[csurp34]

I have an older desktop that was unused for a few years.

 

I just upgraded from Windows Vista Home Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium.

 

I would like to speed it up a bit.

 

After the Windows 7 upgrade (not a clean install), I was asked to run chkdsk which I did and there were about 60 items needing repairs which were completed.

 

I also ran scandsk and defragmented.

 

It is running about the same speed as before.

 

I am wondering if adding some RAM would make a difference?

 

I will post the tower specs below and see what your opinions are. Is it worth it? What to buy?

 

Note that I have opened the box before to change out some bad capacitors in the power supply. I'm thinking that in this case I might take it to a local shop.

 

Thanks.

 

 

HP Pavilion a6120n PC (GC670AA) - specifications

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Processor, Operating System and Memory

Operating system installed

Genuine Windows7 Home Premium (new)

Processor

Intel ® Viiv™ Processor Technology with an Intel ® Core™2 Duo Processor E4400
• 2.00GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz Front Side Bus

Chipset

Intel ® 945G Express Chipset

Standard memory

2048MB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory (2x1024MB for ultimate performance) (expandable to 4GB)

Memory type

DDR2-SDRAM

Memory slots

4 DIMM (240-pin, DDR2) (two available)

 

Internal drives

Internal hard disk drive

320GB

Hard disk controller

Serial ATA hard drive

Hard disk drive speed

(7200 rpm)

Optical drive type

SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology

Optical drive speed

16x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD+R DL, 8x DVD-R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 16x DVD-ROM, 40x CDR, 32x CDRW, 40x CD-ROM ROM

 

System features

Memory card device

15in1 memory card reader

Modem

56k modem

Network interface

Ethernet 10/100/1000BT integrated network interface

Video adapter

Intel ® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 with 64MB dedicated graphics memory. Up to 256MB Total Available Graphics Memory as allocated by Windows Vista®

Video RAM

64MB

Internal audio

High Definition Audio, 8 speaker configurable

Keyboard

HP multimedia keyboard

External drive bays

2 external 5.25"(one available), 1 external 3.5" (occupied)

External I/O ports

6 USB 2.0 port(s), 2 FireWire (IEEE 1394) port(s), Microphone/Headphone/Line-in, 2 PS/2; Digital Audio (In & Out); LAN; Rear speaker out/Side speaker out/Center out/Center (subwoofer); Microphone/Line-in/Line-out; VGA - Out

Expansion slots

2 PCI slots (1 available), 1 PCI-E x1 slot (available), 1 PCI-E x16 slot available)

[Advertisements]

Get Process Explorer

 

http://live.sysinter...com/procexp.exe

Save it to your desktop then run it (Vista or Win7 - right click and Run As Administrator).  

 

View, Select Column, check Verified Signer, OK

Options, Verify Image Signatures

 

 

Click twice on the CPU column header  to sort things by CPU usage with the big hitters at the top.  

 

Wait a full minute then:

 

File, Save As, Save.  Note the file name.   Open the file  on your desktop and copy and paste the text to a reply.

 

 

 

Copy the next 2 lines:

 

TASKLIST /SVC  > \junk.txt

notepad \junk.txt

Open an Elevated Command Prompt:

Start, All Programs, Accessories then right click on Command Prompt and Run as Administrator

 

Right click and Paste (or Edit then Paste) and the copied lines should appear.

Hit Enter if notepad does not open.  Copy and paste the text from notepad into a reply. 

 

Get the free version of Speccy:

 

http://www.filehippo...download_speccy (Look in the upper right for the Download

Latest Version button  - Do NOT press the large Start Download button on the upper left!)  

Download, Save and Install it.  Tell it you do not need CCLEANER.    Run Speccy.  When it finishes (the little icon in the bottom left will stop moving), 

File, Save as Text File,  (to your desktop) note the name it gives. OK.  Open the file in notepad and delete the line that gives the serial number of your Operating System.  

(It will be near the top about 10 lines down.) Save the file.  Attach the file to your next post.  (More Reply Options, Choose File, Open, Attach This File)

 

 

 

 

Right click on (My) Computer and select Manage (Continue) Then click on the arrow in front of Event Viewer. Next Click on the arrow in front of Windows Logs Right click on System and Clear Log, Clear. Repeat for Application.

 

Reboot. 

 

Start, All Programs, Accessories then right click on Command Prompt and Run as Administrator.  Then type (with an Enter after each line).

sfc  /scannow

 

 

Copy the next two lines:

 

findstr  /c:"[SR]"  \windows\logs\cbs\cbs.log  >  \windows\logs\cbs\junk.txt 

notepad \windows\logs\cbs\junk.txt 

 

Start, All Programs, Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and Run as Administrator, Continue.  Right click and Paste or Edit then Paste and the copied line should appear.

Hit Enter. Copy and paste the text from notepad or if it is too big, just attach the file.)

 

 

1. Please download the Event Viewer Tool by Vino Rosso

http://images.malwar...om/vino/VEW.exe

and save it to your Desktop:

2. Right-click VEW.exe and Run AS Administrator

3. Under 'Select log to query', select:

 

* System

4. Under 'Select type to list', select:

* Error

* Warning

 

 

Then use the 'Number of events' as follows:

 

 

1. Click the radio button for 'Number of events'

Type 20 in the 1 to 20 box

Then click the Run button.

Notepad will open with the output log.

 

 

Please post the Output log in your next reply then repeat but select Application.  (Each time you run VEW it overwrites the log so copy the first one to a Reply or rename it before running it a second time.)

 

[RKinner]

Get Process Explorer

 

http://live.sysinter...com/procexp.exe

Save it to your desktop then run it (Vista or Win7 - right click and Run As Administrator).  

 

View, Select Column, check Verified Signer, OK

Options, Verify Image Signatures

 

 

Click twice on the CPU column header  to sort things by CPU usage with the big hitters at the top.  

 

Wait a full minute then:

 

File, Save As, Save.  Note the file name.   Open the file  on your desktop and copy and paste the text to a reply.

 

 

 

Copy the next 2 lines:

 

TASKLIST /SVC  > \junk.txt

notepad \junk.txt

Open an Elevated Command Prompt:

Start, All Programs, Accessories then right click on Command Prompt and Run as Administrator

 

Right click and Paste (or Edit then Paste) and the copied lines should appear.

Hit Enter if notepad does not open.  Copy and paste the text from notepad into a reply. 

 

Get the free version of Speccy:

 

http://www.filehippo...download_speccy (Look in the upper right for the Download

Latest Version button  - Do NOT press the large Start Download button on the upper left!)  

Download, Save and Install it.  Tell it you do not need CCLEANER.    Run Speccy.  When it finishes (the little icon in the bottom left will stop moving), 

File, Save as Text File,  (to your desktop) note the name it gives. OK.  Open the file in notepad and delete the line that gives the serial number of your Operating System.  

(It will be near the top about 10 lines down.) Save the file.  Attach the file to your next post.  (More Reply Options, Choose File, Open, Attach This File)

 

 

 

 

Right click on (My) Computer and select Manage (Continue) Then click on the arrow in front of Event Viewer. Next Click on the arrow in front of Windows Logs Right click on System and Clear Log, Clear. Repeat for Application.

 

Reboot. 

 

Start, All Programs, Accessories then right click on Command Prompt and Run as Administrator.  Then type (with an Enter after each line).

sfc  /scannow

 

 

Copy the next two lines:

 

findstr  /c:"[SR]"  \windows\logs\cbs\cbs.log  >  \windows\logs\cbs\junk.txt 

notepad \windows\logs\cbs\junk.txt 

 

Start, All Programs, Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and Run as Administrator, Continue.  Right click and Paste or Edit then Paste and the copied line should appear.

Hit Enter. Copy and paste the text from notepad or if it is too big, just attach the file.)

 

 

1. Please download the Event Viewer Tool by Vino Rosso

http://images.malwar...om/vino/VEW.exe

and save it to your Desktop:

2. Right-click VEW.exe and Run AS Administrator

3. Under 'Select log to query', select:

 

* System

4. Under 'Select type to list', select:

* Error

* Warning

 

 

Then use the 'Number of events' as follows:

 

 

1. Click the radio button for 'Number of events'

Type 20 in the 1 to 20 box

Then click the Run button.

Notepad will open with the output log.

 

 

Please post the Output log in your next reply then repeat but select Application.  (Each time you run VEW it overwrites the log so copy the first one to a Reply or rename it before running it a second time.)

 

[csurp34]

Thank you for the reply although it appears a bit daunting.

 

What are we trying to determine?

[RKinner]

If it is running slow.  Win 7 typically has problems with Windows Updates hogging the CPU.  Process explorer will show us if that's the case or if there is an infection causing the problem..

 

High temps will cause it to run slow too.  Speccy will tell us if that's the case or if the hard drive is having problems.

 

Errors like a service failing and constantly restarting will slow it down.VEW will show the errors.

[csurp34]

Best Answer

OK. Final Update.

 

I ended up taking it in to a local shop with a good reputation.

 

They determined that the old mechanical hard drive needed to be updated which they did.

 

All good and running like a new computer.

 

Thank you for your assistance.

 

Best.

[iammykyl]

Gday.

Thanks for updating your topic and letting us know the issue is fixed.

[csurp34]

You are welcome.

 

I always appreciate the help and it isn't fair or grateful to leave topics not updated.

[iammykyl]