I'm installing a game, but it's going to take hours! I don't wanna wait that long!!
What's something I can do to get my computer running faster, besides get off the internet?

smack it real good let it know your the boss and it's megabytes better start gettin more mega!

Go to the BIOS of your computer and overclock your system....but pay attention, this will damage your computer on the long run.

Save what you want to keep onto another hard drive and format the hell out of it.

Thanks. :) They're all great ideas, but I think I'll go for the BIOS one, once I figure out how that's supposed to be done.


And THEN format the hell out of it later.

Sure fire cure. maybe.

Overclocking probably wont fix your problem. Usually when you do that you are messing with some really technical things deep down in your computer. How old is your computer? What are the specs on it?

Many times, spyware/malware will slow things down. That could be an issue.

ugh. I'm bombarded with spyware at the moment. Spybot can't find them all, unfortunately. Good thing i dont know HOW to overclock! :)
My computer is Windows XP made by Emachines.
I bought it about 5 years ago, but I'd say it's about 6 years old. It probably sat in Best Buy for a while until it found a mommy to take it home :]

I think, Obama could help. He is great.

If you're running windows XP, check your programs and you'll find "defragmenting". Run it. It usually speeds things up and it's fom Microsoft so it's safe. If you've got bots, the best service I've ever had is STOPZILLA. It's cheap and very well worth it. Good luck.

You need more than one anti-spyware tool. Spybot S&D is okay in my opinion, but the more guns you have the better. http://www.superantispyware.com/superantispywarefreevspro.html is a great app that takes care of a lot of problems I've come across. The free version is all you need, look for the blue button on the bottom, install that and run it.

Also, adaware is good too. http://www.lavasoft.com/single/trialpay.php

If you have some cash though, you could always take your computer to a local store and have them wipe it clean and backup and restore all your data. Mainstream places like bestbuy are a little more expensive, a small local computer shop could do it for under $200 TOPS. Another option, if there is a local university or high school with a computer science department, there are usually more than enough geeks that would be willing to do that tasks for you for super cheap. That's how I made money back in those days :) I would email the Deans/Professors of those departments or see if there is a computer help desk you can call.

Hi,
Well; I would be more apt to say that a 5 or 6 year old computer has seen better days. Probably time to replace it since it will be very hard to find parts even to upgrade it and it would be more than a waste of money.

You can go and get those free spyware removal tools for your computer, but be certain you know what you are doing so you don’t delete certain registry items by mistake. Especially if you get "super antispyware" since it has a tendency to remove some registry items that are needed.

If you decide to keep the computer you have maybe find an external HD (hard drive) to save programs and items that you want. Then reformat your hard drive. If you decide to do a format of your HD, do a complete format in which it deletes everything since some spyware can hide in your memory.

http://www.auslogics.com/en/

This site has a couple of freebie programs you can use to see about boosting your computer's speed. One defrags your hard drive, while the other defrags your registry.

That's odd.. I thought I posted a reply in this thread.. I guess it didn't take.

Do this...

Click Start > Run > type "dxdiag" > Press Enter

*note, you may be prompted for a digitial signature.. blah blah.. go ahead and press the Yes button.

You should now see the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. Please tell me what your information is for "Processor:" "Memory:" and "Page File:" (both used and availible)

A couple things you should know (or should review) about speed and performance of your computer. When installing a program.. you are writing data to your Hard Drive.. so the 'Free Space' and 'Fragmentation' of the data is important. Although, this isn't actually considered 'making you computer faster'.. as it is really just maintaining the device to function properly. You should always, remove any application/data you don't need, intend to use, or intend to preserve, and defrag your computer.

Your processor(s) and System Memory are the two main factors to making windows run faster.

IF your processor is too slow, you may want to consider overclocking, I don't fool with overclocking myself. (except for generic bio settings such as .. quiet mode, or best performance, and I think normal... which is what I use) If you are going to overclock.. there are utility programs that you can use to do this, that also show you your core temperature... as overclocking will make your CPU run hotter.. On that note, it's important to know what sort of environment you keep your computer in, and how well your 'cooling system' performs (there a multitude of factors that make up the cooling system.. i.e. heat sinks, CPU fans). You COULD do this by trial and error, but it's best to crunch the numbers, or present them to someone who knows more about overclocking.

System Memory is comprised of RAM (Random Access Memory) and your Paging File System. If you are infact low on System Memory, You CAN allocate more HARD DRIVE space to your Page File System as an alternative to buying more RAM (though it is not recommended over buying RAM, because it performs slower).

I would like to clarify an issue on how RAM works, as I am seeing misinformation in regards to RAM. It does not hold or 'store' data when your computer is off. RAM has a constant electrical current running through it that makes up the representation of data, when that current is interrupted it no longer exists. This property makes it easy to manipulate the data, as you don't have to write to the device, as you would your HARD DRIVE. In turn, when you remove a process from running in memory.. there is no trace in that memory of the data that existed there.

I suggest downloading CCleaner to remove all your temporary, non-essential data, and to be used as your registry cleaner. (remember to make backups of your registry, when prompted)

I also suggest downloading SpyDoctor, to run as your anti-spyware/anti-virus software. There is a freeware version that is included in the GooglePack software download.

let's overclock your cpu

haha.. I didn't understand why you would bring politics into this until I read her profile..

what exactly does a super liberal liberal mean? That's like sympathizing with a sympathizer, which is that much less relative to empathizing.

I'm just kidding, I know you are just emphazing how much cooler you are than the average liberal .. haha

overclocking isnt anywhere near a solution here. overclocking is good for one thing...damaging you hardware....listen to brettbrett . i repair computers and he seems to know his way around a pc also....and you really should look into gettin a new pc...dell has some really good ones for around 299.00 check em out.

Get a memory stick and put your pictures and videos in and remove all unwanted or unused programs.
Make sure you delete all your pictures and videos after they are loaded on your memory stick and clean your recycle ben out.
Check your start up and take off any messengers or programs that don't have to be on there.
Run,msconfig,start up
defragmate your computer and see how fast it will run after that,you may want to upgrade your video card as well and/or your prosser.

You don't seem to know what kind of Hardware you have, so how can you be sure the game you are installing fits on your PC. Always check Minimum Requirements on the game specs for:

Processor/speed
Video Card capacity
Memory needed
DirectX version
(Check your specs by going to "start/run/dxdiag)

You should also check:

How much memory do you have (XP is said to run with a minimum of 64 mo but that is way to slow a minimum of 256 mo is better and 512 mo starts to be good) and how many programs you have working at the same time (check through "start/run/msconfig.


How much space do you have left on your hard drive (XP should have a minimum of 1.5 and that's cutting it close so a minimum of 3 go is recommended for XP to work more smoothly).

If you have spyware/malware/worms/viruses using up all your resources your PC will be slow, clean it if you know how or ask a friend who knows.

If you have a windows XP cd, the best solution and probably the fastest is to save all your personal files (Photos,Music,Videos, Documents) reformat your hard drive and reinstall XP, that's the best way to get rid of all the bad stuff picked up on the Internet and you will see that a fresh install speeds up a PC.

1. Copy all important files to some external storage.

2. Take your 6 year old emachine, place it in a large bucket. Place one end of very long, thick rope in bucket. Fill bucket with cement. Let harden. Tie free end of rope to boat. Throw bucket in water and pull up slack then tie off on boat.


3. Obtain new, cheap PC from computer outlet or geek friend and put old files on new computer.