Hi all, My computer is pretty slow and I think I need to take some serious action (lol). I have had this Gateway computer for about 2-3 years and it has been slow from the beginning. I have never had trouble with Gateway's. Anyways, I'm running vista on it and I heard that it isn't really the most lightweight OS out there. I only have 1 GB of RAM on my computer, too. I'm guessing this isn't a great combination (vista + 1GB = fail). I saw on one of Microsoft's websites that Vista requires at least 2 GB of RAM (I think it is quite ridiculous that Gateway only pre-installed it with 1 GB of RAM :/) I would get some RAM but honestly I don't know how well it will work, and plus I don't have the money right now. I defrag the system frequently and it doesn't help at all. I have absolutely no unnecessary programs on startup either. Oh and BTW it takes about 5 minutes for it to start up completely Also I do not pile my PC up with junk and like hundreds of programs, however I do have several programs. I don't download movies or music either (tpb lol) I've tried about everything and nothing helps. Should I just revert to Windows XP? Or is it worth getting more RAM? And how much should I get? I can post specs if necessary. Thanks
My personal opinion is that Vista fails anyway, and that Windows 7 is everything Vista should have been. However, I'm guessing that upgrading to 7 isn't your most convenient option right now since it'll be more expensive than just buying new RAM. If, however, you have an opportunity to do so sometime in the future, take it imo, I hated Vista from the day I got it to the day I bought a Mac, but I use Win 7 on my netbook and love it to bits. Reverting to XP is an option, but tbh RAM shouldn't be too expensive. I'd personally say that even 2GB of RAM is a little slim for Vista, I'd probably go with 3GB if possible (so add 2 to your current 1GB). Unless, that is, you're running on Vista basic since I'm pretty sure that's less RAM intensive (if this is true, it could be why your computer only came with 1GB of RAM when you bought it). Basically, a RAM upgrade really isn't too expensive (probably in the range of $20-30 to get it running smoothly) as long as your able to install the RAM yourself and not have to pay someone else for labour (it's really easy, open up the side and put the stick in the slot, nothing fiddly or anything). Reverting to back to XP is an option, I always preferred XP to Vista and stuck with it (whenever using Windows) until 7 came around. However, it really is nearing the end of its lifespan, being two OS's behind generally isn't the best idea since you'll likely find more and more things which are only Vista/7 compatible, plus updates obviously drop off and it becomes a worse option for the OS all around. Far from unuseable, I know plenty of people who are still on XP, but all of them are planning on buying a new computer with 7 sometime soon, so going backwards at this stage just wouldn't seem like the best idea to me. Imo, get 7 if possible, if not then just put an extra 1GB (preferably 2GB) of RAM in there and notice the difference.
Yes I would definitely add 2 more GB's but there are only two RAM spots on my motherboard. So the 1 GB of RAM is split into two chips of 512 MB each lol. So if I bought another gig then I would only have 1.5 GB of RAM to actually use. Sucks doesn't it? hahaha Although I could probably get a 2 GB card as they are only like $40. Oh, I forgot to mention that I am running a Vista home premium. Yea I open up my PC all the time I had some issues (and still do) with my graphics card. Thats a different story hahaha I might just cope with Vista until I saved up enough for 7. I really like 7, as I have used my friend's laptop. I do agree that XP is getting quite old.
I use Windows XP and it's my personal favorite. I've used computers with Vista and 7 and if you don't have tons of programs or movies or songs..I would use Windows XP. It's nothing too fancy but it works great. It gets the job done and it's so easy to understand!
BLAH vista, 7 is vista but not a piece of useless BLAH. Get some more ram, it's fairly cheap. If you don't have much memory on your hard drive, delete stuff or buy a new hard drive. Defrag your comp weekly. & By the sounds of it your processor is **** so yeah, that's probably making it slow as well. Pegasi thinks 2 swear words directed at a product is excessive and against the rules so for the sake of my sanity from his PM's and his tears, I censored it
Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core E2140 - 1.6 GHz, 1 MB shared L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB RAM: Installed: 1024 MB DDR2, 533 MHz, (PC4200) dual channel memory (two 512 MB DIMMs) Expandable to: 2 GB (two DDR2 DIMM slots)
I thought that maybe buying two 1GB sticks would be cheaper than one 2GB stick, but checking based on what you gave me it appears you're right, best option is to get a 2GB stick. It's true that your processor is a bit underpowered, but tbh if you're not doing anything that demanding then this shouldn't be too much of an issue.
Yea I'm not very good with processors lol I just mess with graphics cards and RAM. What would be a good processor (or a better one)? Just curious.
I'm far from a hardware expert tbh, but a 1.6 dual core is a bit slow, I know that much. Not to the point at which I'd actually worry about changing it, unless you want to stretch this machine out for another couple of years. If you do decide to upgrade the processor, deciding generally isn't too difficult because your motherboard will have specific processors which are compatible with it. You can generally find a list of them under the hardware specs on your manufacturer site, generally somewhere in the support pages. This will tell you your options for a new processor without having to replace the motherboard as well (increasing the cost and complexity of the upgrade significantly, though of course offering much more significant performance increases as well), then you just pick the best one you can afford. However, like I said, I'd say the RAM upgrade is definitely a good choice based on the difference you'll notice vs. cost, other things may well be worth considering down the line.
No I wasn't going to replace it haha plus I really want to get a new PC next year or so. Yea I'll just stick with the RAM upgrade and see how it goes. Thanks for all of your help.
Yes it does fail terribly, but it gets the job done. Also compared to other computers I looked at it wasn't that big of a fail three years ago lol My Windows Aero is turned off BTW