Todd Bradley asks:
I have an Acer laptop with an Intel Celeron P4600, 2GB of DDR3 memory and a 250GB hard disk drive. It is beginning to slow down. Does anyone have suggestions for memory upgrades, system cleaning software and other advice that can regain some performance? The laptop is used for basic Windows apps – Adobe, web surfing, Hulu, that sort of thing.
I have Corsair PC10666 RAM – 4GB, DDR3, 1333MHz, SODIMM Laptop Memory, Class 9 , recently purchased, but not installed. Is this the proper hardware?, for this laptop? Will it help?
Browser: Firefox 12
System: Windows
Tagged: computer memory, hardware tips, improve speed, laptop, ram, upgrade hardware
System: Windows
Tagged: computer memory, hardware tips, improve speed, laptop, ram, upgrade hardware
12 Answers -
Bruce Epper
June 1, 2012In order to determine if the memory will work, we need the EXACT model of the computer. Make alone does not put anyone in a position to answer that part. It should give you the information required in the user manual or on the Acer website. You just need to look up the specs for your particular laptop. Or you could go to crucial.com and find compatable memory.
As far as improving the performance of the computer, you can use CCleaner to get rid of unnecessary files (temp files, internet cache files, memory dumps, recovered checkdisk files, etc.).
Uninstall any programs you do not use. Use Revo Unistaller to do a more complete job of removal.
For the programs that you occasionally use the drop items into the notification area, remove that little stub of code. The help the program start faster but make the computer run slower overall. And if you are not frequently accessing them, you don’t really need them.
Do a complete defrag of your hard drive.
Set a static size for your pagefile. Constant resizing of the pagefile can kill overall performance. Use Performance Monitor for a few days of heavy usage and set your pagefile slightly larger than its peak usage over that period of time.
If you are frequently online and seeing performance problems there, uninstall all of the toolbars you don’t actually use and disable any that are not necessary for what you are currently doing.
Exact model per label is – Acer Aspire 4339-2618. User guide is generic to many Aspire models, each with specific hardware or options. Could not nail down Memory Upgrade Specs/Requirements from User Guide. Any suggestions?, or am I looking in the wrong place for Model #, and/or info.
June 1, 2012Laga Mahesa
June 1, 2012Give your computer a good spring cleaning.
First, uninstall anything you don’t use – we all collect programs we try and forget to uninstall over time.
After that, set a system restore point, then do a general cleanup with CCleaner.
Once that’s done, defragment the C: drive with whichever defragmenter you have available. The Windows one is fine – for third party, I’m currently recommending Disktrix Ultimate Defrag.
What is a restore point? If I remember it will reset the system back to a previous point of use. How far back do I go? Do I need to back up all my programs and files before this. How and where do I save them? What happens to all uninstalled programs/? These are all things that I am learning, but don’t know exactly. Fearful of losing important stuff.
June 1, 2012Kyem Ghosh
June 1, 2012you still have a better configuration than mine… I have Intel celeron R with 2.5 GB of DDr2 and 320 gb hdd… But still I use 32bit win7 ultimate sp1 and play good games, well its a bit slow while playing but it runs pretty good… You should see the link below….
makeuseof.com/tag/top-8-programs-that-can-make-your-computer-run-faster-nb/
the programs listed there helps me to run my low configured computer in a good way… And choose a light anti virus like avast or avg… Donot go for kaspersky, norton is less recommended. As they will just make your computer move like a cow cart…
Check the ratings. Norton is much lighter on resources than AVG. AVG has become what Norton was back in 2006 or so. The lightest in resources in the last few years seem to be Microsoft Security Essentials, the Norton suites, Avast! and Avira. I haven’t tested it but the ESET NOD32 has a pretty good fanbase for being light in resource usage and good detection and removal.
June 1, 2012well I haven’t tested Norton for a long tym… I use Avast!… Its my personal choice… It is light and good too….
June 1, 2012System currently uses McAfee, and (Windows Defender?). Send me any links that you may know of for free downloads. I did already see the Makeuseof ,” Top 8 Programs…”, I will give it a try.
June 1, 2012Dalsan
June 1, 2012There are also other things you can do along with CCleaner (Glary Utilities works well, also) such as using http://www.Tweaking.com Simple Performance Boost or Advanced System Tweaker to disable unnecessary services and features with the ability to revert back easily. Also you can use Ready Boost if you have Windows Vista or 7 using either an SD card or flash drive. These guides are if you are braver: for Win XP: http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-xp-x86-32-bit-service-pack-3-service-configurations/
For Win Vista: http://tweakhound.com/vista/tweakguide/page_7.htm
For Win 7: http://tweakhound.com/windows7/tweaking/8.html
I will do the research, and see what I might use.
June 1, 2012OS is Windows 7 Home Premium BTW. What is your reference to using flash drives or SD card?, not sure where you are going with that.
June 1, 2012An SD card or flash drive can be used a Ready Boost for Windows, which will use the faster speed rate of the flash memory for much of your paging file/virtual memory needs instead of relying on the slower hard drive, unless you have a solid state drive. It will boost the speed anywhere from a little to a lot, depending on what you generally use the computer for. Flash memory is usually formatted in FAT32, and only 4GB will be used for Ready Boost. Formatting the flash memory to NTFS would allow up to 256GB to be used, and would cause programs to start and run faster, kind of like adding more system memory would do. Here is some more info about it for you: http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/does-using-a-usb-flash-drive-and-windows-readyboost-increase-system-performance/
June 2, 2012I also use this program just for more peace of mind to keep memory in check as programs and services being started will use more system memory than when it settles down to normal usage. Those programs and services hold on to the extra memory it used instead of releasing it back, and this program will force it to it’s necessary memory usage automatically every 15 minutes. Just install, go to the start menu and find CleanMem, click CleanMem Settings, click start, then next twice, then click on install cleanmem task scheduler, and finish. Then you can just forget about it and it will do it’s thing for you without running in the background until it’s 15 minute schedule. Btw, I agree with Avast, maybe Comodo Internet security, but especially with older systems, McAfee has to go! It slows all systems down and does an “ok” job at security. I discourage people from using it because I had to fix too many computers that were infected with malware that McAfee did not catch, and I find Norton doesn’t always play nice with some programs.
June 2, 2012Forgot the link for CleanMem, lol! Here it is: http://www.majorgeeks.com/CleanMem_d5993.html?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d9f23c1707e42e6%2C0
June 2, 2012Oron
June 1, 2012Todd, I see you already got plenty of good advice, but I’ll add my bit anyway…
CCleaner is good, but I prefer Wise Disk Cleaner (esp. the “Slimming System” tab) and Wise Registry Cleaner which between them do a more thorough job.
For uninstalling, I prefer IOBit Uninstaller which allows you to uninstall multiple package at once.
As Bruce says, don’t forget to give the page file a fixed size.
In Internet Explorer, make sure the “Temporary Internet Files” folder is set to no more than 100mb (and preferably less).
Do all your cleaning (also clear your browser cache) before defragging, so there will be less to defrag.
My favourite defragger is My Defrag. It’s not much to look at, but as well as defragging it optimises the disk and in my experience it does a better job of that than any other free defragger.
Thanks for good simple advice. My level of “TechSpeak” could be labeled as neophyte, so your instructions are easy enough to understand. I will post my results over the weekend when I have time to tweak my system.
June 1, 2012Kelvin Zhang
June 1, 2012The best thing would be to reinstall Windows, but unfortunately, reinstallation is tedious and unnecessary. First, defragement your hard drive. Uninstall any unnecessary applications and then disable unnecessary system processes. I would highly recommend reinstallation, though.
-Kelvin
FIDELIS
June 2, 2012Hello, your laptop can handle up to 8 GB of memory and if I am not mistaken it is already running a x64 bit system. Did you use any online tool to check for memory compatibility? If not you could try the following:
http://www.crucial.com/systemscanner/
The RAM you have should be compatible with your laptop. To make sure just double check with the scanner provided in link above or you can also open RAM compartment in bottom of laptop and check the memory already installed.
With regards to cleaning tools, you have been provided with excellent choices. I would also uninstall any program you do not use and make sure to clean your startup. You can do this through windows tools such as msconfig or you could also use third party tools such as crapcleaner. Programs starting with windows should be reserved for operating system processes/programs and also your antivirus and firewall. Make sure to get rid of entries such as the tools provided for itunes, messenger, third party updates, etc. If you need more precise instructions on how to do this, let us know.
Shehan Nirmal
June 6, 2012I think the problem is with your processor. I never use Intel Celeron. I prefer Intel pentium or Core type processors.
Also try Advance System Care to boost up your laptop.
James West
June 19, 2012I always use Glary Utilities for basic cleaning and Smart Defrag to defrag. You should also run a antivirus scan. Viruses and spyware can slow down a computer considerably if not care of quickly.
Jamie VanRaalte
June 26, 2012I’m not sure about memory but run virus scans, defrag, run some spamware/malware scans. All of those things can cause problems!
Igor Rizvi?
July 31, 2012For your work maybe just memory slots (ram,but try to disable windows visual interface (like aero in win7) disable some features it will help you to free more memory for faster pc responce.And yes clean your pc regulary.
p.s try running some sort of info hardware software like speccy to see what type of ram you have,and whats the max slot memory of your slot laptop /ram.
Jim Chambers
October 9, 2012Use Windows Disk Cleanup to remove all but most recent restore points. These use a lot of disk space. Then use a crap cleaner and defragger as others have suggested.