Pavillion A305W information

[Guest]

Hello. My mother purchased one of these Wal-Mart specials and was
complaining that the machine is really slow lately. Just after she
bought it, I loaded all the latest updates including service pack 2. In
addition, I added Norton antivirus, an anti-spyware program and
Zonealarm.

At first I assumed that it was probably malware (coolwebsearch, etc.)
but when I ran the spyware program it didn't find anything. I then
loaded the latest AdAware SE and all it found were cookies.

I understand that this machine is a cheap machine and only a celeron
processor, but it seems a lot slower than it should be. I also checked
disk fragmentation and it was not fragmented. The computer still has
the 256mb that it came with.

Does anyone else have much experience with this particular machine? I
am planning on adding 356 more mb of memory but I still would like to
know why it's this slow. Would adding a decent video card help?

I have absolutely no experience with this type of machine or Celeron
processors. I always build my own machines and I only use AMD so I am
not really sure what ot expect.

Thanks.
BIll

[Ben Myers]

The system is slow because it is running with 256MB, which is substandard for
running XP. The memory shortcoming is compounded by the fact that the on-board
buil-in graphics subsystems shares main system memory. But in reality, sharing
means taking away some of the memory. By all means, increase memory to at least
512MB and the system will perform lots better.

The Celeron CPU is no speed burner, but it is perfectly adequate for most tasks
if your mother is not heavy into video games.

I would also delete all the files in the %temp% folder, and defrag the hard
drive for good measure.

With so little memory, the system is constantly paging data back and forth onto
the hard drive, which is probably one of the slow ones spinning at 5400 RPM.

There still may be spyware in there somewhere. As a rule, it is a good policy
to run all the anti-spyware/anti-adware programs before doing any operating
system updates... Ben Myers

On 27 Mar 2005 16:15:42 -0800, mcbill20@yahoo.com wrote:
Hello. My mother purchased one of these Wal-Mart specials and wascomplaining that the machine is really slow lately. Just after shebought it, I loaded all the latest updates including service pack 2. Inaddition, I added Norton antivirus, an anti-spyware program andZonealarm.At first I assumed that it was probably malware (coolwebsearch, etc.)but when I ran the spyware program it didn't find anything. I thenloaded the latest AdAware SE and all it found were cookies.I understand that this machine is a cheap machine and only a celeronprocessor, but it seems a lot slower than it should be. I also checkeddisk fragmentation and it was not fragmented. The computer still hasthe 256mb that it came with.Does anyone else have much experience with this particular machine? Iam planning on adding 356 more mb of memory but I still would like toknow why it's this slow. Would adding a decent video card help?I have absolutely no experience with this type of machine or Celeronprocessors. I always build my own machines and I only use AMD so I amnot really sure what ot expect.Thanks.BIll

[David Kinsell]

mcbill20@yahoo.com wrote: Hello. My mother purchased one of these Wal-Mart specials and was complaining that the machine is really slow lately. Just after she bought it, I loaded all the latest updates including service pack 2. In addition, I added Norton antivirus, an anti-spyware program and Zonealarm.

Service pack 2 has caused numerous problems on different machines. I
wouldn't rule that out. Anti-virus programs slow down computers more
than most people realize. It's particularly bad if the machine comes
preloaded with a trial offer for something like McAfee and then you
load Norton on top of it.

Check the Device Manager to make sure all hardware is properly configured
with appropriate drivers.

More memory will help of course, but if you really want to speed things
up, do a clean install of just XP and leave out the gigabytes of junkware
that get loaded on the systems. It will also free up tons of disk space,
which would be significant on a system like this with only 40 gigs.

Upgrade/add softwareware one piece at a time, evaluating the system at every
step to see if it caused a problem.

-Dave

[Guest]

David Kinsell wrote: mcbill20@yahoo.com wrote: Hello. My mother purchased one of these Wal-Mart specials and was complaining that the machine is really slow lately. Just after she bought it, I loaded all the latest updates including service pack
2. In addition, I added Norton antivirus, an anti-spyware program and Zonealarm. Service pack 2 has caused numerous problems on different machines. I wouldn't rule that out. Anti-virus programs slow down computers more than most people realize. It's particularly bad if the machine comes preloaded with a trial offer for something like McAfee and then you load Norton on top of it. Check the Device Manager to make sure all hardware is properly
configured with appropriate drivers. More memory will help of course, but if you really want to speed
things up, do a clean install of just XP and leave out the gigabytes of
junkware that get loaded on the systems. It will also free up tons of disk
space, which would be significant on a system like this with only 40 gigs. Upgrade/add softwareware one piece at a time, evaluating the system
at every step to see if it caused a problem. -Dave

Thanks for the info. I definitely always try to do what you mentioned--
install only XP. But unfortunately with this machine that may not be
possible. There were a few other notes in this group that mentioned
that finding many of the drivers might be very difficult. Plus, the
stupid machine didn't come with any CD's. I guess I can order them but
I don't even know if they are separated (xp and the add-on
applications) or if it's just an all or nothing restore.

The first thing I will do is add memory and we'll see what that does.

Thanks.
Bill