*****NEED SOME TALENTED PEOPLE*****

[arsalanmustafa1989]

Hello Everyone,
after tons of "blah blah blah" from my family about me making the computer Slow slow slow i have decided to buy a computer for my self and i need some help.

Issue #1
I have a MDG (canadian company) P4 1.7 Ghz, 1gb ram, 80 gb HD, windows xp home, and i dont the the FSB.
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 2 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name P4
System Manufacturer INTEL_
System Model D845GLLY
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 1 Stepping 2 GenuineIntel ~1700 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Intel Corp. LY84510A.86A.0023.P09.0210250046, 10/25/2002
SMBIOS Version 2.3
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale Canada
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)"
User Name P4\M.A.MUSTAFA
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 1,024.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 546.48 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96 GB
Page File Space 2.53 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

That is what found in the summary of system information i will post anything else if you ask.

The problem is i use limewire, IE (4-7 windows), Itunes, and bittorent. Now i dont use these all at the same time but itunes or powerpoint alone is enough to make my computer work like a p1 so i think since it been 3 years i think i need to format the hard drive and do a fresh install of windows xp.
*I have two partitions one is like 4 gigs i think for windows alone and the other one is for everything else i guess
??? So how do i format it and reinstall the whole thing, without knowing DOS. Is there are simpilar way to make my computer fast?


Issue #2
On the above mentioned computer i have about 30+ gb of files that i would like to put ont he new computer i buy.
?? So can i do this with usb, or some other way , i dont have a external hard drive and dont want to spend the money. i do have a router so maybe someone can teach me how to set up a network connection or just teach me some other way! thanks in advance


Issue #3
For About 500USD can i get a full computer, used or new that will handle Ie, Limewire, torrent, movie watching, Msn, and some other memory intensive things, but no real gaming or anything. I dont care if it is intel or amd, any reasonable 17inch or bigger monitor will do. and hdd i dont need more than 80 gigs.

* Do you guys thing a 900USD would do me much better in terms of keeping the computer for alteast 3 years. because i am trying to get a job and will spend more moeny if it is worth it


Issue #4
When you buy a computer what are something you looks for because one company offers the same specs for 200 less than the others, but there has to be something fishy right? In other words what are bad about the following.


MDG ( look at the one on left)!

VS this one

http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/con...=CADHS1&l=en&OC=OCDIM3100_FEAT_CH31WP3">Dell dimension 3100</a>

Vs

MY current computer


Issue #5
Does Xp pro really make your computer go much faster over Xp home.


Thanks in advance for anybody who will help. I need serious help, i am trying to get a job and might be able to bump my budget so i am more looking to learn to become a better computer buyer. This will be a long process of atleast two months so please keep me updated.

GOTTA LOVE ATT AND ITS MEMBERS!!!

 

[JonnyBlaze]

for that price range i would seriously go with a dell.

 

[Zebo]

You don't need a new computer for that. You need to lock her down sounds like your'e all whored out. Switching to windows 2000 will help then black vipers services guide to shut down what you don't use.

2. Read this thread.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=33&threadid=1658987&enterthread=y

3 "i think i need to format the hard drive and do a fresh install of windows xp. " at least. 3-4 years and no active protection? I bet you use 600MB on boot. I use 62.

 

[Icepick]

Issue #2
On the above mentioned computer i have about 30+ gb of files that i would like to put ont he new computer i buy.
?? So can i do this with usb, or some other way , i dont have a external hard drive and dont want to spend the money. i do have a router so maybe someone can teach me how to set up a network connection or just teach me some other way! thanks in advance

You don't need a router for that. Just use a crossover Ethernet cable to connect the two PCs directly together. It's pretty easy to get the two computers to talk to each other through Windows.

 

[arsalanmustafa1989]

Originally posted by: Zebo
You don't need a new computer for that. You need to lock her down sounds like your'e all whored out. Switching to windows 2000 will help then black vipers services guide to shut down what you don't use.

2. Read this thread.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=33&threadid=1658987&enterthread=y

3 "i think i need to format the hard drive and do a fresh install of windows xp. " at least. 3-4 years and no active protection? I bet you use 600MB on boot. I use 62.

I was thinking of going to windows 2000 but i have a legal copy of windows xp that i want to use.

what do you mean by activeprotection? how can i tell how much i use on boot.

and yes i would rather wait till university if i can use this computer.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: arsalanmustafa1989
The problem is i use limewire, IE (4-7 windows), Itunes, and bittorent. Now i dont use these all at the same time but itunes or powerpoint alone is enough to make my computer work like a p1 ....

None of these programs (except for PLAYING songs in Itunes) take any CPU time. You could download multiple files or run Powerpoint on a 486 computer and still not bog it down significantly. ANY recent PC can do what you want. Yours can, too, if it's functioning properly.

 

[arsalanmustafa1989]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: arsalanmustafa1989
The problem is i use limewire, IE (4-7 windows), Itunes, and bittorent. Now i dont use these all at the same time but itunes or powerpoint alone is enough to make my computer work like a p1 ....

None of these programs (except for PLAYING songs in Itunes) take any CPU time. You could download multiple files or run Powerpoint on a 486 computer and still not bog it down significantly. ANY recent PC can do what you want. Yours can, too, if it's functioning properly.

why dont they use cpu time how do they run, and then why when i use itunes my computer dies like opening the fil menu takes 60 seconds.

 

[abs0lut3]

Originally posted by: arsalanmustafa1989

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: arsalanmustafa1989
The problem is i use limewire, IE (4-7 windows), Itunes, and bittorent. Now i dont use these all at the same time but itunes or powerpoint alone is enough to make my computer work like a p1 ....

None of these programs (except for PLAYING songs in Itunes) take any CPU time. You could download multiple files or run Powerpoint on a 486 computer and still not bog it down significantly. ANY recent PC can do what you want. Yours can, too, if it's functioning properly.

why dont they use cpu time how do they run, and then why when i use itunes my computer dies like opening the fil menu takes 60 seconds.

OP(Original Poster)-Do you ever defrag your computer or clean up your temporary internet files? It sounds like your computer was never maintained after accumulating so many junks for the past 3 years. Also, you might want to download some spyware software(s) because your computer has probably tons of it (Limewire is one of them as well).

Are you on a budget? If you are then just change onto a newer motherboard and a new bigger harddrive. Harddrive has never been cheaper than ever and there are plenty of (well in your CPU case only one perfect one) newer motherboards out there that will take your CPU to perform more efficiently (and maybe..just maybe...you can overclock it and make it faster but cheaper than buying a new comp until you get a new job).

It doesn't need an expert to see this coming...

By the Way, your FSB is 400.

 

[arsalanmustafa1989]

i do defrag every so often and clean my temporary internet files.
i didnt know my FSB was only 400 isnt that really bad?
i have norton antivirus, and spybot 3d( i havent run that in a while)

i dont need bigger hard drive and i rather get a whole new computer later on if i can just fix this one with little to no money right now.

 

[abs0lut3]

Originally posted by: arsalanmustafa1989
i do defrag every so often and clean my temporary internet files.
i didnt know my FSB was only 400 isnt that really bad?
i have norton antivirus, and spybot 3d( i havent run that in a while)

i dont need bigger hard drive and i rather get a whole new computer later on if i can just fix this one with little to no money right now.

I think norton is really robbing you off some CPU power. That program is evil as sh*t. I usually recommend customers and friends who have it in theirs to remove them ASAP and reinstall with something else. Computer Associates has one for free and it doesn't take much to run them (something like 4KB and little or no CPU sap). Make sure not a whole lot of program runs on Startup as they take a lot of time to boot and eat a lot of memory that can be useful for something else. Keep your left icon bars to a minimum (5-6 applications on startup or less).

400FSB isn't that bad but yes, it is slow. Just to let you know, my second rig is P4 1.5 which is worst than your 1.9 but I overclock so it's not as bad as stock and I get by fine with it running at 2.1ghz with just 512MB of memory. As long as I don't run a lot of programs all at once, the computer sputter along just fine. I think I might even able to play games on it...I don't remember what games, though.


700CDN is a nice price for upgrade and if you have the money, Go for it. I wonder how much mail in rebate that you have to send it for that price though, the website doesn't really say much which is tricky and plus it says that offers only good in stores so you have to pay local tax as well.