How to Deal with Low System Resources
When you hear people talk about System Resources you may wonder what the term means. Is it Techno-speak that only Computer experts understand? No. When you come right down to it, System Resources is Memory or RAM. When your Computer is using System Resources, it is basically Windows using memory for Graphics, fonts, icons, open windows and open programs. As you run programs they all use resources, some more than others. Microsoft Office, for example, will claim a whole load of memory, if it needs it or not, as soon as you open the program. If your computer doesn’t have enough resources to run all these programs and all your other daily tasks, it can stop working.
Before things get to this stage, Windows will probably issue some warnings to notify you that your Memory is low. The other thing you will notice is your Computer will be running slow. When you try to open a program it will be slow to appear or may not respond at all. Your Computer uses Random Access Memory (RAM) and Virtual Memory for its resources. Windows uses Virtual Memory to supplement RAM if there isn’t enough available. Problems occur when your Computer runs out of RAM and virtual memory is low. Virtual memory settings can be changed manually. Read my article – Low Virtual Memory – find it in the right hand column.
Try running fewer programs at the same time to help low memory issues. Even consider disabling some background programs or at least prevent then from automatically running when you start Windows. You will still be able to access these through your ‘Start’ button menu. Recently I had a computer in for slow performance, I soon discovered the reason. A very good and popular Media program was using 95% of the system resources, and it wasn’t even in use. It was running in the background. I simply removed this program from the start menu, the difference was amazing. This Guys computer is now as fast as…
In Windows XP you can display resources in use via the Task Manager, to access this press: Ctrl+Alt+Delete together. Click the ‘Applications’ tab this will show if any programs are running and how much CPU usage they are using. If a program is running and you don’t want it to run, providing it isn’t your Anti-Virus program, you can click to highlight the program and then click on ‘End Process’. If everything is ok here, click on the Process tab, if you have no open programs the CPU column should show 00 on every line except the very last one – System Idle Process. It is normal for this to show 99, anything else showing a high value other than your Anti-Virus program which may be running a scan in the background, may mean a memory leak and can be stopped by again highlighting the process and then clicking ‘End Process’. If this action causes any adverse side-effects, simply re-start your computer.
All programs use resources, so it’s a good idea to uninstall programs you no longer use. Go to Control Panel – Add/Remove. Look for any programs you no longer intend to use and uninstall them. However, if your PC came with some programs, including games, pre-installed, even if you don’t use them and never intend to use them, do not uninstall these. They may share files with other programs you do use. So only uninstall programs you have installed.
The number one ‘Fix’ for low resources is of course: Install more RAM to your computer. To see how much RAM you have simply open ‘Control Panel’ and double-click ‘System’. The first page you see should have your CPU and RAM information. Check the documents that came with your PC or contact the computer manufacturer for details of what type of Memory and how much extra memory you’re Motherboard will take. Some on-line memory companies, such as Crucial, can scan your Computer for you to determine this information.
Want more help with your Slow Computer? Try PC Secrets, check it out HERE
Tuesday 24 November 2009
Sunday 22 November 2009
Improve The Speed Of Your Slow Computer
How To Improve The Performance Of a Slow PC
The odds are that you have a computer running less than spectacularly right now. The computer game is such that you’re never really getting 100% from your machine, especially if you don’t have the necessary protective software in place – the firewalls, anti-virus, and anti-malware software that every PC should have. So, when you hear about a book like PC Secrets that claims it can help your computer to run faster, you wonder if it’s really possible.
I know I did. Which is why I picked up the much talked about new eBook and decided to give it a spin and see if those outrageous claims could possibly be true.
What Happened
Turns out, they were true, and then some. In fact, despite all my misgivings, Penn Chan, the book’s author, might actually be a bit modest in his assessment of how well this guide works. I bought the guide last week, and today I’ve run through the regular maintenance it outlines three times.
It feels like I’m using a brand new computer. This thing is lightning fast now, at least as fast as it’s processor and memory are capable of letting it run. Which, to be honest, I had completely forgotten about over the years.
When I bought this computer it was top of the line and it was only 2 years ago. But, you know how computers can go down hill pretty quickly in a short time so I just assumed that the technology had outgrown me. I was actually getting ready to buy a new machine. That was until I downloaded and tried out PC Secrets.
Now, I don’t see why I’d need to buy a new computer for at least another two years. This thing runs so smoothly, so fast now, that I can’t honestly believe it’s the same machine. From loading web pages instantly to letting me run games like Crysis at 60 FPS with ease (something I never managed to do before – my previous high was 21...blech), this guide did everything it promised and then some.
The bottom line is this. PC Secrets is an amazing product. It works even better than advertised and you can bet that you’re getting 10 times your money’s worth at least, especially if you consider how much less you’ll need to replace your old machine.
Check it out today by visiting the site at PCSecrets.com. HERE
The odds are that you have a computer running less than spectacularly right now. The computer game is such that you’re never really getting 100% from your machine, especially if you don’t have the necessary protective software in place – the firewalls, anti-virus, and anti-malware software that every PC should have. So, when you hear about a book like PC Secrets that claims it can help your computer to run faster, you wonder if it’s really possible.
I know I did. Which is why I picked up the much talked about new eBook and decided to give it a spin and see if those outrageous claims could possibly be true.
What Happened
Turns out, they were true, and then some. In fact, despite all my misgivings, Penn Chan, the book’s author, might actually be a bit modest in his assessment of how well this guide works. I bought the guide last week, and today I’ve run through the regular maintenance it outlines three times.
It feels like I’m using a brand new computer. This thing is lightning fast now, at least as fast as it’s processor and memory are capable of letting it run. Which, to be honest, I had completely forgotten about over the years.
When I bought this computer it was top of the line and it was only 2 years ago. But, you know how computers can go down hill pretty quickly in a short time so I just assumed that the technology had outgrown me. I was actually getting ready to buy a new machine. That was until I downloaded and tried out PC Secrets.
Now, I don’t see why I’d need to buy a new computer for at least another two years. This thing runs so smoothly, so fast now, that I can’t honestly believe it’s the same machine. From loading web pages instantly to letting me run games like Crysis at 60 FPS with ease (something I never managed to do before – my previous high was 21...blech), this guide did everything it promised and then some.
The bottom line is this. PC Secrets is an amazing product. It works even better than advertised and you can bet that you’re getting 10 times your money’s worth at least, especially if you consider how much less you’ll need to replace your old machine.
Check it out today by visiting the site at PCSecrets.com. HERE
Computer Slow To Connect To Internet
Computer Slow To Connect to Internet.
by Wolfdave
There are, unfortunately, many reasons that could cause your Computer to be slow to connect to the Internet. But there are two main categories that they fall into: Very slow to connect, but once connected you can surf at a normal speed. Or, slow to connect AND slow surfing.
Very recently I had a Computer in for repair, the customer complained that he had to wait 5 minutes or more to connect to the Internet. And even checking his e-mail in Outlook Express was a very slow process. However, when I plugged everything in and fired the machine up on my workbench, it worked fine. It connected in seconds and surfed around the web at a perfectly acceptable speed.
So from this, it is quite obvious he has a problem at home with his phone line. I know this Guy has his Computer upstairs, so I suspect the problem lies in his upstairs extension line. It is a fact that your PC will perform faster on the internet if the line from your main phone socket to your PC, is as short as possible. And if your home is a long way from the telephone exchange, this just makes things even worse.
OK, but for some folks, they position their computer to suit themselves and it is not always possible to site it close to the main phone socket. So what can they do to improve things? My daughter has her PC upstairs on an extension. On her computer, she uses a Speed touch Broadband Modem and on their web-site they list an ‘Extended Reach’ driver package. This is specifically designed to improve internet connection on extension lines. It basically boosts the signal, and it certainly improved my daughters Computer. If your Modem came with an installation disc, pop it back in and it should have an option for ‘Updating Drivers’ or ‘Check for new software’ or something similar. It is worth updating your drivers from time to time.
The only other option if your Computer is a long way from the main phone socket, is to go wireless. Choose the fastest Wireless combined Router and Modem that you can afford. This plugs directly into your main phone socket and you then plug a USB receiver into each of your computers, if you have more than one.
Slow to connect but ok when finally on-line, usually, but not always, means the problem lies in your internal phone lines, or your computer is lacking resources. More RAM and a faster CPU are essential today. Your Anti-Virus Suite uses a lot more system resources than it used to do as it now tries to protect every aspect of your On-line experience. It is particularly active and dominant when you first connect to the internet, and will claim most of your system resources for itself during the first two or three minutes. If you have low resources, it can even claim 100% for its own use. It’s ‘Job’ is to protect your Computer and it will use whatever resources are available to do this. Once again, it is worth checking the web-site of your Anti-Virus vendor, they may have a ‘patch’ or a ‘fix’ for this issue.
When you first connect to the internet, as well as throwing a security shield around your Computer, your Anti-Virus program will also call home, to check for new updates. It is worth being a little patient for the first two or three minutes, whilst you’re Anti-Virus performs this task. Look for the two mini computer screens on your Task Bar, near the clock. If they are both illuminated, this means activity between your computer and the internet, and you can bet your life, your Anti-Virus has elbowed everything else aside and is calling home. Another ‘clue’ that this is happening is the Red LED Hard disk light on your computer case will be going crazy! Keep an eye on those two mini screens and wait for both to go out, and then watch the LED. It will probably show hard drive activity for a few moments more after the two screens have gone out. This is just your Anti-Virus loading those updates and once again, it will use any or all resources until this is completed.
Now you have control over your own Computer again, you should find the Internet will now load quite normally. If this is happening to you, then the only way to improve things is to give your PC more resources. Either more RAM a faster CPU or both. For Windows XP the ‘minimum’ you should have is a 1 GHz CPU and 512Mb RAM. The accepted ‘recommended’ system requirements are a Pentium 4 1.7 GHz CPU and 1 GHz RAM. Uninstalling programs you no longer use will also improve available resources.
Incidentally, there are times throughout the day when the internet is particularly busy. Usually around 5 – 6pm when all businesses are sending day-end reports to head office and such like. Add to this the fact that kids have arrived home from school and they are all scrambling to get onto the internet.
However, if your Computer is slow to connect to the internet and also painfully slow to load web pages, then most probably, your computer is way low on resources or there is a fault on your external phone line. One recent customer I had, we where able to discover there was a fault at his local exchange, which was causing his slow connection. Most phone companies can easily do a Line-Test on your phone line; it only takes a few moments and is well worth giving it a try, before investing in upgrades.
Lastly, if your internet connection has suddenly, become much slower, then the problem is most likely a recent addition to your PC. This could be new software or an update. ActiveX controls are notorious for causing problems. Have you installed an update to your Flash Player or other installation? If so, try removing it using Control Panel – Add/Remove. You can always re-install it later. Also, run a Full System scan with your Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware programs, just in case your Computer has become infected.
If your computer is slow in general even when you are not on the Internet, there are utilities that can check the health of your system. For more information on one of these, click HERE
by Wolfdave
There are, unfortunately, many reasons that could cause your Computer to be slow to connect to the Internet. But there are two main categories that they fall into: Very slow to connect, but once connected you can surf at a normal speed. Or, slow to connect AND slow surfing.
Very recently I had a Computer in for repair, the customer complained that he had to wait 5 minutes or more to connect to the Internet. And even checking his e-mail in Outlook Express was a very slow process. However, when I plugged everything in and fired the machine up on my workbench, it worked fine. It connected in seconds and surfed around the web at a perfectly acceptable speed.
So from this, it is quite obvious he has a problem at home with his phone line. I know this Guy has his Computer upstairs, so I suspect the problem lies in his upstairs extension line. It is a fact that your PC will perform faster on the internet if the line from your main phone socket to your PC, is as short as possible. And if your home is a long way from the telephone exchange, this just makes things even worse.
OK, but for some folks, they position their computer to suit themselves and it is not always possible to site it close to the main phone socket. So what can they do to improve things? My daughter has her PC upstairs on an extension. On her computer, she uses a Speed touch Broadband Modem and on their web-site they list an ‘Extended Reach’ driver package. This is specifically designed to improve internet connection on extension lines. It basically boosts the signal, and it certainly improved my daughters Computer. If your Modem came with an installation disc, pop it back in and it should have an option for ‘Updating Drivers’ or ‘Check for new software’ or something similar. It is worth updating your drivers from time to time.
The only other option if your Computer is a long way from the main phone socket, is to go wireless. Choose the fastest Wireless combined Router and Modem that you can afford. This plugs directly into your main phone socket and you then plug a USB receiver into each of your computers, if you have more than one.
Slow to connect but ok when finally on-line, usually, but not always, means the problem lies in your internal phone lines, or your computer is lacking resources. More RAM and a faster CPU are essential today. Your Anti-Virus Suite uses a lot more system resources than it used to do as it now tries to protect every aspect of your On-line experience. It is particularly active and dominant when you first connect to the internet, and will claim most of your system resources for itself during the first two or three minutes. If you have low resources, it can even claim 100% for its own use. It’s ‘Job’ is to protect your Computer and it will use whatever resources are available to do this. Once again, it is worth checking the web-site of your Anti-Virus vendor, they may have a ‘patch’ or a ‘fix’ for this issue.
When you first connect to the internet, as well as throwing a security shield around your Computer, your Anti-Virus program will also call home, to check for new updates. It is worth being a little patient for the first two or three minutes, whilst you’re Anti-Virus performs this task. Look for the two mini computer screens on your Task Bar, near the clock. If they are both illuminated, this means activity between your computer and the internet, and you can bet your life, your Anti-Virus has elbowed everything else aside and is calling home. Another ‘clue’ that this is happening is the Red LED Hard disk light on your computer case will be going crazy! Keep an eye on those two mini screens and wait for both to go out, and then watch the LED. It will probably show hard drive activity for a few moments more after the two screens have gone out. This is just your Anti-Virus loading those updates and once again, it will use any or all resources until this is completed.
Now you have control over your own Computer again, you should find the Internet will now load quite normally. If this is happening to you, then the only way to improve things is to give your PC more resources. Either more RAM a faster CPU or both. For Windows XP the ‘minimum’ you should have is a 1 GHz CPU and 512Mb RAM. The accepted ‘recommended’ system requirements are a Pentium 4 1.7 GHz CPU and 1 GHz RAM. Uninstalling programs you no longer use will also improve available resources.
Incidentally, there are times throughout the day when the internet is particularly busy. Usually around 5 – 6pm when all businesses are sending day-end reports to head office and such like. Add to this the fact that kids have arrived home from school and they are all scrambling to get onto the internet.
However, if your Computer is slow to connect to the internet and also painfully slow to load web pages, then most probably, your computer is way low on resources or there is a fault on your external phone line. One recent customer I had, we where able to discover there was a fault at his local exchange, which was causing his slow connection. Most phone companies can easily do a Line-Test on your phone line; it only takes a few moments and is well worth giving it a try, before investing in upgrades.
Lastly, if your internet connection has suddenly, become much slower, then the problem is most likely a recent addition to your PC. This could be new software or an update. ActiveX controls are notorious for causing problems. Have you installed an update to your Flash Player or other installation? If so, try removing it using Control Panel – Add/Remove. You can always re-install it later. Also, run a Full System scan with your Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware programs, just in case your Computer has become infected.
If your computer is slow in general even when you are not on the Internet, there are utilities that can check the health of your system. For more information on one of these, click HERE
How To Check Your Hard Drive with Check Disc
How to check your hard drive for errors using Check Disk
by Wolfdave
Disk error checking is a task you should perform from time to time as part of your routine maintenance. The best way to do this is to use one of your system tools; Check Disc. This tool will check your hard drive volumes for errors and will attempt to fix them. It will look for bad sectors, lost clusters and directory errors. If you set up your computer with an administrator account, then you will need to log on as the administrator. Before using any system tools or altering system settings create a System Restore point and back up your files to an external media.
To begin check disc, click ‘Start’ then ‘Run’. In the ‘Open’ box, type cmd and press ENTER (on your keyboard). When you see a prompt type, chkdsk and ENTER. The process may take several minutes to run, or you may receive a message “Chkdsk cannot run because one or more files are open, do you want to schedule this error checking for the next time you start windows” Type ‘Y’ and press ENTER. If chkdsk runs immediately you will receive a report when it has completed. Quite often, you will see this message or similar – “Windows found problems with the file system run CHKDSK with the /F (Fix) option to correct these. So you now type CHKDSK/F AND PRESS ENTER. To automatically repair errors, locate bad sectors and recover readable files, at the prompt type: chkdsk volume:/r then press ENTER. Once again, it most likely will ask to schedule this task for the next time you start windows. Type ‘Y’ and press ENTER. To return to your normal Desktop, type EXIT and press ENTER.
Re-start your computer. After POST check disc will run, this may take several minutes. Once completed your computer may re-start again automatically. If you prefer, you can run this tool from My Computer. Right click on your hard drive, usually ‘C’ choose ‘Properties’ from the drop-down list, then ‘Tools’. In the ‘Error Checking’ box click ‘Check Now’. A check disk dialog box will appear with two options: Automatically Fix file system errors – Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. Select the first option, Automatically Fix file system errors, for your first run. Then select the second option next time. Once again, you may receive a message to schedule this task for the next time you start windows, click ‘Yes’.
If you are uncomfortable using system tools, there are utilities to do this for you. For more details click HERE
by Wolfdave
Disk error checking is a task you should perform from time to time as part of your routine maintenance. The best way to do this is to use one of your system tools; Check Disc. This tool will check your hard drive volumes for errors and will attempt to fix them. It will look for bad sectors, lost clusters and directory errors. If you set up your computer with an administrator account, then you will need to log on as the administrator. Before using any system tools or altering system settings create a System Restore point and back up your files to an external media.
To begin check disc, click ‘Start’ then ‘Run’. In the ‘Open’ box, type cmd and press ENTER (on your keyboard). When you see a prompt type, chkdsk and ENTER. The process may take several minutes to run, or you may receive a message “Chkdsk cannot run because one or more files are open, do you want to schedule this error checking for the next time you start windows” Type ‘Y’ and press ENTER. If chkdsk runs immediately you will receive a report when it has completed. Quite often, you will see this message or similar – “Windows found problems with the file system run CHKDSK with the /F (Fix) option to correct these. So you now type CHKDSK/F AND PRESS ENTER. To automatically repair errors, locate bad sectors and recover readable files, at the prompt type: chkdsk volume:/r then press ENTER. Once again, it most likely will ask to schedule this task for the next time you start windows. Type ‘Y’ and press ENTER. To return to your normal Desktop, type EXIT and press ENTER.
Re-start your computer. After POST check disc will run, this may take several minutes. Once completed your computer may re-start again automatically. If you prefer, you can run this tool from My Computer. Right click on your hard drive, usually ‘C’ choose ‘Properties’ from the drop-down list, then ‘Tools’. In the ‘Error Checking’ box click ‘Check Now’. A check disk dialog box will appear with two options: Automatically Fix file system errors – Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors. Select the first option, Automatically Fix file system errors, for your first run. Then select the second option next time. Once again, you may receive a message to schedule this task for the next time you start windows, click ‘Yes’.
If you are uncomfortable using system tools, there are utilities to do this for you. For more details click HERE
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