|
The system specifications you describe are the minimum for Windows XP Home and Professional operating systems. This is the first problem.
I believe the 533Mhz was a k6-2 from AMD, I cannot recall. There isn't too much problem in overclocking that particular processor, but the risk involved isn't particularly worth it. I'm not sure of the machine's manufacturer, I'm figuring it might have been Compaq or someone similar, but the cooling for the case probably isn't the best, so overclocking in my view isn't suggested.
You can change your pagefil (or cache) by right clicking on My Computer on you rdesktop, going to the Advanced tab, under the Performance section click on Settings, click on the Advanced tab in the Performance Options pop-up window, and down towards the bottom under Virtual Memory, click change and you can set your page file there. This might help with performance, but it won't be much.
Another thing you can do is bump up your memory a bit more, probably up to 512mb. You'd have to check on the particular modules, but you can go to pricewatch.com and probably find it for pretty cheap still. Although since it's an older model computer, that memory type might no longer be manufactured. In that case, you might be paying more.
If you believe your video card is causing an issue, you more than likely can invest about 50 or 60 dollars into a PCI video card. If your machine is a HP, Compaq, Gateway, etc, there is a possibility that you do not have an AGP slot (which is pretty common when you have integrated video). The PCI Video card (I believe nvidia still has some available, the MX line) will allow you to run at higher resolutions. It'll speed up web browsing and how quickly pictures, video, and even applications load on your desktop.
One of the biggest suggestions I can say though, is to downgrade your operating system to Windows 2000. Windows XP is basicly Windows 2000 Service Pack 5 (check the version, 2k is 5.0, XP is 5.1). The eye-candy really isn't needed, and 2000 has a lot of the same support options that XP does. XP is more multimedia oriented, however, and still retains much of the stability and security features that are associated with the NT kernel.
Many people will say to upgrade, mostly because you can get a tower for about 200-400 dollars these days. Keep all your peripherals and just buy the tower, you end up saving yourself all the money that drives the price past the thousand mark. Most of these systems are pretty decent quality these days too, and are more upgrade-friendly than they used to be.
Hope this was helpful to you and anyone else that might have similar issues. |