How do you keep your computer running?

[Mr.Pandah]

Since I just received my new Sony VAIO today, I was wondering how you guys and gals keep your computers running? Do you have a lot of background programs running or do you keep them to a minimum?

As of right now, I'm confuzzled as to why my laptop refuses to use the internet connection more efficiently than it does. Counter Strike Source is downloading at an amazing 12.5KB/S! -_- So in a way, this is a way for me to see how I can improve my computers own performance and hopefully some other people will get some ideas as well! (This laptop also refuses to install AIM onto my computer it tells me to use the /NCRC command but even when I use that, it still doesn't work and gives me the same pop-up as if I never used the command in the first place)

 

[black lincon]

I keep my computer running with prayer. Literately, my computer is six years old and I'm incapable of getting a new one, so basically every day I pray to the computer gods that nothing is broken.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

I keep my computer running with prayer. Literately, my computer is six years old and I'm incapable of getting a new one, so basically every day I pray to the computer gods that nothing is broken.

Man, I had a computer that was 5 years old. I thought that thing was running slow...but six? =X

 

[Siuss]

I'm not overly picky, but if I'm not gaming I just have firefox and Windows Live, open. Mostly because I have been running my music through my xbox which is sitting right behind me, I just have really shoddy speakers.

 

[NeedAUserName]

I normally keep iTunes and Safari on, but the rest I quit when I ain't using.

 

[black lincon]

I keep my computer running with prayer. Literately, my computer is six years old and I'm incapable of getting a new one, so basically every day I pray to the computer gods that nothing is broken.

Man, I had a computer that was 5 years old. I thought that thing was running slow...but six? =X

try not to think about it, some say the sheer lack of speed can cause brainal melting, even when thought about.

 

[darkless]

Keep it to a minimum no matter what people say if you keep things running in the back ground and you arent using them they are sucking up CPU speed and slowing you down only open what you need when you need it to get the most out of your Computer.

As for download speed the problem could very well be on the other guys side.

 

[Datalord]

I keep my computer running by hanging a carrot in front of it

LOL
predictable joke

 

[stompy]

Generally, iTunes and Firefox, with everything turned off if I'm in the middle of a game. As for your problem, it's not you, it's steam. I've had the same problem before, but it solved itself. I think it's just too much demand on steam's servers. Wait a little, and try again.

 

[Laughing Man]

The reality is that you can have loads of stuff running in the background. With dual core / quad cores more common place and huge amounts of fast RAM costing a next to nothing you can afford to run a lot of stuff in the background. Not that I am saying you should aim to run a lot. If you hit start, run and type dxdiag take a look at the amount of memory being used after start up. You should be aiming for less than 300Mb. That's XP mind you Vista uses it's RAM a bit differently so I couldn't tell you what you should be aiming for with that. Maybe someone else here can suggest something.

As for your download issues take a look at

www.speedtest.net

run that and see what it says your connection speed is at. If it's fast then the low speed issues is because of Steam if it's slow then something is up and we would no doubt require a bit more info to determine the cause.

 

[wewontdie11]

I have to feed the hamsters inside it every single day. Mittens and Flopsy do enjoy their pellets.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

The reality is that you can have loads of stuff running in the background. With dual core / quad cores more common place and huge amounts of fast RAM costing a next to nothing you can afford to run a lot of stuff in the background. Not that I am saying you should aim to run a lot. If you hit start, run and type dxdiag take a look at the amount of memory being used after start up. You should be aiming for less than 300Mb. That's XP mind you Vista uses it's RAM a bit differently so I couldn't tell you what you should be aiming for with that. Maybe someone else here can suggest something.

As for your download issues take a look at

www.speedtest.net

run that and see what it says your connection speed is at. If it's fast then the low speed issues is because of Steam if it's slow then something is up and we would no doubt require a bit more info to determine the cause.

Well that test said 512kb per second for my download speed. I'd believe that if it was only Steam that took a while to download, but its EVERYTHING. =/

 

[Fuuten]

Babies.

 

[Jared Rea]

The souls of the damned.

 

[EXPLICITasian]

I hit it... and sometimes i put the plug in and out of the wall... i think of it as computer/electric company sex

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

Well, generally, I read from the unholy book of the damned that I found in a old medieval cemetery, summon a demon from the depths of hell, trap its soul in a crystal from Tibet, and put the demon crystal into my computer. My computer is very environmentally friendly!

 

[TMAN10112]

I keep my computer running with prayer. Literately, my computer is six years old and I'm incapable of getting a new one, so basically every day I pray to the computer gods that nothing is broken.

I think thats how cults get started..........

 

[Bluntknife]

I'm a crazy person so I do alot of maintaince on my rig
My weekly rutine (did I spell that right?)
Monday: Disk Degfrag 6am ,AV scan 12am, Ccleaner 11pm, Combo fix 11:10pm
Rinse and repeat until sunday when I do a disk check.

Keeps my pretty running at peak.
Also I pray to it and sacrifice goats, the usual stuff.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Haha great comments.

Sadly my computer refuses to even go online now. I'm on my desktop =/ This thing is pretty old too and it freakin downloads faster than my laptop. I'm so mad about it...It has a limited connectivity to my router for no reason since earlier it was at least connected -_- Now it won't even do that. I turned off all my firewalls and have no background tasks running but apparently, thats not good enough. *sigh* sometimes I really hate technology. I've looked everywhere for a solution and i'm left with nothing.

 

[geldonyetich]

I generally keep the background processes to a minimum, but I don't stress over it. Windows can have dozens of processes running in the background and that's normal. The processes I worry about are just from unnecessary bloatware. (And trojans/viruses or other malware, but if you practice Safe Hex you'll rarely to never catch any.)

That covers the software aspect. As for the hardware aspect, people who dump $2000 or more on a new computer, or attempt to compete for each other for the best computer, are essentially paying idiot tax. If you're good at researching parts (use performance graphs like those off of Tom's Hardware [http://www.tomshardware.com]) you can put together a great system for well under $1000, and just upgrade it one part at a time as needed.

What you want to go for is a "sweet spot" where high performance hardware is available at a reasonable price. You will occasionally reach the point where your motherboard can't do what you need to do anymore, in which case it's time to make a CPU/Motherboard/RAM jump, but aside from that you're pretty much able to swing good performance on pennies a day.