RegistryBooster

[Michael Abrams]

Has anyone ever used RegistryBooster?

My PC is runnning way too slow, and I have virus scanned it, malware scanned it, Spy botted it, AdAwared it, defragged it and it still runs like crap.

Windows XP - Dell - about 5 years old (ancient, eh?)

Any opinions on this product?

Thank you.

Michael

[HansV]

I once installed a trial version to see what it would detect, and I wasn't impressed.

In general, the value of registry cleaners in recent versions of Windows (including XP) is debatable. The presence of large numbers of obsolete registry entries has little impact on performance.

How much memory does your PC have? Although Windows XP itself runs comfortably in 512 MB, once you add a few active programs, 512 MB is barely adequate. 1 GB or 2 GB is much better.
You can use the Task Manager to see how much memory is in use, and to some extent which programs/processes use most.

Use a utility such as WhatInStartup to see which programs are loaded automatically at start-up. There may be some you don't really need to run all the time; you can disable them using WhatInStartup.

Many programs look for automatic updates during startup. Although this is convenient, it isn't really necessary. If you're willing to look for updates manually, you can disable their automatic update feature.

[Michael Abrams]

I'll have to check when I get home how much memory - but I will install & run WhatInStartup - sounds interesting.

Thanks Hans !

Michael

[Argus]

I've never heard of that software, but I don't use such, so that might be a reason.

Have you looked at what you have installed; software that you run that perhaps are a bit too "heavy" for the PC, as well as software that you have running in the background; anti-virus, anti-malware, perhaps an IM client etc.

I think that no "registry magic" can change a situation where the installed software is demanding too much from the hardware.

Also, I agree with Hans, you could take a look at the amount of RAM, comparing idle with peak levels.

So, a bit of matching RAM with software.

[Michael Abrams]

The embarrassing part is, is that I do look at task Manager - processes - performance, and I do not know what the heck it all means !!

Let me look at the startup first, and report back.

Thanks ,
Michael

[John Gray]

The embarrassing part is, is that I do look at task Manager - processes - performance, and I do not know what the heck it all means.

Very few people "know what it all means" , but let me give you some pointers:

Click on the Performance tab, and you'll find that the amount of real memory you have installed/usable is seen in Physical Memory (K) -> Total. Your total virtual memory (i.e. real memory plus Page File size) is the Commit Charge (K) -> Limit. Just below that, compare the Peak value with the Total Physical Memory - if it's higher, then your PC may be doing a lot of paging, and thus be slower than it would be if you had more real memory.

There's lots more you can use Task Manager for, by (say) looking at the Processes tab and adding columns of interest, but the above paragraph should be useful in the short term.

[Michael Abrams]

Thank you John. I will look at my Task Manager when I get home tonight and compare it with what you've listed above.

Michael

[Argus]

The embarrassing part is, is that I do look at task Manager - processes - performance, and I do not know what the heck it all means !!

You could, for example, compare the peak level of allocated RAM (1) with the total amount of RAM (2). If it's close or above, the OS must use the much slower hard drive (in much larger extent than it otherwise would). You can also look at the allocated memory (3) in any given moment and compare that.

Most of time it is as simple as Hans explained, i.e. just look at the total amount of RAM, what you are doing with the PC and which software you use. As many, I've used XP with RAM from 256 MB to above 3 GB, and I think that most agree that for normal use you will see the largest increase in "performance" going from 256 MB to 512 MB, and from 512 MB to 1 GB. Then depending on what you are doing, 2 GB can give more flexibility, more programs open, larger documents and pictures at same time etc.

I don't see a 5 year old PC as particularly old per see, but it depends what it is going to be used as. I guess that 5 years ago 512 MB was quite common, however, around 2001/2002 when XP came, most were equipped with 256 MB.

Heh, I remember when I needed to upgrade with 1 MB from 640k to be able to have 2 workbooks open in Excel 2.

Sorry, John, I see you gave an excellent explanation, but I had already created a little screenshot and started writing so decided to add that.

TM.png

[ChrisGreaves]

but let me give you some pointers:

Thanks for the quick tutorial, John.
In the past I've used task manager mainly for detecting which program (usually MSWord) is looping and consuming 98% of CPU.