Dimension 4300S - freezes; virtual memory problems, runs slow

Hi SRABB,

Virtual memory is not RAM. It represents space on your hard drive. How much free space do you have on your hard drive.

Something is gobbling memory -- may I ask which service pack level has been applied to your XP instance?

Sorry for my late response.   I just checked and I have XP service pack 3.  Constant freezing and when I start pc again it does a long disc check. Often something with IE5 comes on screen and says it's not valid.  I have AVG virus checker which has stopped a number of "Black Box" viruses in past few weeks. I checked with the cable company (Time Warner) who say it's that my computer is "Old".  I can't find how to go to F2 at startup to check the CPU (whether it's on "normal") so any assistance would be much appreciated.   (I checked the system and I have app 764 mg of memory and available about 340 mg)

srabb

Dimension 4300S

Service Pack 3

Osprey:  Just rec'd your message. Thanks.  How do I check for free space on hard drive?  

I have XP service pack 3. When it freezes, I turn off computer then start it again.  I was told to get to F2 at startup and check if CPU is "normal" but I can't seem to find F2 at the startup.  The pc runs very slow. I have about 768 mg of RAM but only 348 now available.  (Cable co says it's slow because it's an old machine.Even tho I'm using broadband  )

Any help would be much appreciated.

thanks.

srabb

Open My Computer, right click the C drive and select properties. You'll see a pie chart showing used and available space.

1.53 gb out of 19 gb. So it's pretty low on hard drive. Can that be causing my pc to freeze and operate slowly? How do I correct this?   thanks for your help.  

Also: now defragmenting. Apparently there are a lot of "cookies" on "Network Service". How do I get rid of those files? I also noticed "recipe" and other sort of files there. Why are they on the hard drive?

There are three easy things to do to free up space:

1. Go to control panel, internet options, delete temp internet files,

2. Go to start, run, type %Temp% and click OK. A folder full of files and other folders will appear. Ctrl-A will select all of them, then right click and delete.

3. Empty the recycle bin.

Have done what you suggested. Now have 3.48 g of hard drive out of 19.40. Thanks.

 Can that  be enough?  Or should I try to clean more off the hard drive?

SRABB

The best method, is to install a larger capacity IDE hard drive, to give you more storage.

The Dimension 4300S will support any IDE/EIDE, 3.5", 7200rpm internal hard drive up to 120GB in size, as the 4300S has a BIOS limitation of 137GB.

Bev.

I agree with Bev. The best solution would be to install a larger drive and reinstall the operating system.

Well, pretty much any new desktop would be a huge leap forward in terms of speed and capability. The Inspiron 620 is the current home desktop, similar to your Dimension 4300. You can get either a very basic model or upgrade to more hard drive space and memory. For CPU, I strongly recommend the Intel i5 over the base i3.

Wondering if I should purchase a NEW desktop with more memory and more capacity.  Which model would be best ?

How much hard drive space and how much memory would be good?  And how do I transfer things from my current hard drive (like Word,etc. files)

thanks.

The offered systems change from time to time. What I see tonight is this model offered with an i5 processor, and it includes a 1 TB hard drive and 6GB of RAM.

For applications, those will need to be reinstalled on the new system. For your personal files, you can use the Windows Easy Transfer utility. We used this when we bought our current desktop and it transferred both my wife's and my stuff perfectly.