anyone???

[xtremefullbore]

alright heres the deal, I have DSL and a 2004 windows xp, and my computer is just real delayed, I have never done the defrag deal but I here it works, we called a local computer technician and he said a harddrive scan and new processor will do the trick and he will do it for 650.00 but I told him hes crazy I can go buy a brand new computer for 1,300, so I believe I will give this de-frag a shot.......... and I know someone posted how to do this to a computer... can someone please post this process my computer is getting really slow espcially since I have ITUNES, and LIMEWIRE.. and I have like 4,500 songs on my pc....:o thanks if you can

brett

[armysig]

First defrag that baby. You have so much stuff on that HD that it's getting hard for it to search for different things you need.

Second. If you're not using a program or application, turn it off. Do you really need to have Itunes running in the background? Nope.

Third. Check your firewall, antivirus, and popup blocker. See what update you're running. You may need to do a manual update so you get the latest and greatest things needed.


Here are some links for tips on making your computer faster. Some is for beginners and some for more advanced users. Becareful on what you do. If in doubt, don't do it.

I am not a computer tech. I am just pointing out some tips. If you use these tips and your system crashes I will not take responsibility. Use at your own risk.

Tips for enhanced computer performance (http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1590)



Here are some other tips. These are generally for gaming, but they can help you with other things on your computer. Again use at YOUR OWN RISK!

Long read, sorry.

1. Turn off all that crap in advanced Display settings

They are unnecessary and eat up precious resources. Here is how:
- Click Start, right click on the My Computer icon and click Properties.
- Click the Advanced Tab and select Settings next to Performance
- Uncheck everything.

This will make the desktop appear as the old version of Window (Windows 2000). This will free up more precious system memory for use in your games

2. Clean Boot and stop unneeded services:

- Click Start, Run, Type MSCONFIG and click OK
- Click the Startup tab and clear all of the check boxes unless it has to do with your ISP (AOLTray for instance)
- Click Apply and then OK
- Restart the computer

Next let’s set the unnecessary services to start manually.

Services are programs that run when the computer starts up. Some services that load are not needed and take up memory space as well as CPU time. It is best to sort through the list and read the descriptions to decide whether or not you need that service.

- Click Start, Run, type services.msc and click ok.

For instructional purposes we are going to change the the Portable Media Serial Number service to manually start.

- Find this service in the list and select it with the mouse.
- Right click and select Properties.
- Once the properties windows has loaded locate the Start up type drop down box and select disable or manual.
- Click OK and the next time the computer starts this service will not be loaded automatically.

Below is a list of windows services that I recommend you change to the manual setting:

Routing and Remote Access
Alerter
Application Layer Gateway Service** (only if firewall is not used)
Application Management
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
ClipBook
COM+ System Application
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Distributed Transaction Coordinator
Help and Support
IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service** (only if do you not use the cd-rw xp record support)
IPSEC Services
Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service
MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
Net Logon
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
Network DDE
Network DDE DSDM
Network Location Awareness (NLA)
NT LM Security Support Provider
Performance Logs and Alerts
Portable Media Serial Number
QoS RSVP
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator
Remote Registry
Removable Storage
Server
Smart Card
Smart Card Helper
SSDP Discovery Service
System Restore Service
Telnet
Themes
Uninterruptible Power Supply
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Volume Shadow Copy
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)
Windows Installer
Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions
Wireless Zero Configuration
WMI Performance Adapter
Fast User Switching Compatibility ** (only if fast user switching is not used or the machine have one user only)
Protected Storage
Windows Time
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Task Scheduler
Secondary Logon
Print Spooler ** (only if the pc does not have or use a printer)
Indexing Service
Error Reporting Service
Computer Browser
Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) / Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

3. Adjust the memory setting in the Windows XP registry

*******WARNING, REGEDIT IS FOR ADVANCED USERS ONLY*****

These tweaks are recommended ONLY if you have 384 MB of RAM or more.

To launch the registry editor:

- Click Start, Run, type REGEDIT and then click OK


There are several memory tweaks that can be performed with Windows XP - all of them are located in the registry under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSe ssion ManagerMemory Management

To change either of the following keys, double click the key and set the values from 0 to 1

Disable Paging Executive
In normal usage, XP pages sections from RAM memory to the hard drive. We can stop this happening and keep the data in RAM, resulting in improved performance. Note that only users with a large amount of RAM (256MB+) should use this setting. The setting we want to change to disable the ’Paging Executive’, as it is called, is called DisablePagingExecutive. Changing the value of this key from 0 to 1 will de-activate memory paging.

System Cache Boost
Changing the value of the key LargeSystemCache from 0 to 1 will tell Windows XP to allocate all but 4MB of system memory to the file system cache, basically meaning that the XP Kernel can run in memory, greatly improving it’s speed. The 4MB of memory left is used for disk caching, but if for any reason more is needed, XP allocates more.


4. Choose to always unload DLLs

Explorer often caches DLL files in memory for a period of time after they have finished being used. This can result in large amounts of memory being taken up by DLL files that are not even being used. To stop this happening, navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Explorer

Now, you have to create a DWORD value called AlwaysUnloadDLL with a value of 1.

5. Setup another partition

If you only have a single partition and no Free Space, skip this step. The partition created is for the Swapfile to reside on.

In Windows, you have to create and format the swap partition using the Disk Management settings

- Start, Control Panel, Performance and Maintenance,
- Click Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Storage and click Disk Management.

Make sure you create an 'Extended' partition in the FREE disk space and then create a 'Logical Drive' inside the extended partition.

- Apply the changes and then format the newly created Partition.

Note that you don't need to format the swap partition using advanced filesystem types like NTFS or FAT32. FAT16 is quite a bit faster than the other two, and since this partition is only going to host one file, you don't need to worry about cluster size.

6. Disable Virtual Memory

- Click Start, Control Panel and then click Performance and Maintenance
- Click Administrative Tools, System, Advanced, Performance
- Click Settings, Advanced, Virtual Memory and then click Change.
- Click Advanced and select No Paging File
- Click the SET Button (important)
- Click OK and then Restart

7. Defragment the drives

- Click Start, All Programs, Accessories and then click System Tools
- Click Disk Defragmenter and defragment all of the drives

8. Set a hard swapfile size

- Click Start, Control Panel and then click Performance and Maintenance
- Click Administrative Tools, System, Advanced, Performance
- Click Settings, Advanced, Virtual Memory and then click Change.
- Click Advanced and deselect No Paging File and select Custom Size
- Make sure to select the new partition by selecting the proper drive letter in the window above.
- Change the values 'Initial Size' and 'Maximum Size' to the size of your swap file. You HAVE to specify the same amount for these 2 values.

This will keep your swap file from fragmenting and eventually crawling.

- Click the SET Button (important)
- Click OK and then Restart

How much swap space do you need? The rule of thumb is 1.5 times the amount of system memory and then adding 2 MB (unless you have too much memory on your system). In this case, make it 1 times or less.


Usually, for desktop publishing and basic computer use...you set the pagefile to 1*(amount of ram) min and 1.5*(amount of ram) for max.

For gaming and other moderately intensive sysops, I'd recommend 2*(amount of ram) for both max and min.

For what you're doing, I'd highly recommend 3*(amount of ram) for both max and min and more ram. As in, two 512mb simms. Another thing that might help, if you have the room for the partition, is to make a logical drive that is a little bit bigger than the size of your pagefile. Windows tends to be happier with its own little swap drive.

Long Read************

XP/Win2k/Win9x - Swapfile Optimization
Do not disable the VM on your Windows. Some applications rely on the VM file to run. Without it, you'll get an error message or a fatal crash.


Virtual memory is a system by which the machine or operating system fools processes running on the machine into thinking that they have a lot more memory to work with than the actual physical memory that exists on the system. It does this by storing the most recently used items in RAM, and storing the lesser used items in the slower disk memory (Virtual Memory), and interchanging data between the two whenever a disk access is made. As many of you already know, RAM is roughly 100 times faster than a hard disk. To optimize the Virtual Memory for better performance, a Static Virtual Memory size or at least setting the Minimum to a static size and setting the Maximum setting open according to the amount of diskspace available would increase performance Vs. a Dynamic Virtual Memory setting.

Why you ask? Well the reason is that disk data tends to get fragged after a period of time and since Dynamic Virtual Memory increases and decreases in size, the OS would have to find unused sectors on the hard disk to make the Virtual Memory. On the other hand, if you have Static Virtual Memory, the Virtual Memory will already have designated reserved space for the data to be written to Virtual Memory.

Here are a few tips to keep your Virtual Memory running smoothly:

1) Before making a Static Memory setting, make sure to defrag your hard disk first so that Virtual Memory will be contiguos on the hard drive. Please Refer to the steps below.

2) Make the Virtual Memory setting "Static" (same value for the minimum and maximum)

3) If possible, make the Virtual Memory file on a disk or partition that has least access. Having a dedicated partition just for the Virtual Memory File can be advantageous since it can never get fragged up...

4) Setting the Virtual Memory file size at 1.5x to 2X amount of Physical Memory you have in the system is what most sites recommend. For example, if you have 128MB Physical Memory in the system, make the minimum and maximum setting to 256. Wouldn't you think that the Page File should be smaller if you have more physical memory? The reason they tell you to set the size at least double the size of physical memory on the system is because when the OS (incase of Win2k) or application causes an error, Windows will do a kernel memory dump... Something that the OS does creating a dump file in the Dr. Watson Folder and there's nothing you can do with it but to delete it... I find that to be a waste of disk space. The best way to determine how large you should set the Page File size depends on how you use your system! The best way to determine the size would be to run the system slightly heavier than you normally would (Perhaps open more programs than you normally would) and open up the "Task Manager" (Performance Monitor incase of Win9x) to see how much the Page File is actually being hit. This will help you determine the optimal size for the Page File...

Just a note... Unless you're heavily accessing the page file because you're running low on physical memory, I wouldn't be so concerned about it. I see many people who have more memory than they actually require for their purpose. Nowadays, RAM is so cheap, it would be more ideal to spend a little and get some REAL memory.

Update - Memory price is back up these days! But hey, still pretty cheap! You should've stocked up whet they were dirt cheap!

[armysig]

Continued from pervious post.

How to adjust the size of the Virtual Memory setting:


Win9x:

1. On your start menu click on SETTINGS and then on CONTROL PANEL.

2. Double click the SYSTEM icon.

3. Click the PERFORMANCE tab.

4. Click on the VIRTUAL MEMORY button.

5. Select "LET ME VERIFY MY OWN VIRTUAL MEMORY SETTINGS".

6. Set the MINIMUM and MAXIMUM values to the same value. The best setting depends on your hardware and the amount of memory you have installed but I suggest at least 16MB and at most twice the amount of your physical memory. The most important thing is to make sure both values are the same.


Win2K:

1. On your start menu click on SETTINGS and then on CONTROL PANEL.

2. Double click the SYSTEM icon.

3. Click the ADVANCED tab.

4. Click on Performance Options...

5. Press CHANGE in the Virtual Memory Setting.

6. Select the drive you want to put the Swap File on...

7. Type in a value for the "Initial Size (MB)" and "Maximum Size (MB)". Type in same value for both fields.

8. After rebooting, your swapfile size and drive will be established...


Windows XP:

1. Go to Start, then select Control Panel .

2. Double-Click the System icon.

3. Click on the Advanced tab, under Performance, click on Settings.

4. Click on the Advanced tab, under Virtual Memory click on Change.

5. Select the drive(s) you want to set the Virtual Memory to. (Be sure to press click on the SET button after setting a value for each drive! Simply typing in a value and highlighting the next drive will not save the setting for the first drive you set the value to.)

6. Type in a value for the "Initial Size (MB)" and "Maximum Size (MB)". Type in same value for both fields.

7. Press SET and then OK, and reboot the system to take the new settings...


How To Get The Page File (Virual Memory) Files In a Contiguos Streak

Win9x:

1. On your start menu click on SETTINGS and then on CONTROL PANEL.

2. Double click the SYSTEM icon.

3. Click the PERFORMANCE tab.

4. Click on the VIRTUAL MEMORY button.

5. Disable the Virtual Memory File.

6. Apply the setting and reboot the system.

WARNING! Systems with 92MB or less RAM may be unable to boot in to Windows when Virtual memory is disabled!

7. Defrag the hard disk.

8. After the defragmentation has been completed, go to Start\SETTINGS\CONTROL PANEL\SYSTEM\PERFORMANCE TAB.

9. Select "LET ME VERIFY MY OWN VIRTUAL MEMORY SETTINGS".

10. Set the MINIMUM and MAXIMUM values to the same value. The best setting depends on your hardware and the amount of memory you have installed but I suggest at least 16MB and at most twice the amount of your physical memory. The most important thing is to make sure both values are the same.

11. Reboot the system to take the new effect.


Windows 2000:

1. On your start menu click on SETTINGS and then on CONTROL PANEL.

2. Double click the SYSTEM icon.

3. Click the ADVANCED tab.

4. Click on Performance Options...

5. Set the Page File size to about 5MB for both, "Initial Size (MB)" and "Maximum Size (MB)".

6. Apply the setting by pressing CHANGE and reboot the system to take effect of the new system setting.

7. Defrag te hard disk.

8. After the defragmentation has been completed, go to Start\SETTINGS\CONTROL PANEL\SYSTEM\ADVANCED TAB.

9. Click on the Performance Options...

10. Select the drive you want to put the Swap File on...

11. Type in a value for the "Initial Size (MB)" and "Maximum Size (MB)". Type in same value for both fields.

12. Press CHANGE in the Virtual Memory Setting.

[armysig]

for a defrag it is


START -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk deframenter


Highlight the drive you want to defrag. HD is normally the C drive.

Then hit deframent.

Sit back relax and get a drink. It's going to take about 30 to 60 minutes depending on the size of your hard drive and how many corupted files you have.


PM me if you have any questions.

BTW that tech you called is an asshat. You don't need a new processor, he's just trying to sell something.

[250ex13]

Good god some one was bored:eek2:

[armysig]

LOL naw, I wasn't bored.

I just cut and pasted from another board I go to all the time.


I hope it helps someone.

[79400ex]

It sound like you are out of RAM in your computer. you can speed up your computer by add more RAM to it.. It is easy to do and RAM cost very little. If your computer is not to maxium RAM. You will have to tear your computer apart, however, most electric store will talk you threw it. Best Buy stores are your best bet for that help or any computer store. I would do this after you de frag first. However, if you are out of RAM and you can't add RAM you are going probably have to buy a new computer. YOu can get for under $1000 really easly.

wow my computer needed that

[bwamos]

Spyware...
Stop surfing porn.. lol.

[MOFO]

$650 for a "hard drive" scan :confused: and a new processor!?!? I'm in the wrong business!

[xtremefullbore]

ya I called his business and I said my computer was terribly slow and I needed it to be fixed and he came over to see what was wrong and I asked him the price to wrie him a check and I was expectiong about 150.00 and he told me 650.00 and I told him I'll buy a new computer before I pay him 650.00 for anything.. and that was for some kind of real nice processor and a nice harddrive and some stuff like a firewall and stuff I really cant work on a computer for my life, but I know 650.00 to get a new harddrive and processor is a rip, considering my computer is worth like 250.00

[ShiftFMX]

Originally posted by 79400ex
It sound like you are out of RAM in your computer. you can speed up your computer by add more RAM to it.. It is easy to do and RAM cost very little. If your computer is not to maxium RAM. You will have to tear your computer apart, however, most electric store will talk you threw it. Best Buy stores are your best bet for that help or any computer store. I would do this after you de frag first. However, if you are out of RAM and you can't add RAM you are going probably have to buy a new computer. YOu can get for under $1000 really easly.

If I bought some ram, would that make my computer run smoother and be better at mutitasking?

[FreekShow]

dude what are you talking about "OUT OF RAM" your computer cant run out of ram.... its a hardware component. he probably has only 1 "stick" of ram installed in his computer which is probably a 256mb stick. go to best buy or something and have your computer specs with you. They will be able to tell you what kind of ram you need. get a 512mb stick of ram and your comp will run much much faster.

[armysig]

Yes you're computer will run better with more RAM, but you have to make sure you get the right kind and see if your motherboard can support more RAM.

Most systems that were purchased in the last 3 years will support up to 1gig of RAM. (if you buy from Best Buy or other computer stores.) And some will do more.

Once you find out what your motherboard can support you have to find the correct type of RAM. There are a few different types out there and if you just toss in some RAM that's not made for your computer it will do 2 things.

1. It will only use a limited part of the RAM. I.E. you're not using it all and it's a waste of money.

2. It won't work at all. Your system will not reconize it and it could do some damage to your system (highly unlikely thou that it will crash your system.)

My suggestion is look on your motherboard. See what the model number is. Then do a google search for ram on that board. There should be a list of companies that supply what you need.

Second, either look in your manuals or contact the manufacture of you system to find out the amount of RAM that can be installed.

Here is a good site to buy computer stuff from. They always seem to have the cheapest prices with very good quality.

http://www.newegg.com/


Dig around on the Search tool. It might be able to answer the questions you have about you system and the requirements needed to upgrade it.


BTW I saw how many songs you have, and that could explain why your system is running slow. You might have filled up that Hard drive.

Good luck

[MOFO]

Originally posted by FreekShow
dude what are you talking about "OUT OF RAM" your computer cant run out of ram.... its a hardware component. he probably has only 1 "stick" of ram installed in his computer which is probably a 256mb stick. go to best buy or something and have your computer specs with you. They will be able to tell you what kind of ram you need. get a 512mb stick of ram and your comp will run much much faster.



Your PC can run out of RAM, that is one of the reasons why Windows creates a swap file on your HD. The more RAM you have, the smaller the swap file, the faster the PC will run.

[xtremefullbore]

called computer tech. back for info he said there is a de-frag I can do for 90.00 it will take 1/2 hr, and he said computer cant run out of ram, the ram will just start using more files which the more files with the ram u have will make computer slower... he said its like a stack of file cabinets in a small room u start adding stuff and it gets bigger eventually you get a room packed and u have to make stuff fit so he said if I did this it would delete little stuff like junk e-mails, and stuff I have saved that I dont need... I thought well 90.00 aint bad but he said it will be another 90.00 in 2-3 years because I will keep adding stuff.. thanks tho

[MOFO]

Originally posted by xtremefullbore
called computer tech. back for info he said there is a de-frag I can do for 90.00 it will take 1/2 hr, and he said computer cant run out of ram, the ram will just start using more files which the more files with the ram u have will make computer slower... he said its like a stack of file cabinets in a small room u start adding stuff and it gets bigger eventually you get a room packed and u have to make stuff fit so he said if I did this it would delete little stuff like junk e-mails, and stuff I have saved that I dont need... I thought well 90.00 aint bad but he said it will be another 90.00 in 2-3 years because I will keep adding stuff.. thanks tho


Yes, you can run out... the files (swap file) resides on your hard drive. Your hard drive is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH slower than actual RAM which is why when you rely on your swap file, your PC runs very slow.

A swap file is virtual memory, its not real physical ram and does NOT perform like RAM does.

...and this guy wants to charge YOU $90 to run Windows Defrag???

[armysig]

OMFG!!! $90.00 for something you can do youself?


I posted for you on how to do it. Please use that info. If not PM now and I'll supply you with my cell number so I can walk you through some stuff.

Do not send you system to that Tech. He's out to just get your money. There are plenty of people here and on the internet that can help you out.