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Those PC's are geared toward the average home user, if it comes with XP Home Edition, that's a warning sign off the bat.



Anyone with pro or geek experience will not be happy with those OEM Images. But once you change that image, they just want you to reload the whole thing to the factory default.



The formula for XP is at least 512MB RAM. The real secret is at least a 64MB video card, then shutting off most of the XP features.



Here's some cool links for stuff.
 
Sorry, my rant was about the condition the PC came in due to OEM software , not the condition I left it in.



It's great when people give you the blanket formula:



"512MB is the bare minimum for XP."



"...or better yet, 1GB..."



25 years of software development and IT experience here.



The most important question for any user is, not how much RAM, but what will you be using it for? How anybody can recommend anything without knowing the answer to the first question is puzzling to me.



In my mother-in-laws case, she writes email (barely), occassionally uses the Internet, and plays video poker. The grandkids will use it for the Pinball, Solitaire and whatever they can play via AOL.



If her previous Win 95/Pentium 133 hadn't given up the ghost, she'd still be using it. The HP/Compaq is a refurb 1Ghz AMD Sempron, which Microcenter was offering as new for a grand total of $50 after rebates. Considering the DVD/CDRW drive, 80GB hard drive, 256MB RAM, basic multimedia stuff, etc, it seemes reasonable. Since a legit license of XP costs more than that, it's certainly a good value for her.



256MB was plenty once I shut down the useless junk. Windows Firewall doesn't use much RAM. I've swtiched her to Firefox. AOL Security Edition with the included McAfee VirusScan works fine in the 120MB or so of RAM she now has available for applications. The anti-spyware scan will run overnight.



Again, it's not what I could do with the machine, but what an uneducated user has to deal with when they are on their own.
 
Yup, Rich...a finely tuned PC, even a slower one with 256MB, will suit many users like those you described that just use the PC for email and Internet and office docs. That was the point I was making too.



I have exorcised at least 5 PCs for friends and families in as many months lately, and all have had 512MB or less, and all were slow, slow, slow....but when I cleared out the RUN and Startup entries, and moved them of McAfee/NAV towards AVG, they ran like a champ again.



I explain to most of the people I help that IF there is an icon on the tray that you don't use and you don't know what it is for then it's doing more harm than good.



TJR
 
>> XP MUST HAVE AT LEAST 512MB of memory to run, preferrably 1GB.



That's just not true. Repeat after me folks: "Whenever you make a claim with an absolute like MUST, NEVER, EVERYTIME, ALWAYS, then you will most likely be wrong!"



Case in point...



A PII, 256Mhz laptop that we have that is running XP Professional with 256MB of RAM.



It runs, runs well, has a wireless PCMCIA card, and is a great little computer for surfing the net and running office apps.



It often sits on our kitchen table and people ask to use it to check mail. They can't believe the performance it gives for a laptop that is 5+ years old.



It does take a while to boot, but it works well once XP is loaded and the wireless signal obtained.
Click to expand...



Got an old 400c w/192 meg of ram running XP and using a wireless card. As long as you dont have to wait for it to boot, you are ok. All my son does with it is listen to MP3's and surf the internet, so it does good. With my laptop, I am running 768meg and desktop has 1g, for the simple fact that I want them to boot faster and not delay when loading programs up for work.
 
I'm typing this message on a Fujitsu pentablet pc with a 500mhz Celeron, 256mb ram, ATI Rage Mobility Video chip, running Win XP SP2. Sure it runs, and maybe for the average Joe it would seem fine, but when I compare it to the custom built PC I have it home, this machine seems pokey at best.



When I first acquired this pentablet pc, it only had 128mb of ram and was running a custom version of Win98SE. I reformatted the drive in it and loaded XP. Oh lord was it ever a dog with 128mb ram.... booting it took over 4 minutes with a completely bare startup folder and no software loaded other than XP.



I still stand by my earlier recommendation that XP needs a minimum of 256mb of ram, even for a minimalist PC user.
 
OK, Rich and TJR--for those of us without the expertise, how do you go about clearing all that garbage out? I see a ton of stuff running when I look at my Task Manager that I have no clue as to what it is, and boot up is slow slow slow--where do I need to look to determine what can be removed and how to do it???
 
Bill V

If using XP:

click start button

Go to run

then type: msconfig

Go to startup, most of these can be turned off except viris protection files
 
Bill, you can Google the name of any of those task list entities and you will get a reasonable explanation of what it is. Once you find something that's offensive to you, as in, "I don't want you in there!", you can look to get rid of it in the following ways:



1) If it's a task bar item, see if you can close/set-not-to-reload from the icon. That's easiest.



2) Look in Start/All Programs/Startup. You may find some offending programs there. Just right click and delete them. This simply prevents them from loading at startup.



3) Look in Control Panel: Add/Remove Software. Uninstall useless junk that you don't want, especially if you suspect it is loading at startup.



4) Use Start/Run/MSCONFIG. This is a little more advanced. In the Startup tab, you will find MANY utilities, applications, and system related items. Only eliminate (uncheck) what you've determined is undesirable.



For giggles, with no applications running, before you start, use task manager (CTRL-ALT-DEL), look at the Performance tab, and note how much RAM is being used in the PF Usage graph. Then check after you have made changes and rebooted.



P.S. Use above info at your own risk. I am not coming to your house to fix problems. :p
 
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Rich, a friend of mine recently bought a game driven lap-top from Dell. Cost over 3 grand. He spend 4 hours cleaning it up before he ever used it..



I guess it is what it is..
 
That, sir, is the reason why I build my own computers. I also build for others, but I usually only build high-end systems for Video Editing and Home Theater PCs. I really don't know why ANYONE buys from Dell, Gateway, etc., when you can build your own for CONSIDERABLY cheaper. If you don't have the tech-ability to build it yourself, chances are that there's a computer geek in your neighborhood who would be more than happy to build you one. There are also a dozen "building computers for dummies" type books that you can buy that makes the process very painless.

It's really not NEARLY as difficult as you think. Honestly, the most difficult part is installing winblowz after you put the hardware together.

-Scott
 
baron, I've built and rebuilt many PCs. My first fulltime job involved upgrading a couple of hundred IBM PCs, adding 1200 baud modems and 10MB hard-disk-on-a-slot-cards. "DIP switch heaven." Lost a lot of memory chips to static electricity, and shredded a lot of neckties on the backs of cicuit boards (the pins still protruded in those days).



Building one or two PCs can be great fun. Supporting what you build is another matter. And after you've built or rebuilt a couple dozen, it does loose it's appeal. I've been throwing out all of the old cases, power supplies and components I've accumlated over the years because it just doesn't hold the same appeal any more.



Also, I can't build an entry level XP machine for less than Dell does, unless I pirate software, which I won't do. Sure, I might be able to build a cool gaming PC, but I don't need that nor do most of the people I interact with.



25 years of software development and IT experience here.
Click to expand...



Sorry to hear that.
Click to expand...



Why?



I worked in a technical revolution as it was happening. Lots of interesiting developments in hardware, software, networking, and human factors. As I get older, I don't care to keep up with the leading edge as much, but it's still been fun to experience. My mother was a software analyst for the phone company. She got me hooked at age 11, when she brought home her dial-up terminal from work. I was writing simple kids games on mini computers when I was 12. It brought me closer to my mom, gave me direction in life, and provided a living for me and my family for the last few decades.



How could that be a bad thing?

 
A lot of those apps are starting up during boot. You can disable most them by removing them out of the startup menu. Also, some run as services and you can manually set them to manual not automatic during boot.



BTW..I worked for a company and they only bought Dells. As soon as they arrived the HD was wiped out and reloaded so that all that crap app wasn't on there anymore. The only thing that was added back were the drivers for the video card and Network card. You don't upgrade a Dell to a new OS you wipe and do a clean install.







 

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