What can I do to improve my computer?

muffinsmuffins Regular
edited August 2010 in Tech & Games
I'm trying to find ways to make my computing experience better. HEre are my specs:

Field Value
Computer
Computer Type ACPI x86-based PC
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Professional
OS Service Pack [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Internet Explorer 8.0.7600.16385
DirectX DirectX 11.0
Computer Name ?
User Name muffins
Logon Domain [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Date / Time 2010-08-05 / 01:26

Motherboard
CPU Type DualCore AMD Athlon X2 BE-2300, 1914 MHz (9.5 x 201)
Motherboard Name Jetway M26GT4
Motherboard Chipset nVIDIA nForce 6100-4xx, AMD Hammer
System Memory [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DIMM1: Crucial RM12864AA667.8FH 1 GB DDR2-667 DDR2 SDRAM (5-5-5-15 @ 333 MHz) (4-4-4-12 @ 266 MHz) (3-3-3-9 @ 200 MHz)
BIOS Type Award (12/03/08)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

Display
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 210 (512 MB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 210 (512 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce 210
Monitor AOC LM742 [17" LCD] (92969CA015031)

Multimedia
Audio Adapter nVIDIA HDMI @ nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Adapter Realtek ALC662 @ nVIDIA nForce 6100-400/405/420/430 (MCP61) - High Definition Audio Controller

Storage
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
IDE Controller NVIDIA nForce Serial ATA Controller
IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive SanDisk Cruzer USB Device (1907 MB, USB)
Disk Drive ST310003 33AS SCSI Disk Device (1000 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Optical Drive HP DVD Writer 1040r ATA Device
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions
C: (NTFS) [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Total Size [ TRIAL VERSION ]

Input
Keyboard Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse HID-compliant mouse

Network
Primary IP Address [ TRIAL VERSION ]
Primary MAC Address 00-30-18-A3-95-D3
Network Adapter (High Speed Packet Data) (98.1 [ TRIAL VERSION ])
Network Adapter Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller (192. [ TRIAL VERSION ])
Modem Motorola USB Modem #2

Peripherals
Printer Fax
Printer HP Deskjet F4100 series
Printer Microsoft Office Document Image Writer
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Infrared Controller Built-in Infrared Device
Infrared Controller IrDA Protocol
USB1 Controller nVIDIA nForce 6100-400/405/420/430 (MCP61) - OHCI USB 1.1 Controller
USB2 Controller nVIDIA nForce 6100-400/405/420/430 (MCP61) - EHCI USB 2.0 Controller
USB Device Motorola USB Modem #2
USB Device USB Input Device
USB Device USB Mass Storage Device

DMI
DMI BIOS Vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD
DMI BIOS Version 6.00 PG
DMI System Manufacturer Unknow
DMI System Product Unknow
DMI System Version Unknow
DMI System Serial Number [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI System UUID [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI Motherboard Manufacturer
DMI Motherboard Product NF-MCP61
DMI Motherboard Version Unknow
DMI Motherboard Serial Number [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI Chassis Manufacturer nVIDIA
DMI Chassis Version Unknow
DMI Chassis Serial Number [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI Chassis Asset Tag [ TRIAL VERSION ]
DMI Chassis Type Desktop Case
DMI Total / Free Memory Sockets 4 / 3


any ways to speed it up or make shit better?

Comments

  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited August 2010
    A) Clean your computer. Get that dust off.
    B) Ventilate your system well, use extra fans and get the air flow going.
    C) Invest in a better Power Supply Unit which uses power for efficiently.

    More later when you add the specs.
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited August 2010
    You definitely need more ram. 1gb is NOWHERE enough to run windows 7 if you plan on doing anything but web browsing.
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited August 2010
    According to Microsoft's specs, 1 gb of ram is the minimum requirement to run Win7: http://windows.microsoft.com/systemrequirements

    But it's suggested to upgrade your ram. You'll notice a real boost, but your computer should run smoothly with 1 gb. I've reformatted Windows 7 Pro with PCs with 1 gb and they seem to run fine, even with an integrated graphics chip.
  • muffinsmuffins Regular
    edited August 2010
    I used to have 2gb of ram, but when i but a heatspreader on it it didnt seat all the way in the mobo and fried the ram plus mobo.

    Last night i went and cleaned up files and that helped some, this biggest problem i have is things not working as they should, Like invalid files and stuff any pointers on getting rid of duplicate files?
  • fanglekaifanglekai Regular
    edited August 2010
    CCleaner and Spybot S&D. CCleaner deletes tons of shit you don't need and fix registry problems. Same with spybot.
  • DysgraphiaDysgraphia Locked
    edited August 2010
    Registry booster or registry mechanic. Just search for the full powersuite and run it.

    Might want to leave it over night and defrag if you install/uninstall lots of programs.
  • AmieAmie Regular
    edited August 2010
    Google these and execute in order given, too lazy to explain a lot:
    • revo uninstaller to remove anything you don't want installed anymore
    • malwarebytes
    • Microsoft Security Essentials or Avast! free instead of whatever realtime protection suite you're running now (unless it's something extremely good you paid for, like nod32 or kaspersky).
    • ccleaner
    • advanced systemcare free
    • doublekiller
    • iobit smartdefrag free: deep optimize of system partition and regular defrag of data partitions

    also: read my thread here.
  • muffinsmuffins Regular
    edited August 2010
    I appreciate the hjelpful tips, I used eraser to dod wipe my files, ran that free degrag too, USed ccleaner, and spybot and got it runnin smooth now
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited August 2010
    I would still upgrade your ram. You'll see a big improvement.
  • mantismantis Semo-Regulars
    edited August 2010
    Serisouly, Windows is a piece of shit. Unix (Mac) and Linux are going to dominate within 10 years. Jump on the bandwagon now. Check out Ubuntu OS. All the software is FREE and it can run virtually almost any Windows program. Also, the Ubuntu community/support is phenomenal. You cannot go wrong there.
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited August 2010
    That is definitely likely. Problem is, there are so many linux distributions, manufacturers don't know what to pick.
  • fanglekaifanglekai Regular
    edited August 2010
    mantis wrote: »
    Serisouly, Windows is a piece of shit. Unix (Mac) and Linux are going to dominate within 10 years. Jump on the bandwagon now. Check out Ubuntu OS. All the software is FREE and it can run virtually almost any Windows program. Also, the Ubuntu community/support is phenomenal. You cannot go wrong there.

    Apple won't dominate shit because they charge too much. If they wanted to have a bigger market share they'd drop their prices by 30%. They don't care about market share or dominating the market because they sell their product to people who think it's cool. If everyone used it, it would no longer be cool.

    In any case, buy more RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006098%20600006060&IsNodeId=1&name=1GB

    $24 for Kingston 1gb stick of DDR2-667 PC-5300.
  • TLVTLV Regular
    edited August 2010
    New and better everything.
  • AmieAmie Regular
    edited August 2010
    mantis wrote: »
    Serisouly, Windows is a piece of shit. Unix (Mac) and Linux are going to dominate within 10 years. Jump on the bandwagon now. Check out Ubuntu OS. All the software is FREE and it can run virtually almost any Windows program. Also, the Ubuntu community/support is phenomenal. You cannot go wrong there.

    I used to think the same thing. Then I actually started using Linux, and now I am quite convinced this is never going to happen. Linux has its advantages, but nobody, be it a linux distro or a commercial OS manufacturer, can touch Windows on ease of use.

    Long rant incoming, TL/DR: If you want your computer to run better, learn to make Windows run better. Don't start messing with Linux.

    Microsoft is a huge company with thousands of good programmers and it works together with other huge companies to develop an OS which you can install on just about any desktop hardware and IT WORKS. Installing drivers is easy, installing upgrades is easy, flashing your bios is easy (how many hardware manufacturers do you know who bother to make a reliable, working linux bios flashing tool? Don't start on Dell and their ubuntu bios flash tool, 'cause it's shit. I've tried it. It just didn't work. Booting into the live environment of a Vista install DVD and running the Dell .exe to flash the bios worked flawless.), making your system secure is easy, gaming is easy, office just works ...

    At the moment, I use nothing but laptops. Now, I tried really, REALLY hard on both my laptops and the one of my brother to make them run on a freeware unix-based OS. It just didn't work. I tried Mint, Slackware, Debian, Gentoo, Arch, Crunchbang, Suse, FreeBSD, Dekstop-BSD, PC-BSD and Fedora.

    I love Gentoo and Arch, I can live with #!, when I'm running a server it's going to run BSD and I absolutely despise Mint. And after 8 months of messing with most worthwile distro's I've concluded that none of them is good enough to be my main OS. Windows (Vista - yes, Vista) is just as fast and it just works better. I'm a power user, I know what I need to do to make both Windows and Linux run fast and smooth (well, except for Mint, that's so bloated and bug-ridden that I can't do anything with it). I know what apps can replace most of the apps I use daily. I've built 2 working Gentoo desktop systems and 3 working Arch desktop systems, all of them on laptops, with all necessary drivers and applications installed and configured. Don't think "she must have ruined Linux, 'cause Vista can't possibly work just as fast"; it can.

    Linux is more stable? Mint isn't stable. Debian is stable but applications are out of date. BSD is stable but it won't run on my hardware. Gentoo and Arch are usually stable, but when they are updated, both of them can be broken and take a couple hours to fix. Slackware is stable, but installing applications is a pain because of the lack of dependency-checks. Windows rarely breaks after an update, and fixing it is as easy as a system-restore and waiting a week for updating again 'till the buggy update is removed and a new one is made. I don't get the advantages of rolling release, but because Windows development is consistent, I can upgrade my applications whenever I want to. In the non-rolling release distros I encountered applications only receive security updates. Want the latest version? Either start messing with it yourself and risk breaking your system or wait for the next release.

    Linux is more secure? Anti-malware programs are few and far between and offer less advanced protection than Windows anti-malware apps. "Oh, but Linux is unhackable and they will never manage to write a decent Linux virus, it's just impossible because of the way the system is made." Yeah, right, and there is full compatibility between open office and microsoft office, isn't there?

    Now I'm not going to complain about proprietary file formats and drivers. I know it's hard to reverse-engineer the .docx format and it's hard to write a Broadcom wireless driver without the required technical information. That's the fault of Microsoft and of Broadcom. Not of the Linux community.

    But some things are the fault of the Linux community. The way they keep telling people "Linux can do anything Windows can do, and it's just as easy once you know how it works" for example. Yeah, right. Until you actually try it.

    * My Wireless Internet doesn't work. Any ideas?
    - Wireless is hard in Linux, that's true ...

    * No sound. Any ideas?
    - Now, sound is something which can be quite difficult in Linux ...

    * The installation disk wont even boot on my laptop. Any ideas?
    - Yeah, laptops are a pain in Linux ...

    * So, what was the name of that word processor which was completely compatible with .docx files?
    - Open Office usually does a pretty good job at that, unless it's an advanced lay-out, and Abiword can also open a lot of .docx files. Full compatibility is quite hard in Linux, maybe try running Office in Wine?

    * Trying to flash my BIOS, what's the best way to do this?
    - Make a backup of your Linux system, install Windows, flash BIOS and install Linux again. Or dualboot.

    * I want to give my grandparents a computer to basically surf the web and read emails. What would be the easiest Distro for them? Something which I won't have to administer every couple months to keep it up to date etc.
    - That's not very easy in Linux, maybe try Linux Mint?

    I'm willing to accept that Linux is generally better as a server / development OS. But those are two things most users do not give a shit about. If Linux wants to reach 10% of the desktops, it needs to be good at being a desktop. Not at being a server / development environment.

    You wanna make Linux good enough to take over the Desktop market? Then make sure it works. I'm going to repeat that, because a lot of linux-users / developers don't understand this: make sure it actually works as good or better than Windows as a desktop OS. Make Linux based operating systems and Linux apps consistent enough so that any Linux app's source code can be compiled to run on any distribution which complies with the standards without hacking the code first. Make sure the binaries provided trough your repositories will actually run on your system. And for the love of god, quit making a new distribution every time one of the developers hurt your feelings. You'll most likely do a shitty job at it, nobody will bother running your distro unless they are on the development team and no, nobody cares about your new filesystem layout which is "soooo much more logical" but breaks any code not hacked to fit your distro.

    How is this on topic? If you want your computer to run better, learn to make Windows run better. Don't start messing with Linux. The amount of knowledge required to make a Linux box run well is far larger than the amount required to make a windows box run well.
  • fanglekaifanglekai Regular
    edited August 2010
    What are some ways you suggest to make Windows run better?
  • AmieAmie Regular
    edited August 2010
    fanglekai wrote: »
    What are some ways you suggest to make Windows run better?

    Already wrote that in post #8 of this thread.

    If there's no malware on your system an intelligent defragmentation will probably give the most noticeable effect (one which also puts the most used files on the fastest sectors of your disk etc). Using lighter applications is off course also a big resource-saver (VLC player for movies instead of Windows Media Player, Avast or MSE instead of AVG, Mediamonkey instead of any huge, bloated music library, 7-zip instead of Winrar, Foxit reader instead of Adobe PDF reader, A-patch windows live messenger to remove the ads), use portable versions of applications when they work just as well (cdburnerXP, ICEmirror, Ccleaner, Revo uninstaller), configure all your often used applications to show less toolbars and buttons you don't use, tell explorer and your music library to only display the categories you actually use in the file lists ... it's all small stuff but add it all up and it's a big improvement.

    If that all doesn't do the trick you either need to tune down on the graphics (turn off aero etc.) or reformat (sometimes it's necessary, did it myself three days ago, caught some malware which wasn't easy to remove, said "fuck it" and formatted)
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited August 2010
    Amie wrote: »
    Windows rant

    I concur. Although I don't like windows 7's design. There is too much transparency and smoothness eating up the resources. I know you can disable it but then it looks like shit. If it had a windows XP theme I'd use it, but it doesn't :/
  • TLVTLV Regular
    edited August 2010
    I concur. Although I don't like windows 7's design. There is too much transparency and smoothness eating up the resources. I know you can disable it but then it looks like shit. If it had a windows XP theme I'd use it, but it doesn't :/

    Download one?
  • KatzenklavierKatzenklavier Regular
    edited August 2010
    I meant built in theme. 3rd party themes use more resources than the default ones anyway, so it'd be pointless.
  • stresstres Regular
    edited August 2010
    and I thought I had an 'alright' knowledge of computers, ya'll some smart mothafuckas :o
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