markymark Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Although my pc is hardly ever turned off, I'm not really tech minded so need some advice. My main pc has been running slow for the last few months - when it slows/freezes, the fan then sounds like it's speeding up. I've tried various methods to try to improve the performance, but then it just starts slowing down again (taking a long time to load pages & programs etc...) I bought an extra external hard drive & transferred the majority of files on to it which seemed to help at the start but the same problems are happening again. I have been advised to upgrade the ram - does anyone else have any suggestions? I don't want to go into PC World/Maplins etc... & end up getting flogged a load of software if it isn't necessary going to improve the pc's performance. Any advice is appreciated - cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angarak Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 A fan speeding up is an indication of a component overheating. This could either be the CPU or Graphics card. A CPU generally gets hotter under load, so sounds like a process (piece of software) is consuming larger-than-normal CPU resources. General Maintenance of a PC would be: Deleting files to free up drive space :: Deleting TEMP files (anything with *.tmp) :: Emptying Browser Cache and History :: Uninstall any programs you dont use (be they 3rd party or Windows Components) :: Emptying Recycle Bin (obviously you do this last!) Cleaning up of System Registry Using something like Registry Mechanic to tidy up the system registry (remove old entries, therefore reducing registry size) Operating System Optimisation Using something like TweakXP (for XP users) to squeeze more performance out of XP Toning down windows themes and effects :: Use the Windows Classic Theme :: Remove all fancy menu effects :: Dont use a background image for your desktop Defragging Hard Drive(s) Pretty obvious, bear in mind you need atleat 5% of your total drive space FREE in order to use Windows Defragger. You dont mention what Operating System your using, or how much RAM you have, so hard to comment on that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamer Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Although my pc is hardly ever turned off, I'm not really tech minded so need some advice. My main pc has been running slow for the last few months - when it slows/freezes, the fan then sounds like it's speeding up. I've tried various methods to try to improve the performance, but then it just starts slowing down again (taking a long time to load pages & programs etc...) I bought an extra external hard drive & transferred the majority of files on to it which seemed to help at the start but the same problems are happening again. I have been advised to upgrade the ram - does anyone else have any suggestions? I don't want to go into PC World/Maplins etc... & end up getting flogged a load of software if it isn't necessary going to improve the pc's performance. Any advice is appreciated - cheers A fan speeding up is an indication of a component overheating. This could either be the CPU or Graphics card. A CPU generally gets hotter under load, so sounds like a process (piece of software) is consuming larger-than-normal CPU resources. General Maintenance of a PC would be: Deleting files to free up drive space :: Deleting TEMP files (anything with *.tmp) :: Emptying Browser Cache and History :: Uninstall any programs you dont use (be they 3rd party or Windows Components) :: Emptying Recycle Bin (obviously you do this last!) Cleaning up of System Registry Using something like Registry Mechanic to tidy up the system registry (remove old entries, therefore reducing registry size) Operating System Optimisation Using something like TweakXP (for XP users) to squeeze more performance out of XP Toning down windows themes and effects :: Use the Windows Classic Theme :: Remove all fancy menu effects :: Dont use a background image for your desktop Defragging Hard Drive(s) Pretty obvious, bear in mind you need atleat 5% of your total drive space FREE in order to use Windows Defragger. You dont mention what Operating System your using, or how much RAM you have, so hard to comment on that one. You might also want to take the side off and clean out any dust that has accumulated on the CPU and GPU heat sinks. Please be careful though and at the very least touch the side of the metal chassis of the PC before you start messing with the insides so you discharge any static electricity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pot Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 You might also want to take the side off and clean out any dust that has accumulated on the CPU and GPU heat sinks. Please be careful though and at the very least touch the side of the metal chassis of the PC before you start messing with the insides so you discharge any static electricity. Aye, that, use cans of compressed air, NOT THE HOOVER!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyT Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 All of the above and I've had very impressive results from using System Mechanic 6. It's a very good optimizer / cleaner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markymark Posted November 17, 2007 Author Share Posted November 17, 2007 You dont mention what Operating System your using, or how much RAM you have, so hard to comment on that one. Here is the information on the computer Packard Bell Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 2.93GHz 2.93GHz, 512 MB of RAM The external hard drive I'm using is called FREECOM HDD and has a 400 GB memory Thanks to you all for your help and advise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colsoop Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Its probably got its own beard worth of dust Turn it off and give it a good clean out. Also remove any unwanted programs etc and if you know what you are doing have a scan of the registry to remove unwanted info. Perhaps defragging the hard drive too may help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markymark Posted November 17, 2007 Author Share Posted November 17, 2007 Its probably got its own beard worth of dust Turn it off and give it a good clean out. You are probably right Having two cats don't help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angarak Posted November 17, 2007 Share Posted November 17, 2007 Increasing the amount of RAM from 512MB to something like 1-2GB will improve things generally. Regarding the 'air dusters' for cleaning the inside of PC's, have your vac on with nozzle attachment to collect the airborne dust when giving it a blast. Also make sure your computer is completely powered off and cold (ie: give it 20 minutes from closing down to spraying with the air duster). Hot computer components and freezing air are not a good mix. Also, give it around 5 minutes after using the air duster before powering on, to ensure any chipsets, etc are back to room temp after spraying with the air duster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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