Speeding up a PC without reinstalling Windows

azibux1

azibux1

azibux1

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Hi,

I might be getting a PC from someone soon that needs sorting out.

I haven't seen it yet so don't know how bad it is but they say it is just generally slow.

I will take it all apart and clean the insides but software-wise what things can I do to it to speed it up without reinstalling windows? (Trying to work out if it is worth reinstalling or not)

I have thought of:
- Disk degrag and set up schedule
- Antivirus scan and set up schedule
- Malware scan and set up schedule
- CCleaner run and set up schedule
- Remove unnecessary start up services to decrease boot time

Anything else? And will those things make a noticeable difference as I don't want the person to feel I've charged them and not done anything noticeable?

Thanks! :)
 
Charge them for what you plan to do and tell them it could make a difference. Promising to "speed up your computer" is too fuzzy. Both parties need to be clear about what is being done.
 
mrbell1984 said:
I'm not going to comment about anything else except (just re-install windows).
Click to expand...

So you suggest reinstalling Windows because that will make a noticeable difference?

theheyes said:
Charge them for what you plan to do and tell them it could make a difference. Promising to "speed up your computer" is too fuzzy. Both parties need to be clear about what is being done.
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying, so tell them I'm going to do the above (including physically cleaning the inside of the PC), tell them it should make a difference and if they're still not happy then take it back to reinstall Windows?

How much would you say is a sensible price to charge to a family who your family has known for quite a while just to do all of the above (not reinstalling Windows, just the rest I mentioned)
 
Generally speaking most of those changes won't speed up a PC as much as replacing the boot drive with an SSD. I use to do this at work on old machines people were complaining about, saved them having to find disks to reinstall etc. I'm talking 7-8 year old PCs with very old, slow HDDs.

Even older motherboards tend to support SSDs without issue and even if the bottleneck is the first gen SATA it's still vastly faster than a clunky old drive.

If I was doing that for family/friend, I'd look at the cost of the SSD + 1 hour labour, at most. Depends how long I'd known them, how close a relative they were etc, usually I wouldn't charge if I agreed to help out, which I usually don't these days ;)
 
Halfmad said:
Generally speaking most of those changes won't speed up a PC as much as replacing the boot drive with an SSD. I use to do this at work on old machines people were complaining about, saved them having to find disks to reinstall etc. I'm talking 7-8 year old PCs with very old, slow HDDs.

Even older motherboards tend to support SSDs without issue and even if the bottleneck is the first gen SATA it's still vastly faster than a clunky old drive.

If I was doing that for family/friend, I'd look at the cost of the SSD + 1 hour labour, at most. Depends how long I'd known them, how close a relative they were etc, usually I wouldn't charge if I agreed to help out, which I usually don't these days ;)
Click to expand...

I was just speaking to a friend and even he says that reinstalling Windows will make the most difference

So when you done what you were saying ... You bought a new copy of Windows to put on the SSD? And I'm guessing you backed up their files, reformatted the HDD, put their files back on it as a storage drive and left it in there?

Will have to see what the PC is like and what they say.

What would you say would be a suitable SSD? Cheap as possible ... But not a totally useless unreliable one

I think I will go and see the PC and have a look, see what the hardware is like, what OS is on there and what it could run etc
 
KIA said:
He probably cloned the drive.
Click to expand...

Ohhh right ... Minus-ing out the need to find the installation disk?

That sounds like a good idea

I've never done that before so what would you do if the drive in the PC currently (and it's contents) are more than the capacity of the SSD?
 
Removing duff startup items
CCleaner
Defrag

Those will speed it up, but reinstalling Windows will speed it up a lot more!
 
bledd. said:
Removing duff startup items
CCleaner
Defrag

Those will speed it up, but reinstalling Windows will speed it up a lot more!
Click to expand...

Yeah I think I will probably go with the reinstalling Windows option as it will make a much larger difference

Just need to hope that they have the Windows DVD ... If they don't what is the best legit/legal way of doing it? I'm hoping they should have it though

If I have spare and compatible RAM I might install that for them too if the sticks I have will increase the memory
 
First thing for me to do when I get a pc is take the side off and clean the heatsink and remove all dust from within the case, 90% of speed issues I find are because the heatsink is gummed up and the CPU is throttling.

Next would be to see how much RAM it has anything less than 2GB and I will recommend more memory (DDR2 is cheap so why not).

Windows install,
I will check the install over to see if there are any major problems, if no then MWB CCleaner and a good defrag, also removing unused programs and extras. If there are problems then out comes the USB stick and format away! (once there personal stuff is saved that is).
 
BigBoy said:
First thing for me to do when I get a pc is take the side off and clean the heatsink and remove all dust from within the case, 90% of speed issues I find are because the heatsink is gummed up and the CPU is throttling.

Next would be to see how much RAM it has anything less than 2GB and I will recommend more memory (DDR2 is cheap so why not).

Windows install,
I will check the install over to see if there are any major problems, if no then MWB CCleaner and a good defrag, also removing unused programs and extras. If there are problems then out comes the USB stick and format away! (once there personal stuff is saved that is).
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply!

It is replies like that, that are making me want to not reinstall Windows as it seems like unnecessary hassle and lots of reinstalling of programs

I am assuming it is going to be very dusty as I'm guessing it has never been opened and cleaned

I will check the prices of DDR2 bases on what you said

I dont think there will be anything seriously wrong with the install because it isn't having any other issues, it is just slow

I will be able to make a better decision once I've been and seen the PC
 
azibux1 said:
Ohhh right ... Minus-ing out the need to find the installation disk?

That sounds like a good idea

I've never done that before so what would you do if the drive in the PC currently (and it's contents) are more than the capacity of the SSD?
Click to expand...

Many SSDs come with atronis or a similar software to enable disk to disk transfer onto the new SSD. Most Kingston drives I've bought have had this.
 
Something I do if a PC is running badly is go into Task Manager > Processes, and sort by CPU, you should see what is hammering the system the most, this can help decide what programs to ditch / keep. Have a look at 'I/O Read' and 'I/O Write Bytes' too, this will give an idea what is chewing on the hard drive the most. Not very scientific, but it helps understand what is stressing the machine in question...
 
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