I need tips to make my programs run faster...celeron d 2.53GHz 256 RAM?

Question

It's an older computer but recently is very slow to close/minimize programs or to perform basic functions within them. Scanned the whole system for viruses, etc. and it's clean. I've also went into msconfig and turned off a lot of unnecessary background programs, enlarged pagefile from 350 or so MB to 1000 and it's still about 40-50 seconds just to minimize a window if more than one program is running in foreground. Most helpful answer gets 10 pts. thanks in advance

Answer 1

Wow... That does sound awfully sluggish.

Yeah.... RAM. I'd start there. Upgrade to at least 512 MB, 768 preferrably, a used 256 MB stick of DDR should set you back no more than $10 at a local computer shop. When I installed Service Pack 3 on my mom's system, it slowed down considerably... she's happily running at 512 now (2 ghz Pentium 4). Also, the fact that your paging file seems rather ineffective, and that the rest of your system seems sluggish makes me think of a potential hard drive issue/failure. Try defragmenting. My favorite tool for diagnosing hardware components (hard drives/memory) is the Ultimate Boot CD ( http://ubcd.sourceforge.net/ ), it's completely free, and has all of the diagnostic utilities you'll ever need. In msconfig, make sure to visit the Processes tab, check "hide all Microsoft processes," and go to town. Finally, I know it's a stretch... but check your motherboard for bulging or oozing capacitors, or even the thermal paste on your processor. They generally cause glitches, but hey, anything is possible. Try running ccleaner ( http://www.ccleaner.com/ ) to clear your caches and prefetch. If all else fails, it may be time to reformat and reinstall. Good luck!

Answer 2

Put in at least another 256 MB in your system (preferably have a total of 1GB)

Delete your temporary files  (Located in Internet Explorer under properties)

Defrag your hard Drive

Empty your re-cycle Bin

I think your enlarged page file should not exceed 2x of your installed memory.

Answer 3

you need more ram.

If you dont want to spend money then try a low profile os like puyppy linux, which will run quite happily on those system specs.

If you want to continue using windows than you need the ram. modern software just isnt designed to run on less than 512meg, but with a slow processor realistically a gig is necessary.  

Answer 4

Way more RAM, probably 4 times that

Answer 5

put in more RAM. 256 MB is just no longer sufficient.