Stepped out of the stone age, Goodbye Dialup

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 8:30 pm

PCPitstop is fine I have used it for years, all it asks for is an activeX component to download. Run it and see what you get. Believe me I have used it on systems for the last 10 years it's ok. As for the dual channel mode it should work fine the problem is to enable it you have to have all the ram of the same brand and size if you upgrade buy 4 sticks at the same time so as to have better odds that they all came from the same batch of memory or are at least close. You are running at about 82% which is not bad test a few times at different times of the day to see if you have a data bottleneck due to others using the system or if that's your typical value. A PIV 2.66 is not too bad, it certainly should be good for surfing the web and all but the most power hungry apps. I ran the same chip in mine until I upgraded to a PIV 3.4EE chip which would boost your processor speed but they are a bit hard to come by now days. With only 512 mb ram showing 504 usable I will guess the computer is using an on board video and sound card which uses system memory and resources and will slow down a system a bit over dedicated boards. I recommend downloading a trial version of TuneUp Utilities 2009 and running the optimization software included it will set system up for best setting based on how you are using the system. it's not free but it the trial won't turn things off you change if you don't purchase it. Again this is trusted software i have used for years. What are you running for virus software?
I have used AVG free version for some time now and have also installed AVAST on my laptop to try because AVG was using to much system resources for a PIII laptop with only 256meg of RAM. Run the tests and post up your scores or just PM them to me and I will see what we can do for you.

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 1:21 pm

Just ran the test again and got 852.7kbps. Running AVG free 8.0. Also running MaxSecure spyware detector and registry cleaner. And yes it is using integrated sound and video. I tried to run pitstop again but it keeps telling me to turn off all firewalls and other security features in addition to allowing active-x to run.
I have not yet purchased additional memory for this puter and after reading the specs on hp's site was aware for the need for balance between sticks but not aware they needed to be from the same batch to work. Guess that takes care of the idea of refurbished sticks out of the equation for practicality sake if I want it to run in dual mode.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:06 pm

Again, go ahead and let the tests run, they only collect system data not personal so it's fine.
It's hit or miss with the memory thing better to be safe than to spend money on memory that won't do the job.
Sounds like you are getting good throughput with the card I doubt there will be any connection tweaks that will help, just some system setting and upgrades to make the puter itself a bit faster. AVG8 uses a lot of system resources so the extra memory will definitely boost performance with that running. 2gb minimum is my recommendation 4 gb is actually wasted a bit with a 32bit puter, windows can only "SEE" 3.5gb so the extra is "lost"

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 7:03 pm

Thanks for the advice on the RAM. It's not the program I worry about. I've had problems with virus etc in the past and they seemed to lurk on the server I was using for internet as I even acquired them without opening any programs just connecting. That's why I'm gun shy at dropping all the barriers not the program. I believe you on that score.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Thu Feb 05, 2009 7:17 pm

I can't help you if you are opening those kinds of sites

If you have the AVG active scanner for web pages turned on it can slow down page loading quite a bit since it checks each page before it opens it. I gave up on that it was slowing down my surfing too much.

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 5:48 am

Sites?????? As I indicated I've picked up virus and crap without even opening a browser. Simply by going online with no web pages active. I understand AVG and others will slow things down but given the past troubles I've had it is a worthwhile price to have to pay as computer virus troubles are a pain in the a**. Since going to semi-hi speed with phone as a modem I've even had AVG tell me it has blocked intrusion attempts and virus attacks without having even opened any sites or browser pages. Now perhaps you'll understand better why I'm a bit gun shy regarding safety shut-downs.

04crewvt · Post by **04crewvt** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:07 am

I can't help you if you are opening those kinds of sites

Just kidding, I am not sure why you are having so many virus issues. I was just trying to help with your speed issues but it sounds like you are not going to try what I suggested so I guess I have helped all I can. Hope adding memory at least speeds things up a bit for you. Good Luck

roadrunner · Post by **roadrunner** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:37 am

Thanks all your help is greatly appreciated.