Optimizing my netbook (any tips?)

DavidReinoldDavidReinold Minnesota
edited October 2011 in Science & Tech
So I'm giving my home computer (an ancient pc tower that I've had since Win98 was new, albeit I'm running XP on it now) a rest until I have the money to either upgrade its components or just outright replace it, and so my main computer is now my Asus netbook running Win7. I was just wondering if anyone had tips as to how to optimize my OS so that it can allocate more of the processor and ram towards the slave tasks I run on it, mostly video conversions via Handbrake.

Anyway, would it be feasable to optimize Win7 and/or shut down any unnecessary tasks Win7 might have so that it will perform tasks faster? Or should I just switch completely to Ubuntu (which I hear takes up much less ram/processor)?

Sorry if I sound like a bit of a noob, but the only above-average computer stuff I deal with is media storage (my house is littered with 3 1/2" and Zip disks, and I completely re-partition my WD Passport once a month to fit my storage needs) and web coding (PHP/Javascript/MySQL/Ajax/Perl). So when it comes to the OS itself I'm a bit out of touch.

Comments

  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    edited October 2011
    I wouldn't mess with putting Linux on there. Not worth the struggle, and Windows 7 is a fine fit for most netbooks.

    How much RAM do you have in it? RAM upgrades are pretty darn cheap these days. If you can't do RAM, find an extra jump drive or two that you don't use, plug them in and activate ReadyBoost. That should give you a little bit more oompf in the swap department.

    Are you familiar with msconfig? Windows key + R > type msconfig, and run. Hit the "startup" tab and remove anything that isn't absolutely necessary (which means just about everything). Reboot and be happy.
  • DavidReinoldDavidReinold Minnesota
    edited October 2011
    UPSLynx wrote:
    I wouldn't mess with putting Linux on there. Not worth the struggle, and Windows 7 is a fine fit for most netbooks.

    How much RAM do you have in it? RAM upgrades are pretty darn cheap these days. If you can't do RAM, find an extra jump drive or two that you don't use, plug them in and activate ReadyBoost. That should give you a little bit more oompf in the swap department.

    Are you familiar with msconfig? Windows key + R > type msconfig, and run. Hit the "startup" tab and remove anything that isn't absolutely necessary (which means just about everything). Reboot and be happy.
    I have 1GB of RAM on it. And I don't have any jump drives available. The only thing I could do is burn a few DVDs to clear up some of my drive space and then dedicate an 8GB partition of my external drive to it. Would that work? Can I use a hard drive partition with ReadyBoost instead?

    Ultimately though, it's sounding like msconfig is what I'm looking for. Thanks for your help!
  • UPSLynxUPSLynx :KAPPA: Redwood City, CA Icrontian
    edited October 2011
    DavidReinold wrote:
    Ultimately though, it's sounding like msconfig is what I'm looking for. Thanks for your help!

    No problem, it's what we do here :D

    I don't believe an external HDD will work for ReadyBoost. I'm pretty sure ReadyBoost relies on the fast read/write ability of solid state memory. When you plug a jump drive into a USB port, it immediately prompts you if you want to convert the drive to ReadyBoost drive. My USB external HDD, on the other hand, does not prompt for such a thing.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2011
    A cheap SSD and maximum RAM work miracles for a netbook.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited October 2011
    I was going to say: SSD that sucker
  • DavidReinoldDavidReinold Minnesota
    edited October 2011
    Solid-state? I'm on it!

    Thanks for all your help, guys! I'll get down to business ASAP and check out my results!
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