Please help make this crap pc better

Hi,
My mum and dads pc dad's "workhorse" he thinks is ancient it is 4 1/2 years old with a 1.3ghz athlon cpu it is s-l-o-w and not very good. We recently had a RAM upgrade and we now have 1gb of RAM. However, it was/is still slow. But today the ram program we have (free ram xpPro) said there was only 256mb or RAM windows confirmed this. I have used a windows XP tweaking guide to reduce the services running, and have uninstalled almost everything, and replaced the CMOS battery. I am convinced it is the PC's age that is the problem, but someone please give me some more ideas.

Also, if I can't speed it up, what sort of PC could I build for around £1,200 ($2,400(ish) definetly AMD preferably FX-XX but I dont mind too much. Also SLI is almost! a necessity

From the sound of it, you just want to go ahead and dump it and buy a new one. Old isnt always bad. Could you give us some specs on daddy's compy. Also, Is this computer just for your mom and dad, or do you use it for your gaming as well.

The 1GB of ram showing up as 256MB is a problem. Run Memtest and see if it is still showing 256MB.

ok some specs,
I don't use it any more, I used to but now I have my mum's old laptop.
Its is:
300w PSU (i think)
1.35ghz CPU
1gb DDR SDRAM PC2700
IDE 40gb HDD
DVD-Rom
CD rw
FDD
ummm...
nVidia Geforce 2 64mb
Creative _________ 5.1 channel audio
This may sound n00bish but what is memtest and how do i run it?

http://www.memtest86.com/

Download and burn it to a cd or floppy.
Reboot and it will scan your memory for any errors in the ram.

What motherboard does it have? Run sisoft sandra to find that out, it should tell you. (google sandra)

AN ASUS A7A233 (i think)

you mean a7N233? 333?
That should be able to handle that much memory, just making sure.

Check the MB

A lot of older MB's only reconize a specific amount of memory (or a specific type).PLease confirm the MB brand and model number.Also just for the record did the computer have 256 meg before you upgraded.The board may not reconize all the memory you added.

reformat! always makes a computer faster. or defrag, but i prefer reformat

try a bios update

I would prefer not to reformat I have defregged, It is (definitely ) an ASUS A7A266
ALiMaGiK 1 Chipset
DDR SDRAM (pc 2100)

You want help? DO AS YOUR TOLD, REFORMAT!

JK
Check to be sure you have memory seated in the slots, take them out and switch slots then push em down to be sure they are all the way seated. If they still don't show up as one gig, try 1 stick at a time, memtest each time.
The BIOS flash is a good idea, if you need it, but don't do it if your not sure of the procedure. Reformat and re install windows would help. A PC with all sorts of uninstalled programs will slow it down. Figure out the ram first, the sticks may be incompatible with each other, or your board.
Hope this helps,
Killa

While you've got the computer open, take a can of compressed air and clean it up. Less dust= less heat= better performance.

I notice that that motherboard has both sd and ddr ram slots. Make sure that you have it in the right one and don't mix them up with both ddr and sd ram.

yeah,if you have both kinds of ram in it it probably will only use one ofthe kinds, and it might be the smaller its seein.

My Thoughts

I am familiar with that MB.It is not obsolete and neither is the chip.You
should be getting reasonable performance out of it.
Due to the attempt to have two types of memory slots the MB is picky.
1) Make sure you are using only one type of memory.You only have two DDR slots.What are the type and size of the DDR memory chips you have in these slots.If you memory upgrade was ddr let us know what the upgrade was.I know the MB is capable of recognizing and using at least 512meg of ram.Your post stated 1 gig of ddr 2700 (I assume 2x512).What was the old memory you used.
2) If your using PC100 or 133 let us know what memory and how much your using.You didn't state you were using any but I just want to confirm this to make sure were not addressing incapability issues due to two types of memory.
3) There were some motherboard bios updates available for that MB,Have you ever installed them.It would be helpful if we knew what bios you were running
on that MB.
4) No one ever wants to reinstall.However this is one area where you can really help a computers performance.If my computer was " s-l-o-w and not very good" I would try it prior to spending "$2,400(ish)" Of course this can be a last ditch effort after everything else is tried first.Try what Kill_A._Byte,Trombe and aeiou recommended first.
5) Even if I was going to buy new computer components and build a new unit I would consider it a personal test to try to get the old computer running as well as possible.

CeeDeeJay said:

5) Even if I was going to buy new computer components and build a new unit I would consider it a personal test to try to get the old computer running as well as possible.

Click to expand...

Exactly what i would do!!!



How much mem does the BIOS report having?

Format and reinstall will almost always speed up a pc, especially if it hasn't been done for a long long time.

Age has nothing to do with it. I run a P2 450Mhz on a BX master to crunch seti and at work we still run a 386!!!!

What do you think guys.....did he cook it?

lol sounds like his mom and pops need to get there heads straight and buy a new computer it aint that hard just lay down a few 100's and pow you got a new computer lol

ok thanks ill probably reformat.
BTW where can I get those BIOS updates and how do I update the BIOS

I found your BIOS updates here. The Link should take you to the Asus support site.(I had trouble finding it but I did see the info for your board once.) There you can input your correct Motherboard info, and get BIOS updates. Stay away from the BETA BIOS updates for now.The site will tell you how to see what BIOS version is on your boards BIOS chip, and how to flash your BIOS. Be sure you fully understand the BIOS flash procedure! Print out instructions. If you do it wrong the board is junk. Only way back from a bad flash is to send board or BIOS chip back to Asus. Read about the BIOS update you want to install and see if it addresses your board and issues you might have. I saw the last BIOS update was around 2003 so you might already have it on your board.
Good to hear your still with us.
Good Luck,
Killa