Turbo Charge Windows 7...

[El Cata]

Before I moved over here a couple of months ago, I thought I'd get rid of Vista from my old laptop & install a brand spanking 'copy' of Windows 7 Ultimate. However, with all the rush I only got around to installing it a few days before my flight & when I arrived I found it to be horrendously slow. It was a real pain, especially as I needed it for my course & I spent many frustrating nights trying to get my work done.

 

FYI here's the specs of my so-called computer:

 

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Model: Acer Aspire 1691WLMi

 

Chipset: 533MHz FSB, Intel 915PM Express

 

Processor: 1.60GHz Intel Pentium M 730

 

RAM: 2*256MB DDR2-533 PC2-4200 SODIMM Dual Channel

 

Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon X700 PCI-E 64MB VRAM

 

Hard Drive: 80GB Ultra ATA/100

 

WE Index: 2.3

 

I replaced the HD a couple of years ago with a 120GB Seagate ST9120822A (from an NTL set-top box!) & replaced the battery / power pack this year. It's not in bad nick although the fans could do with a good clean, especially in this heat. CPU usage rarely goes above 50%, but RAM usage regularly approaches 90%.

 

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Anyway, the other day I was contemplating whether to go to Pantip Plaza / Fortune Tower to buy a couple of sticks of 1GB RAM, but simply googled 'Windows 7 slow' & found this great site - it's a list of 17 tips to speed up Windows 7:

 

http://www.computingunleashed.com/speed-up-windows-7-ultimate-guide-to.html

 

After disabling 'Search Indexing', it was like having a new computer & I couldn't believe it! Indexing basically continuously makes a database of all the files on your computer, in order to speed up any searches; well I can't remember the last time I searched for a file in Windows - Thanks M$!

 

I haven't turned off Aero Desktop or any visual effects, as I quite like them & my GC is still half decent; top spec at the time of purchase!

 

I set all of the suggested services to manual & have had no problems as a result, but don't know if this made a great deal of difference, as I did a lot of other stuff at the same time.

 

I'd brought over a few USB pen drives & decided to dedicate my newest & largest (2GB) one to the ReadyBoost feature. What this basically does is act as a faster caching service for small files, which would otherwise be routed through the slower HD page file; sadly it's not the same as adding 2GB of RAM. I didn't notice much difference at first, but after a day or so I've found that some applications open faster & switching tabs in Firefox is generally faster too. Also, I've experienced faster page loading times, especially on the Addicts & particularly on the ThaiVisa forum.

 

So if you have an old laptop like me (6 yo) & are thinking of buying a new one or upgrading with expensive RAM, why not try these tricks first?

 

Let me know how you get on & if anyone has any other tips feel free to post.

Edited May 7, 2011 by El Cata

[ingo67]

My Experince.

My computer is slightly younger than yours (5 yo), Acer Aspire 5633, 1.66GHz Intel Core2 Processor, 2*512MB RAM, running XP and was having increasing problems with lack of RAM when running BBC iPlayer and ITVPlayer - running at 95% of RAM capicity, it was overheating after 15minutes and shutting down.

Went down to Tukcom and bought 2GB RAM to replace one of the 512MB RAM cards, so now have 2.5GB RAM. The old girl is now like a teenager, everything is quicker, no shutting down issues, all for 1400bht.

Laptops really take a battering in this heat, when I was looking at buying a new one, noticed most stated operating range upto 35C, which is easily reached in Thailand - get a cheap base with fan for additional cooling, about 300bht in Tukcom.

[El Cata]

Thanks very much for the feedback.

 

Yes there's no substitute for adding a shit load of RAM power, except what I did, but I'm a cheap charlie & geek at heart so it pains me to spend any cash on upgrading when tweaking can achieve the same result. I'd love to have XP but the Radeon doesn't support WS monitors with it, otherwise I'd be back to it in a shot.

 

The heat issue shouldn't be a problem, as I've brought my specialist tools over & can open up the access panels & clean the fans.

 

BTW 1400B for 1GB RAM is more than I was expecting. I researched some online retailers in the UK & the price came in at around 1000B per stick. I guess electronics really are more expensive in LOS!

Edited May 7, 2011 by El Cata

[LaaMok]

Thanks very much for the feedback.

 

Yes there's no substitute for adding a shit load of RAM power, except what I did, but I'm a cheap charlie & geek at heart so it pains me to spend any cash on upgrading when tweaking can achieve the same result. I'd love to have XP but the Radeon doesn't support WS monitors with it, otherwise I'd be back to it in a shot.

 

The heat issue shouldn't be a problem, as I've brought my specialist tools over & can open up the access panels & clean the fans.

 

BTW 1400B for 1GB RAM is more than I was expecting. I researched some online retailers in the UK & the price came in at around 1000B per stick. I guess electronics really are more expensive in LOS!

 

I just upgraded my RAM from 12 gig to 24 gig, for only 11,000 baht

[El Cata]

I just upgraded my RAM from 12 gig to 24 gig, for only 11,000 baht

There's a joke in there for some aspiring geek comedian.

 

Yes, I remember you posting a picture a while back of your small penis HUGE multi-monitor integrated doowackey set-up.

 

How many peta 'flops' did you experience last year?

[ingo67]

BTW 1400B for 1GB RAM is more than I was expecting. I researched some online retailers in the UK & the price came in at around 1000B per stick. I guess electronics really are more expensive in LOS!

 

It was 1400bht for 2GB of RAM. The 2GB stick replaced one of the original 512MB sticks, giving 2.5GB in total up from 1GB. Only two slots for two sticks, so this was the cheapest way. I had a quick look online - was about £24 for the same, so only about £4 less in the UK.

[El Cata]

Last week I went to a little 'mom & pop' computer shop nearby & paid 900B for a 2GB stick of Kingston fitted. I would have opted for 4GB at this price but unfortunately my MB is limited to 2GB; running like a dream now anyway even with uTorrent humming away in the background.