Windows 7 is so slow on a somewhat old computer

I got an old desktop for free, its a nice computer considering how old it is, a Compaq Presario 5000. The specs are as follows:

Intel Pentium 4 @ 1.7GHz
1.25GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce FX 5500 with 256MB RAM
80GB HDD
CD/DVD drive along with a CD/RW drive

The system came with Windows XP Professional on it, and had that OS until I recently upgraded it to Windows7 Professional 32-bit. After I installed it I followed the optimize tutorial on this site, the computer runs okay with just normal usage. However...I like to play Combat Arms with my friends and we often used this computer back when it had XP on it. When XP was installed, the game ran perfectly. Now, while Windows7 is on, it runs incredibly slow. There's never-ending lags, etc. I don't know why its doing this, the CPU usage is at 100% most of the time, I have all visual effects disabled/classic theme. I don't have a crapload of software on there, only security (MSE) and Office (2010).

Is there any way to speed this up, or should I just revert it back to XP?

McDougal said:

I got an old desktop for free, its a nice computer considering how old it is, a Compaq Presario 5000. The specs are as follows:

Intel Pentium 4 @ 1.7GHz
1.25GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce FX 5500 with 256MB RAM
80GB HDD
CD/DVD drive along with a CD/RW drive

The system came with Windows XP Professional on it, and had that OS until I recently upgraded it to Windows7 Professional 32-bit. After I installed it I followed the optimize tutorial on this site, the computer runs okay with just normal usage. However...I like to play Combat Arms with my friends and we often used this computer back when it had XP on it. When XP was installed, the game ran perfectly. Now, while Windows7 is on, it runs incredibly slow. There's never-ending lags, etc. I don't know why its doing this, the CPU usage is at 100% most of the time, I have all visual effects disabled/classic theme. I don't have a crapload of software on there, only security (MSE) and Office (2010).

Is there any way to speed this up, or should I just revert it back to XP?

This is because the FX5500 was discontinued and Nvidia no longer provides any new drivers for it, but you can install the Vista driver instead for a smoother performance
ForceWare Release 95

McDougal said:

Intel Pentium 4 @ 1.7GHz
1.25GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce FX 5500 with 256MB RAM
80GB HDD

Is there any way to speed this up, or should I just revert it back to XP?

Your hardware is just about at the minimum for 7..If I remember it right, the 32 bit recommends at the bare minimum 1 GB for 32 bit. I had the FX500, and while it was a good card for its time, it's outdated.

Windows 7 System Requirements

At idle, my memory usage sits at anywhere from 1.1GB to 1.3GB, depending on what I've got open.

You said your processor is at 100% most of the time..is that when playing the game, or even if you're idle? Try sorting the CPU column in the Processes tab of Task Manager and see which process is taking up the most of your CPU.

If it were me..I'd run XP on the machine until you can upgrade a little further. You have plenty of memory for XP.

Windows XP Professional System Requirements

[QUOTE=yowanvista;1277454]

McDougal said:

This is because the FX5500 was discontinued and Nvidia no longer provides any new drivers for it, but you can install the Vista driver instead for a smoother performance
ForceWare Release 95

That's what I figured, I already have the Vista 32-bit driver installed that I downloaded directly from the Nvidia site.

Sik00 said:

McDougal said:

Intel Pentium 4 @ 1.7GHz
1.25GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce FX 5500 with 256MB RAM
80GB HDD

Is there any way to speed this up, or should I just revert it back to XP?

Your hardware is just about at the minimum for 7..If I remember it right, the 32 bit recommends at the bare minimum 1 GB for 32 bit. I had the FX500, and while it was a good card for its time, it's outdated.

Windows 7 System Requirements

At idle, my memory usage sits at anywhere from 1.1GB to 1.3GB, depending on what I've got open.

You said your processor is at 100% most of the time..is that when playing the game, or even if you're idle? Try sorting the CPU column in the Processes tab of Task Manager and see which process is taking up the most of your CPU.

If it were me..I'd run XP on the machine until you can upgrade a little further. You have plenty of memory for XP.

Windows XP Professional System Requirements

I unfortunately don't have the $$$$ to upgrade any hardware on this system . And yes, the processor is at 100% most of the time when playing the game, on idle or normal usage its at a reasonable precentage.

So I guess I should revert it back to XP then.....oh well, Windows7 can't run on everything.

You better off downgrade it back to Xp .. until you have money for more mem "say 4GB or so" and new bigger/faster "say al least 7200RPM" HDD ..IMO ..

BTW .. Intel Pentium 4 CPU is good enough to handle wds7 ...

McDougal said:

I unfortunately don't have the $$$$ to upgrade any hardware on this system . And yes, the processor is at 100% most of the time when playing the game, on idle or normal usage its at a reasonable precentage.

So I guess I should revert it back to XP then.....oh well, Windows7 can't run on everything.

The processor will more than likely be near 100% with a game running. That's its job :)

Unfortunately it can't run on everything. If you've heard of http://www.newegg.com I would check them out when you're ready for an upgrade. I build mine piece by piece, but they do have "System builder" bundles that come with almost everything you need at a reasonable price. My mother does transcription work, and I upgraded her old Gateway ( 2.4 Ghz, 768 MB RAM), to a dual-core Athlon II with 2 GB of RAM, new HDD, case, etc. for a little over $300. That didn't include Windows 7 (which I got for $99 for Home Premium) or a monitor, as she already had a 22 inch widescreen.

To check for a memory upgrade, Google your model + RAM upgrade.

What you find after reading the results is that the mainline version 5000 only supports 750mb RAM, so it's possible the rest of your RAM isn't even being used.

You can run the Crucial memory Upgrade tool to make sure, but I think you've found the weakness.

Huh that's weird, it seems to be using the extra RAM, I got rid of Win7 though, and am in the process of installing XP Pro.

I've used Crucial before for memory upgrades, and IMO it's the easiest way. I'll run their online utility after I'm finished installing to see what options are available.

And I also forgot to add it's the 50000US, and it came with 512MB, the previous owner upgraded it to what it is now.