Adding memory or doing system maintenance may improve your PC's performance.
By DAVE GUSSOW and JOHN TORRO
Published June 2, 2003
It happens to the best of machines, no matter how much we coddle and care for them. At some point, they show their age or slow down.
Computers are particularly vulnerable. Constant use, heat and dust can wear down sensitive parts. Installing and uninstalling programs and other tweaks probably have left a cluttered mess in the operating system.
Is it time to upgrade? Or replace? It's not easily answered. Alan Stafford, senior editor at PC World magazine, says the answer may depend on what kind of user you've been along the way.
Some people constantly upgrade and tweak their computers as they go, adding memory, hard drives and other components. For them, upgrading is just part of the routine.
"A lot of things that prompt people to consider upgrading are very demanding tasks that require the fastest processor," Stafford said.
Then there are those who buy a computer and keep going until they notice it has slowed, makes strange noises or flashes frequent error messages. "You've probably put things off so long that you need to buy a new system," Stafford said.
Computers used to have a life cycle of 18 months, but now it's closer to three to four years. You won't need extra horsepower if you're in a routine of basic functions such as Web browsing and e-mail. After all, why change if it's working for you?
Maybe the most important factor in deciding which course is right for you comes down to cold, hard cash. New PCs start at $399, not including a monitor, and powerful systems that include fast processors, lots of random access memory, DVD burners and big hard drives can be purchased for $1,000 or less.
If you take your old computer and add an extra 128 megabytes of RAM (for as little as $20), a 60-gigabyte hard drive ($150 and up) and a DVD burner ($280 or so) to upgrade, you've spent more than what a new, low-end system would cost. And that doesn't even consider whether the old monitor has much life left in it.
"The cost of upgrading all those things, compared against the price of a new system and the performance of a new system, to me it almost always makes sense to buy a new system," Stafford said.
With all that in mind, here are some of the things to look for when considering what to do with the old machine:
Maintenance: It may seem simple, but doing some basic functions such as a defragging the hard drive, running ScanDisk or just cleaning out the dust from the case may help. Also do a virus check, and you may want to use a program such as Ad-Aware to remove "spyware" or other programs you picked up while surfing the Web.
Many applications set themselves to start up automatically at boot up, even though you may never use them or use them infrequently. (Antivirus protection is one you do want to start up each time.)
Most of the others are not necessary, and they rob your PC of valuable resources and memory. Click Start, Run. Type in MSINFO32 (MSCONFIG for XP systems) and click OK. Select Tools, System Configuration Utility. From here you can selectively turn off the different nonessential programs that run at startup.
Random access memory, or RAM: If your PC seems to be getting progressively slower, especially when starting up and after running several programs simultaneously, it's likely that a memory upgrade is needed.
One tell-tale sign is excessive hard disk spinning when starting or ending applications. On most systems, there is an indicator on the front of the PC that lights during disk activity. On many systems you can hear the disk whirring.
With insufficient memory, the system must move data from memory to the hard drive when it needs to free up space to accommodate other applications. Then it has to reverse the process when that data is needed again. It can be a very slow process and is the main bottleneck on many PCs. Adding additional memory when it is not necessary will not make your system any faster. At least 256 megabytes of RAM is a minimum, particularly with Windows XP. If you do any kind of video or photo editing, bump this to at least 512 MB.
Hard drive: Your hard drive is by far the slowest of the components that affect system performance. If your memory and processor are sufficient, hard drive access becomes your system's bottleneck. If you do a lot of sophisticated digital video editing, hard drive speed is critical. Otherwise for most PC users, change simply for a faster hard drive may have only a minimal effect on system speed.
The fastest hard drive available today involves a technology called Serial ATA. It requires a motherboard that is equipped for the Serial ATA interface. Since this is a new technology, most existing motherboards won't work with it. In this case, you would need to buy a motherboard that supports Serial ATA or a separate Serial ATA controller card that would have to be added to your existing motherboard.
The next fastest hard drive would be a 7200 RPM Ultra ATA/133. Again you would need to check that your motherboard is compatible with the ATA/133 interface.
Disc space: The other concern about your hard drive is how much free space remains. A good rule of thumb is to have at least 20 percent free, although we'd recommend 30 to 40 percent. To check how much space is free, double-click My Computer and click your hard drive once. On the left side of the screen, you'll see a report of the disc capacity, the amount used and the amount free.
The Disk Cleanup Wizard can help you identify and remove unnecessary files from your hard drive. After freeing up significant space, defragmenting is usually in order. But if the cleanup still leaves you below the recommended free levels, it may be time to consider buying a larger hard drive.
In most cases, it is possible to do an image copy of your old hard drive to your new, larger drive to save the programs and files you've stored, but this involves additional software (such as PowerQuest Drive Image, Norton Ghost) and a little expertise in connecting both drives to your system during the image copy.
Many of the stores that sell hard drives also offer this service. The benefits are that you can pick up right where you left off and won't have to reload the new larger drive with Windows, your applications and personal data.
Operating system: Should you upgrade to Windows XP? Microsoft's current operating system has many good features, but it still has too many flaws, including compatibility issues with older hardware and software.
If you're thinking of upgrading, the first place to check is the Microsoft Web site (www.microsoft.com/windowsxp) Make sure your computer can handle it before you even think about buying it.
Among the requirements: You need at least 128 megabytes of RAM, which is considered bare bones for any Windows XP system. A more realistic starting minimum is 256 MB; get 512 MB if you plan to do any photo or video editing. The upgrade also will devour 1.5 gigabytes of hard drive space.
Processor: Even with sufficient RAM and hard drive space, your processor, or CPU, may be getting pushed to its maximum. (Programs that load slowly should not be confused with waiting times on the Internet, which are caused by other factors such as network traffic.)
Pentium III and certainly Pentium 4 chips are usually sufficient for most consumer PC applications. Still, people with a lower-end Pentium III who do a lot of video or photo editing would benefit from a processor upgrade.
Older chips, Pentium IIs and below, can be the limiting performance factor with many current applications. Upgrading the processor can be the most difficult of improvements. It may require replacing the computer's motherboard and, most likely, using a different type of RAM.
A new processor is one of the most expensive components in a PC. You may find that just a few dollars more will get you a whole new system, especially if you have to pay someone else to do the upgrade. However, if the upgrade CPU chip is compatible with your current motherboard, the process can be relatively simple. You need to check your motherboard documentation to see which, if any processors, it is compatible with and which processor type (Slot or Socket) you'll need to buy.
This information can be found in the documents you received with your PC or on the motherboard vendor's Web site.
If you don't know which motherboard you have, you can usually determine this by watching your PC boot. The motherboard information is usually displayed at the very beginning, and it's one of the first things to appear on your screen after powering up.
- Dave Gussow is the Times personal technology editor. John Torro writes the weekly Solutions column. Send questions to personaltech@sptimes.com
