PC Optimization / Performance help

[Zherog]

Hi all. I've been poking around a bit at trying to clean-up / optimize my computer's performance. Generally, it goes in fits and starts, where I'll spend a few hours one weekend, then not do anything for a month or more. This weekend was one of the "on" weekends, as I was looking at a few things. And based on those, I have a few questions I imagine the hive mind here can help me out with. Potentially more questions to follow after these two, depending on where the rabbit hole leads...

My PC is running Windows 10 Home 64-bit. Other information provided as-needed.

A) On a game-related site I was looking at, somebody said that having files and folders on the Desktop will slow down performance. That it was better to put those things elsewhere and instead have a shortcut on the Desktop. So: Is this true? And if so, why?

(I have a ton of crap on my desktop, so if it's true it's potentially a very easy way to get a bit of a performance boost.)


B) I know that generally the cheapest way to upgrade performance is adding memory. So, I right-clicked on "This PC" and went to Properties. There, under "Installed Memory," it tells me that I have 6 gb (5.90 gb usable). :smalleek: That's... pathetic? Incredibly low? All of the above?

So, first and foremost: Am I remembering correctly about that being the correct way to see what I have?

And, if so... if I were to buy more memory, what do I need to know? I know that I need to make sure that I either have an open slot or plan on replacing existing memory sticks. What I mean is whether memory sticks are memory sticks? Can I buy any memory stick and drop it in, or do I need to be aware of anything?


I think I have other questions, but for now I'll stick with these and we'll see where it goes. Thanks in advance.

[Keltest]

Important question, what are you planning to do with this computer? For day to day work stuff, 6 gb of memory is usually adequate, if not exactly stellar. For hard core computer gaming, youll probably want an upgrade.

For upgrading ram, you need to look at what motherboard you have. not all memory sticks are the same physical size, so you should make sure you know what size your main board can support. In theory, using different types of ram sticks (ie different manufacturers) can sometimes lead to other problems. Ive never seen this happen personally, but it is apparently possible. Also watch out for when youre buying memory to make sure you understand how many physical sticks youre getting. Some will advertise themselves as 16 gb, and then be 2 8 gb sticks instead of one 16 gb. The difference is mostly down to economy of physical space, but being unable to use half the ram you bought because you don't have the slots is annoying.

As far as the desktop goes, chances are everything you have on it is already a shortcut. Most programs will default to a (non-desktop) folder on the C: drive on install if its available and simply create a desktop shortcut once installation is complete. You would have to be deliberately having the files all install to the desktop, and theres no good reason to do that unless you like visual clutter.

[Zherog]

Important question, what are you planning to do with this computer? For day to day work stuff, 6 gb of memory is usually adequate, if not exactly stellar. For hard core computer gaming, youll probably want an upgrade.

Not hardcore gaming. I play a lot of Angry Birds Friends (don't judge me! :smallyuk: ). I do a lot of browsing - I regularly have to "kill" my browser and restart it, because the performance is just so bad. I also use this PC for my writing and editing work. And again, there are times - especially with large docs - where I'll have to close everything and possibly even reboot.


For upgrading ram, you need to look at what motherboard you have. not all memory sticks are the same physical size, so you should make sure you know what size your main board can support. In theory, using different types of ram sticks (ie different manufacturers) can sometimes lead to other problems. Ive never seen this happen personally, but it is apparently possible. Also watch out for when youre buying memory to make sure you understand how many physical sticks youre getting. Some will advertise themselves as 16 gb, and then be 2 8 gb sticks instead of one 16 gb. The difference is mostly down to economy of physical space, but being unable to use half the ram you bought because you don't have the slots is annoying.

So, I should know how many slots and what size those slots are. I should be aware of the actual item being sold to ensure it's the "right" number of sticks. Anything else?


As far as the desktop goes, chances are everything you have on it is already a shortcut. Most programs will default to a (non-desktop) folder on the C: drive on install if its available and simply create a desktop shortcut once installation is complete. You would have to be deliberately having the files all install to the desktop, and theres no good reason to do that unless you like visual clutter.

No, I'm asking for a reason. I save damn near everything to my desktop - either directly or in folder. When I say I have a lot of crap on my desktop, I'm not kidding. That's why I asked specifically about it. Does it make a difference if I have files and folders on my desktop in Windows 10?

Thanks for the input so far.

[Keltest]

Not hardcore gaming. I play a lot of Angry Birds Friends (don't judge me! :smallyuk: ). I do a lot of browsing - I regularly have to "kill" my browser and restart it, because the performance is just so bad. I also use this PC for my writing and editing work. And again, there are times - especially with large docs - where I'll have to close everything and possibly even reboot.

If possible, you could open up the task manager while youre working and check out the performance tab. It should tell you how much of your processing power and memory is being eaten up by your activities. The Processes tab will give you a breakdown of what, exactly is eating up how much of each resource. It could be you have programs running in the background, bloatware and the like, that are eating up more of your resources than is apparent.




So, I should know how many slots and what size those slots are. I should be aware of the actual item being sold to ensure it's the "right" number of sticks. Anything else? Don't break your computer when installing it? Upgrading memory doesn't really have too many moving parts, so to speak. You should be aware that if you have an older motherboard, you may have a hard time finding larger ram sticks in the size your motherboard supports. You can either take what you can get, or you would have to buy a new motherboard as well, which could potentially mean going as far as buying a new computer, depending on the age and make of the rest of your components.



No, I'm asking for a reason. I save damn near everything to my desktop - either directly or in folder. When I say I have a lot of crap on my desktop, I'm not kidding. That's why I asked specifically about it. Does it make a difference if I have files and folders on my desktop in Windows 10?

Thanks for the input so far.

Well, off hand, I'm pretty sure that's going to put a strain on your boot up sequence, making it take longer to load everything. The desktop folder isn't really designed to be long term storage like that for anything other than shortcuts and word processor files and the like, and the latter are better off on a flash drive these days. I don't know if it would cause the specific problems youre experiencing, but having a cluttered desktop definitely isn't doing you any good either.

[Peelee]

So, I should know how many slots and what size those slots are. I should be aware of the actual item being sold to ensure it's the "right" number of sticks. Anything else?

Generally, it's better to buy matching sticks of memory, since it'll run faster. That said, with the typical usage you outlined, it would probably be not noticeably better performance for a good bit more cost (since you'd likely have to completely replace your current RAM instead of adding a new stick or two).

If you need to replace your old ones anyway, it's not that big of a worry; it's actually kind of hard to not get a matched set through most vendors.

[factotum]

I really don't think having loads of cruft on your desktop is going to make much of a difference to the performance of your PC in normal use--it might make the initial login process take a bit longer, as Keltest says, but once all the icons are loaded and displayed you should be fine. It might make your *own* performance suffer as you have to hunt across the entire screen to find that important document, though!

What concerns me a little here is that you say your performance while browsing the web regularly gets so bad that you have to kill and restart your browser process. That is totally not normal--I'm typing this on a laptop with only 2Gb of RAM and I don't have to do that, even if I'm playing a Youtube video in a background tab while browsing in another. It smacks of something malicious running in your browser process to me. I would defnitely do the Task Manager check Keltest suggested to be sure it's actually the browser process causing the problem and not something else installed on your machine, though.

[halfeye]

Ram is not simple.

It is possible in some cases that Ram can be directly soldered to the motherboard, in which case it can't be changed in any way without so much soldering work it's a lot easier to buy something new.

There are DDR3, and DDR4, and those don't even fit in the same slots. The slots are the same length, but there's a bump that's in a different place.

If the computer is Win 10 and always was, it's probably got DDR4 (the very earliest may have been DDDR3, I don't remember exactly how long ago either changeover was), but if it was converted up from Win 7 or 8, then DDR3 is probable (but not certain, DDR4 was around before it was widely adopted).

6GB is an odd number, because Ram comes in 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 GB sticks (there will be 64, 128 and 256 GB sticks one day, if there aren't already), so you presumably already have a 2GB stick and a 4GB stick, upgrading to 8GB would be a one stick job, but the next obvious jump would be 16GB with two more expensive ones. Matched size sticks generally work better, so 6GB and 12GB are not recommended, but may well work, for a small performance penalty.

[LordEntrails]

Run a good anti-virus scan. Export your browser favorites, remove your web browser(s) and reinstall. And don't add extra 'gadgets' (tool bars and crap) to your browser unless you actually require them.

Then uninstall any programs you don't use, and configure others so they don't auto-start when you start Windows. Things like Skype and IMVU and "updaters" love to do that and are horrible on performance.

[Max_Killjoy]

Check your temp folders and see if they're not clearing out.

Just helped a coworker who had a combined 40+ GB of files in the Windows/Temp and Users/(username)/AppData/Local/Temp folders, to the point where she was getting "out of disk space" errors.

Don't try to force it to delete anything it doesn't want to, just skip those.

[Hunter Noventa]

Run a good anti-virus scan. Export your browser favorites, remove your web browser(s) and reinstall. And don't add extra 'gadgets' (tool bars and crap) to your browser unless you actually require them.

Then uninstall any programs you don't use, and configure others so they don't auto-start when you start Windows. Things like Skype and IMVU and "updaters" love to do that and are horrible on performance.

Yeah I would suggest both of these.

Another thing I would suggest would be to pick up REVO Uninstaller and use that to remove programs that you don't use, as it will also clean up extra data on the hard drive and no-longer relevant entries in the registry.

[Zherog]

What concerns me a little here is that you say your performance while browsing the web regularly gets so bad that you have to kill and restart your browser process. That is totally not normal--I'm typing this on a laptop with only 2Gb of RAM and I don't have to do that, even if I'm playing a Youtube video in a background tab while browsing in another. It smacks of something malicious running in your browser process to me. I would defnitely do the Task Manager check Keltest suggested to be sure it's actually the browser process causing the problem and not something else installed on your machine, though.

Yep, quite convinced it's the browser. I do, in fact, go to the task manager to kill it when it gets bad. At the moment, it's not terrible - but for whatever reason, Firefox has seven processes and is using 1.2 gig of memory.

One thing worth mentioning, maybe, is that I'm ridiculous with open tabs. At the moment I only have about 30 open.


If the computer is Win 10 and always was, it's probably got DDR4 (the very earliest may have been DDDR3, I don't remember exactly how long ago either changeover was), but if it was converted up from Win 7 or 8, then DDR3 is probable (but not certain, DDR4 was around before it was widely adopted).

It was originally Win7 upgraded to Win10. And I also thought 6 was an odd amount of RAM.


Run a good anti-virus scan. Export your browser favorites, remove your web browser(s) and reinstall. And don't add extra 'gadgets' (tool bars and crap) to your browser unless you actually require them.

Then uninstall any programs you don't use, and configure others so they don't auto-start when you start Windows. Things like Skype and IMVU and "updaters" love to do that and are horrible on performance.

Is Avast still considered a good AV? That's what I'm running. No "gadgets" as you call them. I hate the clutter.

And I don't even know what IMVU is...

[Peelee]

Yep, quite convinced it's the browser. I do, in fact, go to the task manager to kill it when it gets bad. At the moment, it's not terrible - but for whatever reason, Firefox has seven processes and is using 1.2 gig of memory.
Oh, you should try Vivaldi! It's kind of a revisit of the old Opera browser back before it became a Chrome clone, and it's got a lot of really nice features that I really think yo-

One thing worth mentioning, maybe, is that I'm ridiculous with open tabs. At the moment I only have about 30 open.
...why do you make the Woz cry?

[Zherog]

So I guess I shouldn't mention that I've had as many as 120 open tabs? :smallyuk:

[snowblizz]

So I guess I shouldn't mention that I've had as many as 120 open tabs? :smallyuk:

And you wonder why computer runs so slow?:smalltongue:

Basic facts. The more tabs open in the browser the more memory it sucks. All those graphical doohickeys eat a lot of memory. I had my computer fold from overheating when visiting a newspapers site once, grphics, adds, videos flash it was too much for the poor 'puter. It's the reason I had to do my previous computer upgrade actually. It'll try and keep a lot of it in memory as it expects you to swap into those tabs, that's why they are open and not because you are abusing tabs as bookmarks hmmm....?

Oh speaking of Angry Birds. I played this Google Chorme verison of Angry Birds that had a memoryleak issue. Basically it would steadily use up every byte available until it choked the computer. This was on Chrome. Funnily enough I switched to Firefox and Angry Birds Chrome worked perfectly.


The stuff on the desktop should be largely incidental. It only really matters in networked environments where your personal profile gets loaded into each computer you use and backed-up. The IT dept don't like your 40gb of mood music you need to be productive.:smallbiggrin:

"Registry cleaners" are a big pile of tosh in Windows10 does you no good at all. All antiviruses are IMO bad, but unfortunately you can't be without. They all stuff lots of unencessary "perfomarance booster" BS along with it and keeps on fearmongering cookies on the same threat level as actual threats. Annoys me greatly. And then ofc the scheduled upselling attempts. Though I've had less of those that before.

To buy RAM you kinda need to check what physical space you got and what sticks you currently have. RAM varies, not only DDR3 (likely what you got) and DDR4. There's all kinds of details hardcore gamers look at (clockspeeds, latency etc), stickign faster moduels into slots or to work with slower modules will take everything down to lowest common denominator. Beyond that, you will want to make sure your motherboard is actually rated for the memorysticks, the mobo manufacturer keeps lists of compatible memory modules based on serial no:s. If it's not on the list beware. It may work or it may not.
Prices for older RAM is gonna go up too. I would probably find a local shop or something that does recycled computers as can probably get a good deal on older memory from them.

Installing RAM is simple. In theory. Even someone who knows better can mess it up on occasion. Ask me about that bluesmoke incident.:smalltongue: It used to be you couldn't install them wrong but I find the levers have too much give these days. If you need to force them youa re doign it wrong. There's an important click and it should be relatively easy to seat them. But not too easy cause then you did it wrong anyway, see above re: bluesmoke.:smallbiggrin:

[Zherog]

And you wonder why computer runs so slow?:smalltongue:

Basic facts. The more tabs open in the browser the more memory it sucks. All those graphical doohickeys eat a lot of memory. I had my computer fold from overheating when visiting a newspapers site once, grphics, adds, videos flash it was too much for the poor 'puter. It's the reason I had to do my previous computer upgrade actually. It'll try and keep a lot of it in memory as it expects you to swap into those tabs, that's why they are open and not because you are abusing tabs as bookmarks hmmm....?

"Tabs as bookmarks" is exactly what it was. :smallredface: It was temporary, in my defense. I fell down a rabbit hole while doing research for a writing project, and kept right-clicking, open new tab until... well... I left them there for a day or two, then took time to create a bookmark folder and save them all off.

The current 30 open tabs actually has two "groups" I could do that with. One that has information about a certification I'm thinking of for my day job, and another with some information about gardening stuff. They'll get either saved off or closed within a few days.


Oh speaking of Angry Birds. I played this Google Chorme verison of Angry Birds that had a memoryleak issue. Basically it would steadily use up every byte available until it choked the computer. This was on Chrome. Funnily enough I switched to Firefox and Angry Birds Chrome worked perfectly.

Assuming the Chrome version was Angry Birds Friends, running from Facebook, it was a common problem a lot of people who play the game had. It's essentially a flash issue, as I recall.



The stuff on the desktop should be largely incidental. It only really matters in networked environments where your personal profile gets loaded into each computer you use and backed-up. The IT dept don't like your 40gb of mood music you need to be productive.:smallbiggrin:

I'm gonna go ahead and move it off and create shortcuts anyway. It can't hurt - at least, as long as I don't "lose" anything in the process...


"Registry cleaners" are a big pile of tosh in Windows10 does you no good at all. All antiviruses are IMO bad, but unfortunately you can't be without. They all stuff lots of unencessary "perfomarance booster" BS along with it and keeps on fearmongering cookies on the same threat level as actual threats. Annoys me greatly. And then ofc the scheduled upselling attempts. Though I've had less of those that before.

Avast definitely has gotten more bloated over the years - that seems to be the AV cycle, really. They start off nice and small and efficient, and over time they become bloated monstrosities.


To buy RAM you kinda need to check what physical space you got and what sticks you currently have. RAM varies, not only DDR3 (likely what you got) and DDR4. There's all kinds of details hardcore gamers look at (clockspeeds, latency etc), stickign faster moduels into slots or to work with slower modules will take everything down to lowest common denominator. Beyond that, you will want to make sure your motherboard is actually rated for the memorysticks, the mobo manufacturer keeps lists of compatible memory modules based on serial no:s. If it's not on the list beware. It may work or it may not.
Prices for older RAM is gonna go up too. I would probably find a local shop or something that does recycled computers as can probably get a good deal on older memory from them.

I can ask around in work, too. They may have some laying around that are headed for the ol' scrap heap.

I just need to find some time to take apart the PC and look inside to see what I have - both as far as space goes as well as trying to determine what type.


Installing RAM is simple. In theory. Even someone who knows better can mess it up on occasion. Ask me about that bluesmoke incident.:smalltongue: It used to be you couldn't install them wrong but I find the levers have too much give these days. If you need to force them youa re doign it wrong. There's an important click and it should be relatively easy to seat them. But not too easy cause then you did it wrong anyway, see above re: bluesmoke.:smallbiggrin:

I've actually installed memory before. Once upon a time, back when things were far simpler (1994 or so), I actually put a PC together from parts. But I haven't fiddled with that sort of stuff - either physically, or mentally keeping up with it all - in quite a while.

Confession: I am in IT. :smalleek: :smallredface: I'm the most (or at least, among the most) computer-illiterate computer programmers you'll ever meet, sadly. Shortly after I built that machine in 1994 or so, I moved from a really small company into a corporate environment, and became an Oracle Applications / SQL developer. Very little of the work I did from that point on had anything to do with OS or hardware - and when it did, it was UNIX.

So, thanks all for the help so far. My plan for some point this week:


Clean up the desktop
Go through my installed programs, killing with malice anything I don't use, and looking up things I don't recognize (just in case they're important)
Related, go through what's running and kill what isn't needed. (I'm looking at you, Cortana...)
Going through temp files (thanks for the reminder on that one, Max_Killjoy)
Looking up the PC online to see if I can find out what kind of memory and how many slots by default, so I can avoid taking it apart if possible.

[Peelee]

Related, go through what's running and kill what isn't needed. (I'm looking at you, Cortana...)

You have my bow.

[factotum]

I just need to find some time to take apart the PC and look inside to see what I have - both as far as space goes as well as trying to determine what type.


You don't actually need to do that. If you install CPU-Z, as well as exactly identifying what processor you have in your system, it uses SPD information to identify the RAM installed--so, for example, when I run it on this laptop it tells me it has 1 memory slot, currently populated with a 2Gb PC3-12800 stick. The only thing it doesn't tell me is whether this is a DIMM or a SODIMM, but generally it's safe to assume a desktop machine will be using DIMMs while a laptop will use SODIMM.

[Zherog]

You don't actually need to do that. If you install CPU-Z, as well as exactly identifying what processor you have in your system, it uses SPD information to identify the RAM installed--so, for example, when I run it on this laptop it tells me it has 1 memory slot, currently populated with a 2Gb PC3-12800 stick. The only thing it doesn't tell me is whether this is a DIMM or a SODIMM, but generally it's safe to assume a desktop machine will be using DIMMs while a laptop will use SODIMM.

Thanks! That's much easier than finding a clean, flat surface, unhooking everything, etc!

[Peelee]

Thanks! That's much easier than finding a clean, flat surface
Ahhh, bachelor life.

[Zherog]

Bachelor? I've been married 23+ years...

[Peelee]

Ahhh, small children?

[Zherog]

Ahhh, small children?

Close - teens. :smallbiggrin:

[Brother Oni]

Close - teens. :smallbiggrin:

So same amount of trouble, just of a different type. :smalltongue:

[Zherog]

You don't actually need to do that. If you install CPU-Z, as well as exactly identifying what processor you have in your system, it uses SPD information to identify the RAM installed--so, for example, when I run it on this laptop it tells me it has 1 memory slot, currently populated with a 2Gb PC3-12800 stick. The only thing it doesn't tell me is whether this is a DIMM or a SODIMM, but generally it's safe to assume a desktop machine will be using DIMMs while a laptop will use SODIMM.

Here's what I think is the pertinent information. If there's another section of the output that would be useful, let me know and I'll copy/paste.


Chipset
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northbridge Intel Sandy Bridge rev. 09
Southbridge Intel H61 rev. B3
Graphic Interface PCI-Express
PCI-E Link Width x16
PCI-E Max Link Width x16
Memory Type DDR3
Memory Size 6 GBytes
Channels Dual
Memory Frequency 665.1 MHz (1:5)
CAS# latency (CL) 9.0
RAS# to CAS# delay (tRCD) 9
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 9
Cycle Time (tRAS) 24
Command Rate (CR) 1T
Host Bridge 0x0100


Memory SPD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIMM # 1
SMBus address 0x50
Memory type DDR3
Module format UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Hyundai Electronics (AD00000000000000000000)
Size 4096 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
Part number HMT351U6CFR8C-H9
Serial number 2C78DFE1
Manufacturing date Week 37/Year 11
Number of banks 8
Nominal Voltage 1.50 Volts
EPP no
XMP no
AMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 6.0-6-6-17-23 @ 457 MHz
JEDEC #2 7.0-7-7-20-27 @ 533 MHz
JEDEC #3 8.0-8-8-22-30 @ 609 MHz
JEDEC #4 9.0-9-9-24-33 @ 666 MHz
JEDEC #5 10.0-9-9-24-33 @ 666 MHz

DIMM # 2
SMBus address 0x52
Memory type DDR3
Module format UDIMM
Manufacturer (ID) Nanya Technology (7F7F7F0B00000000000000)
Size 2048 MBytes
Max bandwidth PC3-10700 (667 MHz)
Part number NT2GC64B88G0NF-CG
Serial number 48220E15
Manufacturing date Week 09/Year 12
Number of banks 8
Nominal Voltage 1.50 Volts
EPP no
XMP no
AMP no
JEDEC timings table CL-tRCD-tRP-tRAS-tRC @ frequency
JEDEC #1 5.0-5-5-14-19 @ 380 MHz
JEDEC #2 6.0-6-6-17-23 @ 457 MHz
JEDEC #3 7.0-7-7-20-27 @ 533 MHz
JEDEC #4 8.0-8-8-22-30 @ 609 MHz
JEDEC #5 9.0-9-9-24-33 @ 666 MHz

DIMM # 1
SPD registers
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F
00 92 11 0B 02 03 19 00 09 03 52 01 08 0C 00 7C 00
10 69 78 69 30 69 11 20 89 00 05 3C 3C 00 F0 83 05
20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0F 11 01 01
40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
50 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
60 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
70 00 00 00 00 00 80 AD 01 11 37 2C 78 DF E1 6D 21
80 48 4D 54 33 35 31 55 36 43 46 52 38 43 2D 48 39
90 20 20 4E 30 80 AD 00 54 48 31 39 4E 36 31 31 33
A0 32 30 31 00 01 03 02 04 03 04 00 02 00 00 00 00
B0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
C0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
E0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
F0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

DIMM # 2
SPD registers
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 0A 0B 0C 0D 0E 0F
00 92 10 0B 02 03 19 00 01 03 52 01 08 0C 00 3E 00
10 69 78 69 30 69 11 20 89 00 05 3C 3C 00 F0 83 05
20 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
30 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0F 01 00 00
40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
50 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
60 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
70 00 00 00 00 00 83 0B 13 12 09 48 22 0E 15 D9 31
80 4E 54 32 47 43 36 34 42 38 38 47 30 4E 46 2D 43
90 47 20 00 00 83 0B 00 00 00 00 11 00 00 00 00 4D
A0 37 31 32 33 30 33 30 31 45 4D 4D 37 32 33 30 30
B0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
C0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
D0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
E0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
F0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00


So it looks like I have a 4 gig and a 2 gig memory doohickey. I don't see anywhere in the file where it says how many actual slots I have - but I'm just finishing my first cup of coffee, so I certainly could've missed it.

[factotum]

In my experience, if it only lists two slots then that's all you have--it being set up as a 2 and a 4 suggests that also, because you'd expect the memory to be in matched pairs, so 6Gb would normally be 2x1 plus 2x2 (that's what I have in a PC under my desk here).

[snowblizz]

Close - teens. :smallbiggrin:

Oooo... why are you bothering us then. Got yer experts right there. Give them the comp and tell them "it don't work right, fix!".

It's how my parents do it at least.:smallbiggrin:

(We'll totally ignore that the average teen these days couldn't tell the inside of a computer from a toothbrush)


About temporary files, I'd also run the "Disk clean-up" (just search for it in win10) and mark clean up system files to get an estimate of how much stuff win10 has hidden. I went from 5gb free to 40gb once after Win10 failed to upgrade (had at least 3 installs in one go clogging things up: Old, Current, Updated Version It Tried to Cram In) by cleaning some of that out. I've got a 128gb SSD so it made a difference...

What you'd need to know is what motherboard you are currently rocking. Something like cpu-z should tell you that too I'd think. With the motherboard serial can easily check what ram fits.

[Zherog]

Oooo... why are you bothering us then. Got yer experts right there. Give them the comp and tell them "it don't work right, fix!".

It's how my parents do it at least.:smallbiggrin:

(We'll totally ignore that the average teen these days couldn't tell the inside of a computer from a toothbrush)

My parents do this to me. They don't get that just because my degree is in Computer Information Systems and I work in IT, it doesn't mean I know how to fix their PC. I sort of got the message through to my father with an analogy. My brother is an EMT. I asked my father if he'd want him doing brain surgery; he, of course, said no. I asked why not? He works in the medical field. So it sort of clicked...



About temporary files, I'd also run the "Disk clean-up" (just search for it in win10) and mark clean up system files to get an estimate of how much stuff win10 has hidden. I went from 5gb free to 40gb once after Win10 failed to upgrade (had at least 3 installs in one go clogging things up: Old, Current, Updated Version It Tried to Cram In) by cleaning some of that out. I've got a 128gb SSD so it made a difference...

Thanks. I'll add that to the list.

And that sort of reminds me... Is defrag still a thing that needs to be done on occasion?


What you'd need to know is what motherboard you are currently rocking. Something like cpu-z should tell you that too I'd think. With the motherboard serial can easily check what ram fits.

Well, let's see what we can find in the text file output...


DMI
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

DMI BIOS
vendor Alienware
version A01
date 12/21/2011
ROM size 6144 KB

DMI System Information
manufacturer Alienware
product Alienware X51
version 00
serial 8RPQMS1
UUID {4C4C4544-0052-5010-8051-B8C04F4D5331}
SKU 0
family 0

DMI Baseboard
vendor Alienware
model 08PG26
revision A00
serial ..CN697022262209.

DMI System Enclosure
manufacturer Alienware
chassis type Desktop
chassis serial 8RPQMS1

DMI Processor
manufacturer Intel
model Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2120 CPU @ 3.30GHz
clock speed 3300.0 MHz
FSB speed 100.0 MHz
multiplier 33.0x

DMI Extension Slot
designation PCIE
type A5
populated yes

DMI OEM Strings
string[0] www.dell.com

DMI Physical Memory Array
location Motherboard
usage System Memory
correction None
max capacity 16384 MBytes
max# of devices 2

DMI Memory Device
designation ChannelA-DIMM0
format DIMM
type unknown
total width 64 bits
data width 64 bits
size 4096 MBytes

DMI Memory Device
designation ChannelB-DIMM0
format DIMM
type unknown
total width 64 bits
data width 64 bits
size 2048 MBytes


Is this the info? If not, can you suggest a search string other than "mother" for me to use?

Also, that confirms I only have two slots...

[factotum]

The motherboard listed appears to be from an Alienware X51. If that's the case, then the manual confirms only 2 DIMM slots:

http://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_alienware_dsk/alienware-x51_reference%20guide_en-us.pdf

[Zherog]

It is indeed an Alienware.

Thanks, all, for the help so far. Hoping to have some time and energy tonight to start getting some of this stuff taken care of.

[tyckspoon]

Is this the info? If not, can you suggest a search string other than "mother" for me to use?

Also, that confirms I only have two slots...

Searching for the model serial number lead to an Alienware data sheet that says the motherboard in that is an H61 family chipset. Should have 2 slots for DDR3 RAM, supporting up to a speed of 1333 MHz/PC-10600. If you decide you want a physical upgrade, a compatible 2x4 kit will probably be ~80 dollars, and capping out the board at 2x8 would in the area of 140 to 160.

[Zherog]

Thanks. A real quick search on Amazon actually comes in a bit less than that - $131.

edit: Not to say I would buy on Amazon; but it's a quick and easy lookup. /edit

I'll likely go that route, but not until I wrap up all the other to-do list items - cleaning up the desktop, removing unused programs, going through the task list to see what's running, and so on.

[snowblizz]

And that sort of reminds me... Is defrag still a thing that needs to be done on occasion?


You don't defrag an SSD, and it's in fact harmful to it. A fun bit of info I did not know when I bought my computer (not that've tried defragging the last 10 years, there's just not that big a benefit anyway, it's not the HDD that's slow in modern systems). And windows should actively prevent you from trying to do a defrag on a SSD.

If got old spinning rust, well it doesn't at least actively hurt.


Something I forgot to mention make sure to check the "apps" on Win10. 1) it always installs stuff you didn't ask every upgrade so uninstall those. 2) run the Store app and check updates, I've seen 2 rather slow laptops that never upgraded the apps it had properly so every time at boot the system would do so clogging write to disk and CPU making ppl not use the laptop for long enough to get the things updated meaning it did the same next time over and so on and on and on.

[factotum]

You don't defrag an SSD, and it's in fact harmful to it.

It's not quite as simple as that. Interesting article:

http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheRealAndCompleteStoryDoesWindowsDefragmentYourSS D.aspx

Short version: Windows 10 *does* do regular defrag of SSD volumes when volume snapshots are enabled (which they are by default), it just doesn't do it as often as it does for spinning rust. Fragmentation is still an issue for SSDs if only because the actual file system can only store a certain number of file fragments, so you could end up being unable to write more data onto the drive even though it isn't physically full.

[Brother Oni]

If got old spinning rust, well it doesn't at least actively hurt.

In my experience, the Windows 10 defrag program only recommends defragging if the fragmentation is above ~5% or something in that ballpark.

For applications that have a few thousand files or if you have massive multi-gig single files and every bit of time saved counts (games, video files, etc) then defragging more regularly (eg after you've installed/un-installed a couple of games) may help.

[Zherog]

Thanks. I sort of vaguely remembered that defrag wasn't as big a deal with more recent editions of Windows. I'll check and see what my percentage is - but I'll also do that task last, so that it takes into account everything I delete as part of the cleanup.

Updating my task list:


Clean up the desktop Done
Go through my installed programs, killing with malice anything I don't use, and looking up things I don't recognize (just in case they're important) Started, more to do here
Related, go through what's running and kill what isn't needed. (I'm looking at you, Cortana...)
Going through temp files (thanks for the reminder on that one, Max_Killjoy)
Looking up the PC online to see if I can find out what kind of memory and how many slots by default, so I can avoid taking it apart if possible. Done (Thanks, all, for the help in finding this info without having to take the machine apart just yet.)
And adding... go through my "download" folder and get rid of all the crap I no longer need, and move the stuff I do need to someplace better. (This won't affect performance, but if I'm doing some "spring cleaning" I may as well take care of this, too.



Something I forgot to mention make sure to check the "apps" on Win10. 1) it always installs stuff you didn't ask every upgrade so uninstall those. 2) run the Store app and check updates, I've seen 2 rather slow laptops that never upgraded the apps it had properly so every time at boot the system would do so clogging write to disk and CPU making ppl not use the laptop for long enough to get the things updated meaning it did the same next time over and so on and on and on.

Do the "apps" just appear as programs on the Start menu? Or are they somewhere else? (Of note here, I don't use the "tiles" version of Windows 10; I stuck with the "looks like Win7" view.)

Once again, thank you to everybody for the help!

[Peelee]

Thanks. I sort of vaguely remembered that defrag wasn't as big a deal with more recent editions of Windows. I'll check and see what my percentage is - but I'll also do that task last, so that it takes into account everything I delete as part of the cleanup.

Updating my task list:


Clean up the desktop Done
Go through my installed programs, killing with malice anything I don't use, and looking up things I don't recognize (just in case they're important) Started, more to do here
Related, go through what's running and kill what isn't needed. (I'm looking at you, Cortana...)
Going through temp files (thanks for the reminder on that one, Max_Killjoy)
Looking up the PC online to see if I can find out what kind of memory and how many slots by default, so I can avoid taking it apart if possible. Done (Thanks, all, for the help in finding this info without having to take the machine apart just yet.)
And adding... go through my "download" folder and get rid of all the crap I no longer need, and move the stuff I do need to someplace better. (This won't affect performance, but if I'm doing some "spring cleaning" I may as well take care of this, too.



Download and use the Vivaldi browser maybe?

[Zherog]

Overall, I'm pretty happy with Firefox. So, I guess, sell me on Vivaldi? I've never even heard of it...

[Peelee]

Overall, I'm pretty happy with Firefox. So, I guess, sell me on Vivaldi? I've never even heard of it...

Among (https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/reasons-switch-vivaldi-browser/) other (https://fieldguide.gizmodo.com/5-reasons-to-use-to-vivaldi-instead-of-chrome-or-firefo-1771284757) reasons (https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/vivaldi-web-browser-best-web-browser-youve-never-tried/), if you like tabs, Vivaldi has tab stacking. You can stack tabs on other tabs and have all the tabs.

There's more I like about it, but I'm heading home. I'll try to add more later.

ETA: The sidebar is my favorite part. A collapsible bar wherever you want that holds the most common functions, including the native notebook. Fast loading, great boot time, great customizability... it's everything I loved about Opera back when Opera was good, and then some. Only downside is that the URL bar can sometimes be a tag sluggish. If you type very fast, it may be a small annoyance, but I'm more than happy to deal with that rather than use a different browser that doesn't do that once in a while. I highly recommend you take it out for a test drive. It's fast, clean, and powerful. An elegant browser, for a more civilized age.

Imean, it's cool if you try it and don't like it. Different strokes for different folks. But you should totally try it.

[snowblizz]

Do the "apps" just appear as programs on the Start menu? Or are they somewhere else? (Of note here, I don't use the "tiles" version of Windows 10; I stuck with the "looks like Win7" view.)



They do indeed. Win10 doesn't really distinguish, much, between apps and what I'd call a real program. It may be it's no longer a meaningful distinction. the Edge broweser is an "app" e.g. and is the main browser MS thinks you want to use. Skype app and Skype desktop was slightly but critically different in function I found to my annoyance here at the office after getting dressed down for not having the proper Skype installed. But as of last tiem I check I cannot find a desktop vs app verison anymore.

You should notice in the startmenu a bunch of stuff you probably never noticed installing. But there's also a lot of "stock" apps, Weather, News, etc etc etc. I probably still have a fair number that came over from Win8 and are now depreciated by MS. Case in point just got rid of a MSN Food & Drink app that no longer does anything (other than tell me they cancelled it). Some of those I've never even started up.

[Zherog]

Perfect. I already uninstalled a whole load o' those already - the ones I could, anyway...

[Max_Killjoy]

And people wonder why I decided to skip Windows 10 in hopes that MS regains their sanity before the next release...

[Peelee]

And people wonder why I decided to skip Windows 10 in hopes that MS regains their sanity before the next release...

I don't know anyone who would wonder why you decided to skip.

[factotum]

If he's skipping Windows 10 to wait for the next release, he'll be waiting a long, long time--Microsoft have already said that Windows 10 is where they're at for the foreseeable future, with a process of rolling upgrades to the base OS much like Apple did with OS X.

[Zherog]

I don't mind Win10, to be honest. To me, it's quite comparable to Win7, which is what I had originally on the PC. Win8 was a steaming pile of rubbish, in my opinion, and I was quite happy to skip that one.

I'm hoping to have time this weekend to get through more of the list, but it's not looking particularly good. I have to work tomorrow morning - hopefully it's only 2-3 hours, but it has the potential to turn into a nightmare. My daughter and I have season tickets to the local MLS team, and there's a match tomorrow night. Even though it could snow here tomorrow. Sunday afternoon is gaming, so Sunday morning is gaming prep (I'm the GM). In theory, there's some time in there - between work and the soccer match; after the soccer match; after gaming - but I also deal with some chronic health issues that leave me fatigued when I do too much - and that schedule right there is pretty much the definition of "too much" in this case.

That said, sitting on my fat ass and uninstalling programs, deleting temp files, and/or cleaning out my downloads folder isn't exactly strenuous. So we'll see...

[Max_Killjoy]

I shouldn't have let myself get started, I won't derail your thread with all the reasons I find Win10 (and all attempts to infest Windows 7 with 10-like aspects) thoroughly horrible.

[FreddyNoNose]

So I guess I shouldn't mention that I've had as many as 120 open tabs? :smallyuk:

so your whole thread is just a troll?

[Zherog]

:smallconfused:

[rupajohn]

This information shared was very useful to me.

[Zherog]

Updating my list a bit. As expected, that "have to work tomorrow morning" thing I mentioned turned ugly. First, it was pushed off until Monday night. Then, when I started, nothing worked. I was up until 3am. Now I'm up before 7am. Part of that "up until 3am" thing, though, was waiting for colleagues in GMZ+2 to wake up so I could hand off. I took care of some of the research on items I didn't recognize while waiting. Anyway...


Clean up the desktop Done
Go through my installed programs, killing with malice anything I don't use, and looking up things I don't recognize (just in case they're important) Done
Related, go through what's running and kill what isn't needed. (Though Cortana may be dead - I need to reboot to verify)
Going through temp files
Looking up the PC online to see if I can find out what kind of memory and how many slots by default, so I can avoid taking it apart if possible. Done (Thanks, all, for the help in finding this info without having to take the machine apart just yet.)
Go through my "download" folder and get rid of all the crap I no longer need, and move the stuff I do need to someplace better. (This won't affect performance, but if I'm doing some "spring cleaning" I may as well take care of this, too.)
Purchase memory
Install said memory
Download and try Vivaldi - like Peelee said, nothing wrong with downloading it, trying it, and not liking it.


Thanks, all. I'm seeing progress, to be honest. So YAY!

[Max_Killjoy]

So you know, the temp files cleanup should take just a few minutes. You don't need to handpick anything, just select all, delete, and let it skip anything it doesn't want to delete.

[Zherog]

So you know, the temp files cleanup should take just a few minutes. You don't need to handpick anything, just select all, delete, and let it skip anything it doesn't want to delete.

Yep. :smallsmile: But I'm including things like browser cache in that sort of thinking, and so that means finding them all - I use two different browsers, and when my kids use the PC instead of their Chromebooks or iPods, they use a third.

Mostly, it's just finding an hour when I have the spoons to deal with things.

[prabhusundar]

The information was shared its very useful for increase
the performance of PC.

[TimPaige]

in fact a lot of pc's are slow due to poor optimisation