Hi all, advice please, my computer, six years old, is on its last legs, getting slow and jerky and difficult to get on line.

It's used for shopping on line, getting information on the net, storing photos and music, writing letters and a few spread sheets, we don't watch movies in line or play games.

Am I best getting another from PC World or the like or having a local firm, of which there are quite a few, build one for me

Regards all

John

Sent from my iPhone using my thumbs

A six year old PC should be perfectly capable of doing what you ask.

There is no why reason a computer must get slower with age. It's not a car, the moving parts do not affect it's performance. It's the software that slows down as it accumulates rubbish over the years (more like barnacles on a ship hull)

Until recently I was using a 9yr old PC with few problems. I wanted to video edit and more power was the reason for a change.

I suspect your PC has quite a lot of junk built up from over the years and probably a few bits of malware slowing things down in the background.

You could use a few programs to help clean up the PC. I'm not going into details you'll have to google for specifics.

First back up important things like photos and other files.

If you've not got a current antivirus program download a free one from AVG, Avast or Comodo (but just one). If you've an old antivirus on the machine take that off before you install the new one.

Get a free malware remover like Malwarebytes as well, its different to an antivirus.

Uninstall any programs you don't use anymore

Use the disk clean up built into windows to tidy up more junk

Run a defragmentation scan to organise your data.

Have a look and see how much memory your PC has too. XP likes 1Gb or more. If you've less than that things can run slowly.

In all honesty if you've never stayed on top of maintenance it can be best to start again and reload the operating system. That's quite a big job to do if you're not comfortable around computers but not that hard with preparation.

If you just think you'd like a change and more power and space then a new computer from Dell ect can be quite a cheap option. Almost every computer you can buy now is hugely powerful. A built to order PC can have the advantage of being easier to fix (all parts are to a known standard) but won't allways be cheaper especially ig you're not building it yourself.

You might want to consider a self build. Computers are not hard to put together at all. A few post to the forum would help you to pick parts and they pretty much slot together. Software takes longer but again from a clean slate it's not hard to do.

I home built our desktops because I know I can source parts and upgrade at will, I'm also completely in control of how it is set up. I'm not necessarily doing it to save money up front.

Edited 7 May, 201313 yr by Aspman

PC world, small local firms are "often" ****e/go under all the time.

Hi Aspman, thank you for the time you have taken to reply

I've done all you recommend, other than deleting everything and reloading the restore disks I made when I first bought the computer.

We have loaded nothing new onto the computer in months, do regular maintenance yet over the last week it's gone from operating perfectly to being a pain in the but.

Previous experience on a lap top and desk top tells me it's a waste of time paying to have it repaired as the faults seem to come back fairly quickly

Regards all

Juan

Sent from my iPhone using my thumbs

Edited 7 May, 201313 yr by Its me

A sudden slowdown points to either malware OR a bad update to something, have any programs updated themselves recently??

As said above, formatting the HDD and reinstalling can make a big difference to speed, you would be amazed at how much space Windows OS can take up with uninstall files for unremoveable updates, using CCCleaner I removed over 6GB of "Temp" files from a friends 12 y/o PC and make it at LEAST twice as fast.

Another thing that can dramatically slow down a PC is if the HDD has less than 10% free space remaining.

PC components degrade over time so you end up having to upgrade.

Ordered a new one, £340 built to order!!

Thanks for all the advice guys, it is appreciated.

I can't afford to mess about as I make my living playing the markets

Regards all

Juan

Sent from my iPhone using my thumbs

PC components degrade over time so you end up having to upgrade.

News to me, unless you're talking about caps and stuff that will have slight degredation, but not enough to have any effect on the PC until it goes pop.

News to me, unless you're talking about caps and stuff that will have slight degredation, but not enough to have any effect on the PC until it goes pop.

Intel/Amd/nVidia....they all build in half lives so you have to upgrade after a while.

PC world, small local firms are "often" ****e/go under all the time.

Ermmmmmm................Comet!!!!!

"PC components degrade over time so you end up having to upgrade. "

"Intel/Amd/nVidia....they all build in half lives so you have to upgrade after a while."

Think of a word that sounds vaguely like "BULLWHIP"

The hardware makers do nothing of the kind, it is the SOFTWARE makers bringing out more and more bloated versions of their tat that slows a PC down. For instance, many AV and Firewall programs are now such cpu hogs that they cause bigger slow downs than the MALWARE they are supposed to be protecting you from.

ALL electronic components degrade over time, but circuits are build in such a way that the degradation is balanced out for as long as possible, but component level failures are rare before the item is over 10 years old - one of the computers I gave to my pre-school group originally came with Windows 95 installed, the only component failures were caused by a bad psu, and once I fixed that (Evesham Micros repaired it 3 times but never found the original fault), it worked perfectly - even with an over-clocked cpu - until it was retired about 18 months ago.

333Mhz oc'ed to 550MHZ WOOT!!!

PC world, small local firms are "often" ****e/go under all the time.

*******s..

PC components degrade over time so you end up having to upgrade.

Not really..

Intel/Amd/nVidia....they all build in half lives so you have to upgrade after a while.

Lies

Good effort :/

Shocked that people actually post some of the above. Reinstall OS and save yourself the price of a new PC, you're doing nothing complex so a 10 year old PC should be more than capable. If you don't have a restore disc or feel comfortable then any local PC shop should do it for a nominal fee.

Anyway my office PC was a decade old till a few weeks back, one of the engraving PC's was 30 years old (we're talking XT/AT) and the box I replaced it with is 17 years old (need an ISA slot so an old C300a/Abit BH6 was resurrected), so save your money

Seriously.

Intel/Amd/nVidia....they all build in half lives so you have to upgrade after a while.

I'll have to remember that next time i design a circuit board. (Oh no, I won't :p)

Yes the caps etc have a design life at a given temperature, but what you're suggesting is quite frankly a load of ****.

There is no half life, it will work perfectly until it fails, then it will fail by going out of spec.

A CPU doesn't slow down when it gets to 5 years old.

Edited 8 May, 201313 yr by cheezemonkhai

There is no half life, it will work perfectly until it fails, then it will fail by going out of spec.

A CPU doesn't slow down when it gets to 5 years old.

However....

... after 5 years a CPU fan might be full of crap and cease spinning if it has lived in a dirty environment!

That said, my old Pentium D machine is running quite happily for my needs, and my father is using the P4 it replaced with no problems either (apart from the odd sata issue where the secondary port sometimes forgets it is meant to be active, but it has done that since new).

Edited 8 May, 201313 yr by mbames

"However....

... after 5 years a CPU fan might be full of crap and cease spinning"

Equally - if you dont change the oil or check the water etc in your car - after 5 years it may stop working!!!!

I'll have to remember that next time i design a circuit board. (Oh no, I won't )

Yes the caps etc have a design life at a given temperature, but what you're suggesting is quite frankly a load of ****.

There is no half life, it will work perfectly until it fails, then it will fail by going out of spec.

A CPU doesn't slow down when it gets to 5 years old.

Componants like car parts have a life . Buy cheap, and they don't last . Electrolytic caps are one example. Firm I worked for good few years ago made a killing from one cheap FAX M/C , where the cheapo Caps leaked volts and brought the supply lines down . We turned up with a box of good quality caps ,replaced all the suspect ones and reset voltage rails . Same thing with fans - if it gets noisy -change it .it's like ignoring secopndary belt tensioners on a car . When it whines ( or an alternator belt screams ) -change it . HDD don't like to get too hot, so either cool them, or mount them on something that gets rid of heat. Mine sit on the base of my case ( with long power leads to let them sit flat). A CPU will fail if it gets too hot. I regularly take the sides off my PC and ( WITH ALL POWER OFF) use a VAC on the CPU fan . Similarly - do the same to the fan on the PSU . And if you ever change a PSU, get one with a bit more oomph.

Like cheezi- I design ( on odd occasions ) some circuits. Some makers will use ( e'g) a 5v rail and the caps are 6-7v. I'd go at least 12v. I've got a charger for my Cordless drill that uses ( in my estimation ) a 5w resistor ,which gets hot.( but it might cost a few more pence to use a 10 w one).

Cap failure was a worldwide multi industry problem that affected everyone one way or another, it doesn't matter how cheaply or expensive you went, pretty much all electronics oe's large and small had issues, that's why cap's suddenly became marketing fodder on computer hardware boxes. Samsung TV's, motherboards from most suppliers (inc Foxcon so countless other brands eg Dell) and countless electrical items, even the PCB on my old boiler. All for the sake of the brands we trust saving a few pence per unit.

The cap issue was due to a bodged bit of industrial espionage by the Chinese.

They stole an incomplete formula for caps and started producing faulty devices by the billion.

That was about 10yr ago now and all of those dud caps should have worked their way out by now. Any that go from the last 5yr or so is down to more normal reasons MTF, old age etc.

If your machine lasts for a long time it's down to luck really. But back on topic a burst cap won't slow down your machine, it'll stop things working or the whole thing.

Bit of a moot point anyway since the OP has bought a new pc.

I'm gutted my my first computer running Windows 95 was taken without my permission when the "new" PC replaced it. What a POS that was. My 95 machine run really well and if it ever slowed down I'd backup my stuff, format and start again. 100mhz processor and didn't feel slow at all.

Heh my W95 had a 200MHz Pentium 1, 16Mb ram and a 2Gb disk, it would boot in about 15 sec.

Now my phone takes longer to boot than my PC, that's progress for ya.

Edited 10 May, 201313 yr by Aspman