General subject for people about computers and memory.

[one cool dog]

This is a brilliant place and I wanted to ask a general question about my own computer.

My details are as in the screen shots.




It has been running painfully slowly for ages now, and I realise it does not have a load of memory in the first place.

My broadband provider is AOL and have IE7 as a web browser.

Can I do/but anything to upgrade this computer I have. My wife would not be overly pleased about a suggestion of a newer computer, so if I can speed this up, it would be brilliant. Would buying extra memory, talking as though I know what I am on about, make things appreciably quicker, and if so, what?

My broadband is badly slow as Im on a 15metre cable, but I can live with that, although any speed up would be great.

Also, when I use task manager, can anyone tell me exactly what processes need to be running and what do not? Is there a reference out there any where? Ive about 35ish running at one time, is that normal?


You seem like the guys to ask, so any help would be greatly appreciated, or direction to some answers.

Regards

[one cool dog]

Ive been doing some checking tonight about processes, and unfortunately they all seem to need to be run.

However, if I end my explorer.exe, will it make a noticeable difference to the performance of BA? Has anyone tried it like that, and does it speed up general use of the net?

[Mitch]

I dont think it's a good idea to end explorer. I'm not an expert but I don't think it is Internet explorer, it is a process windows needs to run.
You could try ending it with nothing else running and see what happens.

I read something on the net recently because I'm building pc's for work, and it said 256mb RAM is minimum for expecting XP to run and still have other programs run acceptably, especially if you have multiple progs running. 512mb sees a significant improvement over 256mb, then each increase after that sees progressively less and less % improvement in speed.

With 192mb of RAM I doubt you have any spare slots to put more in so if you wanted to increase it you could either replace the 64mb with a 128mb or a 256mb, or take them both out and put 2 x 256mb in.

I'd go with 2 x 256mb if you don't want to stretch to a new pc (which can be had for about £235 from www.ebuyer.com). They would probably also be the cheapest for the extra RAM, but you need to find out exactly what type is in your pc now to make sure you get the right type.

[one cool dog]

Thank you for taking the time to answer and i will look into that.

I found some great online processess dictionaries last night, that explained every thing - just lob a similar statement to that in Google and you find them.

iexplore.exe was using a lot and I found that it suggested it might be spyware (I was thinking it was Internet Explorer myself) so I closed it down, and funnily enough, I was right, it closed down the web.

I then read up about explorer.exe and found that everywhere said it did not need to be running to work. The web stays on happily enough but my desktop loses everything, bar my background picture - so all icons etc. My web does appear to be quicker and the 0.5 refresh on BA seemed constantly very quick.#

Again, many thanks for taking the time to answer me. Do you know your computer 'types' Mitch, i.e laptops, hand helds etc? I have another question to ask if you do.

[PeteB]

Extra memory will help any PC - and yes 2*256 would be nice if you can stretch to it. www.dabs.com is usually good for price.

There are a few other things you can do too. Defragmenting disk and cleaning registry can make a big difference sometimes - there are tools for this here:
http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/default.htm
and an article here:
http://safety.live.com/site/en-US/article/SlowPC.htm

[D Splash]

Want to turn processes off, take a look in here, it lists what is and isnt essential.

http://www.dead-eye.net/WinXP%20Services.htm

[Mitch]

Do you know your computer 'types' Mitch, i.e laptops, hand helds etc?

I'm not sure what you mean, but ask away. There is lots of knowledge here and if one person doesn't know surely someone else will.

[one cool dog]

I may have asked this question before, so apologies if I am going over old ground.

For me, the biggest advantage to have would be computer access on a racecourse. The various delays via any television station mean there is potential for getting in early still, as people will always want to play at home in-running.

To be as inconspicuious as I could, as you would not want everyone staring at you, the pc would need to be small. I admit I have no idea if what I am talking about could happen, but on a thing like a palm top computer, could BA work effiently enough on a course via a wireless connection to get you that advantage. I have watched Racetech versus SIS coverage (SIS being the fastest way of watching racing apart from live CH4 or BBC pics) and there is a obvious gap there, a chance to back or lay before Joe lazy at home. Doing it by phone to someone at a computer would be pointless as by the time you spoke to him/her, then he/her pressed the key etc etc

Has anyone ever investigated this? Has anyone tried it? And what do people think the costs of setting up such a project are? It must already happen because there are people who clearly get in front of me, and Im not too slow when I have a good line and SIS.

There must be plenty of money to made doing this, if a connection can be made that is good enough, and it can use BA as well.

[Dai_Young]

Doing it by phone to someone at a computer would be pointless as by the time you spoke to him/her, then he/her pressed the key etc etc

This is actually how certain players have made many thousands of pounds trading UK horse racing in-running. A friend of mine works as part of a team which has been ultra successful in this area. They employ a race reader at the course with an always-on connection to a guy sat at a computer at home. The race readers are all experienced and very sharp, for instance they know precisely which viewing positions to take up at certain tracks to get the optimum view of the action.

They don't only make it pay in-running, they arb between the betfair and on-course markets in between races and also get involved in stuff like photo finishes and stewards enquiries.

I've witnessed their operation and it is highly profesional and impressive. They don't try and pile in at 1.01 when they think they see the winner, they prefer to try and hit higher prices on horses travelling well with a view to laying off once everyone else spots it. The guy sat at the computer uses an interface similar to Gary's, although it is a bit more sophisticated (voice activated controls for example).



There must be plenty of money to made doing this, if a connection can be made that is good enough, and it can use BA as well.

As far as I am aware the connection speed of wireless laptop devices or similar is not fast enough for it to be of any real advantage at a racecourse. Dial-up connection speed would negate any time edge over on course/Racetech/SIS players. Of course technological advancements will soon make it possible though you'd still need to be a pretty damn good race reader I reckon.

[one cool dog]

Hi Dai

You have a pm.

[Captain Sensible]

You need to remember that there's probably very little speed difference between dial up and broadband we're only talkin milliseconds not seconds here. The delay in being on course and using sis would be enough to take advantage. Broadband just means you have a bigger "pipe" to send the info down so you can send 512KB instead of 52KB, but the info used to place a bet is only a few kb. Obviously if you're refreshing that may slow you down but the main thing to look at are the ping speeds which determine how quick you can send info to the betfair site.

I know people on dial up who are quicker than my aol Broadband mainly due to aol routig thru america and having far too many hops on the round trip to betfair.

[winchy]

Looking at your chip ie 850 Celeron you are probably still using PC 100 or PC 133 ram, check this by removing one of the ram modules. If this is the case you should be able to upgrade to 512 Meg if your motherboard supports it for less than 40 quid.

Buying second hand on EBAY even ram is no problem and will be cheaper still, it either works or doesnt, usually it will tell you its been tested first, also buy two identical sticks as ram can conflict.

Winchy

[Captain Sensible]

€I'd agree with winchy, upgrading the memory is your best bet. The ram you've got is far too little to run xp and other progs. I've bought ram off ebay and never had a problem with it. RAM usually has a lifetime guarantee so rarely goes wrong.

PC's have dropped in price recently due to dual cores becoming more popular so dependant on how much the ram is you could pick up a decent spec desktop without a monitor/software for around £200 these days. Just use your existing software and monitor and at least your have a decent spec.

Tis one was going for £230 on the morgan site

HP Tower Unit PC ideal for both business and personal use
Intel Pentium 4 550 Processor
3.4Ghz with HT Technology
1GB DDR-SDRAM
250GB 7200rpm Hard Drive
DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
ATI X300 256MB Graphics
Intel HiDef Sound
9in1 Card Reader
7 USB 2.0 ports
56k Modem, 10/100 LAN
Windows XP Home Edition
On-board Recovery Partition
TV Tuner and Radio FM Tuner

[The Gambling Monkey]

When was the last time you formatted the hard drive and reloaded everything?

If you have never done this you will be amazed by the difference in speed.

[one cool dog]

Hi There

If I could indulge a touch more, where should I be pulling me ram from? (Sounds almost Carry On like )

Im guessing it is something in the back of the tower, but could someone screenshot me, or link me to page where itshows it.
I can go searching for it, but it might be better if someone who knows exactly what it lloks like, to send me the link. £40 would be ideal.


Cheers