Speed Up My Gateway

[beastud]

I have a Gateway Desktop....and I need help! My computer hardware knowledge is very basic....I know how to plug in chips and blow out the dust!
This computer is one year old and is getting slow. I do lots of internet selling...eBay. I was looking at buying new memory chips today and realized that I do not know what I am doing. I used chips from AllMemory in the past (other computers, not this one). I followed their recommendations with mixed results.
I went to some sites online and had one scan my computer. From that scan, they tell me my system contains the following;

System Identification:
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Model: GT5018E
Processors: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz , D945GCZ
Operation system: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
Motherboard Details:
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Motherboard Model: D945GCZ
Bios: GATEWA - 2d
Memory Details:
Total No. of Slots: 4 (Currently Two slot in use)
Installed RAM: 1014 MB
Maximum RAM: 4096 MB
Front Side Bus: 200 MHZ
Details of memory already installed on your computer:
Memory Size Memory Type Memory Speed Dimm Type Dimm Type Detail
J6H1 512 MB DIMM 533 MHZ Unknown Synchronous
J6J1 512 MB DIMM 533 MHZ Unknown Synchronous

I was looking at some of the posts in this forum and saw good reviews for Mushkin memory and I am leaning in that direction. BUT..what do you guys think I should do? If you think a memory chip ungrade is in order then what...DDR2-533, 677...? PC2-4200, 5300, 6400...? What voltage? What latency? Man my head is spinning....
Or should I be doing something else to speed this thing up without going this memory chip route?
Thanks in advance!

[zman88]

You do have anti virus and spyware software installed I assume? Update it and run it. And do you run scan disc and defrag on a regular schedule? Also how much stuff do you have running on the task bar compared to when it was new?

[beastud]

Originally Posted by zman88

You do have anti virus and spyware software installed I assume? Update it and run it. And do you run scan disc and defrag on a regular schedule? Also how much stuff do you have running on the task bar compared to when it was new?

Yes to virus software and spyware. I update and run it daily. I have not run a defrag in a long time. My computer will shut down and do a scan disc occasionally. It did that just three days ago. I added an eBay taskbar about 6 months ago but I do not know how to tell what is running on any of the task bars..

[zman88]

Go to start , run, msconfig.

[SRTDodge05]

I would get a basic 2gb DDR2-4200 kit.

[beastud]

Originally Posted by zman88

Go to start , run, msconfig.

I take it you want me to do a system restore? I did a defrag and have not had a chance to try it but if I do a restore to a previous restore point. I am inclined to go as far back as I can as I am not sure when the last time it ran fast.

[beastud]

Originally Posted by SRTDodge05

I would get a basic 2gb DDR2-4200 kit.

If I do a memory upgrade, I am inclined to go to 4GB which is my max...memory is cheap! What say you?

[SRTDodge05]

4GB is cheap now adays but your os will only see 3.25gb. But its a lot better then only having 1gb.

[ComputerDoc]

Memory4less is the cheapest place to get memory and they can tell you the best memory to get for your mobo.

There are a number of other things you ought to check in order to speed up your system

Remove Unnecessary, annoying or dangerous software hogging your system – Make sure that your system is protected against viruses and spyware. Be sure to have an effective Internet Security Suite running on your system.

Defragment your hard drive.

If you're using Windows XP turn off special effects

Get rid of unnecessary start up programs – Various programs that you install add some extra programs to the system startup which may not be necessary and will slow down startup and general operation. To remove these programs;

1. Click the start button and select run

2. Enter Msconfig and click ok

3. Select the startup tab

4. Uncheck any programs that are not needed. There are a number of lists of start up programs on the web. Raymond has one but I can't post any URLs yet

Disable the Windows indexing service - If you don’t do a lot of file searches, disable the Windows indexing service. The time you save on a search is generally not worth the general degradation in performance which the indexing service causes.

Microsoft has generously provided instructions for doing this at the following link; Instructions for removing the indexing service

Use Firefox or Safari as your main browser.

[zman88]

Sorry for not giving you a reply sooner, but, my suggestion was not for doing a system restore. ComputerDoc explained what I meant about going to mscnfig. Thanks Doc for the good expalnation.

[ComputerDoc]

You're welcome, Zman88.

Thanks for the kind words.

[beastud]

The indexing service was disabled. I did a defrag and that seems to have helped. I do not know which startup programs to disable so I need some help with that. I see some programs out there that will monitor the startup programs to maintain peak performance....I do not know about them.
One thing I noticed that this computer does start up slowly at times and when that happens the cooling fans really speed up. As that is happening, I cannot open Explorer so I go in to Windows task manager to find the CPU Useage is spiking at 75-80%. I then look at the list of image names to find one of them is an eBay name that is processing 113,000K or more. I then end that process and the CPU Useage drops to 4% and programs like Explorer open better.....much better.
When this computer goes into hibernate/energy savings mode, it can be very difficult to wake up...go figure! I am tempted to disable that function.
Are Firefox or Safari really that much better?

[zsaz1029]

Well it certainly sounds like your Ebay toolbar is causing some problems if the memory usage is that high. And yes, using something other than IE has its advantages.

[zman88]

Any chance you are using Norton AV ? It will also slow down a computer,especially web browsing.

[beastud]

Originally Posted by zman88

Any chance you are using Norton AV ? It will also slow down a computer,especially web browsing.

Thanks to all for all the help. No to Norton. I use Trend Micro Anti Virus 2007 and Webroot Spysweeper spyware.
I am considering cutting a deal on a Mushkin PC-5300 Dual Channel System Memory Kit 2GB, 667 MHZ while looking at all of these other issues. I may just get two kits and max out the memory while I am in there.