Slow computer. (electronic, quote, songs)

Schizotypic · 04-01-2009, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tore

I don't think it's right to tell someone they should delete their music to speed up their comp

If you ask me, that's unnecessary.

^Seriously!!

Thanks for the advice everyone, very much appreciated.

Yukon Cornelius · 04-01-2009, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schizotypic

^Seriously!!

Thanks for the advice everyone, very much appreciated.

No, Im just saying that i dont think software will help much. He would have to upgrade like I mentioned before with either and external or internal hd. He should not store all that music on his boot up disk if he wants his pc to run well. I guess what i meant to say was that if he is not willing to upgrade the only other alternative would be to remove some items.

You will notice virtually no pick up with internet downloads that are supposed to speed up your pc. Then you will start to stray from the most reputable websites looking for better results and may end up with even more crap on your pc, and possibly pick up a virus on the way.

Freebase Dali · 04-01-2009, 03:03 PM

Schiz...

First, list your computer specs so we can get an idea of what you're working with.
- How much RAM?
- Processor type and speed
- Hard drive size and space available?
- OS? (I'm going to assume XP in regard to what I'm going to type next)

You can find out your RAM by right clicking "My Computer" and going to "properties", then clicking the "general" tab.
Your processor type and speed will be there also.
For your hard drive, open "My computer" and right click your C drive and select "properties".

(all this is assuming you're using XP or Vista, although Vista might be slightly different)

1. Clearing out unneeded programs should be your first step. Use the add/remove programs utility located in the control panel to do this.
2. Clear out all unused files throughout your drive(s)
(If you're unsure what a file is or does, leave it alone or ask someone about it)
3. Defrag your drive(s). Defrag is located in Start > Programs > Accessories > System tools.

The next thing you'll want to do is disable any background processes you don't need. Background processes use your RAM, and if you're running low, you can safely disable a lot of these processes and free up some RAM.

First, go to Start > Run and type this in the box: services.msc

A console will open and show you all background processes for windows. Expand the box and situate it so that you can see the name of each service and the descriptions. The status of each service will tell you which ones are currently running and eating up RAM.
Leave the console open for now.

Next, go to Eldergeek Service Guide
Scroll down and you'll see a list of all XP services sorted alphabetically. Go through each one and read what each service does and look at the recommendation Eldergeek suggests. With each service you conclude is safe and/or practical to disable, double click the corresponding services in your services.msc console and do what Eldergeek recommends.

When you're done with that, go back to Start > Run and type: msconfig.
A console will pop up. Navigate to "Startup" and uncheck anything you don't want to start up when your computer boots up.
A lot of stuff in there, you won't be sure about. Leave it alone or investigate by looking at the Command section of the programs and going follow it out in the program folders to see what it is.

When you're all done, restart your computer.

Next, as some of the posters in this thread have offered, you'll want to make sure ad/spyware isn't bogging you down. Go to google and search for: Adaware. Download it. Also download Spybot seek and destroy. Run Adaware and kill all the stuff it finds. Run Spybot to crosscheck Adaware.

Run your virus program and scan all drives. Kill whatever it finds if it finds anything.

(When you run the spyware killers and your virus scan, make sure you unplug your network cable so nothing tries to re-download when it gets killed.)

Another tip:
If you don't have much RAM, you can increase your pagefile. A pagefile allows you to set a portion of your hard drive to be allocated for virtual memory, thus increasing your RAM. This is practical if you have a lot of space on your hard drive but don't have a lot of RAM.
To do this, go to Start > My computer "properties" > Advanced > Performance section "settings" > Advanced.
At the bottom, you'll see "Virtual memory".
Click "change".
You'll see your drive letters. By default, your paging file will be on C: and it will show how much space on C has been allocated for virtual memory.
Depending on how much RAM you have and how much drive space you're willing to give up, the paging file should be set with that in mind.
Initial size should be equal to your RAM, and max size should be almost double your RAM to take the most advantage.
If your paging file isn't being used much, the max size won't be allocated until it's necessary. The initial size, however will be allocated no matter what, so know that whatever you put in the initial size, will be taken away from your hard drive's available space. The max size is for over-spill and it's allocated dynamically.
If you don't have a lot of drive space, you'll have to set your initial size to a number you feel okay with, but it needs to be enough to make a difference.

You'll notice that it's already set at a specific number:
You can test to see if you're using all your current pagefile by opening up a couple programs and get your computer lagging, then press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and navigate to the Performance tab on the task manager.
The bottom graph represents how much of the pagefile you're using. If it's maxing out, in comparison to what you have it set at, then you know you need to increase your pagefile size.

Next, you may want to get a registry cleaner to clear out all the old keys left by programs that haven't uninstalled correctly.
This can slow your computer down because your registry is constantly in use, and if your computer is accessing keys, it has to scan through all the old crap to look for the keys it needs. Cleaning the registry can help.
You can find free reg cleaners all over the web.

Ok.
If you do everything I just listed, you should have a noticeable improvement in speed on your computer. Basically, you want to get everything back to the way it was when you first got the computer, but it's not totally possible because you've undoubtedly added things since then. By taking care of all the aspects I've gone over, you should have offset things enough to get your computer back into shape.

If you don't understand something I've written, please feel free to ask and I'll clarify.

Yukon Cornelius · 04-01-2009, 04:30 PM

what he said... but i wanna add one more sprinkle..

verdical it sounds like he needs to upgrade his cpu or attempt to oc his cpu and ram obviously depending on what he is running.. I believe you and I have asked him more than once. I almost can just about promise that between your list and a modest overclock, he would be right at factory spec..

What are you running verdical??
Just curious

Im phenom x4 920 2.8
WD raid 0 both 320's
4 gig g skill (still running xp for protools purposes)
500 watt psu...

Freebase Dali · 04-01-2009, 04:37 PM

I'm running a core 2 duo e8400 @ 3.00ghz
4 gigs kingston RAM (although XP only utilizes 3.25 and only shows 3)
Two 250 gig drives @ 7200 rpm, no raid, plus another 2 externals
Msi mobo
Nvidia 9600gt @ 512mb, factory overclocked
550w psu
2 monitors, Acer & LG 20" widescreens running off dual DVI

Yukon Cornelius · 04-01-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction

I'm running a core 2 duo e8400 @ 3.00ghz
4 gigs kingston RAM (although XP only utilizes 3.25 and only shows 3)
Two 250 gig drives @ 7200 rpm, no raid, plus another 2 externals
Msi mobo
Nvidia 9600gt @ 512mb, factory overclocked
550w psu
2 acer 20" widescreens running off dual DVI

Nice...

I did that raid recently.. Very big difference..

The 2 7200's will spin crap up better than a single raptor...

I didnt post my vid card but your is better mine has more mem.
I think mines a 9600 gt but its 1 gig it was like 70 bucks...

which xp service pack are you running?? Cause my xpsp3 reads 3.5 gigs in xp.

Gamer or for music??

Freebase Dali · 04-01-2009, 04:46 PM

Yea I was contemplating getting raided drives, mirrored, but I ended up just getting two 7200 rpm drives to save money.

I built the computer at Vigor Gaming specifically for music production because I know the quality of their systems are top notch, but I do play a couple games here and there, so the only add-on to accommodate that was the graphics card. Everything else, I had music production in mind.

Yukon Cornelius · 04-01-2009, 04:49 PM

I forgot we talked about what you run already.. Not pc specs though..

Freebase Dali · 04-01-2009, 04:54 PM

Sonar 7 PE, NI Reaktor 4 & 5, Absynth 3, tons of plugs, porn.

Yukon Cornelius · 04-01-2009, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction

Yea I was contemplating getting raided drives, mirrored, but I ended up just getting two 7200 rpm drives to save money.

I built the computer at Vigor Gaming specifically for music production because I know the quality of their systems are top notch, but I do play a couple games here and there, so the only add-on to accommodate that was the graphics card. Everything else, I had music production in mind.

You can raid the 2 drive if they are the same to 0. Then use the external for storage and as a fail safe if you get a bug..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction

Sonar 7 PE, NI Reaktor 4 & 5, Absynth 3, tons of plugs, porn.

Thats kick ass.. you have a way to get to any of your stuff??

04-01-2009, 03:03 PM	#23 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	Schiz... First, list your computer specs so we can get an idea of what you're working with. - How much RAM? - Processor type and speed - Hard drive size and space available? - OS? (I'm going to assume XP in regard to what I'm going to type next) You can find out your RAM by right clicking "My Computer" and going to "properties", then clicking the "general" tab. Your processor type and speed will be there also. For your hard drive, open "My computer" and right click your C drive and select "properties". (all this is assuming you're using XP or Vista, although Vista might be slightly different) 1. Clearing out unneeded programs should be your first step. Use the add/remove programs utility located in the control panel to do this. 2. Clear out all unused files throughout your drive(s) (If you're unsure what a file is or does, leave it alone or ask someone about it) 3. Defrag your drive(s). Defrag is located in Start > Programs > Accessories > System tools. The next thing you'll want to do is disable any background processes you don't need. Background processes use your RAM, and if you're running low, you can safely disable a lot of these processes and free up some RAM. First, go to Start > Run and type this in the box: services.msc A console will open and show you all background processes for windows. Expand the box and situate it so that you can see the name of each service and the descriptions. The status of each service will tell you which ones are currently running and eating up RAM. Leave the console open for now. Next, go to Eldergeek Service Guide Scroll down and you'll see a list of all XP services sorted alphabetically. Go through each one and read what each service does and look at the recommendation Eldergeek suggests. With each service you conclude is safe and/or practical to disable, double click the corresponding services in your services.msc console and do what Eldergeek recommends. When you're done with that, go back to Start > Run and type: msconfig. A console will pop up. Navigate to "Startup" and uncheck anything you don't want to start up when your computer boots up. A lot of stuff in there, you won't be sure about. Leave it alone or investigate by looking at the Command section of the programs and going follow it out in the program folders to see what it is. When you're all done, restart your computer. Next, as some of the posters in this thread have offered, you'll want to make sure ad/spyware isn't bogging you down. Go to google and search for: Adaware. Download it. Also download Spybot seek and destroy. Run Adaware and kill all the stuff it finds. Run Spybot to crosscheck Adaware. Run your virus program and scan all drives. Kill whatever it finds if it finds anything. (When you run the spyware killers and your virus scan, make sure you unplug your network cable so nothing tries to re-download when it gets killed.) Another tip: If you don't have much RAM, you can increase your pagefile. A pagefile allows you to set a portion of your hard drive to be allocated for virtual memory, thus increasing your RAM. This is practical if you have a lot of space on your hard drive but don't have a lot of RAM. To do this, go to Start > My computer "properties" > Advanced > Performance section "settings" > Advanced. At the bottom, you'll see "Virtual memory". Click "change". You'll see your drive letters. By default, your paging file will be on C: and it will show how much space on C has been allocated for virtual memory. Depending on how much RAM you have and how much drive space you're willing to give up, the paging file should be set with that in mind. Initial size should be equal to your RAM, and max size should be almost double your RAM to take the most advantage. If your paging file isn't being used much, the max size won't be allocated until it's necessary. The initial size, however will be allocated no matter what, so know that whatever you put in the initial size, will be taken away from your hard drive's available space. The max size is for over-spill and it's allocated dynamically. If you don't have a lot of drive space, you'll have to set your initial size to a number you feel okay with, but it needs to be enough to make a difference. You'll notice that it's already set at a specific number: You can test to see if you're using all your current pagefile by opening up a couple programs and get your computer lagging, then press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and navigate to the Performance tab on the task manager. The bottom graph represents how much of the pagefile you're using. If it's maxing out, in comparison to what you have it set at, then you know you need to increase your pagefile size. Next, you may want to get a registry cleaner to clear out all the old keys left by programs that haven't uninstalled correctly. This can slow your computer down because your registry is constantly in use, and if your computer is accessing keys, it has to scan through all the old crap to look for the keys it needs. Cleaning the registry can help. You can find free reg cleaners all over the web. Ok. If you do everything I just listed, you should have a noticeable improvement in speed on your computer. Basically, you want to get everything back to the way it was when you first got the computer, but it's not totally possible because you've undoubtedly added things since then. By taking care of all the aspects I've gone over, you should have offset things enough to get your computer back into shape. If you don't understand something I've written, please feel free to ask and I'll clarify. __________________ Last edited by Freebase Dali; 04-01-2009 at 03:08 PM.

04-01-2009, 04:30 PM	#24 (permalink)
Yukon Cornelius Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 625	what he said... but i wanna add one more sprinkle.. verdical it sounds like he needs to upgrade his cpu or attempt to oc his cpu and ram obviously depending on what he is running.. I believe you and I have asked him more than once. I almost can just about promise that between your list and a modest overclock, he would be right at factory spec.. What are you running verdical?? Just curious Im phenom x4 920 2.8 WD raid 0 both 320's 4 gig g skill (still running xp for protools purposes) 500 watt psu... __________________ Attempting to find a cure for Stupid...

04-01-2009, 04:37 PM	#25 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	I'm running a core 2 duo e8400 @ 3.00ghz 4 gigs kingston RAM (although XP only utilizes 3.25 and only shows 3) Two 250 gig drives @ 7200 rpm, no raid, plus another 2 externals Msi mobo Nvidia 9600gt @ 512mb, factory overclocked 550w psu 2 monitors, Acer & LG 20" widescreens running off dual DVI __________________

04-01-2009, 04:46 PM	#27 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	Yea I was contemplating getting raided drives, mirrored, but I ended up just getting two 7200 rpm drives to save money. I built the computer at Vigor Gaming specifically for music production because I know the quality of their systems are top notch, but I do play a couple games here and there, so the only add-on to accommodate that was the graphics card. Everything else, I had music production in mind. __________________

04-01-2009, 04:49 PM	#28 (permalink)
Yukon Cornelius Music Addict Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 625	I forgot we talked about what you run already.. Not pc specs though.. __________________ Attempting to find a cure for Stupid... Last edited by Yukon Cornelius; 04-01-2009 at 04:54 PM.

04-01-2009, 04:54 PM	#29 (permalink)
Freebase Dali Partying on the inside Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5,584	Sonar 7 PE, NI Reaktor 4 & 5, Absynth 3, tons of plugs, porn. __________________