Fibre Optics on the PC

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the What HiFi community: the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products.

laserman16

New member
Nov 23, 2007
99
0
0
Visit site
Have you installed any software recently, if so do a system restore from a point before the software was installed.

If no new software installed do a system restore from a point before your troubles began.
 

Alantiggger

Well-known member
Oct 14, 2007
274
33
18,920
Visit site
laserman16 said:
Have you installed any software recently, if so do a system restore from a point before the software was installed.

If no new software installed do a system restore from a point before your troubles began.

This sounds a normal and good thing to follow pp.
 

The_Lhc

Well-known member
Oct 16, 2008
1,176
1
19,195
Visit site
OneBoxSystem said:
Try changing the settings on the NIC card.

Yes, because clearly pp's given every indication he knows what that means. Was there any particular setting you had in mind or did you just want him to ****** about with all of them?

Find someone who knows what they're doing pp, nobody here will be able to help you.
 

smarkgee

New member
Jan 28, 2013
10
0
0
Visit site
This problem is almost certainly to do with your PC and not your line speed.

It could be a lot of things ranging from dodgy memory to a virus to a disk in need of a defrag.

ctrl-shift-escape will bring up the task manager.

Start here to look at what junk is installed on your PC and uninstall it. Look here also to see what is consuming PC resources. Because when YOU are doing nothing the computer the computer should be running at 1-3% of CPU.

Ifyou go fibre optic you will only notice a material difference in downloading. Surfing will be a little faster but not much.
 

smarkgee

New member
Jan 28, 2013
10
0
0
Visit site
This problem is almost certainly to do with your PC and not your line speed.

It could be a lot of things ranging from dodgy memory to a virus to a disk in need of a defrag.

ctrl-shift-escape will bring up the task manager.

Start here to look at what junk is installed on your PC and uninstall it. Look here also to see what is consuming PC resources. Because when YOU are doing nothing the computer the computer should be running at 1-3% of CPU.

Ifyou go fibre optic you will only notice a material difference in downloading. Surfing will be a little faster but not much.
 

theexcitableboy

New member
Apr 11, 2012
17
0
0
Visit site
From my experience of "tuning up" snail-speed computers for everyone from my next-door neighbour to a local school to my grandmother, I've always found that, as a general rule, you shouldn't have more than 40 processes running when you have no windows open.

To check this, press Control + Alt + Delete (click "Start Task Manager" if you're running Windows Vista or Windows 7). In the bottom-left corner it will say "Processes: X". For example, with all windows closed mine states "Processes: 30".

These running processes are critical to the running of Windows. Many processes host 'services', for example the service which hosts your Internet access or the service which hosts your themes. What a lot of people don't realise, however, is that every time you install a program it usually installs a service with it. This means that every time you start up your PC, services for all the programs you have installed also start. Software such as Skype and iTunes are notorious for installing multiple services which can really bog down an underpowered machine.

By clicking the Start orb, typing "msconfig" and pressing enter, you can alter which services and programs start with your computer. If you're not entirely sure what you're doing, stay away from every tab other than "Startup", or you might do more harm than good. Under the "Startup" tab is a list of every program which starts with your computer. Have a look through them and decide which ones you need and which you don't. Remember that all these programs can be started manually as and when you need them, so you probably don't need them all to start with your machine.

n3qd00.png


As you can see from my Startup tab, I have disabled software such as "Google Updater" and "QuickTime" from starting with my machine, as I simply don't need them using valuable system resources.

As previously mentioned, you should also check how much of your hard drive you are using. If you have less than 15% free, you are approaching the "danger zone" and should consider a hard drive upgrade or a program and document cull.

If this doesn't help, or if you're not confident in your ability do perform these steps without causing more problems for yourself, see if anyone you know has a deeper knowledge of computers - they should be able to help you out.

Based on the symptoms you describe, I very much doubt Fibre Optic broadband will help you out much. Even bottom-end ADSL speeds (~2Mb) are enough for problem-free web surfing.

As a sidenote, I have a 2Mb ADSL connection and have little to no problems when the whole family uses the Internet at the same time. It isn't lightning-quick but I never find myself waiting more than 5 seconds for a page to start appearing. Don't be drawn in to the marketing they'll throw at you. Once they have you caught on their hook, you'll likely be tied in to a long contract and won't be able to get out if you decide it isn't worth it further down the line.
 

TRENDING THREADS