Go to the run box on your computer.
Type "dxdiag" without the quotes. That'll give you a lot of info about your computer. Do you know what kind of mobo and power supply you have?
A simple RAM upgrade would net the most gains, but it is kind of hard to say. There is a lot you can do(new hard drive, more RAM, faster CPU, faster graphics card, etc.) that will increase the speed of your computer, or you can try a disk defrag and remove some startup programs if you have a bunch. For disk defrag, Auslogics is my favorite free program: http://www.auslogics.com/en/
1. Get 2 gigs total memory
2. Upgrade the p4 chip to a p4 3.4 ghz (you can buy them off ebay really cheap). I did this and it was a great upgrade.
3. Better Video Card. Depending Agp or PCI
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Well it matters what his motherboard/power supply will allow.
He will actually make his computer slower/fry itself if he:
A) overworks his power supply, causing it to fry most of the computer with it. It is alright to have a PSU that is too big rather than too small.
B) wont pass the POST at startup. Some mobo's can only support certain types/cuts/speeds of CPUs.
Go to the run box on your computer.
Type "dxdiag" without the quotes. That'll give you a lot of info about your computer. Do you know what kind of mobo and power supply you have?
A simple RAM upgrade would net the most gains, but it is kind of hard to say. There is a lot you can do(new hard drive, more RAM, faster CPU, faster graphics card, etc.) that will increase the speed of your computer, or you can try a disk defrag and remove some startup programs if you have a bunch. For disk defrag, Auslogics is my favorite free program: http://www.auslogics.com/en/
What anti-virus/spyware are you using?
i did that which one is the mobo? and where does it say power supply? i had a friend build my pc
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ktown, the power draw between a p4 2.8 and 3.4 isnt that much, he should be fine with his power supply.
Tell us what part of your computer you would like to upgrade? Snapiness, overall quickness of running tasks, opening programs quicker, faster load time, being able to open more web pages at once
Snapiness - another gig of ram would make the most notable difference
overall quickness - upgrading to 3.4 p4
open programs quicker - the 3.4
opening more programs at once - another gig of ram
faster load times/boot times - a faster hard drive
more webpages - another gig of ram
Don't even waste your time upgrading to a faster P4. Those are stone-age procs and not even worth the trouble.The difference between P4 2.8 and 3.4 is negligible and you'd be hard pressed to note any appreciable difference (unless you get a hard-on from running 3D Markor something.) If you're going swap processors, at least go Core 2 Duo.
1) Far less power draw
2) Much cooler
3) One of the most kick as architectures Intel has produced...blows P4 out of the water.
However, you may be in need of a new MOBO that supports Core chips.
Indeed, greatest "bang for the buck" in this case would beadditional RAM. I just bought 4 GB for about $120. Sooner than I'd upgrade processors, I would uprade your disks. Separate the heavy-use files onto new spindles. Swap file, system files and program files sharing the same spindle set is definataly cause for disk contention (especially given your memory config now). Adding additional RAM should reduce paging significantly and reduce overall disk utilization.
As others have noted, a simple disk defrag is probably needed. By default Windows is allowed to manage its own swap file. During periods of heavy paging, the swap file is forced to grow on demand. This results in HEAVY disk fragmentation and increasingly degraded system performance.
In your specific case, I would throw in an extra gig of memory (even two as its alomost free these days), pop in a few new disks and rebuild your system. Least amount of hassle and will probably yield the greatest increase in overall performance.
an extra gig of memory WILL help if your multitasking between surfing, crankin tunes, looking at porn, etc...
honestly, i'll put my money on a nice fresh reinstall of windows. 98% of the time just giving your machine an enema and starting over once in a while nets people huge performance gains - things run more stable - and is all around a better operating machine.
computer upgrades
still blows it out of the water though.. shows how half asses the p4 was
