Speed up old pc

[johnnywyoming]

Old pc which I use mainly for photo editing. Very slow processing. I am trying to figure out if there are components that I can upgrade or do I need a new build from the ground up? I believe the graphic board is integrated in the MB so probably cannot be replaced? Would a better CPU and an SSD instead of the old hard drive help?

AMD Phenom II X4 945 CPU paired with 12 GB of RAM.
ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics
ASUS M4A785-M motherboard

[Malnutrition]

Have you reinstalled windows fresh on this machine? If you are only using it for Photo editing perhaps a fresh install is in order to remove clutter

https://www.crucial.com/compatible-upgrade-for/asus/m4a785-m

I am tagging some help for you, these people deal with hardware issues but typically they like to see some logs from a machine prior to suggesting anything.

Also list your power supply unit.

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Please download MiniToolBox and save it to your desktop.

Run the program by right clicking on it and selecting Run as administrator.
When the program opens select the following boxes:

Flush DNS
Report IE Proxy Settings
Reset IE Proxy Settings
Report FF Proxy Settings
Reset FF Proxy Settings
List content of Hosts
List IP Configuration
List Winsock Entries
List last 10 Event Viewer Errors
List Installed Programs
List Devices (Only Problems)
List Users, Partitions and Memory size

Please post the log in your next reply

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Speccy Scan.

[ul]
[li]Please go here and download Speccy.[/li][li]Install and run the program.[/li][li]Upon Completion:[/li][li]Hit File[/li][li]Publish Snap Shot[/li][li]A link will appear, post that link.[/li][/ul]

@Pyro @PeterOz @Bruce @xrobwx71

[johnnywyoming]

Thanks Malnourished… The power supply is a Antec BP550Plus, 550 continuous W.

http://speccy.piriform.com/results/Vc2bTy6ziJW3fedgFfUw71r

[Malnutrition]

One possible issue is the lack of Free space on the C: drive in order for windows to function correctly you should have around 30 percent free space on your drive that contains windows.

You can use Treesize to find files on your machine that you may wish to delete.

You can use the Everything Search Engine to find and remove files from your machine.

[ul]
[li]Searching for file extensions in Everything Search, to help you along the way is easy.[/li][li]You can simply type .mp3 to find all of your music, or .mp4 to find your videos.[/li][li]You can open the file from the tools gui by double clicking it, and then decide if it needs to go.[/li][/ul]
But lets see what the others have to say about upgrading your components.

[Bruce]

that’s a fairly old rig you have (12 years old?), so first decision you need to make is, do I keep it running along with minimal investment (parts, time, and money) or redirect that potential investment and go a new rig.

if sticking with the current unit, I would definitely be getting a SSD and reloading Windows afresh onto the new drive. you’ll only be spending under $100 on a new SSD and a few hours with reload Windows and all your software.

so excellent bang for buck.
if in the off chance you then still think a new rig is the way forward, the old one will be in an great position for resale.

but if you are of the opinion you want a new CPU for your photo needs, that’ll force you to at least replace the motherboard, and memory, maybe the power supply, and GPU.

[johnnywyoming]

Part of my reluctance to go with a new pc is whether I can install Win 7 on it or not, or do I want to spend the money to upgrade to Win 11? Win 7 works fine for me, unless it is a part of the pc’s problem due to its age. I tend to stick with what I am comfortable with, for instance, I still use Photoshop CS4 and it works well for my purposes..

I show a little over 6 GB free on the C drive. If I remember correctly, F is a partition and has 85 GB free. What would be a good amount of free space to have on C? I recently transferred all of my photo and video files off to a external drive and freed up a lot of space. By the way, Treesize won’t work on Win 7 apparently.

[Malnutrition]

About 50 gigs to be on the safe side.

We can see if we can speed the machine up and squeeze out some more performance if you want?

[johnnywyoming]

ok, what do I need to do?

[Malnutrition]

We will check the machine with these tools as it is easier to clean up old crap and rubbish.

Adware Cleaner

[ul]
[li]Download AdwCleaner and save it to your Desktop[/li][li]Right-click on AdwCleaner.exeand select, Run as Administrator[/li][li]Accept the EULA (I accept), then click on Scan Now[/li][li]Let the scan complete[/li][li]Once the scan completes, make sure that every item listed in the different tabs is checked and click on the Quarantine and delete.[/li][li]Once the cleaning process is complete, AdwCleaner will ask you to restart your computer[/li][li]Close all other open windows and allow it to restart[/li][li]After the restart, Notepad will open with the AdwCleaner cleaning log[/li][li]Please Attach the contents of that log into your next reply to me[/li][/ul]

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Please download the FRST 32 bit or FRST 64bit version to suit your operating system. It is important FRST is downloaded to your desktop.
If you are unsure if your operating system is 32 or 64 Bit please go HERE.
Once downloaded right click the FRST desktop icon and select “Run as administrator” from the menu"
If you receive any security warnings, or the User Account Control warning opens at any time whilst using FRST you can safely allow FRST to proceed.
FRST will open with two dialogue boxes, accept the disclaimer.
Then select Scan
Frst will take a few minutes to scan your computer, and when finished will produce two log files on your desktop, FRST.txt, and Addition.txt. They will display immediately on the desktop, but can be reopened later as a notepad file.
Please Attach the contents of these logs in your next post

[Malnutrition]

From the speccy log, windows was installed in 2011 there are bound to be remnants of old software running that should not be. These tools will allow me to target and remove them. Giving the machine better performance in the end..

[johnnywyoming]

I appreciate your help and your time… I do run CCleaner on the pc but it seems what you are asking me to run is somewhat more in-depth. Thanks.

[PeterOz]

Win 7 works fine for me, unless it is a part of the pc’s problem due to its age.

Should not be an issue.
I agree with a new ssd. However do you have a Win 7 install dvd and the serial number?
You have to get more room on C drive as recommended. Bare minimum 50GB. I would try for more.
Change power plan from high to balanced.
High is for laptops with a dedicated gpu.

[Bruce]

if TreeSize isn’t working, try WizTree; Download WizTree
the Download link along the top of their page has links to older versions.

[Malnutrition]

I’ll have a look after work today.

[johnnywyoming]

Should not be an issue.
I agree with a new ssd. However do you have a Win 7 install dvd and the serial number?
You have to get more room on C drive as recommended. Bare minimum 50GB. I would try for more.
Change power plan from high to balanced.
High is for laptops with a dedicated gpu.

Thanks PeterOz. Still have the dvds for my software and serial numbers. Changed the power to balanced. Downloaded WizTree and am currently moving @ 36 gigs to my F drive. Will look for more to move or delete. Would I keep the old drive installed if I decide to add an SSD?