Help make my desktop better

So 2 weeks ago my laptop sparked and smoked .... its dead. My wife told me I cant run out and buy a new one right now So I am stuck with our desktop, that I got her for typing word docs, surfing the net and printing lol (I had my laptop, so got a cheap desktop for her).

I tried to do some work in lightroom and photoshop yesterday and just about kicked the tower out the window it was running so slow. Is there anything I can do to help speed this machine up?

Link to computer (I know I know its from WorstBuy, but it was cheap) http://www.bestbuy.com …835558#tab=spec​ifications

You can load it up with memory and wipe/reinstall OS to start fresh and clean. I would personally start buying bits for a new build as your budget will allow and don't waste a single penny on trying to put a turbo charger on a snail. You could also get a divorce and buy yourself all the laptops and beer a man could ever want without hearing a peep about it.

Those are your options.

isoMorphic wrote in post #15808730
You can load it up with memory and wipe/reinstall OS to start fresh and clean. I would personally start buying bits for a new build as your budget will allow and don't waste a single penny on trying to put a turbo charger on a snail. You could also get a divorce and buy yourself all the laptops and beer a man could ever want without hearing a peep about it.

Those are your options.

Kinda figured so ... I will deal with the laptop for a while .... a new desktop or laptop will make its way into the budget ( I make the budget )

I have been on a spending spree for a while thus the reason I got the no go for a new one right away .... so a divorce is a little drastic lol. Besides if I got a divorce who would bring me my beer

Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #15808747
Besides if I got a divorce who would bring me my beer

Pet monkey might be up to the task.

isoMorphic wrote in post #15808770
Pet monkey might be up to the task.

Sounds like alot of work to train a monkey when I already have the wife trained

You better budget for two, because Monkey or wife, they will want to use yours to check Facebook because its faster.

zerovision wrote in post #15808926
You better budget for two, because Monkey or wife, they will want to use yours to check Facebook because its faster.

My wife has never liked using my "toys" as she puts it, she is happy using her phone or tablet to check facebook ... now that I started using the desktop she said its to hard to find stuff (I didn't move anything, just added a few things lol)

isoMorphic wrote in post #15808730
You could also get a divorce and buy yourself all the laptops and beer a man could ever want without hearing a peep about it.

In theory only. Once asset equalization is agreed upon and child support determined you're worse off. You won't be drinking for enjoyment.
Better off devsing ways to hide money. Find out what she does to pay for those shoes and purses.

What OS, is it Win8? If so I haven't dabbled w- that at all yet, but there are some general tips that could yield improvement assuming they haven't changed some of the basics.

Restart computer, open Task Manager and see how many processes are running. If more than say, 40, then you have a lot of crap running in the background, which is a very common problem for lower-end computers. The manufactures perennially insist on loading up on bloatware that kills your performance, it makes no sense. Goto Start Menu > Run, type 'msconfig', Enter. Goto Startup tab: that's a list of stuff that is starting up and running in the background automatically, sapping system resources. Uncheck everything that isn't critical. That means MS Office, Adobe reader, AOL, various updaters, etc... probably anything that isn't a wireless card driver, display driver, virus scan, etc. Restart and see if the computer is any more responsive.

jrandall wrote in post #15823264
What OS, is it Win8? If so I haven't dabbled w- that at all yet, but there are some general tips that could yield improvement assuming they haven't changed some of the basics.

Restart computer, open Task Manager and see how many processes are running. If more than say, 40, then you have a lot of crap running in the background, which is a very common problem for lower-end computers. The manufactures perennially insist on loading up on bloatware that kills your performance, it makes no sense. Goto Start Menu > Run, type 'msconfig', Enter. Goto Startup tab: that's a list of stuff that is starting up and running in the background automatically, sapping system resources. Uncheck everything that isn't critical. That means MS Office, Adobe reader, AOL, various updaters, etc... probably anything that isn't a wireless card driver, display driver, virus scan, etc. Restart and see if the computer is any more responsive.

Thank you I will try that tonight

Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #15823666
Thank you I will try that tonight

If you are fiddling with her computer so much that it becomes harder to use for her, I think you'll get that permission for a new computer very soon.

Buy a new motherboard, CPU, SSD, and lots of RAM and install it all in the case that her computer's in. Simply tell her that you fixed it and she'll never know!

What are the specs of your old computer?

isoMorphic wrote in post #15826078
What are the specs of your old computer?

There is a link in the first post that goes to the spec page for the computer I have.