Jump to content
IGNORED

Fixing up a crappy computer


chassis

Recommended Posts

So Ive been given the task of revamping a computer thats ~4 years old. The thing is so slow its ridiculous.

 

At the moment it has about 14% HD space and Id say more viruses than a prostitute.

 

Am I correct in thinking that if I format the drive, reinstall windows, maybe add 4gb of ram it should be at least useable. Ill probably have to clean a crap load of dust out of the fan too.

 

But is there anything else I should consider replacing, the fans not that loud so I think its ok. Should the ram thats already in there still be useful, and the hard drive (once wiped) will be ok too.

 

 

Im not looking for it to be mega fast, just not infuriatingly slow.

 

Cheers dooodz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

depends on what its use will be. if just a basic computer for browsing the internet, first do a format / reinstall and test it out then, might be good enough. if used for anything heavier, some ram and a cheap video card maybe. if it will be on all the time, just buy some new fans, they're cheap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

depends on what its use will be. if just a basic computer for browsing the internet, first do a format / reinstall and test it out then, might be good enough. if used for anything heavier, some ram and a cheap video card maybe. if it will be on all the time, just buy some new fans, they're cheap.

 

 

Ye its pretty much only used to browse the internet. Im going to format the drive in the next few days and see what happens. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Al Hounos

yeah, linux works so much better on old computers.

my lappy is 3+ years old but still is about as quick as a new windows computer for most normal tasks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

specs?

 

btw if it's just a basic web-browsing box and you can convince the owner: http://www.linuxmint.com/

super user-friendly, and does everything windows does

*barfs*

 

(sorry, is my obligatory forkbuntu response)

 

 

Is this computer running vista? Get rid of that shit and install windows 7 for fucks sake.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i recommend mint because it has all the closed-source/binary blob media stuff that ubuntu needs you to install, and only richard stallman gives a shit about that crap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Don't follow the penguin. open a window.

 

And yeah, If you have Vista, upgrade to Windows 7. It takes half the resources to run.

 

What are your specs?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest nene multiple assgasms

 

what a sharp idea, to just take the question and directly answer it... i mean really, how many people face this? i know computers, but if you don't, jeez, that article must be the tits.

 

lifehacker's a great site. I've learned a lot about keeping my computer (and other's) in good shape there, and they always have new articles up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

what a sharp idea, to just take the question and directly answer it... i mean really, how many people face this? i know computers, but if you don't, jeez, that article must be the tits.

 

lifehacker's a great site. I've learned a lot about keeping my computer (and other's) in good shape there, and they always have new articles up.

 

bookmarked!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Blanket Fort Collapse

You could get a relatively fast CPU, Motherboard, Ram combo for pretty cheap these days. Remember that 32 bit operating systems and software can utilize no more than 4 gigs of system ram total (including graphics card) so it's best bet to upgrade your mobo for faster RAM as well. 64 bit is(edit:)ISN'T quite adopted enough to really utilize that much more than that with audio software, VSTs mostly being 32bit still (Ableton Live doesn't have a 64bit version yet for instance) etc. but 64 bit windows 7 with more than 4 gigs is nice for utilizing a bunch of a different software at once.

 

but making sure you have at least 3 gigs of ram, enough hard drive space, (kill disk your old drive don't just reformat it btw)((reformating alone does not really fully clean & optimize the hard drive) and at least a mediocre graphics card if you want to play games at all takes first priority on a budget.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.