help me make my computer super speedy

[Arriba]

well maybe not super speedy,but quicker than its current stagnant state.
it takes ages to get itself sorted at start up.and has generally got slow as fuck lately(the mrs and kids use it mostly and i stick to my lappy)
i've tried defrag,and disc clean up etc.
i have read about remeoving stuff from start but dont know how to do that.any advice would be welcome.
ta..............

[Nemo]

http://thetownend.com/index.php/topic,36376.msg753928.html#msg753928 should help with startup processes.

[leefer]

Hi arriba...my advice would be to take it to the computer shop in Gorse Hill...its cheap and he does a good job...its probably a build up of rubbish and he has done a good job for me....its nearly imposible to do it yourself so maybe give him ago.

[Rustle]

Hi arriba...my advice would be to take it to the computer shop in Gorse Hill...its cheap and he does a good job...its probably a build up of rubbish and he has done a good job for me....its nearly imposible to do it yourself so maybe give him ago.

I'll second this Arriba,he will usually do it the same day if you take it in early.

[Arriba]

i'm gonna try myself first but thanks for the recomendation
.
anyway when i go over startup and right click then open.it doesn't have anything in it?
i know there must be stuff but i cannot find any?
if i hover over startup it only comes up with.
dslmon and utility tray.seems to do nothing when i click either of them.

[Samdy Gray]

That's because a lot of startup processes aren't in the startup folder.

Si Pie posted this link which shows you how to disable them using msconfig > http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.php

[Sippo]

What OS are you running and how
much RAM do you have?

[pauld]

Assuming it's XP, if you've got everything you need to keep backed up, the single biggest thing you can do to improve speed without upgrading hardware is reinstall. All versions of Windows need reinstalling every 6-12 months because they just deteriorate shockingly and no amount of cleaning up/registry sweeping/defragging will solve it.

I'm convinced that's a big part of why people think new versions of Windows are blindingly fast - it's not so much that new version x is actually that much faster than version y, but that their old install had got so much cruft in it, that most of the percieved speed increase they see is actually from having a clean install.

Or if re-installing seems like a lot of hassle, you could go down the TalkTalk route and "set fire to the fucking thing". Not sure how much speed improvement that makes though

[Fred Elliot]

 

[Arriba]

sippo.i have no idea how much ram,and i dont know what os means?

pauld your suggestion sounds like too much work.i dont have things backed up nor do i know how to do that.i'm pretty useless with computers unless i'm given instructions from more knowledgeable people.si's links were easy to follow so i'm gratefull for them.

i've gone down the windows defender route and disabled stuff from startup.that way it's still in there if i want to put it back.
seems faster,so it has done some good .

[Sippo]

Sorry had my geek head on. Is it xp or vista?

[Simon Pieman]

Assuming it's XP, if you've got everything you need to keep backed up, the single biggest thing you can do to improve speed without upgrading hardware is reinstall. All versions of Windows need reinstalling every 6-12 months because they just deteriorate shockingly and no amount of cleaning up/registry sweeping/defragging will solve it.

I'm convinced that's a big part of why people think new versions of Windows are blindingly fast - it's not so much that new version x is actually that much faster than version y, but that their old install had got so much cruft in it, that most of the percieved speed increase they see is actually from having a clean install.

Or if re-installing seems like a lot of hassle, you could go down the TalkTalk route and "set fire to the fucking thing". Not sure how much speed improvement that makes though

I fully agree with that Paul. 6-12 months is probably overkill unless you're a speed freak, certainly when you're waiting a few minutes for Windows to load it's a worthy consideration. A new faster and emptier hard drive along with a fresh install of windows has cut down load times on an old laptop of mine to well under a minute. Not bad for a £35 upgrade.

Changing the hard drive was the piss easy bit, copying files and re-installing everything was a bit more of a hassle but it has been well worth it. For most people that's a lot of hassle though, so it's a compromise to tweak what you already have.

[pauld]

pauld your suggestion sounds like too much work.i dont have things backed up nor do i know how to do that.i'm pretty useless with computers unless i'm given instructions from more knowledgeable people.si's links were easy to follow so i'm gratefull for them.

That's fair enough arriba. Unless you've got stuff backed up and are used to reinstalling, it can be a bit of a mare. Glad to hear Si's links helped out - like Si says, it is a lot of hassle so if you can improve things by tweaking, all to the good

[jonny72]

When I was re-installing Windows I'd always just buy a new hard drive and install to that as the new main drive, then have the old drive mounted as a secondary or external drive. It makes it nice and easy to switch back, by booting the other drive / swapping them over, and all the data is nice and easy to move over.

Its good to do it as it gets rid of all the old software you never use, data you don't use and all the shit that has been left lying around for whatever reason.

[Barry Scott]

Well i'm gonna sound ultra smarmy now. Once i get my computer running sweet, i take a drive image and just reinstall the image whenever it starts to get on my tits. I also created about 5 images, for different operating environments, and just switch between them whenever i need to.