Computer advice needed

[fecmech]

I have a desk top running XP that seems to be pretty slow. It has a Pentium 4 CPU 2.4 GHz processor and 3.0 GB of 2.39 GHz ram. Compared to my little Asus notebook running Windows 8.1 it's like molasses loading pages while I surf the web. Would I be better off to upgrade to windows 7 or have I picked up some kind of bloatware or something causing the XP to run slow? All I do is surf and email. I am marginally computer literate. Any help would be appreciated.

[pertnear]

...All I do is surf and email...

If that is really true, restore the hard drive back to the original state & start over. The original software is stored on a recovery partition & the instructions that came with the computer (or on line) will tell you how to boot/recover the system. This will make the computer perform like the 1st day you got it, which is the fastest it will ever get. Uninstall all programs you don't need.

...my 2 cents

Good Luck!

[skeettx]

YES to pertnear !
But lacking that, when is the last time you cleaned out the cookies?
Mike

[OptimusPanda]

If it were me I'd get a linux distro running on it if all I cared about was email and a browser. Assuming of course all the drivers are available for the hardware.

[fecmech]

But lacking that, when is the last time you cleaned out the cookies?

I've done that but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

[skeettx]

Are you now using the free MozillaFirefox for your link to the internet.
It sure will speed up stuff for XP
Mike

[FISH4BUGS]

I am still using XP also. Don't always use Internet Explorer for your web access. Use Google Chrome or FireFox to do that.
You can also start your system in safe mode and remove any programs that load on startup that you no longer need/use.
You need to do some lube, oil and filter work with XP still running but it will work. It will be slower than usual, but it will work. You may even find sites that don't work with XP and Windows Explorer. Fine. Use another internet access system.

[bangerjim]

XP still works................but very slowly compared to today's modern stuff!

Just bought the wife a screamin' HP desktop with WIN10, max ram, 500G SSD + 1T spinning drive, uber-fast processor. Compared to her old Dell XP machine, this thing almost anticipates what your are going to type or do!!!!!! It is nice to click and the website is there instantly.......even over wireless. (65MBPS connect) The old Dell is going in the dumper once she gets all the email garbage she wants off it. We never keep old computers.

Amazing what the new up-to-date stuff can do. And it was only a little over $700.

But you can keep your old system alive for a few more years with some of that free stuff mentioned above.

banger

[fecmech]

Are you now using the free MozillaFirefox for your link to the internet.

I use Firefox most of the time although I think Chrome is a bit faster. I would use Chrome all the time except I have problems using it with Drudge. For some reason Drudge only works the first time I use it. When I return to it after reading a story there are no longer title links, only straight lines like you get when the page is loading and pictures. I will check into the restore process and give that a try.

[gwpercle]

Tim, from Tim's Computer's said I should:
Download these three free utilities to keep my computer clean and up to speed from www.timpc.com or www.filehippo.com. He said to run them once a month to clean garbage from the internet and once a week if you are on line every day ( I'm on line every day but only run them every other week or sometimes once a month)

#1- Use CCleaner

#2- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

#3- SUPERAntispyware

If you go to www.timpc.com you can download all this and several other thing that I don't understand. I'm not very computer literate so most of this is over my head, I just do what Tim advises. And this does help when the computer starts slowing down. And it's FREE !
Gary

[GhostHawk]

like you I have an older desktop in the basement. And an Asus convertable laptop/pad upstairs.

I have my old desktop setup for dual boot, Win 7 and XP. Systems can build up a LOT of garbage over years that can slow you down to a craw. When running xp for serious stuff I would wipe the hard drive, reinstall drivers and OS from scratch once a year minimum. With practice and all needed software on disk it was about a 3-5 hour job. Since switching to Win 7 and no longer serious about what I did with it, I have let that system sit and run for almost 6 years with no problems.

As for upgrading to win 7, that comes down to how old your parts are. But it should be safe enough.

I do like Glary utilities for cleaning up crud and fixing problems, including watching my start list with an eagle eye. That is where I would start. Then see if you can do an older system restore if that does not gain you enough.

Good luck.

[Cmm_3940]

XP can probably be given a tuneup and run faster for a while. The stuff Gary posted is a good place to start. Also be sure to run disk cleanup and disk defragment. XP is well past it's life expectancy, though, and you should be thinking about replacing it. Win 7 32 bit will probably install and run, but it will be even slower than XP on your hardware, and a fresh windows installation will wipe the disk clean of all your stuff. I've had great luck refurbishing old XP machines with specs similar to yours by loading linux distros. You can install it in parallel to XP, and go back and forth from XP to linux until you are ready to say goodbye to XP for good. You also don't need to lose all your XP stuff this way. The XP files will still all be there and you can still get to them when running linux. For a machine of this vintage, you should investigate Linux Mint, Lubuntu, or (my favorite) Ubuntu-MATE.

[GabbyM]

Tim, from Tim's Computer's said I should:
Download these three free utilities to keep my computer clean and up to speed from www.timpc.com or www.filehippo.com. He said to run them once a month to clean garbage from the internet and once a week if you are on line every day ( I'm on line every day but only run them every other week or sometimes once a month)

#1- Use CCleaner

#2- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

#3- SUPERAntispyware

If you go to www.timpc.com you can download all this and several other thing that I don't understand. I'm not very computer literate so most of this is over my head, I just do what Tim advises. And this does help when the computer starts slowing down. And it's FREE !
Gary

I'll second the CCleaner program. Been using it for a few years now on a few computers.
Also use Malwarebytes. It will help if you have junk in your computer. You may be surprised.

[Screwbolts]

Tim, from Tim's Computer's said I should:
Download these three free utilities to keep my computer clean and up to speed from www.timpc.com or www.filehippo.com. He said to run them once a month to clean garbage from the internet and once a week if you are on line every day ( I'm on line every day but only run them every other week or sometimes once a month)



#1- Use CCleaner

#2- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

#3- SUPERAntispyware

If you go to www.timpc.com you can download all this and several other thing that I don't understand. I'm not very computer literate so most of this is over my head, I just do what Tim advises. And this does help when the computer starts slowing down. And it's FREE !
Gary

I second the above advice, all three free programs. I also suggest you run these programs in safe mode to deeper clean the system. you can run #2 and 3 at the same time, then run #1. The same advice was give to me by a good friend that is the IT guy at a local police station.

Ken

[fecmech]

I ran the 3 programs recommended and my computer is running more like it's old self! A big thank you to all who took the time to reply to this thread.