This week’s computer column

By Bruce Richardson

Make my computer faster!

Sorry, it is not as simple as downloading one of those programs off the Internet and then your machine turns into a SuperComputer.

How fast your computer operates depends on the equipment you have and also the programs you run.

Physically, the speed of your computer depends on three factors: the processor speed, the amount of memory installed, and the size of the hard drive.

 Caveat: this article addresses Windows computers only.  Those with Macs usually don’t have a lot of problems, or at least that is what they say.

If your computer is less than 3 years old, you should be O.K. with respect to processor speed and the size of the hard drive.  Processor speed and hard drive space increases each year and will continue to do so.  If you believe that your processor needs to be upgraded, you should consider buying a new machine instead, as the prices for new machines makes it a worthwhile alternative.  You can always buy more hard drive space, it is dirt cheap.

What you really need to be concerned about is the amount of memory you have installed on the machine.  If you want a faster machine, increase the memory as much as you can.  The ceiling is 8GB.

Time for your metrics lesson of the day.

1kb = 1 kilobyte

1MB = 1 megabyte = 1,000 kilobytes

1GB = 1 gigabyte = 1,000 megabytes

1TB = 1 terabyte = 1,000 gigabytes

Now I will show you how to find out what you have.  Both XP and Vista provide system information and also provide you with a performance monitor to see what your computer is actually using and doing.

On XP, go to START, in the lower left corner, ALL Programs, Accessories, System tools, system information.  It will refresh, and bring up the system information.

On Vista, the big button in the lower left corner is the start button.  Follow the same path as above.

PLEASE don’t change anything!  On the system information page, about a third of the way down will be the processor information.  Hopefully, it will be 1.5 GH(or 150MHZ) and above.  If not, you have a weak processor.

Further down are the memory entries.  The most important is the PHYSICAL memory, what you have actually installed.  Some machines list it in MB only, so if it says, 4,096.00MB, you have 4GB of memory.

That would be ideal for most machines.

If you computer says 256MB or anything below 1,000MB (1GB), you probably have performance issues, and I would suggest you get more memory on the machine.

Now close out of the System Information screen and move your mouse to the bottom toolbar of your computer and RIGHT click once.  This will bring up a small menu.  Usually in the middle is the listing, Task Manager.  Left click once to bring up the Task Manager.  Head for the middle tab and select Performance.

This shows the ‘heart beat’ of your machine, the work that the processor (CPU) is doing, and the amount of memory you are using – right now.  All you have to do is the math to see how you are doing.

Towards the bottom of the screen is a listing for ‘Physical Memory’.  Just look at the total.  It is usually listed in Megabytes.  Mine says: “Total 4085” – or 4 GB.  If you look at the graph above it, it will show what you are actually using.  Mine says: “1.4 GB” and the graph is a steady blue line.  You want to get as much separation between the two numbers as you can.  What I have seen is a Physical Memory listing of: “Total 1024” – or 1GB and the monitor above saying: “738” with a steady yellow line.  This means that you are using three quarters of your memory just to load up the desktop and read the North Coast News.

You can leave the Task Manager up and open another browser window.  The processor will spike up and the memory will jump up as well.  Go ahead and close out of the Task Manager.

One other piece of equipment needs to be considered, and that is the size of the ‘pipe’.  Your Internet Connection.  If you are using dial-up to access the Internet, your machine can only be as fast as the size of the connection.  And dial-up is the slowest, so don’t expect miracles.  Get Broadband or DSL.  Fiber is fastest, but not available to most of us.

Now don’t run out and start buying memory.  Your machine may be fine for what you do with it.  If you do E-mail and surf the net and play solitaire and are happy with your machine, that’s great – don’t need to do a thing.  If you need to do a lot more with your computer, Tech up!

Bruce Richardson is the owner of Purple Tree Farms in Ocean Shores. Bruce is a Web Designer and Technology Consultant; he can be reached at 360-500-3643.  His website is www.purpletreefarms.com.