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Icons appear slowly -- Is it disk space or memory?
Hello everyone,
My system seems a tad slow. Here are the issues I am experiencing:
1. Most of the time, while the system is rebooting, the desktop icons will disappear and be left with "blank placeholder" icons momentarily, then it will "refresh" from the top down and they will appear from the top down. Most of the time, when I go into Control Panel, the CP Icons do the same thing, they load from the top down. Also, sometimes when I open the Start Menu, the icons at the bottom take a moment to appear, and have "placeholders" in their place. After reboot, all of these do this when viewed the first time, then after viewing them the first time, they seem to load up fine the next.
2. Sometimes, when I am typing in Webforms, such as this post, especially because I type at around 100 words per minute, it will either a) lose keystrokes or b) buffer some keystrokes. The latter I do not mind, the the former is terribly frustrating. I have done everything I can to troubleshoot IE, and have not found a "culprit". The only issue I can think of is system performance.
3. Sometimes, especially after system reboots, the icons in folders do not appear immediately, they either fill up as they are "loaded" or are shown as blank icons, then change to the correct icon in a few seconds.
I know it's not a HUGE issue, but I am wondering what I can do to best increase my performance and alleviate this issue? I am considering either a memory upgrade from 2GB to 4GB, my system max, or possibly installing a bigger HDD.
Here are my System Specs, as produced by sysspec, a program recommended by a poster here: I have a Toshiba U300 Notebook (which I LOVE!)
Windows: Microsoft Windows 7 6.1.7600
Internet Explorer: 8.0.7600.16385
Memory (RAM): 2039 MB
CPU Info: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz
CPU Speed: 713.7 MHz
Sound card: Speakers (High Definition Audio
Display Adapters: Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family | Mobile Intel(R) 945 Express Chipset Family | RDPDD Chained DD | RDP Encoder Mirror Driver | RDP Reflector Display Driver
Monitors: 1
Screen Resolution: 1280 X 800 - 32 bit
Network: Network Present
Network Adapters: Realtek PCIe FE Family Controller | Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection
CD / DVD Drives: E: HL-DT-STDVDRAM GSA-U10N
COM Ports: NOT Present >> I do have COM ports; I do not know why it did not find them...
LPT Ports: NOT Present
Mouse: 5 Button Wheel Mouse Present >> I actually have a built-in Touchpad Mouse
Hard Disks: C: 51.1GB | D: 30.0GB | J: 30.6GB >> C: is System, D: is Macrium system images, J: is Data
Hard Disks - Free: C: 36.7GB | D: 965.3MB | J: 26.3GB
USB Controllers: 5 host controllers.
Firewire (1394): Not Detected
PCMCIA (Laptops): Not Installed
Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
Product Make: Satellite U300
AC Power Status: OnLine
BIOS Info:
Time Zone: Pacific Standard Time
Battery: High
Motherboard: TOSHIBA Satellite U300
Modem: Not detected >> I do have a modem, don't know why it wasn't detected...
I am running from a fresh "clean" intall image of Win 7 Home Premium, plus what I consider a few basic apps: Adobe Acrobat Reader, Epson Printer Driver, Mozy Home Backup, McAfee, Google Toolbar, Weatherbug, reQall for Outlook, and, of course, Office 2010.
So, is there a better option between increasing memory to 4GB for $100, or buying say a hard drive for just a little less? I kind of don't want to put more HD storage into my computer, because I have plenty for my needs already. The question is whether the system has enough?
Please let me know what you think. I appreciate all of your good inputs and information!
Thanks!