Downgrading to XP
- Thread starter Shadrach
- Start date
Michael
Active Member
Well, you'll lose the functionality and visuals of Vista. Aside from that, you may have trouble finding drivers for your computer.
I'd look on the HP site, or use Google, and search for drivers for your computer before you decide to downgrade.
May I ask what the trouble is that you're having with Vista?
-Michael
Michael
Active Member
I run Photoshop CS3 Extended, and I work in web design, but I don't have that problem on either of my computers (desktop is in my sig), laptop specs are;
AMD Turion X2 @ 2.0Ghz
3GB DDR2 800 RAM
ATi 3100 integrated graphics
etc
There may be another problem here. I doubt it's Vista, not unless you're running budget RAM (DDR2 400, etc) and running a single core cpu. Most likely you either have a hardware bottleneck (as noted above), or you have too many processes running in the background.
If you list the model number or the specs of your computer we can try to help you out in optimizing performance of your desktop. Otherwise, if you must go back to XP, we can help you find drivers.
-Michael
Michael
Active Member
It's possible that your RAM might be on the slow side. Do you know the speed?
The apps you're running and the actual processes in in the background are two different things. If you click; CTRL + ALT + DELETE and pull up Task Manager. Then click the 'Processes' tab. You'll see in there what is actually running on your computer.
By chance, do you run Norton or McAfee?
-Michael
Yeah MacAfee came with it. Would it help to replace MacAfee with AVG?
Clicking Ctrl+alt+delete and viewing performance was what made me think initially the problem was memory. Running all these programs at once takes my "free memory" below 20. I don't know much about that or what it means but I don't think adding more memory is the worst thing I could do.
Thanks,
Shadrach
Clicking Ctrl+alt+delete and viewing performance was what made me think initially the problem was memory. Running all these programs at once takes my "free memory" below 20. I don't know much about that or what it means but I don't think adding more memory is the worst thing I could do.
Thanks,
Shadrach
bm23
Active Member
i dont think RAM is the problem because im running Vista with only 2Gb of RAM and sometimes i run more intensive programs, such as GTA 4. I have almost no problem, aside from occasional lag (which is expected of the game). one more thing, if you're running vista 32bit, there is absolutely no point in adding more RAM because only about 3.5gb of would be utilised.
Michael
Active Member
In my experience, McAfee has been a resource hog, as has Norton. I always replace the pre-installed antivirus software with Avast. Avast doesn't hog a ton of resources, but it monitors and protects pretty much every aspect of your computer in real time, and it's free.
You should download CPUz. Unzip it (right click -> extract all -> follow the instructions -> save to desktop). Once it's on your desktop, double click 'cpuz.exe' and wait for the program to load. Then click the 'Memory' tab and post back here with the 'DRAM Frequency'. Even better, copy down all of what that tab says or take a screenshot.
I didn't imply that adding more RAM would help, I inquired about the speed of the RAM being used. The speed does matter, especially with large programs that like to hog resources (e.g: Photoshop).
I've run Vista on 1GB of RAM clocked at 800Mhz @ 6-6-6-18 just fine, but that's not the issue at hand.
As for adding more RAM, it wouldn't be pointless for those using 32bit Windows. You'd only be losing about 512MB of RAM from the upgrade, but you'd be gaining 1.5GB (assuming you're coming from 2GB) over what you had before.
-Michael
Last edited:
bm23
Active Member
Michael
Active Member
i was only referring to Shadrach's computer since it already have 4gb of RAM.
Yes, I see that now. I thought the post said 2GB when I read it last.
I haven't been getting enough sleep lately, as you can probably tell
-Michael
Computer_Freak
Active Member
also, by dual core, that could be pentium dual core, and not the newer Core 2 Duo...