How to speed up an old computer

There is a very simple way to make sure that one's computer runs fast regardless of its age. Use it for what it is needed for and nothing more. Don't have a super hyped up machine if all it is going to be used for is to look at email and dirty pictures. Any computer made after 1999 or so would be able to handle that with ease, as well as writing documents, PowerPoint presentations, Quickbooks, and many other programs all at once.



It is very simple: Don't load programs that are not going to be used.



I installed a wireless router the other day and it said that I needed to install the software on the CD first. I tested this by not doing so, and what do you know: It worked!!!



Many products will come with installation Cd's that don't in fact have the drivers on them but instead just superfluous software that runs in the background reminding you that you have their product. Almost every time, all one needs is the driver.



Just like how these "malware" programs run in the background, so too do the programs that one uses on a daily or weekly basis. Whenever a program prompts for a shortcut on the desktop or quick launch bar think about whether they would be used or not. If not, don't let the computer make the shortcuts. Also it is a good idea to disable most things in the start up tab under msconfig.

Viruses will kill a computer and wipe out all of the files if it is not protected by a trustworthy anti-virus. So many people ask me why their computer stops working or crashes or gets horribly slow AFTER installing anti-virus. The answer is always this: they chose the wrong anti-virus. Without exception the best anti-virus program for the past 4 years has been AVG. It even has a free edition that works just as well as the paid for version. It updates daily and when prompted, is a small program that works in the background with out slowing down the computer, and catches alot more than what the others would catch. In 1994 Norton began to be the biggest most effective antivirus software. It was displaced around 2001 or so by McAffee. Now both those programs have lost their effectiveness. They do not catch the REAL viruses, they slow down the computer and they are almost impossible to remove completely. They have in fact become malware themselves. AVG working in unison with Spybot and AdAware is what so many computer guru's have been recommending for the past 5 years.

Finally, if all of this does not speed up the computer that is currently running slower than sap dripping up a tree in the arctic in slow motion, then the best choice is a clean slate and wipe the hard drive out and reinstall the operating system. Back up the information that is needed and just bite the bullet and it will be like a brand new machine.

I guarantee it.

Finally up!!

After being in business in the computer resell/repair industry since 1995, our website is finally up! Took long enough but time is something that we don't have alot of. Oh well.

The purpose of these first few blog entries is to educate the public across the world about misinformation in computer sales.

First of all, try Windows Vista at your own risk!! It is not only slower than XP but every other operating system out there. The fastest o/s is the oldest; they just keep getting slower because of all the bells and whistles. I'm not saying go back to Win3.1, but know what you need to run the operating system.
windows 98 requires .016GB ram (16MB) and .225 GB (255MB) free hard drive space.
windows 2000 requires .032GB ram (32MB) and .650 GB (650MB) free hard drive space.
windows XP requires .128GB ram (128MB) and 1.5 GB free hard drive space.
whereas, windows VISTA requires 1GB ram and 15 GB free hard drive space!!!

That's 8 times what XP requires!!

Okay, fine, Technology got much better and faster in the past 5 years right?
Not really, not compared to the 8 years before that certainly. A refurbished machine having the basic minimum requirements running XP will run circles around a Vista machine with its minimum system requirements. In the past 5 years the biggest advance in computers as in graphics and data transfer rate in cables. CABLES. yes we knew about the graphics part. But other than that the next big advance was in the cables? You see, processor speeds got so fast that the cables carrying the data had to be upgraded just to see the difference in speed. USB was replaced by USB2.0, IDE replaced by SATA, USB2.0 so soon be replaced by eSATA after Firewire had its 2 year battle with USB. Hard drives were not keeping up either, from 7200RPM we went up to 15000RPM.

All operating systems become more reliable over time. Service packs come out and increase the reliability of the system. When an operating system is new it is still incredibly unstable. Thankfully XP has become a very stable machine (assuming that one knows how to protect their system from viruses). Vista is the biggest target for virus programmers. Also it will crash alot more often until at least Service Pack 2 comes out.

DRIVERS!!!! How did Vista over look the incompatibility with other operating systems and hardware. Vista does not have half the working drivers that it needs. And those that it does have work so slow due to the speed required to run the operating system. Don't believe me, just try to print from a Vista machine to a networked printer on a XP machine. it takes about a minute to print! THAT IS NOT FASTER!

In short all of the hype about Vista (which is quickly dieing away) is just to make you think that technology continued with its exponential advancements that we saw in the 90's, in fact it died down considerably. we were able to go from one processor to 2, something we had in servers for years anyway, build bigger operating systems whose only purpose is to show you pretty graphics and make you think that you made a good investment.

Like I said, try Vista with your own risk!