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Slower older pc


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#1
EarlB

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I have reactivated an old Sony PCG-FX 340, and reinstalled Windows with Service pack 3.
It still runs slowly and with all the free "run fast" products out there, I'm not sure which one I can trust and that works with minimal space.
Suggestions?
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#2
rshaffer61

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This is what I found to be default specs on your system

900 MHz Pentium III processor, 128 MB of RAM (expandable to 512 MB), a 15 GB hard disk, combination CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, 56K modem, and a 10/100 Mbps Ethernet network card. Its display is a 14.1-inch, 1024 x 768 resolution active-matrix flat panel. It comes loaded with Windows XP Home Edition

First issue is memory. 512 is minimal anymore for a OS and programs.
Doubling this to 1 gig will help more then anything else.
Second is the hd itself is small in capacity and probably runs at 5400 rpms compared to the enwer 7200 rpm drives.
Third lets see what you have exactly for space.

Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply
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#3
EarlB

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Since its a different computer than this one, here is what is on the screen:

c drive, partition, basic, FAT32, healthy, capacity 7.8GB, free 794, fault tolerance no, overhead 0%
d drive, partition, basic, NTFS, healthy, capacity 6.24, free 6.22, fault tolerance no, overhead 0%
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#4
rshaffer61

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c drive, partition, basic, FAT32, healthy, capacity 7.8GB, free 794, fault tolerance no, overhead 0%


Is this showing only 794 megs free space now?
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#5
EarlB

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yup
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#6
rshaffer61

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That is your problem then.
In order for system to run correctly you need at least 15% of the drive free. You have 10% free. MFT is probably struggling and with that little space a defrag will probably not work correctly.
Try running TFC to clear out temps and cache.
Download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop
  • Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
  • It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
  • Click the Start button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
  • Once it's finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.

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#7
EarlB

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I'll give that a try and let you know.
Thank you as always.
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#8
rshaffer61

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The biggest issue is that you hd is very small by todays standards. The smallest hd i see sold now is 80 gigs which is at least 4 times the amount of space you have.
The other problem I see is that your C partition is Fat32 which is not as reliable as NTFS.
Can you tell me if either of those partitions shows System or OS in the description?
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#9
EarlB

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I now have 1.02gb free space but it still runs slowly.
As to your system question, where do I find that info?
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#10
rshaffer61

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Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply
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#11
EarlB

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Here is the screanshot.
Can you still recommend a free downloand to improve speed.
Thanks.

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#12
rshaffer61

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OK C is the OS drive or System drive.
D looks like it is empty
Go to My Computer and click on the D drive and let me know what files are showing on it.
I believe this drive is just a partition and we might be able to delete it and extend your C drive out to give you more room.
I'm not sure what kind of program you are referring to speed your system up.
Your hard drive is small and old and nothing is going to hel you. A replacement drive would be the best answer.
Let me know what your findings are on the D drive.

Edited by rshaffer61, 16 March 2010 - 04:19 PM.

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#13
EarlB

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There are two folders, one called d1982c713bd8c35fe30b, 6.09mb with sub folders with names like amd64, i386 ect. The second folder is called Images and is empty.
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#14
rshaffer61

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OK those folders would be part of the recovery partition. Strange as they are taking up very little room but have a large partition.
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#15
EarlB

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So the answer is keep at least 1gb free, replace the drives or forget about trying to resurect old pc's.
Thanks for your help and you can mark this as resolved.
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