I'd like to make my computer run as fast/efficient as possible, I've done a few things but wondered if there was something I'm missing. Here are the stats on my computer...

DELL 8100
Win XP Pro
P4 1.3 GHz Pro
256K RAM
20GB HD (8.80GB free)

Cable Modem 250kbps d/l, 120kbps u/l

Anyway, I've set my Temporary Internet Files to 1 (the lowest setting), keep 0 History, and defrag often, but is there something else I can do? I mean, I'm not complaining, when I turn my computer on it only takes a little over a minute to be Net ready, and everything seems to be working fine, I just wondered if there was something I was missing.

If I get a 2GHz Processor will it actually run faster? If I add RAM it could actually slow down...right? Not sure how to find my cache amount, and on XP I can't find my % of system resources like I used to do on ME...so I'm not sure about that either.

One last thing, what's your favorite firewall?

Any help would be appreciated

 

On the subject of firewalls, I was just reading the reviews of Zone Alarm because that's what everyone seems to be telling me to get, but some of the reviews are bad. It seems that the old v2.6 is better than 3.1, but both versions can restart your computer without warning. Also, there seems to be some problem in uninstalling or updating them, one guy had so many problems he contacted ZoneLabs and after getting their instructions crashed his computer...requiring him to reinstall Windows (sucks).

Anyone with Zone Alarm want to come to its defense?

 

Regarding memory usage - right click the taskbar and select Task Manager. That'll allow you to see the amount of memory and CPU being used. For more advanced monitoring functions, do Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, Performance. You'll be able to measure just about everything from there.

Right now, with my typical set of junk loaded, I'm using 229MB of RAM. I'd be thrashing the swap file pretty hard if I only had 256MB - with 512, I haven't had any issues. Adding RAM could only help you.

Also, I would have thought that limiting your temp Internet files would hurt you - as you have it currently, every time your machine wants to display something, it has to download it fresh over the slow network, rather than picking it off the much much faster harddrive.

What exactly are you looking to speed up?

I'm using a Linksys firewall/router. I've also had good experience with NetGear.

 

Your system is low on RAM particularly for running XP. Adding RAM is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to increase system performance. A faster processor will also help but yours should be amply fast for most tasks including Internet use.

Zone Alarm is a popular and proven firewall. I've never had the slightest problem with it. I suspect people that do have a mis-configured system or problems elsewhere on their system.

If it was me I'd add extra RAM (at least another 256Mb). Then I'd lose XP and install Win 2000 Pro.

 

How long have you had the computer for? I would reccommend formatting once a year, I know it's a b1tch to back everything up, but it's worth it..

 

yep, you need more RAM

 

I also would add more RAM. I have a gig of ram in my Athlon XP2100+ with WindowsXP. I also use ZoneAlarm and I like how I can see what is accessing the internet. Found a spyware app installed on my laptop which I removed with Adaware. I actually have a hardware firewall called Sonicwall. Very nice product and it has been working very well for being 3 years old.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, would 512K RAM do better, or should I get more?

Why Win 2000 Pro over XP Muz?

Just did that EVO, thanks .

Thanks for the great info Elistan, guess I'll keep some temp files...

 

Actually you have 256 MB of RAM, not 256 K. At least I hope that's the case!

 

Yep you definatly need more RAM