Why is my computer so slow?!

M

Mar424

New Member
I have an HP pavilion a250n, and I recently added 1 GB of RAM to the existing 512MB because it was unbelievably slow. (Literally took 25 minutes from me pushing the button to turn it on, to being able to start mozilla)

After adding the RAM I've noticed that it starts a bit quicker, but still takes almost 15-20 minutes..

I've tried editing my startup programs but that doesnt seem to help, I do have norton antivirus and was wondering if its scanning the system everytime, but I cant find out anywhere.
 
clean ur registry by using ccleaner. u can download tht utility from the internet. it helps getting rid of the clusters in your registry...
 
adarsh said:
clean ur registry by using ccleaner. u can download tht utility from the internet. it helps getting rid of the clusters in your registry...
Click to expand...

I tried that and though it fixed a lot of stuff... the computer is still slow..

anybody else have any ideas?
 
Uninstall norton temporarily and see if the problem is reduced.

forgot ....also try it with just the 1 gig of ram
 
Last edited:
James Jl said:
Uninstall norton temporarily and see if the problem is reduced.

forgot ....also try it with just the 1 gig of ram
Click to expand...

i tried it with just the 1GB, i figured thats easier than uninstalling norton and all that and now it is a lot faster.. now everything happens in less than 3 minutes instead of the 15-20 before...

im guessing since its faster now that means one of the 256MB sticks is bad? if thats what it means, is there a way to tell which one is good and which one is bad?
 
It doesnt sound like a RAM problem, especially now that you have 1.5GB.

I'm going to say it's because of your hard drive. If you still have the current 120GB hard drive installed, it's only a 5400RPM hard drive, so load times will be slow. But because it's 4 years old, hard drives tend to die, so yours may be nearing it's end. What you may want to try is a clean install of Windows, and if that doesnt work, then it's most likely your hard drive.

EDIT: I see in your last post you seem to have fixed the problem. While the hard drive can still be a culprit for the long 3 minute load time, it doesnt sound anywhere near as bad as the 20 minutes you were saying before. But if you had 2x 256MB already installed, I would not use that in conjunction with the 1GB stick you bought.
 
Mar424 said:
i tried it with just the 1GB, i figured thats easier than uninstalling norton and all that and now it is a lot faster.. now everything happens in less than 3 minutes instead of the 15-20 before...

im guessing since its faster now that means one of the 256MB sticks is bad? if thats what it means, is there a way to tell which one is good and which one is bad?
Click to expand...

Yeah just run this for 1 cycle http://www.memtest.org/
 
I would agree with OMEGA as I have experienced Compaq's and HP's crappy Hard drives. I would suggest getting an new one, or doing an clean install.

Guessing:

Current RAM before upgrade: DDR266

New RAM (1GB) : DDR400.

The 1GB was downclocking due to the other sticks. I suggest running the fastest ones.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top