performance and maintenance

[paul weston]

My computer is a couple of years old now and doesnt run as quickly as it once did. Its got me wondering if there is anything i can do to speed it up,iam adding another gig or two of ram,that should help but what about crud collecting on my computer over the years. one thing ive noticed is that when i run registry mechanic it creates a restore point, what about previous restore points,are they automaticaly deleted? What about photoshop,how do you keep it running smoothly,flattening a file used to happen instantly now i get a progress bar,takes a few seconds.

I know NOTHING about computers,any help would be appreciated.

thanks,

paul.

[Keith]

registry mechanic is a good tool. Yes it does use restore points, so you open the software, select restore on the left side and it will show you all the restore points. They do that incase they didnt fix the registry correctly or messed up one of your programs. You can manually delete all the restore points, always keep your last couple so you can go back and restore if need be.

I use perfect disk for partitioning and defraging my hard drives, makes a big difference in speed in accessing files. Would help to know what you have for a computer to really provide any ideas, what operating system etc.

[paul weston]

Thanks keith, i thought i better ask a few questions before i started pressing buttons:biglaugh:.

My computer is a dell Demension 5150, 120 gig hard drive, 1 gig ram and i think the processer is 2.16 GHZ ? Need more ram!

Deleting restore points was pretty easy,should have figured that out myself:wacko:

As far as adding ram, what brand,does it matter? Ive checked dells web site,they recommend specific ram for my computer, i would rather just go buy it locally if thats posible.

Is there anything that photoshop is saving over time that isnt needed?

[Robert]

Hi Paul,


It helps to use your System Tools to clean up files. If you're not familiar with this...

Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/ and run Disk Cleanup followed by Disk Defragmenter.
The programs that Keith suggests are excellent too.

I can suggest you call Dell, and find out how much more Ram you can install. I would purchase from Dell, and in that way you're assured of the correct Ram, but more important, they will likely not provide support should difficulties arise if you've used someone elses product...amazing, but true! I know that to be the case because I've delt with Dell a lot in the past. They'll ship to you and installing will be easy. If you need help with that, give a shout!

If your hard drive is getting full, you might consider removing as many Gigs of info as possible...lean is good. You could also add another Hard drive and maintain one for your operating system and programs, and the other for storage and scratch disk etc.

Hope this helps!!

[Rudi]

popcorn; :D

[paul weston]

Hi Paul,


It helps to use your System Tools to clean up files. If you're not familiar with this...

Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/ and run Disk Cleanup followed by Disk Defragmenter.
The programs that Keith suggests are excellent too.

I can suggest you call Dell, and find out how much more Ram you can install. I would purchase from Dell, and in that way you're assured of the correct Ram, but more important, they will likely not provide support should difficulties arise if you've used someone elses product...amazing, but true! I know that to be the case because I've delt with Dell a lot in the past. They'll ship to you and installing will be easy. If you need help with that, give a shout!

If your hard drive is getting full, you might consider removing as many Gigs of info as possible...lean is good. You could also add another Hard drive and maintain one for your operating system and programs, and the other for storage and scratch disk etc.

Hope this helps!!

Thanks robert, ive got things running alittle smoother now.

popcorn; :D

Glad your enjoying yourself rudi:biglaugh:

[Roger]

I can get you a batch file that will delete all temp files if your interested. Message me.

I would also setup a rescheduled defrag.

[Desert Rat]

Honestly is this a Core 2 Duo or just a pentium 4? If just a pentium 4 you might be just tossing money at it by adding RAM.

Best bet would be to build a new system or buy a new coresduo or quadcore...