Software/Advice to Streamline my PC

First, don't log onto the net at all with your computer. This added load and external access by others will certainly and always rob your system of resources. Second, write your own code for everything your computer is supposed to do. If you do not write your own code, you will never be sure that your machine will be running at optimal capability.

Thanks, but I don't write code. My request is for the easy solution, which for my purposes will suffice!

Well then you'll then have to, like all of us, accept some amount of "wasted" resources of your machine to go to tasks not in direct support of your tasks in hand. This will mean first a choice of hardware and operating system platforms. As you may know the three prominent platforms are Windows, Apple and Linux. Many Apple and Linux operating system code is the same but the user support is drastically different. There are many more operating systems but these are the big three.

The easiest of these three platforms for a person to maintain and use has been for a long time the Apple computers. The drawbacks of this platform though is that frequently this package has a highest upfront cost to the other platforms. It also may not have the precise application code you are looking for. There will also be a limited number of different application programs to do a specific task. The advantage though to many is the absolute ease in maintaining this platform and the lack of software incompatibility problems.

Lower in the initial cash expense category is Windows. To my knowledge, Windows is still the most popular platform. As such it draws the most amount of attention from the hacker community. This will mean that one must purchase and maintain a reputable antivirus/security program to work with this platform. Many security application producers (Norton, McAfee, Kaspersky) also produce optimization maintaining software that will ease your maintenance. I recommend that these two programs be from the same software house to maximize compatibility. (I happen to use Norton 360 that combines these programs.) (It's a good idea for all platforms to have this but is much less critical for the others.) With Windows being the most prevalent platform, the application program you wish to use will likely be written to use this operating system. If you do not have a specific application program in mind then you will find one of the paradoxical problems of Windows. Regardless of what you wish to do there are a vast number of application programs that do the task to some degree or another. Identifying which program fits both your needs and budget can be a maddening process.

Lastly in my discussion is the lowest of the initial cost operating systems, Linux. This free operating system will require the most amount of user knowledge to install and maintain. A significant advantage for the user will be the complete control capability one has at their fingertips, that is if they know where to put their fingertips. In the spirit of free software, many free application software packages are readily available for this platform. But when compatibility issues happen it can become maddening finding out how to fix it.

That's my highly abbreviated summation of computers 101. If you wish a more detailed answer, you will have to provide more details.

That all depends on what your computer hardware and operation system are, and what you are using your computer for (home business, gaming, internet surfing, computer or math modeling, etc, etc). Chances are either a change in your computer operating and maintenance habits and/or a hardware boost are all that's needed.

Please provide more information on what you are using and what you are using it for as this will help greatly!

Assuming a Windows machine:-

Buy more memory, how much depends on which Windows you actually have, but anything like XP or later, a minimum of 2 GB.. Win7 I have heard likes 4 GB...

Remove any software that you don't use, keep details incase you need to put it back on.

Get a registry cleaner software, use it to clean the registry of all unneeded entries at least once a month.

Defrag the hard disk regularly (at least twice a month!).

Do those things in that order......

or

reinstall windows from new, only put the software you need on the disk.

Clean registry at least once a month.

Defrag regularly (at least twice a month!).

Once you have a good installation of your OS, install only the applications you absolutely need... and run them one at a time unless you absolutely need more than one running at a time. Then read up on the Internet -- tips and tricks from other users about unnecessary parts of the OS you are running (Windows, mostly) that can be disabled and not affect application operations. (Again, mostly versions of Windows, that have "services" running that may not be required for your applications to run properly.)

...OR, IF your applications are simple, like word processing, go back to DOS.

Cheers guys! I have found a copy of windows 7 64 bit! Thanks for the advice!

Why is that good? Do you already have 64 bit compatible software?

not sure i just heard windows 7 is a better operating system than xp

Yes it is, but there are 32 bit and 64 bit versions......(there are many more versions, but this is the first decision you need to make!!).

If you were not buying 64 bit software before AND/or it was/is not Win7 compatible, you might find that changing OS could be really expensive!!!

In a worst case condition you may just need to throw all your software away and start buying new that is both 64 bit and Win7 compatible.....

If your software is 32 bit (most still is), then maybe Win7 32 bit might just run it in XP compatible mode. (Guessing here as I will probably never go to Win7 myself, I would rather go to Linux!!)

Hopefully there is someone reading this who knows Win7 (hopefully exactly the same version as you have in all respects) and can give you better advice.....

well i don't pay for software, never have, never will. but i will enquire with the guy who is pirating it.... he mentioned something along the lines of running all 4 gig of ram in my pc with 64 bit. thanks for the help...

I personally find that shows an apalling lack of character.....

Using free software is one thing, pirating software is another. CR4 does not take kindly to pirates......never has done.

Perhaps you will get caught and have to pay for your actions fairly soon.....with a bit of luck!!!

<sigh>

Don't bother getting a pirated version of Windows 64 bit as you will be creating MORE hardware and software conflict problems than you solve, in addition to it being illegal.

You get what you pay for after all.

Thank you all very kindly, I appreciate your efforts, your information has been very helpful.