Hey should I be afraid my computer is dying?

**tjmidnight420** · 05-26-2012, 09:17 AM

Still need help with this one? Judging from the OP this is a pretty old laptop. I'm gonna guess it came with Vista and 1 GB RAM, so my suggestions will be based on that. Hasney was pretty brilliant with suggesting memtest. Matchbox's ideas are spot on as well, So I'll starting with those. If the memtest popped up even one error, your RAM will have to be changed. As for your virtual or swap memory, you can find the properties panel by right clicking on Computer on the start menu and clicking properties. Click advanced system settings on the right. Click the first settings button under performance. Click advanced tab and finally change. Set it to at least 2GB. On the fan, if it looks clogged from the bottom intake vent or the side exhaust, it will have to be taken apart. If said clog is there removing it will have an effect almost like adding more memory, except without the benefit of having more memory. Alright, once you've taken care of the msconfig mentioned before we're ready for the next step. Remember in msconfig you'll only have to uncheck boxes under startup. Next up, download and run CCleaner or some other lettered cleaner. Run the cleanup util with the settings that are checked when you load. Next is the Reg tab. Scan, click fix and it'll ask you to back up your Reg before it changes anything. Do so just in case you can't trust that bastard TJ. Finally click Fix all. By now you should be seeing some kind of improvement. Run your AV scanner (mostly because it'll run so much faster since you just deleted all the temp files with CCleaner.) Also, CCleaner always tells how many Mb of temp files it cleans, as well as how many reg errors. I'd like both numbers if you don't mind. Consider it for diagnostic purposes.

05-26-2012, 09:17 AM	#9
tjmidnight420 Mr. Nice Guy Posts: 1,647	Still need help with this one? Judging from the OP this is a pretty old laptop. I'm gonna guess it came with Vista and 1 GB RAM, so my suggestions will be based on that. Hasney was pretty brilliant with suggesting memtest. Matchbox's ideas are spot on as well, So I'll starting with those. If the memtest popped up even one error, your RAM will have to be changed. As for your virtual or swap memory, you can find the properties panel by right clicking on Computer on the start menu and clicking properties. Click advanced system settings on the right. Click the first settings button under performance. Click advanced tab and finally change. Set it to at least 2GB. On the fan, if it looks clogged from the bottom intake vent or the side exhaust, it will have to be taken apart. If said clog is there removing it will have an effect almost like adding more memory, except without the benefit of having more memory. Alright, once you've taken care of the msconfig mentioned before we're ready for the next step. Remember in msconfig you'll only have to uncheck boxes under startup. Next up, download and run CCleaner or some other lettered cleaner. Run the cleanup util with the settings that are checked when you load. Next is the Reg tab. Scan, click fix and it'll ask you to back up your Reg before it changes anything. Do so just in case you can't trust that bastard TJ. Finally click Fix all. By now you should be seeing some kind of improvement. Run your AV scanner (mostly because it'll run so much faster since you just deleted all the temp files with CCleaner.) Also, CCleaner always tells how many Mb of temp files it cleans, as well as how many reg errors. I'd like both numbers if you don't mind. Consider it for diagnostic purposes.