[dnestorjr]

1st of all let me say thanks to all that have helped me & are still helping me clean my systems up & running smoothly. Great place here, and great people.

I am wanting to know the best methods, programs, what have you to optimize my systems so that I can get things to run smoother & faster from internet surfing, dloading to RAM & CPU usage, any & all help is appreciated.

(also on a side note: handhfan has helped me remove malware/spyware/viruses)

Edited by dnestorjr, 10 February 2009 - 03:04 PM.

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Hi dnestorjr,

Here is a great guide that a staff member wrote on What makes your machine slow? It helped improve the speed of my parents machine 10fold.

Here is a preventing malware and ensure safe computing guide that you may be familiar with its contents since you just dealt with some malware, etc.

Here is a way to make firefox faster which is the browser I highly recommend.

This should help you out...let me know hot it goes and if you have any questions.

[Ferrari]

Hi dnestorjr,

Here is a great guide that a staff member wrote on What makes your machine slow? It helped improve the speed of my parents machine 10fold.

Here is a preventing malware and ensure safe computing guide that you may be familiar with its contents since you just dealt with some malware, etc.

Here is a way to make firefox faster which is the browser I highly recommend.

This should help you out...let me know hot it goes and if you have any questions.

[dnestorjr]

ok great thanks for info, & I have noticed a speed boost, couple more questions, how can I be sure I am getting the most out of my internet. I do have latest firmware for router & latest driver for onboard LAN. Any other tips/tricks. I am supposed to have 8Mbps/512Kbps.

And while I am posting, I have a 130 GB Hard Drive, that is used just for C: Drive, I would like to partition this into 2 drives without formatting, what software is best recommended?

[Ferrari]

I saw this Tune Up Utilities 2009 link once that was on a mod or admins signature I believe. It is one of those all in one tune up programs or whatever. I don't use it for everything just some things.

Disclaimer: I do not recommend the registry cleaner or defrag part of this program, use at your own risk

Once you have it installed, open up the Tune Up Utilities Icon (not the maintenance one) and it will scan your system and give recommendations on things to improve speed and also lets you choose the balance of speed and appearance. I wouldn't let it automatically correct everything, click on the small "Details" link under each category(You'll see what I mean) and it will go through each recommendation individual and give the option of hiding each one for 30 days or forever. It also gives an explanation of what it does and what it recommends.

Please note: Tune Up Utilities 2009 is only a 30 day trial.
And also, it may make changes to some of the integers that you may have just changed for Firefox to slower settings depending on what speed you told the program you are running at. All you have to do is go back in to firefox, like that link tells you to, and change it back once Tune Up 2009 is done.

I would not recommend using the registry cleaner or defrag in TuneUp Utilities 2009 unless you are sure of what you are doing. It can mess up your computer.

I recommend jkdefrag as part of defragging your whole system. It may be time for you to do that if you have not for a while.

Have you gone to START >> RUN >> type MSCONFIG (lower case is ok) and click OK. Go to the START UP tab and UNCHECK any programs you don't want to run at start up. I wouldn't uncheck it if you don't know what it is.

I don't know about partitioning the hard drive...someone else will have to answer that for you.

There may be programs out there that will tell you the exact speed your internet is coming in at. May be a way for your computer to tell...I'm not sure about that either.

Let me know if you have any questions...I'm glad you have noticed a speed boost.

Edited by Ferrari, 13 February 2009 - 12:20 PM.

[dnestorjr]

Is there software out there that will tell you your Mobo type & model? I cant find my manual since the move & I dont want to crack open this case & move stuff around. I wanna find my max amount of memory & what memory is compatible. I need a memory upgrade, turns out I only have 768 mb Ram installed

[Broni]

768MB of RAM is pefectly enough for XP.

If you need more info about your computer....Download, and install Everest: http://www.majorgeek...wnload4181.html

[dnestorjr]

not when u r wanting to play games & do video editing.

[Ferrari]

I agree, 768mb of ram should be just fine...I've heard 1gb is perfect and anything over that is just over kill for XP. You can go to www.crucial.com and use their scanner to find out what kind of ram you have and it will also tell you the maximum your motherboard will take if you wish.

I think you may want to look into a graphics card if you are wanting to game or do editing. Broni, may be able to help you more in that area, I just use video cards for dual monitors, I'm not to into gaming.

Good luck!

[dnestorjr]

well I have a MSI (Micro Star) MS-6788 (848P Neo-LS) Motherboard, my board has 3 slots for RAM, this is what manual says & I dont fully understand, maybe someone can explain differently for me:

The mainboard provides 2 slots for 184-pin, 2.5V DDR DIMM modules
and supports the memory size up to 2 GB without ECC,. You can install DDR266/
DDR333/DDR400 DDR SDRAM modules on the DDR DIMM slots. To operate
properly, at least one DIMM module must be installed.

Install at least one DIMM module on the slots. Memory modules can be
installed on the slots in any order. You can install either single- or double-side
modules to meet your own needs.

Memory modules can be installed in any combination as follows:
DDR DIMM Module Combination
S: Single Side D: Double Side

Slot Memory Module Total Memory
DIMM 1
(Bank 0 & 1)
S/D 64MB~1GB
DIMM 2
(Bank 2 & 3)
S/D 64MB~1GB
Maximum System Memory Supported 64MB~2GB


& PS my video Card is an NVIDIA Geforce FX5200

Edited by dnestorjr, 14 February 2009 - 12:33 PM.

[Broni]

You can go to www.crucial.com and use their scanner to find out what kind of ram you have and it will also tell you the maximum your motherboard will take if you wish.

[dnestorjr]

whats the 3rd bank for though?

[dnestorjr]

Let me see if I am understanding this correctly based upon what I am reading. I can put 2 sticks of memory in bank 1 & 3 for Dual Channel mode, but they must be matching pairs of memory or I can fill all 3 banks with ram & it will run as a max of 3gb of ram in Single mode? IS this what it is saying?

Or can I put 3 matching sticks into all 3 banks & still run in dual mode? Please someone enlighten me.
Thanks