Old/Slow Computer Question

10 replies

LayfieldLayfieldNew MemberOP
Mar 15, 2010, 03:52 AM

I have a relatively old computer (2004 Vaio) and its been running slow as hell for a while now. Virus scan brings up nothing, but I still might have something slowing it down.

Anyway, is there anything I could do to speed it up. I have already disabled all programs at start. I was thinking about wiping the hard drive clean and just reinstalling Windows XP on it and nothing else? What do you guys think?

DesidesDesidesforum_veteran
Mar 15, 2010, 04:20 AM

Reformatting and reinstalling Windows is the quickest way to go, yes. If you've got all your necessary files backed up, it's better than spending hours trying to troubleshoot an issue.

Go for it.

@desides01

"Not you." — Tywin Lannister

GridIronKing34GridIronKing34forum_veteran
Mar 15, 2010, 01:59 PM

To add what Desides said, if you do restore your OS, it wouldn't hurt to set a schedule to defrag your hard drive. It also might not to hurt to invest in some more RAM if your laptop can handle it. I would imagine yours can support at least up to 2 GB and I'm sure it's not maxed out yet... I could be wrong though.

unluckylucianounluckylucianoNew Member
Mar 15, 2010, 02:04 PM

reformatting is the best way but might want to check what you are running as if you are running demanding programs that would cause a slow down. You can also screw with the virtual memory and the number of pages it uses, but you may not want to do that lol

thanks to VO for the sick ass sigs.


Charlie: If you're not as educated or as informed what you do is you start your own party and you yell the loudest.

anlgpanlgpNew Member
Mar 15, 2010, 02:38 PM

old computer = (yeah you guys know i'm gonna say it). linux. bit of a learning curve but for the average user there's nothing linux can't do that windows can. and it can go lighter than windows could ever dream of.

"A man's suffering is similar to the behavior of gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus, suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering great or little. Therefore, the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative." - Viktor Frankl

ALalen1New Member
Mar 15, 2010, 04:12 PM

"Desides wrote:

Reformatting and reinstalling Windows is the quickest way to go, yes. If you've got all your necessary files backed up, it's better than spending hours trying to troubleshoot an issue.

Go for it.

How would you reformat and reinstall Windows? I'm not too smart about computers so I don't have a clue as to how I would go and do that. I'm not sure how you back up files either, honestly. My computer is about as slow as Rosie O'Donnell's time in cross country running.

unluckylucianounluckylucianoNew Member
Mar 15, 2010, 04:17 PM

"alen1 wrote:

How would you reformat and reinstall Windows? I'm not too smart about computers so I don't have a clue as to how I would go and do that. I'm not sure how you back up files either, honestly. My computer is about as slow as Rosie O'Donnell's time in cross country running.

do you have the original windows disc? backing up your stuff just involves moving it to another drive that you won't be reformatting. I have also backed up my stuff by zipping a ton of it and sending it to my email addresses lol

thanks to VO for the sick ass sigs.


Charlie: If you're not as educated or as informed what you do is you start your own party and you yell the loudest.

ALalen1New Member
Mar 15, 2010, 04:25 PM

"unluckyluciano wrote:

do you have the original windows disc? backing up your stuff just involves moving it to another drive that you won't be reformatting. I have also backed up my stuff by zipping a ton of it and sending it to my email addresses lol

I don't have the original Windows disc anymore.

Could I back-up my files by saving it to a USB drive for example?

Sorry if I sound like a complete retard lol.

anlgpanlgpNew Member
Mar 15, 2010, 04:32 PM

"alen1 wrote:

I don't have the original Windows disc anymore.

Could I back-up my files by saving it to a USB drive for example?

Sorry if I sound like a complete retard lol.

sure you can. that's what it's there for :)

"A man's suffering is similar to the behavior of gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus, suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering great or little. Therefore, the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative." - Viktor Frankl

unluckylucianounluckylucianoNew Member
Mar 15, 2010, 04:40 PM

"alen1 wrote:

I don't have the original Windows disc anymore.

Could I back-up my files by saving it to a USB drive for example?

Sorry if I sound like a complete retard lol.

yes , but it all boils down to how much you are saving.
You can try this:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/bott_03july14.mspx

Heres a general explanation on how to back up your computer:
http://www.wikihow.com/Back-up-a-Computer

and you can try this to retrieve all your files after

Sorry about the delay. The professional CD will not help. Try the following link to download Ntbackup.msi

http://tinyurl.com/5apym

Once downloaded install it and restart the computer. When it starts again,

Click Start-> Run

Type ntbackup and press Enter

Click Restore Wizard

Click Next

Locate your backup file and follow the rest of the onscreen prompts.

Let me know the results.

Thanks

Read more: http://www.justanswer.com/questions/2jjuk-how-can-i-go-about-retrieving-my-backup-file-from-an-external#ixzz0iHPMjctq

thanks to VO for the sick ass sigs.


Charlie: If you're not as educated or as informed what you do is you start your own party and you yell the loudest.

KillerphinsKillerphinsNew Member
Mar 15, 2010, 09:51 PM

"unluckyluciano wrote:

do you have the original windows disc? backing up your stuff just involves moving it to another drive that you won't be reformatting. I have also backed up my stuff by zipping a ton of it and sending it to my email addresses lol

:lol:

time for someone to buy an external hard drive

Log in to reply.