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| Advice sought | |
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| Topic Started: Aug 23 2013, 09:23 AM (822 Views) | |
| Deleted User | Aug 23 2013, 09:23 AM Post #1 |
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Deleted User
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We have a 5 year old computer running WIN XP, with which we haven't had any major issues. Lately, it seems to be slowing down, despite defragging, using malware and antivirus programs regularly. 75% of the hard drive is empty, so I assume it is a shortage of RAM. We visited the store where they built us our current desktop a few days ago, and for $40 they can add more RAM, but warned us that Microsoft will stop supporting XP in April 2014. I like our iPad, except that apparently it cannot use a flash player, so I miss a lot of videos posted here or people send me. I cannot see google doodles, for example. Does that hold true for all Apple products? DH, especially, likes having a desktop, so my first question is, should we replace our desktop now, or spend $40 and get 8 more months out of it? 2. Windows or Apple? 3. WIN 7 or WIN8 8? 4. Will they be able to use my old Quicken in WIN7 or WIN8 ? 5. Is there anything new on the horizon that we should wait for? I know I will have at least 3 more questions the minute I post this. Thanx in advance. |
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| Dialtone | Aug 23 2013, 09:40 AM Post #2 |
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Gold Star Member
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We have 2 good desktops, a laptop, an old XP boat anchor, and a tablet. I personally wouldn't be without a good powerful Microsoft based desktop, you can pick up a pretty good one for everyday stuff for under $400. I do a lot of pictures, files, and video mods, etc so my main desktop is one I bought 6 years ago but has a very powerful quad core processor, good video card, 2 DVD burners, and lots of other features, I upgraded it to Windows 8 and it has performed great. I don't know much about Apple stuff, and don't own anything that say "I" on the front, all my programs are designed for MS operating systems, so that's where I am comfortable. To spend $40 on an old XP computer to upgrade the Ram is in my opinion not worth it (are you sure it is the Ram ? .. could be several other things ) Ram for old computers can be bought for about $15 and it takes about 5 minutes to put in, it just snaps into the existing slots. If it was me, I'd use CCleaner to clean out all the garbage, the the tools part to stop useless programs from running in the background, then run Speccy to see exactly what you have on your PC and check the temperatures of your components. Both can be downloaded, installed, and run for free at http://www.piriform.com/
Edited by Dialtone, Aug 23 2013, 09:44 AM.
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| Darcie | Aug 23 2013, 09:44 AM Post #3 |
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Skeptic
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I was just going to ask if you had used CCleaner and DT beat me to it. My old Win7 desktop was cleaned with it a short while ago and it is runny like a new machine. |
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| Dialtone | Aug 23 2013, 09:52 AM Post #4 |
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Gold Star Member
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Just got this XP news from PC World http://www.pcworld.com/article/2046839/zero-day-forever-move-away-from-windows-xp-now.html#tk.nl_secur Those with XP should take notice. |
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| Deleted User | Aug 23 2013, 03:14 PM Post #5 |
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Deleted User
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I just downloaded CCleaner. It says it will permanently delete Temporary Internet Files of which I have 458. How do I know if I need them? |
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| Dialtone | Aug 23 2013, 03:18 PM Post #6 |
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Gold Star Member
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trust me, you don't need them. |
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| Dialtone | Aug 23 2013, 03:22 PM Post #7 |
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Gold Star Member
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Also, most people just do the basic Cleaner part, go to the registry portion tab, scan for issues, and remove the useless entries accumulated. |
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| Delphi51 | Aug 23 2013, 05:09 PM Post #8 |
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Member title
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I'm sticking with XP so I can give the contrarian view. I figure it will be nicer having an unsupported OS with no "improvements" arriving every week from Microsoft. I don't seem to get malware anyway. Are there really viruses still out there? Or is your virus checker wasting half the power of your processor finding nothing? Hmm, turn off the virus checker and see if that solves your speed problem. Just run Malwarebytes once a month or three. In my experience the slowing down is nearly always caused by having too much junk running on the machine all the time. Do Ctrl+alt+del and see how many tasks are running. I look up each non Microsoft one on the Internet and see what it is doing. Many are garbage things that cccleaner will get rid of, others are things you installed years ago like printer utilities, iPod things and of course everything has its updater task running all the time just in case an update suddenly becomes available for your 8 year old printer or something. You have to remove all this stuff, set it to not run automatically in MS config, or reinstall Windows to get a clean OS. Oh, dear, if you aren't handy with this stuff, it is easier to just get a new computer. I will have to do it eventually when my computer wears out or something I want that only runs on Win 8 shows up. I just saw an ad for a $350 notebook on TV. My goodness prices are low. I can't recommend Apple computers to people who already are comfortable with Windows. Why pay twice as much for a computer you must learn how to use? I gave my Mac Book Pro to my wife. I see her sneaking back to her ancient XP laptop when she is writing because she is familiar with the whole process there and can't get MS Office 2000 for the Mac. |
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| wildie | Aug 23 2013, 05:10 PM Post #9 |
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Veteran Member
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The main reason that a computer slows down is too many programs are being loaded into background when the machine is started up! The first thing to do is remove any programs that you don't use! Next, using CCleaner, remove the remaining programs from the START MENU. Most programs do not need to start at BOOT time. The antivirus program does need to be in the start menu. I use a Samsung Gallaxy tablet and like the Ipad, it can't run the flash player either. I'm hoping that an APP will come along to correct this! There's Linux distribution named MINT and if I had a XP machine, I think that I would quit XP and use MINT instead! Edited by wildie, Aug 23 2013, 05:20 PM.
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| Dialtone | Aug 24 2013, 03:30 AM Post #10 |
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Gold Star Member
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Try downloading the Chrome app, I believe it has a built in flash player. Beside the provided Internet browser, I also have Firefox and Chrome on my tablet. What one doesn't view, the others will. |
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| wildie | Aug 24 2013, 06:04 AM Post #11 |
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Veteran Member
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I just came upon an interesting article about the danger of staying with XP. Here's the link........... http://www.zdnet.com/your-perilous-future-on-windows-xp-7000019721/?s_cid=e539&ttag=e539 |
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| Deleted User | Aug 24 2013, 06:54 AM Post #12 |
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Deleted User
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What are temporary Internet files? and where may I find them on my computer using WIN XP? |
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| Trotsky | Aug 24 2013, 07:14 AM Post #13 |
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Big City Boy
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BJ, Just delete them. Many people delete temporary files automatically every time they turn off their computer. The reason you must upgrade to WIn 7 or Win 8 is because Microsoft wants the money. If they wished they could send you an update so that your Win XP is as good as Win 7...but they do not wish. I got Win 7 because my 11 year old processor/ video card/ ram could no longer handle video streaming without herky-jerky movement...but I wouldn't spend a dime to get WIN 8. Edited by Trotsky, Aug 24 2013, 07:18 AM.
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| Darcie | Aug 24 2013, 07:17 AM Post #14 |
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Skeptic
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I bet if you delete them your computer will run a lot faster. |
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| Deleted User | Aug 24 2013, 07:18 AM Post #15 |
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Deleted User
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But what ARE they? Temp Internet Files? and where are they stored on XP? so I can look at them? |
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