RAM & Internet Speed- Off topic

[hershon]

My new HP computer is Pentium 4, 800 mhz, 110gigs, 512 RAM and is an HP Media Computer meaning it came fully installed with TV related devices, DVD burner etc.
Anyway to make a long story short, I used Roadrunner Broadband Cable & even though the speed is about 2700 it still seems too slow to me (factoring loading page time as well), the same with speed loading up applications. I just spoke to a woman at HP today and she said for a media computer, 512 RAM was just the minimum memory and she recommended that I increase the memory another 512 RAM. Bottom line is based on her recommendation, I just bought another 512 of RAM (the computer can actual go to 2 Gigs of RAM, so I'll now have half the max) & someone is installing this tommorow. Will I see much improvement in my internet speed (the time it takes to surf and load up a page) & applications? I don't do any gaming, just internet, some word processing, TV & CD and DVD burning. Would you have recommended that I installed 3 512 sticks instead of 1, or will there be little difference, based on what I use the computer for. Thanks for your insights.
Also the modem I have is 3Com home connect. Is it possible that its not working at optimum range even though it is working and I might get better results with another modem?

[N. Abstentia]

RAM will not make your internet any faster, I doubt you'll see any difference but it surely can't hurt. Normally the first thing that needs to be done with an HP/Dell/Gateway computer is to wipe the hard drive and do a clean install of XP to eliminate all the junk they put on there. All your processing is wasted loading their proprietary junk.

I also assume you meant 1800mhz instead of 800mhz? If it's 800mhz it's not a P4.

[eisforelectronic]

As stated, the ram increase will make little difference in internet speed. If it seems too slow call your cable co. At the very least you could get a tech to come out and verify your connection speed. Also remember the speeds you see on the internet are also related to what's happenning on the other side of the connection, ie. maybe the site you are connecting to is busy or just plain slow.

[hershon]

No its definately 800 mhz, says so on the side sticker on the computer as well as Pentium 4. One question for you in regards to the "HP Junk" which by the way someone else on a different board also mentioned as well, what exactly are the junk programs file names and can I just delete/uninstall this?


RAM will not make your internet any faster, I doubt you'll see any difference but it surely can't hurt. Normally the first thing that needs to be done with an HP/Dell/Gateway computer is to wipe the hard drive and do a clean install of XP to eliminate all the junk they put on there. All your processing is wasted loading their proprietary junk.

I also assume you meant 1800mhz instead of 800mhz? If it's 800mhz it's not a P4.

[N. Abstentia]

I can tell you for a fact it's not an 800mhz P4. You either have an 800mhz bus, or a Pentium3 processor. Your processor has to be at least a 1.4 ghz but I would think it would be more like at least 2.4 ghz since you just bought it.

As far as uninstalling the HP 'junk', the only way to do it is to reformat and do a clean install. You can't just delete them because that will not remove them from the registry or any of the .ini files. But, in order to do that you need an actual Windows XP disc and NOT the 'system restore' disc that HP sent. That will just reinstall all the junk back. Hopefully you got an acutal Windows XP disc, but HP is not known to do that.

Are you starting to see why everyone tried to urge you not to buy an HP now? :)

[kfalls]

You don't mention which video card you have. For gaming, internet and multi-media you should be more concerned about video memory than RAM, it determines how quickly pages display. Also the speed of your connection will be determined by how many users are on the same "cable" as you sharing the bandwidth. I have a wireless 512K uplink to a tower less than half a mile away. My transmission speeds vary between 450K - 977K depending on the number of users. The person stating you should get three more memory chips is just after your money, 512MB should be more than sufficient for your immediate needs. Also, unless the installation is free, do it yourself. Installation is very simple requiring opening the case and clipping the memory card into the open slot next to the current memory. The BIOS will see the additional memory and automatically configure it into the system.

[hershon]

I know my limitations which include don't open up a computer and mess with it even if it is as simple a task as putting in a memory stick. Believe me, if there's a way, I will unintentionally find it and screw my computer up. So for $50 I'm gettimg someone who knows what they're doing to put the memory card in. I totally agree with and am aware of most of your comments but even though download speed measures about 2700 on the average for me it still seems slow clicking on a page.


You don't mention which video card you have. For gaming, internet and multi-media you should be more concerned about video memory than RAM, it determines how quickly pages display. Also the speed of your connection will be determined by how many users are on the same "cable" as you sharing the bandwidth. I have a wireless 512K uplink to a tower less than half a mile away. My transmission speeds vary between 450K - 977K depending on the number of users. The person stating you should get three more memory chips is just after your money, 512MB should be more than sufficient for your immediate needs. Also, unless the installation is free, do it yourself. Installation is very simple requiring opening the case and clipping the memory card into the open slot next to the current memory. The BIOS will see the additional memory and automatically configure it into the system.

[N. Abstentia]

Dang man, I can't believe you're gonna pay somebody $50 to install a memory stick, unless that includes the actual memory stick which is okay. But if $50 is just to stick the memory in there, you're getting ripped. It's the equivalent of sticking a CD in a CD drive. If you can do that, you can install memory.

[Monstrous Mike]

Also the modem I have is 3Com home connect. Is it possible that its not working at optimum range even though it is working and I might get better results with another modem?
As another possibility, you may have spyware and/or a virus which is eating up your bandwidth without you knowing. Do you have a personal firewall? This will tell you if programs other than IE are accessing the Internet in the background.

Going from 512M to 1G of RAM is not going to help your Internet connection speed. There may be some instances where you could be loading very large websites which is taxing on IE but I doubt it.

Have you done an online speed test just to make sure of your connection speed?

[depressed]

Since you said that it's your NEW computer, I assume that the 800 Mhz is the front bus speed and not the CPU speed. Go ahead and check the throughput and latency of your connection here: http://www.dslreports.com/stest?more=1 (choose few test sites from locations close to you) and here:
http://www.dslreports.com/tweaks

If everything is fine, click on the task manager and check how many/what kind of processes you have running in background.

Check for viruses/spyware (use Ad-aware and Spybot S&D,those are free downloadable tools)

Check the settings in your browser ( go to tools/internet options/connections/ lan settings and try unchecking "automatically detect settings", see if that helps.
Try VoptXP to speed your HD.
Check the settings of your hard drive and check for fragmentation.
Describe what you mean by "slow loading"? How long does it take?

[hershon]

Well the first thing I did today was get a new free modem from Roadrunner (Time Warner) and it did seem to increase my speed a bit. Someone told me that most broadband modems burn out in a year or so and even though they are still functioning soso the signal has been weakened. That apparently was the case with mine.

In regards to spyware you're totally right but what I discovered is it doesn't hurt to have several different ones to run scans- PestPatrol and SpySweeper caught p2p networking spyware where AdAware SE and SpyBot as well as Nortons 2004 AntiVirus did not. I think I accidently solved the problem of the p2p networking which was driving me crazy- too complicated to get into now but it did not involve the registry, add/remove or even spyware. Having said that, the computer tech guy who came over to wwork on my computer thought because of 1-2 weird unchecked items in msconfig that I have some kind of virus on my computer even though nothing seems to detect it and the effect seems to be neglible. As I don't have any files at all, I didn't reinstall XP which this guy wanted to do at another $200-$300, as I have no data to lose and can always reinstall XP if all hell breaks loose.

One interesting thing that NAbstentia might be interested in, even thought the computer is a new HP higher grade model, the inside was a mess in trying to put in an additional memory card and there is no way anyone with less than excellent computer skills could have done it the way the computer was internally set up. As is, the installation wasn't even successful, apparently because I had 2 256 MB's of memory, I needed to add another 2 sticks of 256 not 1 stick of 512. I don't understand why but the guy is going to reinstall it tommorow with the new sticks I've gotten.


As another possibility, you may have spyware and/or a virus which is eating up your bandwidth without you knowing. Do you have a personal firewall? This will tell you if programs other than IE are accessing the Internet in the background.

Going from 512M to 1G of RAM is not going to help your Internet connection speed. There may be some instances where you could be loading very large websites which is taxing on IE but I doubt it.

Have you done an online speed test just to make sure of your connection speed?

[depressed]

Test your speed and latency at the links posted above. Upgrading you RAM isn't too hard, all you need is an armband to prevent static electricity damaging the memory sticks. Do the things that were suggested. 512 mb is enough memory to reject the possibilty that you memory is the bottleneck. I think that your problem might be found in one of the following:
1.software
2. hard disk
3. internet settings

[sc03979]

I agree with the above. Yes pcs bought from big companies can be tight on the inside. No sticking extra memory is not hard to do. In fact my dad who doesn't know what a browser or front side bus is can do it.

Is road runner cable internet the full blown cable internet or is it something like what I've got mediacom 128 which is 128k, essentially 3x faster then a dialup connection. It sounds like your problem could be the modem which you said you changed and it helped.

I'm guessing you have a pentium 4 processor 2.6 Ghz or faster chips. As far as memory I wouldn't waste your money. 512mb of RAM is pretty good. Unless you do gaming, graphic artist stuff or really want to speed up your computer I would stick with 512. If you do add some memory I would personally add another 256 to get you up to 768. Anymore is really a waste.

It might be wise to save that $50 plus the cost of memory to buy a new xp cd and install it yourself unless you know someone who can properly delete the crappy software that HP puts on it. A clean install would speed up your computer faster(but not the internet) then an extra 256 mb of RAM.

There are lots of great sites to help you with deleting programs and free programs to help you out. Some great sites are: www.sharkyextreme.com www.extremetech.com.

One last tidbit. See if you can get spybot search and destroy, lavasoft's adaware, tweak UI, AVG Antivirus. These are all free. Do a google search to find these. When looking for adaware go to www.lavasoftusa.com, tweak ui is a free program from microsoft that can help you take off programs that start up automatically when you start your pc that could be bogging down you pc.

Just thought of one more thing: Your internet speed could be effected by how many users are on at the same time, the quality of your cable, and the quality and speed of the equipment on the cable company's side of the internet.

[hershon]

If you want you can skip the Exposition of what I have on my computer & go to the red highlighted stuff on the bottom, as everyone who has HP is saying what you are saying and I just want to know how and what to change on this. The only thing I again disagree with you is installing memory on HP M260N as there is no way your dad or any layman could do this given the mess inside by HP.

The optimum speed one can get on Roadrunner is 3000 download and 384 upload. When I test speed on TestMy.net I vary between 2500-2800 and 310-330 upload. Roadrunner says this is very good. Maybe I'm the spoiled one here, I want web pages to appear instantly. . Only a couple do. I realize alot of this has to do with the web pages server & also people using Roadrunner at one time. I just got a new modem throught Roadrunner and its improved my speed about 15%. Roadrunner is now offering premium internet service for an extra $30 a month you can get up to 6000 download and 512 upload and I'm trying to get my current speed so that its instantaneous but maybe I can't at the 3000 bandwidth and have to pay ($30) to play.

In regards to applications it seems to take about 5-8 seconds to load and again I want them to load instaneously. I may be the dillussional one here. The actual performance of my applications once they're running is pretty good. Hopefully doubling the memory will get this closer to the level I desire.

In regards to 512 being sufficient, I would have agreed with you till I talked to some HP people. My computer is a Media Center Computer meaning it has TV, TV recording and other stuff put on it and they said that 512 memory is the minimum I could get away with and I'd see better results if I put in another 512 of memory.

In regards to spyware detetion programs I use AdAwareSE, Spybot, Pest Patrol, Spy Sweeper and Nortons 2004. As I said I get different results on each. I also use Internet Cleaner to clean my cache, cookies & history.

The unecessary programs HP runs in the background. What are they specifically and how do I get rid of them? As far as I know I just have a minimum of stuff checked in msconfig thoughthere seems to be about 36 applications running when I go to processing in the task manager and the people in Nortons claim that's what its suppose to be. Are you and the others who made similar coments referring to these applications and if so how and what should I get rid of?


I agree with the above. Yes pcs bought from big companies can be tight on the inside. No sticking extra memory is not hard to do. In fact my dad who doesn't know what a browser or front side bus is can do it.

Is road runner cable internet the full blown cable internet or is it something like what I've got mediacom 128 which is 128k, essentially 3x faster then a dialup connection. It sounds like your problem could be the modem which you said you changed and it helped.

I'm guessing you have a pentium 4 processor 2.6 Ghz or faster chips. As far as memory I wouldn't waste your money. 512mb of RAM is pretty good. Unless you do gaming, graphic artist stuff or really want to speed up your computer I would stick with 512. If you do add some memory I would personally add another 256 to get you up to 768. Anymore is really a waste.

It might be wise to save that $50 plus the cost of memory to buy a new xp cd and install it yourself unless you know someone who can properly delete the crappy software that HP puts on it. A clean install would speed up your computer faster(but not the internet) then an extra 256 mb of RAM.

There are lots of great sites to help you with deleting programs and free programs to help you out. Some great sites are: www.sharkyextreme.com www.extremetech.com.

One last tidbit. See if you can get spybot search and destroy, lavasoft's adaware, tweak UI, AVG Antivirus. These are all free. Do a google search to find these. When looking for adaware go to www.lavasoftusa.com, tweak ui is a free program from microsoft that can help you take off programs that start up automatically when you start your pc that could be bogging down you pc.

Just thought of one more thing: Your internet speed could be effected by how many users are on at the same time, the quality of your cable, and the quality and speed of the equipment on the cable company's side of the internet.

[sc03979]

If you plan on playing and recording video then yes definitely go for the 1024 mb RAM otherwise you'll beat yourself senseless as your computer tries to run other processes while you are recording or playing video.

Another great free program(browser) to use is mozilla. However if you have some sort of pop up blocker that works well I wouldn't bother with it.

My dad had the same problem with his compaq he bought this year. MOST of the programs that can drive you nuts and slow down your pc are on the desktop. I went through and deleted them with either the microsoft program uninstaller with the softwares' program uninstaller.

However it does take some knowledge to do this because the uninstall isn't always clean and junk is left in that you have to take off the registry or the list of programs that start up upon booting up your pc.

[awol]

You don't have a connection speed problem with your ISP based on the speed test result. What you have is a computer problem. You have way too many programs running in the background that you are not using (eating up your memory) and you're tech guy was right at stopping some of them on msconfig. Another test you could do is to ping a website. Go to the command prompt and type in 'ping roadrunner.com -t for a minute. Then hit Ctrl/C to stop it. Now if you average reply is between 30 to 80 ms, you're OK. But if you're average is over 100, call your ISP. Dial up average reply is about 200 + ms.

[awol]

If you're going to add more RAM, one thing to remember is they come in different types. Check you're manual or ask the vendor where you bought you computer because they may not be compatible.

One more thing, those icons on your taskbar next to the clock are some of the programs running on the background. My advise: Keep it simple.