I have a HP notebook with xp that I put an extra gig of memory in it that maxed it out at 2gig. Is there any settings I should change to max out the speed of the this thing ? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Maxed Out Memory Question
- Thread starter Frank Jr.
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 8
- Views 2K
One thing you can do is to minimize the number of programs that automatically load at startup. Each one takes a toll on speed.
Use the Configuration Utility:
START
RUN
type “msconfig”
click OK
In the General tab, click on Selective Startup button
Click on the Startup tab
Click on Disable All
Click on OK
Restart the computer
On restart you’ll see a message telling you that you’ve made changes to the Configuration. Check the box so that you won’t see the message again. If you’re unhappy with how the computer runs after making the change, undo it (or allow selective things to load).
You should compare how many “Processes” are running before and after the operation. Bring up the Task Manager (right click on an empty place in the taskbar and select Task Manager – go to the “Processes” tab and scroll to the bottom of the box to see how many are running).
Use the Configuration Utility:
START
RUN
type “msconfig”
click OK
In the General tab, click on Selective Startup button
Click on the Startup tab
Click on Disable All
Click on OK
Restart the computer
On restart you’ll see a message telling you that you’ve made changes to the Configuration. Check the box so that you won’t see the message again. If you’re unhappy with how the computer runs after making the change, undo it (or allow selective things to load).
You should compare how many “Processes” are running before and after the operation. Bring up the Task Manager (right click on an empty place in the taskbar and select Task Manager – go to the “Processes” tab and scroll to the bottom of the box to see how many are running).
Is this machine running the same 'setup' that it came with from HP ? Have you considered a total re-format and a fresh start-over ?
I'll bet that being a notebook it has a 5400 rpm drive. Most desktops have 7200 rpm drives and that definitely helps them "feel" faster.
I'll bet that being a notebook it has a 5400 rpm drive. Most desktops have 7200 rpm drives and that definitely helps them "feel" faster.
Yet, there is something you must check!
All this is Right, but even right has its wrong, You MUST !protest Check the entry for Antivirus and/or antispyware/Spam program, You Really want those babies to run at startup, Everything else is Like AllieVi said, soon you will gain some bytes.
Good Luck! :up
All this is Right, but even right has its wrong, You MUST !protest Check the entry for Antivirus and/or antispyware/Spam program, You Really want those babies to run at startup, Everything else is Like AllieVi said, soon you will gain some bytes.
Good Luck! :up
Run Disk Defragmentation, too, as that will help programs load faster off the disk. (right-mouse-click on your disk icon, select Properties from the pop-up menu, click on the "Tools" tab, and select the Defragment tool)
As an old VMS guy, I always set the size of my Page file on the system to as big as I can. With disk drives pushing 1 TB, what's 2 or 4 GB for a page file? By default, Windows will say something like minimum - maximum size. What that does is cause fragmentation when Windows needs to enlarge the paging file. If you set both the min and max sizes the same, to at least the same size as the amount of RAM you have (I like using twice as much) then Windows has enough to do a full memory dump if it BSODs.
You should defrag the disk before extending the Page file, and to do it right, configure your system to run without the page file, reboot, defrag, set the fixed page file to 2x RAM, reboot, and defrag one last time. But that's just me.
If you spend $$$ on Diskeeper, you can run the Defragger on a scheduled basis and also do boot-time defragmentation which allows all the files to be consolidated, even those that Windows normally have open.
As an old VMS guy, I always set the size of my Page file on the system to as big as I can. With disk drives pushing 1 TB, what's 2 or 4 GB for a page file? By default, Windows will say something like minimum - maximum size. What that does is cause fragmentation when Windows needs to enlarge the paging file. If you set both the min and max sizes the same, to at least the same size as the amount of RAM you have (I like using twice as much) then Windows has enough to do a full memory dump if it BSODs.
You should defrag the disk before extending the Page file, and to do it right, configure your system to run without the page file, reboot, defrag, set the fixed page file to 2x RAM, reboot, and defrag one last time. But that's just me.
If you spend $$$ on Diskeeper, you can run the Defragger on a scheduled basis and also do boot-time defragmentation which allows all the files to be consolidated, even those that Windows normally have open.
You're correct, of course. The antivirus choice on my computer is in the Services tab, though, not Startup, so it runs as usual.
The benefit of not loading all those startup programs is twofold: less memory is consumed and the absent processes no longer cause interrupts that can reduce performance.
Another area you might want to look into is switching off some of the windows nice gui features - Suggestion 13 in this list 23 Ways To Speed WinXP <i>Without</i> Defrag - Custom Systems/White Box - IT Channel News by CRN and VARBusiness
Neat article. Thanks to the suggestions from all of you this thing is doing the best that it can. The biggest draw back is the Celron M Processor. A word to the wise. Never ever buy a computer with one. Avoid it like the plague. Thanks again guys!:up
