Making my computer faster

[float_6969]

So my computer has been slow ever since I upgraded to XP. I was running win2kpro before. I assumed it was just my old setup not being able to handle the newer OS very well.

Well I recently motivated and decided to figure out why it was running so slow. So I spent a few hours on Google and figured out that the old drive that I had installed the OS on was REALLY slow. That was why it took so long for the computer to boot up. The other thing I found out was that my page file was HUGE. This is because if was only running 512MB of RAM.

So, this is how I fixed it. I DL'd a program called ghost copy that will copy the contents of one drive, bit-by-bit to another drive, allowing your OS to remain intact so you don't have to re-install it. Then I copied all of the info I had on the newer drive I was using for media onto my external drive I use for backups, and copied the OS over. This program also re-partitioned the drive, which was nice. Then I fired up the computer and it took maybe 1/4 the time it normally does for windows to load up. The newer drive is also MUCH more quite than the old on.

That speed up the load time, but the computer still seemed slow loading programs and web pages and the HD light was lit up every time I loaded a new web page. I knew I needed more RAM. So I did some checking and found out that my MB could handle up to 2GB of RAM, so I hit up good ole eBay again and found a fair price on 2 X 1GB sticks of RAM. It came yesterday and I installed it just a few min. ago. All I can say is WOW! It's like a whole different computer now. I was contemplating getting something newer because this one seemed so slow, but I've completely changed my mind now!

Now for the processor. That is another post though. I want some input on that one.