32bit, Pentium(R)4 2.66GHz PC with 1GB RAM(DDR1) & 2TB HDD combined running very slow. Do I Need More RAM?

[Ramneet]

Hi Tom,

I Have a 32bit Pentium(R)4 2.66GHz PC with 1GB RAM(DDR1) & 500GB WD with multiple external HDD 1TB (iOMega) and 500GB (WD) attached to computer.
I am running Windows 7 Ultimate but now my PC has choked down badly.
I removed all unnecessary programs, freed up space and Anti Virus Updated also.
Still Windows Explorer, Internet (IE & Chrome), Bitlord, and remaining programs open very slowly. Almost 9 months ago I had the PC serviced.
Worked fine but that was before I stored almost 250 GB internally and more than 900GB & 320GB in my hard drives with my music & movies and Data.
But now it is like driving me nuts, every time i have to do something My PC performance drops terribly and makes a lot of fan noise whenever I use it.
Whenever I try multitasking,my PC freezes and Then it shows me a blue screen.
Now temporarily I use my wife's laptop but i want to get on my PC.
Please Help me resolve this issue. Will upgrading to a higher RAM solve my problems?


Thanks

Ramneet

 

[gopher1369]

First reaction: sounds like overheating may be your problem. Install Core Temp and monitor your temperatures for a few hours. Let us know the results.

 

[RobCrezz]

Yeah it sounds like overheating. But your computer is very old, i wouldnt waste any time or money upgrading, a whole new build would be best.

 

[vehlor]

Don't waste time fixing that PC. It is very old. Try to get a new machine. If you cant afford a new machine now, try installing a lightweight linux based OS.

 

[gopher1369]

Yeah it sounds like overheating. But your computer is very old, i wouldnt waste any time or money upgrading, a whole new build would be best.

I mostly agree with you, but assuming the motherboard supports it, 2Gb of RAM would certainly help. Windows XP runs fine on 1Gb of RAM, but Windows 7 really likes 2Gb minimum.

But yeah, unless your budget is $10, in which case RAM is your only option, a new PC is really the answer. Pentium 4s are really no longer viable.

 

[RobCrezz]

Also you need a dedicated nvidia or amd graphics card to make windows 7 run better.

This is incorrect. If you dont use Aero then the GPU is mostly irrelevant to windows 7 running.

 

[RobCrezz]

Windows 7 takes like a 128mb worth of gpu memory even if shared and the old p4 systems with intel igpu built into the motherboard didn't have that amount and was to slow anyway. 128mb is needed for aero. The ops problem is low amount of ram slow cpu and gpu running with windows 7 ultimate. Adding another gb ram and adding a dedicated graphics card may help enormously but still won't be that fast as an all round pc.

You dont have to run Aero, so an upgraded GPU would not improve his performance.