Is this a RAM Issue?

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 9:48 pm

Hi,

I have a Dell Optiplex GX260 PC with P4 1.7 Ghz and 512 RAM.

I cleaned it up today and removed things I seldom use, getting ready to install magicJack on it. I haven't reinstalled Firefox yet, am wanting to keep it as streamlined as I can. I may keep using MSIE 8 or go to Google Chrome or Flock. PC runs better, and I get faster download speed. I installed MSSE but little else, so far. How much more security stuff do I need on top of MSSE? I have good call quality and am hoping to keep it up.

I have saved SAS, Spybot S&D, CCleaner, Defraggler, Glary Utilities, SpywareBlaster, etc.

I have two hard drives, one for Win XP and the other for pics, music, etc.

I just tried to re-install some saved programs on spare drive, and it seems to hang up, and I have to use Task Mgr to stop it. What causes this? I get the spinning hourglass and it does nothing. Would another 512 of RAM help out?

Thank you.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 10:00 pm

What programs?

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:51 am

The only things I've installed so far are MSSE, Glary Utilities, CCleaner, and Mozilla T-Bird.

Do I need anything more than this to keep it running good? My broadband speed has really improved. Do I have to have Spybot, SuperAntiSpyware, Malwarebytes, etc.?

I hated how slow Firefox used to be. I don't know if I'm going back to Firefox again. MSIE seems to be a lot faster.

YARDofSTUF · Post by **YARDofSTUF** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:15 am

Malwarebytes.

But what saved programs are hanging on you?

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 9:19 am

I would first suspect the spare drive that you're trying to reinstall on.

How much other security software you need depends on your use. As for myself...just using a single antivirus program is all I do. As well as maintain Microsoft updates, latest Java, Flash, etc. But a lot of "what you need" depends on "what you do".

512 megs is a bit light these days...I recommend seeing if you can get another stick of 512 for cheap...or more. Old first generation P4 though, they'll only go so fast, not worth putting a lot of money into.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:18 am

YARDofSTUF wrote:Malwarebytes.

But what saved programs are hanging on you?

Hi,

I can't remember exactly. I think I ought to probably go to the websites to download new programs if I want to reinstall any of them. I think it was C Cleaner I trried to re-install from a Software folder in my spare "F" drive. Maybe I'll delete the whole folder, and when I install, click the "run" button vs the "save" button. With a fast download speed it only takes me a short while to download these things anyway. Do you agree?

Thank you.

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:53 am

YeOldeStonecat wrote:I would first suspect the spare drive that you're trying to reinstall on.

How much other security software you need depends on your use. As for myself...just using a single antivirus program is all I do. As well as maintain Microsoft updates, latest Java, Flash, etc. But a lot of "what you need" depends on "what you do".

512 megs is a bit light these days...I recommend seeing if you can get another stick of 512 for cheap...or more. Old first generation P4 though, they'll only go so fast, not worth putting a lot of money into.

Thanks for your input. I'll put 1 GB on it and see how that runs.

If I stay off porn sites, do you think I'll be OK with just MSSE?

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:02 am

MSE is pretty good, it's my favorite free AV, and honestly for home users I set that up for them over any paid ones too.

Rogues and malware use many different approaches...so not only just getting past antivirus, but exploits in Java, Flash, Adobe Acrobat, browser vulnerabilities, and obviously when you start using torrents/p2p junk...you get poisoned content which is one of the biggest avenues it's using to spread.

So it's not just adult websites anymore (besides..there are plenty of good secure safe ones to surf on.

) These bad guys hack into legit websites and type in their drive by installer code...so you can get infected going to any site.

And then e-mail...they're spamming hard, in the past few weeks our spam filtering for our clients at our office has shot through the roof with spam coming out of India. These e-mails have an .HTML attachment, that when clicked on, takes you right to sites where your PC will be swamped with drive by installs of malware.

CableDude · Post by **CableDude** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:33 pm

What OS?

Sava700 · Post by **Sava700** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:53 pm

CableDude wrote:What OS?

Lurch wrote:
I have two hard drives, one for Win XP and the other for pics, music, etc.

CableDude · Post by **CableDude** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:06 pm

Sava700 wrote:

Oh.

I would add another 512 if possible.

terrancelam · Post by **terrancelam** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 5:55 pm

512 will be slow be useable. 2gb is actually what I would recommend for Win XP, things will run much smoother.

BTW I agree with YOS, its most likely the spare drive. Usually when thigns hang or slow down, it isn't the ram / processor that's bad. Could be some bad sectors on the drive causing it to hang when it tries to write to those sectors.