Terrible Computer

CaptinSxb · Aug 30, 2004, 12:52 PM

I have a pretty bad computer. It has a PIII 667mhz 256mb of sdram (just upgraded from 128). Anyway I can increase the performance without spending any money. Im buying a new system but it will be about a year before I have the money and I want this computer to be able to run IE without crashing. Im a newb when it comes to computer hardware so if theres any other info you need to help me out just ask and ill try to find out.

**MIG-31** · Aug 30, 2004, 01:01 PM

i don't overclock myself,but thats the only way to get a little better without spending any cash.

but with it only being a a p3 667mhz i can't see there being much of a gain doing so.

but just curious on why you have this post here, then building a new rig in this post

CaptinSxb · Aug 30, 2004, 01:19 PM

im not gonna have the money for that rig for a good while.(1-2 months)

Zardon · Aug 30, 2004, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptinSxb

I have a pretty bad computer. It has a PIII 667mhz 256mb of sdram (just upgraded from 128). Anyway I can increase the performance without spending any money. Im buying a new system but it will be about a year before I have the money and I want this computer to be able to run IE without crashing. Im a newb when it comes to computer hardware so if theres any other info you need to help me out just ask and ill try to find out.

well im not sure as to the point of your question, are you asking for performance gains on this system ? or are you asking for help with IE as its apparently crashing? have you tried an OS reinstall? granted the computer isnt a high performance system but you certainly should be able to run internet explorer without any difficulty at all.

Falstaff · Aug 30, 2004, 02:19 PM

I agree, this machine is more than adequate to run XP and should with all the available updates and proper setup continue to run well, I am using an old 433 celeron right now with Win ME, and it works just fine, even with AOL on it.

I believe there are two issues here...and old computer that perhaps requires a little more understanding and kindness right now, lol. And some realistic expectations on your part. It might even run some old games pretty well, those can be had for a nominal price from popular discount department stores..lol.

IMO, learn everything you can about this machine, become intimately aware of its shortcomings and its capabilities, OC it if you wish, and enjoy. Finding ram might be a struggle, but lots of good computers out there to play with. I learned RAID and LINUX on old machines that I bashed together...

Zardon · Aug 30, 2004, 02:52 PM

it should run XP fine, yes, but he said IE. so I take it he means internet explorer is crashing.

CaptinSxb · Aug 30, 2004, 03:27 PM

Yeah IE isnt working right, it takes about 10 mins to open,can't see all the buttons, keystrokes dont take effect for about 30 seconds, the list goes on. I just reinstalled xp and it runs beutifully... until you try to open a program. I was wondering if anyone knew a very inexpensive way to get a few more months of use out of it until i can get my new computer. Just trying to lower my stress level. Incase your wondering im not typing this on my computer. My friend is letting me use his comp to check my e-mail and things like that.

Zardon · Aug 30, 2004, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptinSxb

I just reinstalled xp and it runs beutifully... until you try to open a program.

Ok I dont mean to sound rude here but thats quite a major problem and certainly I wouldnt say XP is running beautifully if this is the case. How long does it take the machine to boot up? have you checked your IDE leads are all firmly in place? have you any other IDE leads to test with?

GutterPunk · Aug 30, 2004, 04:35 PM

we are looking at 256 megs of ram on an XP box, that at times can be the troubles. XP is a ram hog and if you arent careful with your resources at 256 itll cause some major slowness

**MIG-31** · Aug 30, 2004, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptinSxb

I just reinstalled xp and it runs beutifully... until you try to open a program.

if IE is not working then xp is not running fine.as this is doing the same aftrer a re-install then this is pointind towards a possible hardware fault.

were ie working fine before the increase of ram,as this been tested with anything such as memtest.

you can download the very latest version here you will need a floppy disk for this then run from boot up.

but also bare in mind xp uses 128mb minimum(not recomended) 256 as a usable minumum..this could be making a difference.

EDIT.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GutterPunk

we are looking at 256 megs of ram on an XP box, that at times can be the troubles. XP is a ram hog and if you arent careful with your resources at 256 itll cause some major slowness

still way shorter than 10 mins....

Zardon · Aug 30, 2004, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GutterPunk

we are looking at 256 megs of ram on an XP box, that at times can be the troubles. XP is a ram hog and if you arent careful with your resources at 256 itll cause some major slowness

yes we are looking at 256 megs but we still shouldnt be looking at 10 minute loading times.

GutterPunk · Aug 30, 2004, 05:43 PM

errr my aunt has a p4 2.6 @ 256 megs of ram, and production is about 10 minutes of true work to every 4 hours spent i couldnt imagine the same problem with a comp w/ a slower processor. Seriously tho this thing takes about 6 minutes to load IE and after that its worse than 56k trying to load web pages. To open word it takes even longer, same with quick books and virtual dance.

Zardon · Aug 30, 2004, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GutterPunk

errr my aunt has a p4 2.6 @ 256 megs of ram, and production is about 10 minutes of true work to every 4 hours spent i couldnt imagine the same problem with a comp w/ a slower processor. Seriously tho this thing takes about 6 minutes to load IE and after that its worse than 56k trying to load web pages. To open word it takes even longer, same with quick books and virtual dance.

well if your aunts P4 is giving out 10 minutes of work to every 4 hours of uptime I think she is best getting herself a hold of a technican to fix it, reinstall the operating system or to remove the 400 trojans and viruses that must be plaguing the system. a 2.4 P4 is a decent system for surfing the web and doing general work, even with 256 meg of ram, paging should not be 3 hours and 50 minutes in a four hour period.

I have used around 400 pcs in the last 3 years some MUCH slower than that system or even the guys system in this thread and IE opens in a maximum of 30 seconds no matter the system, now lets get this thread back on track, you can open a thread for your aunts P4 in the technology forum and we can try and sort that one as well

**MIG-31** · Aug 30, 2004, 05:49 PM

ive used a 2.4p4 with 256mb,with a 56k modem and were still within a minuite and a half using IE6.and thats after a fair bit of time to.it does still indicate a hardware problem to me.

the amount of times i have either upgraded or re-installed my rig and a few friends and family's pc. i have never seen this problem before.and a couple were on 56k modems too.

and to add i have just built a system for my sister,amd barton 3000+,msi neo 2 mobo with 256mb and that runs fast.both are running xp sp2.

CaptinSxb · Aug 30, 2004, 06:17 PM

i followed yours and some of my friends advice, i reinstalled windows,ran a bunch of spyware/virus programs, and checked all the connections. The pc house call at ww.trendmicro.com found 6,000+ infected files

. It's now running very well. I can run IE without a hitch. Now that its running does anyone think overclocking it would provide for noticable improvements?

Thank you for helping me out with the IE problem.

Falstaff · Aug 30, 2004, 06:23 PM

I have heard of IE problems with corrupt installations, but never loading that slow, or crashing unless there are significant software issues, like spyware and such...hmmmmm
I had to reformat and reload XP once when I performed a dirty installation over ME...it was foolish of me to expect XP to work properly without diligence.
Back to the issue at hand, how did you install XP, and what is loading when you boot up? etc.etc...is there an old version of Norton running?...the possiblity of another software program creating problems could be it, or even a program that XP does not run well with...but then its like baseball, unless you get into the game and start swatting a few pop flies, the only position you can play is "left out"...lol

GutterPunk · Aug 30, 2004, 06:45 PM

not spyware/viruses or trojans. I reinstalled, and once she gets the applications she has to use (3 or more at a time) to alt tab in and out because each shares different information for the main database she creates. Everything is so slow, i mean 5 minutes between the tabbing then you get the warnings... increasing virtual memory etc etc

CaptinSxb · Aug 30, 2004, 06:53 PM

Glad to know Im not the only one with a terrible computer.

Zardon · Aug 30, 2004, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptinSxb

Glad to know Im not the only one with a terrible computer.

Indeed, even my old 600mhz P3 loads programs faster than gutterpunks aunts 2.4ghz P4 !

tastyweat · Aug 30, 2004, 07:57 PM

could be dodgy ram... my dodgy crucial would do something similar... but I replaved it and everything worked fine... it was 512mb with a 2800 and I was having a bit of a problem.... progs would take a while to load and textures in games would bugger up - so that's one probability for gutter

GutterPunk · Aug 30, 2004, 08:23 PM

its Rambus, its also a dell i think it might be the junk that loads w/ xp from SMELL... id ont know but i wanted to upgrade then she decided to say no. she was gonna have an uber nice system when i got done thats all i have to say

pr0digal jenius · Aug 30, 2004, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Indeed, even my old 600mhz P3 loads programs faster than gutterpunks aunts 2.4ghz P4 !

heh...i win the prize for owning the worst PC though:

Pentium 386 w/ 38(?) MBs of RAM and 1.4 GB Hard Drive

it's in dire need of a fresh install of windows (98 SE is about the most it can pull without some nasty XP hacks

) but it still does it's business at a REASONABLE speed as long as all you do is type, email, and instant message....it does tend to lag on rollercoaster tycoon though

back on topic thoug:

yes....10 minutes to boot a p4(or any other machine for that matter) sounds like the MFT and perhaps the paging file need to be defragged along with the rest fo the machine....and perhaps a complete low level format would help.

Geminiwave · Sep 1, 2004, 06:08 PM

if you're just doing IE? no. overclocking is(IMHO) pointless. if you want to be doing something else(like some semi-oldschool gaming) Then SURE! Lets talk overclocking.

btw I would have just checked for spyware before reinstalling the OS. still redoing the OS is faster I suppose.

Judas · Sep 2, 2004, 03:24 AM

if a 486DX 90mhz cpu and 70mb of ram on a 1.6gb hd (ATA2 PIOmode 4) with a 128 or 256kb onboard video.... cant load IE6 (XP Pro SP1) in a matter of a second, i'm sure a P3 256mb setup should have no issues...

something is either hardware wrong, or bios setup may be a little off.. possibly a setting in XP... (Forced PIO Mode 4 in the IDE Device settings possibly, or something on the machine hogging cpu time and resources beyond beleife.. or a IDE cable bad.... maybe bad memory like previously mentioned)

Aug 30, 2004, 12:52 PM	#1
CaptinSxb DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Good Ol' U.S. of A. Posts: 404 Rep Power: 0	Terrible Computer I have a pretty bad computer. It has a PIII 667mhz 256mb of sdram (just upgraded from 128). Anyway I can increase the performance without spending any money. Im buying a new system but it will be about a year before I have the money and I want this computer to be able to run IE without crashing. Im a newb when it comes to computer hardware so if theres any other info you need to help me out just ask and ill try to find out.

Aug 30, 2004, 01:01 PM	#2
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,860 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	i don't overclock myself,but thats the only way to get a little better without spending any cash. but with it only being a a p3 667mhz i can't see there being much of a gain doing so. but just curious on why you have this post here, then building a new rig in this post __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

Aug 30, 2004, 02:19 PM	#5
Falstaff Old Codger Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: USAFA Posts: 19,048 Rep Power: 207	I agree, this machine is more than adequate to run XP and should with all the available updates and proper setup continue to run well, I am using an old 433 celeron right now with Win ME, and it works just fine, even with AOL on it. I believe there are two issues here...and old computer that perhaps requires a little more understanding and kindness right now, lol. And some realistic expectations on your part. It might even run some old games pretty well, those can be had for a nominal price from popular discount department stores..lol. IMO, learn everything you can about this machine, become intimately aware of its shortcomings and its capabilities, OC it if you wish, and enjoy. Finding ram might be a struggle, but lots of good computers out there to play with. I learned RAID and LINUX on old machines that I bashed together... __________________ "Inspiration is always a surprising visitor."

Aug 30, 2004, 04:35 PM	#9
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	we are looking at 256 megs of ram on an XP box, that at times can be the troubles. XP is a ram hog and if you arent careful with your resources at 256 itll cause some major slowness __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Aug 30, 2004, 05:43 PM	#12
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	errr my aunt has a p4 2.6 @ 256 megs of ram, and production is about 10 minutes of true work to every 4 hours spent i couldnt imagine the same problem with a comp w/ a slower processor. Seriously tho this thing takes about 6 minutes to load IE and after that its worse than 56k trying to load web pages. To open word it takes even longer, same with quick books and virtual dance. __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Aug 30, 2004, 01:19 PM	Thread Starter #3
CaptinSxb DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Good Ol' U.S. of A. Posts: 404 Rep Power: 0	im not gonna have the money for that rig for a good while.(1-2 months)

Aug 30, 2004, 02:52 PM	#6
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	it should run XP fine, yes, but he said IE. so I take it he means internet explorer is crashing.

Aug 30, 2004, 03:27 PM	Thread Starter #7
CaptinSxb DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Good Ol' U.S. of A. Posts: 404 Rep Power: 0	Yeah IE isnt working right, it takes about 10 mins to open,can't see all the buttons, keystrokes dont take effect for about 30 seconds, the list goes on. I just reinstalled xp and it runs beutifully... until you try to open a program. I was wondering if anyone knew a very inexpensive way to get a few more months of use out of it until i can get my new computer. Just trying to lower my stress level. Incase your wondering im not typing this on my computer. My friend is letting me use his comp to check my e-mail and things like that.

Aug 30, 2004, 05:49 PM	#14
MIG-31 HardwareHeaven News Mod Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Nottingham,UK Posts: 56,860 Rep Power: 471 System Specs	ive used a 2.4p4 with 256mb,with a 56k modem and were still within a minuite and a half using IE6.and thats after a fair bit of time to.it does still indicate a hardware problem to me. the amount of times i have either upgraded or re-installed my rig and a few friends and family's pc. i have never seen this problem before.and a couple were on 56k modems too. and to add i have just built a system for my sister,amd barton 3000+,msi neo 2 mobo with 256mb and that runs fast.both are running xp sp2. __________________ Please Post Your News Submissions Here

Aug 30, 2004, 06:17 PM	Thread Starter #15
CaptinSxb DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Good Ol' U.S. of A. Posts: 404 Rep Power: 0	i followed yours and some of my friends advice, i reinstalled windows,ran a bunch of spyware/virus programs, and checked all the connections. The pc house call at ww.trendmicro.com found 6,000+ infected files . It's now running very well. I can run IE without a hitch. Now that its running does anyone think overclocking it would provide for noticable improvements? Thank you for helping me out with the IE problem.

Aug 30, 2004, 06:23 PM	#16
Falstaff Old Codger Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: USAFA Posts: 19,048 Rep Power: 207	I have heard of IE problems with corrupt installations, but never loading that slow, or crashing unless there are significant software issues, like spyware and such...hmmmmm I had to reformat and reload XP once when I performed a dirty installation over ME...it was foolish of me to expect XP to work properly without diligence. Back to the issue at hand, how did you install XP, and what is loading when you boot up? etc.etc...is there an old version of Norton running?...the possiblity of another software program creating problems could be it, or even a program that XP does not run well with...but then its like baseball, unless you get into the game and start swatting a few pop flies, the only position you can play is "left out"...lol __________________ "Inspiration is always a surprising visitor."

Aug 30, 2004, 06:45 PM	#17
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	not spyware/viruses or trojans. I reinstalled, and once she gets the applications she has to use (3 or more at a time) to alt tab in and out because each shares different information for the main database she creates. Everything is so slow, i mean 5 minutes between the tabbing then you get the warnings... increasing virtual memory etc etc __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Aug 30, 2004, 06:53 PM	Thread Starter #18
CaptinSxb DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Good Ol' U.S. of A. Posts: 404 Rep Power: 0	Glad to know Im not the only one with a terrible computer. __________________ A64-3200; x800xl; a couple other things ; and a floppy drive

Aug 30, 2004, 07:57 PM	#20
tastyweat Lurking Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: The void Posts: 4,794 Rep Power: 75 System Specs	could be dodgy ram... my dodgy crucial would do something similar... but I replaved it and everything worked fine... it was 512mb with a 2800 and I was having a bit of a problem.... progs would take a while to load and textures in games would bugger up - so that's one probability for gutter __________________

Aug 30, 2004, 08:23 PM	#21
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 71	its Rambus, its also a dell i think it might be the junk that loads w/ xp from SMELL... id ont know but i wanted to upgrade then she decided to say no. she was gonna have an uber nice system when i got done thats all i have to say __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Sep 1, 2004, 06:08 PM	#23
Geminiwave I Have lovely Breasts Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: In the closet... Posts: 5,395 Rep Power: 64	if you're just doing IE? no. overclocking is(IMHO) pointless. if you want to be doing something else(like some semi-oldschool gaming) Then SURE! Lets talk overclocking. btw I would have just checked for spyware before reinstalling the OS. still redoing the OS is faster I suppose. __________________