Just got a computer upgrade

[squash500]

I just got my 2005 dell desktop computer upgraded from 256mb of ram to the maximum allowable upgrade of 2gb of ram on this particular dell model. So far I really notice the difference in speed.

Before I always had to keep deleting temporary internet files etc. It was a real pain in the a**. I also got my broken cd/dvd rom drive replaced as well.

A friend of the family did this for me. He said that my computer should now be good for another couple of years.

I hope he is right ?

 

[WoodPeckr]

Maxing out your ram is the easiest upgrade you can make that will show a significant PC performance increase. It's worth doing since ram is so cheap now.

 

[newguy27]

256mb of ram was quite inadequate for today's applications. Im sure you got rid of a huge bottleneck.

 

[squash500]

256mb of ram was quite inadequate for today's applications. Im sure you got rid of a huge bottleneck.

You're right. I was already to buy a new computer. However my friend thought that with the memory upgrade increase to 2gb that I could keep this computer for another couple of years.

He did also say that only having 256mb of memory was a major problem.

 

[Radio_Shack]

WTG Squash. I find I just barely get by with 3GB right now.

I am running:

Windows Vista
Quad Core

Under Vista I also have 3 Virtual machines runnning under MS Virtual PC 2007:

Solaris 10 -- 1GB memory allocated
Ubuntu 8.10 -- 512MB memory allocated
Federo 10 -- 512MB memory allocated

running this all on a DELL Inspiron 530 I got online for about $600

 

[squash500]

WTG Squash. I find I just barely get by with 3GB right now.

I am running:

Windows Vista
Quad Core

Under Vista I also have 3 Virtual machines runnning under MS Virtual PC 2007:

Solaris 10 -- 1GB memory allocated
Ubuntu 8.10 -- 512MB memory allocated
Federo 10 -- 512MB memory allocated

running this all on a DELL Inspiron 530 I got online for about $600

I have the Dell Dimension 3000 series desktop which I paid $860 for including taxes way back in August 2005. Or $749 before all the taxes were added on.

I am a computer beginner so I don't even do that much on the computer to begin with. That's why my friend thought I could continue running windows xp with ie 7 for now.

I paid around $160 including taxes for the parts. The parts included the 2GB of Ram and the new cd/dvd drive. My friend didn't charge me for the install which took him about an hour and a half.

Hopefully I made the right decision? My friend said that in my situation buying a new computer would be a waste of money.

 

[Radio_Shack]

I have the Dell Dimension 3000 series desktop which I paid $860 for including taxes way back in August 2005. Or $749 before all the taxes were added on.

I am a computer beginner so I don't even do that much on the computer to begin with. That's why my friend thought I could continue running windows xp with ie 7 for now.

I paid around $160 including taxes for the parts. The parts included the 2GB of Ram and the new cd/dvd drive. My friend didn't charge me for the install which took him about an hour and a half.

Hopefully I made the right decision? My friend said that in my situation buying a new computer would be a waste of money.

I think you did the right thing. As long as your performance is good you are fine. If it starts slowing down you can try defrag the hard disk.

 

[WoodPeckr]

You're right. I was already to buy a new computer. However my friend thought that with the memory upgrade increase to 2gb that I could keep this computer for another couple of years.

He did also say that only having 256mb of memory was a major problem.

No need to buy a new PC, you will easily get many more years yet.
I still use a 12 yr old P2 with maxed out ram of 384MB running XP Pro and linux. XP runs a bit slow but seldom use XP anymore and linux runs much faster.
XP will run fine with 2GB of ram and is supported till 2014.

The one other thing you may do if XP slows down if simply re-format the HDD and reinstall XP. XP after using awhile accumulates lots of junk files, along with junk building up in the registry that will slow XP down. A 're-format' cleans out all that crap and will speed things up and make your old PC run like new again. In the past I would reformat the HDD and reinstall XP twice a year and this old PC always ran like new.

 

[thewheelman]

RAM is very cheap now...you can get 2GB for less than $50.

No brainer upgrade at these prices.

 

[onehunglow]

No need to buy a new PC, you will easily get many more years yet.
I still use a 12 yr old P2 with maxed out ram of 384MB running XP Pro and linux. XP runs a bit slow but seldom use XP anymore and linux runs much faster.
XP will run fine with 2GB of ram and is supported till 2014.

The one other thing you may do if XP slows down if simply re-format the HDD and reinstall XP. XP after using awhile accumulates lots of junk files, along with junk building up in the registry that will slow XP down. A 're-format' cleans out all that crap and will speed things up and make your old PC run like new again. In the past I would reformat the HDD and reinstall XP twice a year and this old PC always ran like new.

You are the man.

The machine i am using right now is a P3 1000mhz with 768 mb of pc 133 ram. Like you i reformat once in a while and ghost a previously installed setup and start anew. Unless you want the latest and greatest i always suggest that if your system is doing what you want at a reasonable speed, stick with it.

 

[squash500]

No need to buy a new PC, you will easily get many more years yet.
I still use a 12 yr old P2 with maxed out ram of 384MB running XP Pro and linux. XP runs a bit slow but seldom use XP anymore and linux runs much faster.
XP will run fine with 2GB of ram and is supported till 2014.

The one other thing you may do if XP slows down if simply re-format the HDD and reinstall XP. XP after using awhile accumulates lots of junk files, along with junk building up in the registry that will slow XP down. A 're-format' cleans out all that crap and will speed things up and make your old PC run like new again. In the past I would reformat the HDD and reinstall XP twice a year and this old PC always ran like new.

Thanks for the excellent post I'm glad that I listened to my friend after all and didn't buy a new computer.

As a computer beginner is it a difficult process to re-install XP? I'm embarassed to admit this but I don't even know what re-formatting the hard drive means?

What I learned through this whole process is that if you are a beginner with computers than computer dealers will take full advantage of you. I was quoted some totally ridiculous prices for both parts and labour.

My friend is from out of town and actually bought the parts for me from a computer dealer he knows and I paid him back. My friend doesn't travel to Toronto very often but I'm glad that I listened to his advice.

He said it's similar to going to a mechanic when you know nothing about how cars work. The mechanic can make up a lot of things that are wrong with your car just to pad the bill.

My friend says the same thing applies to computers. He told me that a computer shop might have charged me over $100 in labour just to do the install and to check out that the software was compatible with the upgrade.

 

[WoodPeckr]

The machine i am using right now is a P3 1000mhz with 768 mb of pc 133 ram. Like you i reformat once in a while and ghost a previously installed setup and start anew.

LOL!
Wish I had a P3....
My P2 is only 400MHZ with 384, pc 133 ram but runs XP OK. Linux runs almost as fast as my newer dual core laptop with 4GB DDR2 ram runing Vista and linux.
I also ghosted XP onto the original 8.5GB HDD that came with the 12 yr old P2. The OEM 8.5GB HHD was 5400rpm and when I upgraded to a new 120GB 7200rpm HDD that sped the whole P2 system up significantly also.
When I format, I just swap the drives and format the 120GB drive then transfer over XP and all my programs/apps/browsers/AV etc, to the 120GB drive, then swap drives again making the 120GB drive primary again and I'm up and running like new in just under an hour.

Like this antique PC because it still runs great and has excellent upgraded Boston Acoustics speakers with sub woofer that sound great.

As a computer beginner is it a difficult process to re-install XP? I'm embarassed to admit this but I don't even know what re-formatting the hard drive means?

It means wiping the drive clean and starting over with a fresh install of XP or whatever OS you use. This cleans our all the built up junk that comes with running Windows.
And yes once stores see you know little about PCs, they can easily take you to the cleaners with a high repair bill. Always call your friend first for advice.

If you format 'by the book' it can easily take over 8 hours to format the drive, then install XP, then install each and every program you use over again one by one. I bypassed all that by saving XP on the old drive. Then I just swap drives, tranfer OS and all over to the freshly formatted drive, then swap drives back and I'm up an running in < 1 hour....but doing it this way is a bit more involved since you have to open up the PC and work inside the PC.

 

[onehunglow]

Thanks for the excellent post I'm glad that I listened to my friend after all and didn't buy a new computer.

As a computer beginner is it a difficult process to re-install XP? I'm embarassed to admit this but I don't even know what re-formatting the hard drive means?

What I learned through this whole process is that if you are a beginner with computers than computer dealers will take full advantage of you. I was quoted some totally ridiculous prices for both parts and labour.

My friend is from out of town and actually bought the parts for me from a computer dealer he knows and I paid him back. My friend doesn't travel to Toronto very often but I'm glad that I listened to his advice.

He said it's similar to going to a mechanic when you know nothing about how cars work. The mechanic can make up a lot of things that are wrong with your car just to pad the bill.

My friend says the same thing applies to computers. He told me that a computer shop might have charged me over $100 in labour just to do the install and to check out that the software was compatible with the upgrade.

Formating your PC and re-installing XP is actually very easy. The difficulty lies in the XP install and perhaps having to go through reactivation with Microsoft if you have a legit copy of XP. Drivers can also be an issue. This is why i have a HD with XP and all my aps already installed. I use a program to "Ghost" or copy the info over to the PC. Takes about 15 - 30 minutes. No need to activate XP because it has already been done. Just need to update all your apps and install your personal files. The HD with the original setup acts as a good clean copy. You would not believe the thousands of bits of code that make your way into your system just from regular use. It does after time cause problems. Some code can even interact with each other to make life difficult.

The cost of doing something like this would be about $75 or about 100 if activation is needed. You can do some research and learn how to do this yourself. If i were you and you wanted to try i would buy a second HD, disconnect your old one, hook up the new and try from there. If it does not work you can still rehook the old one till you figure it out.

 

[tboy]

Hey Squasher:

In regards to deleting your temp files etc. That is wholely dependant on the size of your Hard drive and upgrading ram won't change that.

Yeah, buying a bigger drive will alleviate that problem but you should still delete the temp files once a month cuz they do build up.

You should look at a reputable win clean program like McAfee Cleansweep or similar. That will clean up registry problems, old temp files, dead links etc.

 

[squash500]

Hey Squasher:

In regards to deleting your temp files etc. That is wholely dependant on the size of your Hard drive and upgrading ram won't change that.

Yeah, buying a bigger drive will alleviate that problem but you should still delete the temp files once a month cuz they do build up.

You should look at a reputable win clean program like McAfee Cleansweep or similar. That will clean up registry problems, old temp files, dead links etc.

Tboy just to repeat I am a total computer beginner . I have an 80GB hard drive. It has about 80% free space on it.

The funny thing is that even with the upgrade I still can't access the Mirage website. Every time I go on to the Mirage site my computer automatically shuts down. Then the microsoft report says it's a Dr. Watson debugger error. Whatever that means--lol.

Also whenever Andy posts a response in a thread I never see the picture of the mirage site right after he ends the thread with his patented phrase---god bless. All I see after god bless is a blank white square with a small square at the top of the big blank white square with red and blue in it?

I'm guessing it could be a flashplayer problem? The only good thing about not being able to access the mirage website is that I have saved a bit of money since I can't research the hot Mirage sps properly.

However I find that with the upgrade to 2 GB of Ram my computer is running much faster.

I'm not sure if I made another mistake? I have Rogers high speed ultra lite. I was running Norton's anti-virus that was supported by Rogers and was included in Rogers monthly fee.

However as of June 30/09 Rogers is getting rid of Norton's and switching to their own proprietary virus program. I downloaded the new Rogers anti-virus program in advance. It seems to be working ok so far. Hopefully I did the right thing with this virus decision as well?

 

[squash500]

Formating your PC and re-installing XP is actually very easy. The difficulty lies in the XP install and perhaps having to go through reactivation with Microsoft if you have a legit copy of XP. Drivers can also be an issue. This is why i have a HD with XP and all my aps already installed. I use a program to "Ghost" or copy the info over to the PC. Takes about 15 - 30 minutes. No need to activate XP because it has already been done. Just need to update all your apps and install your personal files. The HD with the original setup acts as a good clean copy. You would not believe the thousands of bits of code that make your way into your system just from regular use. It does after time cause problems. Some code can even interact with each other to make life difficult.

The cost of doing something like this would be about $75 or about 100 if activation is needed. You can do some research and learn how to do this yourself. If i were you and you wanted to try i would buy a second HD, disconnect your old one, hook up the new and try from there. If it does not work you can still rehook the old one till you figure it out.

This might be easy for you to do . I'm just learning to type quicker on the computer. As a result I don't think I'll be trying your suggestions anytime soon---lol.

Thanks for the informative post anyway.

 

[tboy]

Yeah, thank god robbers got rid of that resource hog called Norton.....I am running a Prescott Pentium 4 3.0 overclocked and my computer used to take a good 5 minutes plus to boot up because of norton but with the new rogers security suite, it's down to a minute +/-.

If you've got that much free space on your hard drive you shouldn't have to worry too much about clearing space too often, but keep an eye on it.

I don't know why your PC would crash from a single website. There's a major conflict somewhere on explorer. I don't if Mirage uses flashplayer or not. Let me think about this and maybe I'll come up with an idea for you.....