Slow computer?

wazup

Well-known member
Jun 12, 2010
4,276
584
113
My computer is painfully slow. The numbers on the front are 335processor, 80GB, CD-RW, 256MB, these numbers mean nothing to me. Do I have to take it in to a computer place and have it upgraded or can I try cleaning it up on my own to make it faster?
 
A slow computer can be caused by many things. Too many programs loaded on the computer, processor is not fast enough, not enough memory or it's improperly setup. The first thing I would do is blow away any programs or files that you're not using. See if that helps the speed. Most computers have some sort of disk fragmentation tool that allows you to organize all the files on the Hard Drive to make some additional space on the Hard Drive. It may be worth taking it in to Staples Easytech for a tuneup. Get an estimate first before you go ahead. If it's an older Computer, the price for making it run faster, may be close to the cost of a good down payment on a new Computer. There are also some off the shelf cleanup software tools you can buy, but if it's running slow because of a hardware issue, the Software is a waste of money.
 
My computer is painfully slow. The numbers on the front are 335processor, 80GB, CD-RW, 256MB, these numbers mean nothing to me. Do I have to take it in to a computer place and have it upgraded or can I try cleaning it up on my own to make it faster?

With an 80GB drive and 256MB , looks like it's an antique , get rid of it. You can buy a new computer for about $400.
 
That computer is absolutely ancient. Buy a new one, the cheapest one you can find anywhere is a massive upgrade over that. As a quick comparison, the computer I just built for myself has 16 GB of ram, or 64x more ram than yours.
 
download and run free version all the tools and you shoudl speed up a bit. http://www.iolo.com/ I use it on anyone that has an old machine.

can't help the old processor though.
 
Start simple. Update and run your antivirus. If nothing slows up then backup your data, format the c drive and reinstall the os that you had running. Do not upgrade the os since that will likely slow it as well. If that doesn't help then you will have to live with it.
 
If you have only 256MB RAM, then you need to add more RAM. You need at least 1GB RAM in to-day's world.

BTW: I heard that the original Apple recently sold for $385,000 as a museum curiosity piece.
 
Get a new one. All the time you spend waiting for programs to load could add up to a work week. Its worth it.
 
My computer is painfully slow. The numbers on the front are 335processor, 80GB, CD-RW, 256MB....

That antique needs at least 1 gig of RAM if you want to keep it. 256MB isn't enough if you are running XP. When was the last time you formatted and reinstalled the OS? That will clean out all the crap files Windows accumulated that will slow down Windows and you will think you got a new PC.

You are better off getting a new PC for ~$400 that will be about 10X faster.
 
for what you might pay for cleaning this up at a big box store...hit up kijiji or craigslist...there are also some stores in markham that sell off lease computers systems for very reasonable prices...some have preinstalled os and look for at least a gig of ram...

can pay between 40 to 100 and have something decent without breaking the bank...

i got some computers off kijiji and craigslist for less than 50 bucks and they run quite well and i keep them light on software to keep them fast...
 
I had an old Dell laptop that I gave away to a person that did not have a computer, but first I scrapped the Windows operating system and replaced it with Ubuntu. It is a free operating system that you could find on the interent. Things go much faster when it is not bogged down with useless extras.
 
^^^All the more reason to reformat and reinstall the OS.
You will think you got a new PC....;)