I have a Dell 4600 (Pent4, 2 gig RAM, Nvidia 6200 Graphics.) I recently reinstalled XP Home on a used WD 40gig hard drive. The computer seems to be running slow and I am thinking the hard drive is the reason. I ran a test program from Western Digital and it "Passed". I was wanting to make a mirror of this hard drive and on the second hard drive which is a newer Seagate 160gb drive with a much bigger buffer. This is not my computer and the person who owns it tends to just want to use it without learning how to maintain it. She loves AOL and this tends to put a lot of junk on the hard drive. So, now that all the programs are installed the way she wants them, having an image for reinstall would be helpful. I just built my first computer with a slower Sempron processor and less RAM and it is flying compared to the Dell. Most of the programs installed are the same. Could the slowness be the difference between and older EIDE drive on the Dell and the refurbished Seagate 80gb Sata drive (set to 1.5 Gb/s)? I am just learning, so any support would be helpful.
For now, she can use the Sempron computer I built. The Dell is needing a new power supply. It is getting pretty noisey and I think they had a lot of problems with the power supply on the 4600.
Lastly, how do you guys deal with those people that become overwhelmed and defensive with anything computer related? When I started helping this lady with her computer she had no firewall, no antivirus program, no spyware installed, and a keylogger that needed to be removed. When I suggested she remove the key logger pronto, she nearly kicked me out
(its my landlord). So, I have learned to tread lightly.
For now, she can use the Sempron computer I built. The Dell is needing a new power supply. It is getting pretty noisey and I think they had a lot of problems with the power supply on the 4600.
Lastly, how do you guys deal with those people that become overwhelmed and defensive with anything computer related? When I started helping this lady with her computer she had no firewall, no antivirus program, no spyware installed, and a keylogger that needed to be removed. When I suggested she remove the key logger pronto, she nearly kicked me out
(its my landlord). So, I have learned to tread lightly.