Making the most of what you've got.

[-Savage-]

Hey all, I have a 7 year Toshiba laptop. It's a bit slow and doesn't really like to work too hard without giving me grief.

My mate says windows 7 is easier on the computer than Xp so I should install windows 7?

He also said something about AVG resourse manager?

I have an external hard drive which I use to store all my tunes and pics etc so I dont need uber amounts of space on the hard drive.

I run open office and it takes AGES to open up, would MSoffivce be better?


Any ideas?
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My Bikes - - - Royal Enfield 500 with sidecar, VFR800, CBR600FX,
Peugeot Speedfight 100, Kymco Hipster 125, GSXR750K5, Jawa TS 350

[Flip]

https://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/system-requirements.aspx

[numark1]

I am using the same processor with a gig of ram on windows 7. Only using it for Traktor pro and midi controls though - runs fairly stable although latency isn't 'that' great.

[Pernig]

The single cheapest thing you could do to improve this computer's performance is to add more memory. It will make a world of difference.

https://www.corsair.com/

Go on the memory finder, enter your make and model and it will tell you what you need. I can't see it coming to more than 30 or 40 quid.
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H100 Breaking for spares

[el_oso]

windows 7 definitely isn't easier on a computer than XP.

256Mb of memory isn't going to cut it if you want to do anything sort of fast. You need more RAM. The performance edition of XP should work though. just might be a pain finding drivers. although if you have the drivers CD that came with the laptop you should be ok.

a free option would be to use a light linux system. Xubuntu would be a good choice for a fully operational windows alternative. you can should be able to use most of your windows programs by using Wine(wine aint an emulator)

puppy linux is a very lightweight and very fast and has most things, just not everything.
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Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[el_oso]

and AVG is very resource hungry. comodo internet security i have found is much lighter.
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Duke 390
Previous: '05 XR125L | '96 XJ600S Diversion |'05 Suzuki GSXR1000 | '05 Honda CBR125-R | '97 YZF 600R Thundercat | '11 Honda CBR250
Car: Jeep Wrangler 4.0L

[stinkwheel]

Agreed. 256Mb of RAM is not a lot. Adding more RAM would make a huge difference. if you can get it up to 1Gb it'll run XP in a moderately ok fashion.

Linux-wise, it'll be reasonably rapid on something like ubuntu with 1Gb, it'll be fast on xubuntu (both of which include open office as part of the build), it'll totally fly on puppy. It'll run faster than you'd believe possible on puppy with just the 256Mb of RAM.

If you're going down the linux route, I'd suggest trying a live CD first to make sure all the hardware in the laptop is supported. Generally, older hardware is well supported though.

I'd suggest giving puppy a try just to see what can be done. It'll run right off the live CD at near as damnit full speed (the whole OS will run in 256Mb of RAM). A live CD is something usefull to have to hand in any case. Then if your windows fucks up, you can load a functional OS and go online to find out what the problem is. You can also mount the hard disc and get your data files off it.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Frost]

Put a stripped down OS on it like Chrome, or Xandros

[The Artist]

I am surprised no one has said yet to get a new computer.

[t121anf]

be surprised if it will installed, Vista wont install without at least 512 of ram

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[Kickstart]

Hi

We have a laptop with a similar spec, and it too isn't that quick.

However I upgraded the memory from 256mb to 768mb, and that made very little difference to it running under xp. Moving from AVG to Avira made a bit of difference. Needed a bigger hard drive and that was slightly faster and that made a difference, but suspect more would be gained by an even faster drive (however the machine runs noticeably hotter with the drive in there now, but at least it keeps your lap warm).

However also have a play with different apps. Eg, on that laptop Chrome isn't that quick at all once you get a few tabs open (Opera is a fair bit better, especially when swapping between tabs).

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[chris-red]

I would lean towards an light Linux Distro and more RAM.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
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WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[ajbsmirnoff]

I run windows 7 on a TC1100 with a pentium M 1.1GHz processor and 1GB of Ram. Works very well for me.

I think the processor will be more than up to the job, but you'd need more memory.

[stinkwheel]

[neil.]

More RAM and Linux.
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)