Speeding up the old desktop XP computer...help

Poststructural Pub
1

I’m trying to keep our old dekstop compaq athalon 2, 128MB or 256MB (I’m not there and can’t remember) RAM, 40 GB HDD (still with 55% of the space free) - running as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t too bad until about a year ago when I slapped open office and had to upgrade to AVG 8.0, and it has slowed appreciably in that time.

I’m going to delete adobe reader and go with foxit reader, and that should help with PDFs.

I’m thinking of trying abiword since the main thing that OO is used for is word for my son’s schoolwork. Anyone else have a low requirement word program? I hate the installed microsoft works that came with xp since it can’t open MS word.

I’m also looking at either Avast or Avira to replace AVG. I’ve read conflicting reports on the memory/system requirements of Avast - some said more memory needed compared to AVG 8.0 whereas other sites said less. Avira appears to the “lightest” of the three, but it doesn’t have an email scanner, and this computer uses outlook express.

Does anyone know if Avira would detect/clear a virus when an email, or the attachment, is opened? I know without the email scanner it won’t scan them as they come to my computer, but if they could be detected/cleared before they do any harm I’d be OK with that.

Any other suggestions for light, but effective, free AV software?

If AVG is the best option, I’ll stick with it. I’ve been running AVG free for nearly 10 years with no problems, and it’s the program on my netbook and my wife’s laptop.

I do plan to replace the desktop within the year with a cheap laptop (which will cost much less than the desktop cost when new and be about 5 times better in every way), so don’t suggest things that cost money.

Edit - forgot to mention I’ve run CCleaner, deleted unused programs, run adaware, defragged, and followed several online xp tweaking guides all of which have helped, but it’s still slower than I’d like and slower than before OO and AVG 8.0…so that’s why I think they’re the culprits.

Thanks,

Eric

2

You can try stopping any unnecessary processes that run at startup.
Go to the Start Menu and click on Run. When the Run menu comes up,
type in “msconfig” (without the quotes). This brings up the System
Configuration Utility. Click on the Startup tab. You will see a list of
programs that run on startup. Some aren’t all that necessary, some
you want. You have to do a little googling to figure out what’s what.
For example, in my list, I have a startup item called “Reader_sl”. I go
to Google and type in “Reader_sl process” (without the quotes). The
first hit is this page: http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/reader_sl/
which tells me that the process is for speeding up the loading of Adobe
reader. If I didn’t feel that was necessary, I would uncheck that item
in the list so it wouldn’t run at startup. Once I’m done, I close msconfig
and restart. After starting back up, Windows warns you that you’ve
changed your configuration, but that window has an option you can
click so it won’t warn you again.

If you decide you want something to run at startup again, just open
msconfig and check the box next to that item.

iTunes, Adobe, and many other programs have helper software that I
usually disable at startup. Especially the iPodHelper, since I never plug
my iPod into my laptop.

EDIT:
You can also do some more immediate process termination
by bringing up the Task Manager (hit ctrl-alt-delete) and
finding processes to kill via the process above. When you
find a process to kill, click on it, and click the End Process
button. Then you can tell if killing that process helped to
speed things up.

3

Could always upgrade the memory by either installing another stick or replacing the current memory with larger capacity memory sticks. Just make sure the speeds and formats match.

4

I do plan to replace the desktop within the year with a cheap laptop (which will cost much less than the desktop cost when new and be about 5 times better in every way), so don’t suggest things that cost money.

Sorry. I missed that line.

5

With Windows, it’s also usually productive to back up your data,
then wipe the harddrive and reinstall everything. It’s probably
going to be the most bang for your buck.

6

that was going to be my recommendation. nothing cures XP sluggishness like a reinstall

7

fearfaoin - I’ve already been down the msconfig path, and I don’t have itunes anything on my computer (I consider it a huge bloatware venture - although if you have an ipod it’s probably useful/necessary).

The reinstall thing is something I’ve not had to do in years…since a prior computer with windows 98, and only then because I had to. Won’t I have to re-tweak a buch of stuff after doing that?

Eric

8

I don’t know, depends on how much you tweaked it in the first place.
I recently put Bootcamp on my MacMini and installed XP. I came back
in a couple hours and it was done. Then I ran Windows Update, and
came back in another hour. I downloaded Firefox and AVG and installed
them. Now I’m happy with the install. Didn’t need much intervention
from me, really.

The problem is that all those programs you removed probably left a lot
of crap behind. Have you checked for spyware recently?

9

Yep, I’ve run adaware and AVG (which also has a spyware check). CCleaner pulled up old fragments from uninstalls that were left behind.

I just read OO’s requirements, and I’m pushing the RAM level (I’m past it if I actually only ave 128MB) now that it’s up to version 3.0. However, I can either switch to free softmaker 2006 or OO version 2.0 and either should run better on my old comp.

My main concern now is the AV I’m running…I’d like something lighter, free, yet decent.

I’ll have to do more searching to double check system requirements/resource load of AVG, Avast, and Avira…

Eric

10

Yeah, sounds like that is all you have left…
I know AVG 8 bogs down my system more than
the old version did, but I haven’t tried anything
else to compare.

It’s scary to me that I can’t even imagine running
on 128M RAM anymore…

11

I’m pretty XP savvy - comfortable with it and I like it…my wife’s vista laptop drives me nuts, and I’m guessing whatever laptop we buy to replace the desktop will likely have the evil Vista as well.

I found Avast has lower system requirements. AVG requires 256MB RAM, Avira requires 256MB (recommends 512MB), and Avast requires 64MB RAM (recommends 128MB) for their XP version.

Even if I do have 256MB RAM at home, I can see how AVG might be slowing things down. Seems like moving to Avast may well help!

Eric

12

FWIW … I’ve been running Avast for around 2 years, and I’m very happy with it. I even have it running here on an old Win98 Celeron 300 with 64MB RAM in daily use as an e-mail / web browser machine, and it’s very resource-friendly compared to some of the others.

13

That’s nice to hear - your old machine is obviously older than mine!

It’ll be a downloading night tonight at the old Ryan farmstead.

Eric

14

RAM as much as you can into that old mother … board.

djm

15

Fearfaoin is right - back up your files and wipe’er clean. Windows, even if cared for, can eventually slow to a crawl. It will save you some time.
I’ve got a handful of different types of RAM laying about from old PC’s, I’ll be glad to drop in the mail to you if they will work.

Reg

16

That’s a kind offer, but I don’t want to take apart the tower…that’d disturb the dust holding the beastie together. :stuck_out_tongue:

Adding RAM seems like more work than it’s worth to me - especially since I really don’t plan on keeping the old girl too much longer.

I’ll try my software changes and see if that helps. If not, the kid can suffer with slowness until we get a new laptop…then he’ll truly appreciate it.

Eric

17

You are certainly welcome to them if they are the right ones, should you decide to brave the dustbunnies (or dust jack-rabbits maybe)!

Reg

18

First and formost: Perform a re-format of the hard drive and a complete reinstall of XP. It’s the only way to be certain you have gotten rid of any hidden beasties that may be causing the system to hang or slow. It’s extremely simple to do, and only takes a bit of time…no major software or programing experience required. Just back everything else up someplace first!

Second: Get more RAM. Just DO it. I’m surprised your video card even turns on with that little! :wink: Does the dial-up modem still work too? he he he If your machine is as old as all that, you can very likely find RAM and next to nothing - or even free. It would take you all of about two minutes to put it in - maybe three if you can’t find the right sized screwdriver to pull the side panel. Easy and fast.

Third: I would dump the anti-virus stuff. I’ve never had it catch much of anything worth catching in almost ten years. But it is almost always a M-A-J-O-R resource hog and will slow a system like yours to an absolute crawl I would expect. Unless you’re in a position to need to be visiting questionable sites frequently, I would be very cautious about what programs I installed, and how active I allowed them to be - even in the background.

Whatever you end up doing…good luck!

19

I’m surprised that nobody has suggested cleaning up the registry. I’ev used registryfix (www.registryfix.com) on a number of XP computers and a very old Win98 machine that had become unbelievably sluggish and it has worked wonders.

Yes it costs money but to me worth far more than the $40 odd I paid. And you’ll be able to use it on your new machine too - so far as I know it runs on Vista too.

Maybe there are free utilities that do the same, I don’t know.

20

Steve - CCleaner has a registry clean-up, but I’ve been afraid of messing with those items.

Maybe I’ll give it a try later.

Eric