Computer running EXTREMELY slow ..

ron_darrell

Hi guys,

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for the question, if not I apologise and if the moderator could move me to the right forum I'd appreciate it.

Well here's the problem. We have a Dell Dimension 1100 here at work. It's about 18 months old. The spec is a Centino processor (2.53Ghz) with 254MB RAM running WinXP home edition (pre-installed on the machine). I've maxed the page file (the hard-drive is 80GB more than enough for what it's being used for so no reason not to use it for more profitable utility).

It was never the fastest machine in the world but for the last 2 months it crawls to halt on a regular basis. The machine is just used for opening an MS-Access program (which runs across the network with a local front-end on each machine linked to the back-end) and checking email. Oh and we use our Web based freight management system on it also. Basically very low end use. We have a much older machine running Win98 that another user uses that is able to cope with this workload.

I'm trying to see if we can repair the machine or if we need to dump it. The company I work for is quite a small operation and while I'm sure resources can be found to replace the machine it would be better if we didn't have to go down that route.

My question is this. Is it likely to be a memory problem i.e. if I upgrade the memory will it help? Is it something more sinister? I've removed all unnecessary start up processes except maxmem (which we are using to try and reduce the memory problems). I've ran disk clean, disk defragment and run a virus scan. I'm all out of ideas. Would a fresh install of the OS help?

Apologies if I'm missing something silly here. My expertise is not really in hardware.

-RD

ethernet

A fresh install would breathe new life into the machine but, in a work environment, it is hardly all that practical.

You are right -- more RAM would help. At least 512 MB for comfortable running of XP. 1 GB or more is ideal. If you'll be upgrading to Vista, maybe go for even more RAM -- if your motherboard supports it, that is.

Anti

If you have not already done it do a registy clean, a hdd defrag. And uninstall anything that is not nessecary. But more ram is what is going to help. I find xp dog slow with anything less then 1gb.

What you could also try if none of the above works, do a system restore to a few months ago. But backup all important data first. Just incase.

ron_darrell

I thought as much. The thing is though I have another machine, identical spec but absolutely no problems, in fact the other machine has to handle all the same apps + the accounting package and gives no problems. That's why I wasn't sure about the memory. I'll try updating the memory and see how it goes. Thanks.


-RD

Anti

Would you not try the advice that costs no money first?

-TK^Creator

spyware? always slows down my net connection at home when i get to much of it
spyboy search & destroy is good or lavasofts adware

Raekwon

Have you checked the Tasks Manager yet? If not then have a look and see if there are any programmes working in the background that are hogging your system resources.

Other then that upgrading the RAM is the most obvious solution.

8T8

Download Spybot S&D update latest definitions (manual updates are on the site if no net connection to PC) run it and make sure the system is clean.

If it finds nothing do as the others have suggested like a defrag and then go buy some memory from Crucial for 100% compatibility.

A 1GB kit for €58 should make a noticeable difference.

ron_darrell

Thanks to everyone for their input. Before I posted the note to the forum I had done all the obvious things like disk clean up, uping the page file size, defrag, virus scan, spybot scan and had a look at the registry. Nothing major in the registry and while there are a lot of processes running in the background when the PC starts up their combined cpu usage is less than 1%. I wanted to make sure that the only other likely suspect was the RAM before I spent some of my IT budget on it, that's why I posted this note. Thank you all again for your help. My hardware skills are pretty basic but if any of you need help with programming drop me a line.

Regards
-RD

P.S. Not sure how to close this thread (or if I'm even supposed to) so if the moderator can help out I'd appreciate it.

Tq
-RD

Anti

Heh. You just leave it to die, or wait for someone like awhir to dig it back up in 2 or 3 weeks