Slow PC

[chellie]

My desktop is running slow and it's really annoying.

What can I do to try and help speed/clean it up etc. It's running Windows 10.

Thanks

 

[KenL]

My desktop is running slow and it's really annoying.

What can I do to try and help speed/clean it up etc. It's running Windows 10.

Thanks

How old is the machine and what processor does it have?

 

[GreiginFife]

More importantly, how much and what spec memory does it have?

You can find this by using an application like CPUID’s CPU-Z.

This will also give you your exact processor spec.

 

[chellie]

It's so slow I am loathe to install anything else on it.

Found this Lenovo PC Intel Pentium CPU J2900 @ 2.41 GHZ 64 bit operating system x64-based processor 4 GB (3.89 GBusable). Could even be Windows 8 I think updated to Windows 10. Could that be right?

 

[GreiginFife]

It's so slow I am loathe to install anything else on it.

Found this Lenovo PC Intel Pentium CPU J2900 @ 2.41 GHZ 64 bit operating system x64-based processor 4 GB (3.89 GBusable). Could even be Windows 8 I think updated to Windows 10. Could that be right?

Two immediate problems are the processor and the memory. J2900 is a 2013 chip with a very small cache.

Given that age, the memory is probably DDR3L and 4Gb coupled with small processor cache is going to lead to bottlenecks on modern apps.

Win 8 also no longer in support so will be adding to it.

 

[chellie]

Two immediate problems are the processor and the memory. J2900 is a 2013 chip with a very small cache.

Given that age, the memory is probably DDR3L and 4Gb coupled with small processor cache is going to lead to bottlenecks on modern apps.

Win 8 also no longer in support so will be adding to it.

Only use it for browsing the web, internet banking and shopping. Use excel as well.

Ready to throw it out of the window today as it's so slow. Typing this form my mobile!

Anything I can do to try and speed it up.

 

[GreiginFife]

Excel can be quite memory hungry which won’t be helping you. As can web browsing tabs, more open the more demand on what little resources you have.

Can you do anything? Blunt answer is not anything that will materially and sustainably improve.

You can delete temp files, cache and any old files that aren’t being used. That will help a little.

You could increase the memory, DDR3 is quite cheap now albeit mainly 2nd hand. But you’d need to know the spec (this is where CPU-Z would help.

ETA, obvious minor improvement would be to replace what will likely be a mechanical hard drive with a solid state.

 

[chellie]

Excel can be quite memory hungry which won’t be helping you. As can web browsing tabs, more open the more demand on what little resources you have.

Can you do anything? Blunt answer is not anything that will materially and sustainably improve.

You can delete temp files, cache and any old files that aren’t being used. That will help a little.

You could increase the memory, DDR3 is quite cheap now albeit mainly 2nd hand. But you’d need to know the spec (this is where CPU-Z would help.

ETA, obvious minor improvement would be to replace what will likely be a mechanical hard drive with a solid state.

Thanks. Will see what I can get rid of on it first then look at replacing it I think. It's been getting steadily worse.

 

[3 jabber]

I would start by going into task manager and seeing if anything is hogging your CPU/memory. Could be a virus or malware running that is slowing things down.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

My desktop running Windows 10 started to close considerably. There was a large Windows ipdate I hadnt done, which I did and it made a ltitle difference. I also swapped the hard drives from platter one to solid state. That was an easy copy over, so everuthing was ghosted over and changed the spinning platter ones for SSD's. They have made an immense difference.

 

[GreiginFife]

Thanks. Will see what I can get rid of on it first then look at replacing it I think. It's been getting steadily worse.

No worries.

 

[GreiginFife]

I would start by going into task manager and seeing if anything is hogging your CPU/memory. Could be a virus or malware running that is slowing things down.

12 year old Silvermont based processor with max 1333 memory support would manage that all by itself. Only the Celeron N is a worse bit of silicon.

 

[KenL]

If it is taking 10 minutes to start up, I would bite the bullet and just buy a new machine.

 

[chellie]

My desktop running Windows 10 started to close considerably. There was a large Windows ipdate I hadnt done, which I did and it made a ltitle difference. I also swapped the hard drives from platter one to solid state. That was an easy copy over, so everuthing was ghosted over and changed the spinning platter ones for SSD's. They have made an immense difference.

Eh?????

 

[Crazyface]

And I thought this was going to be a moan about the police.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

You have 2 options

1 find a local PC bod who can back up all your stuff and change your old spinning hard drive with a SSD solid state drive,and transfer your stuff onto the new drive. which is much much faster cost approximately £200

2 bite the bullet and renew the whole machine, make sure you back up your stuff first

 

[harpo_72]

Option 2 , is build your own. Use what is salvageable like the case.
You could use the existing hard drive as a secondary drive and add an ssd drive.
I always struggled with the software part to be honest.

 

[IanMcC]

What with support for Windows 10 ending this Autumn, and your hardware being very unlikely to upgrade to Windows 11, I think you need to invest in new stuff.

 

[rulie]

I was working on my wife's PC a few times and noticed it was getting slow (compared to mine at least). Decided to buy her an upgrade and got a nice refurbished Dell from Amazon. Then spent a week from %*%^ transferring everything from her machine to the newer one. Somehow damaged the boot system on the ssd in her old machine and it wouldn't boot in either. Thank goodness for backups! Don't just back up, make a system image.
She's still not happy with the new machine, doesn't know where everything is. In hindsight, should have left things alone!

 

[Bunkermagnet]

What with support for Windows 10 ending this Autumn, and your hardware being very unlikely to upgrade to Windows 11, I think you need to invest in new stuff.

Why? Windows 10 is fine regardless of whether its still able to be upgraded or not.The PC in question is only used for browsing, banking and shopping. A decent anti virus software will provide more protection than MS could offer.