K.V... can you or anyone help me out?

KnifeAddictAK

KnifeAddictAK

Joined
Nov 17, 2003
Messages
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Here's the skinny. I picked up a gateway E-4200 for $15 from some government building. Anyway, I had a buddy load XP on it. I have broadband, the cheapest they had.

Are there any programs I can download for free or programs I can purchase to accellorate (sp?) the speed? It takes 2mins for my posts to go through. It's not bladeforums, it's this slow everywhere. I did get firefox, cause it rules.

Thanks...

Oh yeah... Please don't ask me about it's operating system, memory, yadda yadda yadda... I know knives, not computers ;) :rolleyes: :D
 
Your o.s. is Windows XP, I think that a gateway E-4200 has a Pentium II processor. Having said that 2 minutes with dial up, let alone broad band, is fantastic. You could try the usual things, running scan disk, defrag, anti virus, Ad-Aware, etc. If you don't have an anti virus or Ad-Aware you can get them for free at www.majorgeeks.com. For more help my email address is in my profile.
 
The Gateway E4200 was designed as a low cost PC for schools and govenment facilities. The PC itself came standard with 64 MB of RAM, a PIII processor in the range from 300Mhz all the way up to 850Mhz, and a 13.6 GB HD. The standard OS was Windows 98SE. The upgrade to XP was a good option but did you load up the Home Edition or Professional? This will make a difference in how it functions. The max RAM you can upgrade to is 128MB. The problem might lay in the processor and RAM. You don't have enough resources to run the system to its full potential. When you say you have "broadband, the cheapest they had" what do you mean?

In short:

See if you can upgrade to 128 MB if is hasn't been already.

Check the OS version (WinXP HE or PE).

Upgrade the hard drive.
 
128Mb is the minimum you should run XP at. And you might want to think about turning off a lot of the fluff display settings- I have seen a computer with 256Mb of ram using over 128Mb just to run XP with all the display fluff turned on (by fluff I am referring to the window animation, fades in and out, and things like shadows under icons).

Basically, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but XP will never really run efficiently on a pc with a p2 and 64 megs of ram- MS says that your system meets their minimum requirements but I've found them to be overly optimistic in that regard. Try changing the display settings as above (just go to control panel classic view > display > advanced settings.

you can also shut off extraneous services in the admin options > services control panel applet. this fella here, blackvipers site , has a good set of info on what services can and can not be disabled. This will free up a goodly amount of RAM and also help secure your pc. just make sure you read the chart properly, there is a whole lot of stuff going on there. all in all, using these two methods and a little time, you should see at least some overall system performance improvement.

Most importantly, do what K.V. Collucci said and upgrade your ram!
 
I hate to disagree with you K.V. but on such an old machine I really don't think it would make a difference if it is XP Home or Pro.

While Windows XP is just about the best OS released by Microsoft it is just to much for the computer to handle. If possible you would be much better off by going to Windows 2000. They are fairly similiar, except 2000 is a bit easier on the machine. If you can't get that then go back to Windows 98 SE which would be the next best option. My guess would be that as soon as you get away from the OS draining every bit out of that machine things will speed up a noticable amount.

P.S. Feel free to email me for more help, I will take knives as payment.! :D
 
ErikD said:
I hate to disagree with you K.V. but on such an old machine I really don't think it would make a difference if it is XP Home or Pro.
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Depending on how much RAM he can add to his PC will determine which version should be added. XP HE uses less resources than PE. It makes alot of difference. My wifes old system runs a PIII 850Mhz with 512MB of RAM. I added XP Pro and it wouldn't run. I then installed the Home Edition and everything has been smooth sailing since.
 
If you only have 64MB of RAM and it can take 128MB go for it, 64 MB is probaly not adequate. Regarding XP home or Pro I doubt that is the issue. I have a Celeron 600 MHz 93 MB of RAM with XP Pro service pack 2 and MS Visual Studio 6.0 Pro and nothing else. No problems at all.
 
Now don't go shootin' me. I added some ram, don't know how much :eek: from another computer I have. I think when I pulled one out, then started up the computer, it said I HAD 128 before. Don't know. It's running okay now, and I removed a program. Still a bit slow, but better. I appreciate all your guys help and if I was rich, I would/not will ;) buy you a beer at blade :cool:
 
KnifeAddictAK said:
Now don't go shootin' me. I added some ram, don't know how much :eek: from another computer I have. I think when I pulled one out, then started up the computer, it said I HAD 128 before. Don't know. It's running okay now, and I removed a program. Still a bit slow, but better. I appreciate all your guys help and if I was rich, I would/not will ;) buy you a beer at blade :cool:
Click to expand...


sometimes, not always for some reason, you will see strange errors or a lack ofresponsiveness when adding RAM in quantities that dont match whats already there- so if you have a 64Mb module you should only add a 64Mb module. A few years ago I could have given you a detailed explanation of why that is so but now its been too long since I was in any way involved in the IT and computer repair business. I'm better off for it.

As for knives at Blade, I won't be there... I will take your Artic BM though if you're handing em out!


dang. you said beer, I read blade.
 
Gonna shoot this off to G&G. :)
 
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