Ways to Maximize Computer Speed

[incurablegeek]

Background: I have an AMD 6-core with 8 GB of DDR-3. When I first installed Win 7 Ultimate, it booted and ran so fast it almost scared me.

Now, not so.

I did all the obvious for faster boot by limiting the start-ups to a bare minimum. Use MSE (for AV), Zone Alarm (free) FW, MalwareBytes, SuperAntispyware, Lavasoft AdAware, and Advanced System Optimizer (just luv it). Checked at the Gibson site and my router is doing a very good job of keeping out the "baddies" plus I virus and malware scan and defrag daily.

Why is my computer now not lighting me up anymore.  Please, please don't tell me to upgrade to the new AMD Bulldozer CPU when it comes out.

I'm already attending meetings at CJA (Computer Junkies Anonymous).  

[javajolt]

Do you have the OS one its own hard drive?

All other Software and Programs, and Data should have their own hard drive!

When did you Defrag last?  Raxco Perfect Disk is excellent for this!

How much software do you install and then uninstall?

Check your Task Manager and Event Log they both can tell you a lot about what is going o with your system.

Check the Services in Control Panel and verify with blackviper.com what you can safely turn off.

Try turning off the Add-ons not only can they crash IE8 (if you use it) they can slow down your system.

While in Task Manager pay close attention to Zone Alarm, the new versions tend to use an exorbitant of system resources.  W7 has a very good firewall and your router should have one as well.

Go to Housecall and scan your system for the bad guys.

[incurablegeek]

This forum is hugely helpful and I sure appreciate it. I am presently running every virus, malware, spyware and adware check known to man. In addition I am doing everything that JavaJolt suggested. I will report back accordingly so others might benefit.

Quickie question: I think we all know that when it comes to technology I have some serious issues and an insatiable need for speed. Along those lines, if I were to spring for an SSD,

1) Which one(s) are recommendable - yep, I read the reviews but consider only the user reviews seriously.  From the little bit I know, SSD's are quick Reads and slow as a 7,200 rpm on Writes.

2) I ALWAYS assumed that placing the OS AND the Programs on the same C partition was optimal for speed and performance. Is this not still true or should I separate the OS on an SSD, for example, and put the programs on a 200 GB partition of a TB 7,200 drive?

[incurablegeek]

Being quite the TechnoJunkie, I just purchased the Intel 80 GB X25M SSD.  I have done my homework and this is arguably the only one to buy. It also comes in other GB sizes.

Be careful to buy the SSDSA2MH080G2R5, the key being the G2 series which has 34 nm. technology versus last years 50 nm.  I telephoned INTEL to confirm this.

I plan to put my OS on this 80 GB SSD and my programs on a 7,200 HD.  Considering the fact that an SSD is the cheapest and most effective way to increase the performance of your system, I don't think this is a bad purchase.