I put up with that crap for years, until I got too bored with games to care. Used to play CS and DoD a lot, and WoW for a while, and UT2004 of course. The games that ran would actually run faster due to the way WINE handled the missing API calls (basically skipping them). It was the only thing that would shut some Windows-folks up about how we Linux folks only had like three or four games we could even play. Damn, now I want to go kill some pixels.

I have a EMachine running Vista am pleased,my mother broad went last year,I bought a new one.I added max memory too.How ever with a slow processor and slow video card,its the same speed.Just loads new websites faster

Thanks for all the replies.
Some of the jargon is difficult for me--I only USE the computer. ( I haven't tried to understand one since my C64 days--and that was easy compared to the hexadecimal system used on the KIM-1 with 256 bytes of memory!--I had to build the tape drive for memory on that one)
I will post back the machine specs when I get back home, later today.
My browser is Google Chrome--so chromium is different?
I was using firefox, but Google Chrome seems better.
I agree that part of the problem is the internet itself--there is MUCH more content on every website than even a few years ago--and it ALL has to load.
Again, thanks for the help--

It's sad that my new Window's phone has more computing power than the 8 year old desktop computer we just replaced...hell, I think it may be faster than my much newer laptop computer.

Chrome is based on Chromium, but Chrome has some extra stuff added by Google.

I was using Firefox and also switched to Chrome. Initially, and when it's performing well, it's much faster. But, it also suffers from the tendency to suck resources over time.

I switched to Chromium and it's not only faster than Chrome, but the tendency to hog the RAM is lessened considerably. It does crash quite frequently, however, but it knows it crashed and will reload in seconds.

Why? Surely you do realize that a computer is obsolete the day it comes to the store since there is already the next model being worked on. 8 years is an eternity in the computer world. I toss my laptops after 3 years or so.

A good bit of my reluctance to upgrade machines is the time and effort to do so. Have you developed a good system, using any purchased software, that can make the process painless? A software package that would transfer every single setting, password, cookie, driver, etc. to the new machine?

It’s possible that the issues are due to older versions of flash and/or java. Use of these resources is wide spread and browsers will flake out if using an outdated version. Well, more accurately, the computer will have problems if the version of these is notably older than what the web page(s) require. Try updating both.

That said, ideally at some point you’d re-boot the computer and looked at the task manager, under processes, to see what’s running. After that, use the computer as you typically would for a while and then look at the processes again. One or more processes will use a lot more memory over time. This is the likely culprit.

Another possibility is that the browser had some add ins that have substantially slowed response time. With IE these would be found under tools>programs>manage add-ons. I dunno where they’d be with other browsers.

It’s also possible but unlikely due to the description that increasing the size of the system page file will help. Given the small amount of RAM, increasing this will not hurt.

It really depends on what you use the machine for, right? If it was adequate for 8 yo software and you still do mostly the same things on it, then it's adequate. Why send more money to A.K. Lim's cousins in the East just because you can?

I generally upgrade after the hardware gets to be about 5 years old. Though there are exceptions, like the 10 year old Thinkpad that I use for programming Avaya phone systems et al. (has a serial and parallel port).

Brian's response echoes my own. The task of changing computers, transferring ALL files etc is more trouble than its worth. I drive a 12 year old company Jeep Cherokee--sure newer vehicles may be faster and more fuel efficient, but the old one gets me to work sites, and has been reliable.
My last upgrade was because the printer died, and the new printer did not recognize the old OS.

If you kept most stuff in the cloud or on a NAS device (better for privacy), file transfer would be less of an issue. The Apple way (backing up to an external device then being able to restore to a different machine) also isn't bad.

While I work in and own a business that provides IT support, I’m a real utilitarian when it comes to doing updates. Yes, I own more computers than many businesses do, and use more computers for my own purposes than anyone I know.

But I’m not a fan of moving to a new platform. For me the process is tedium.

That said it isn’t so challenging. It’s a breeze to transfer email and most browser related stuff. It’s only slightly more involved to transfer any macros and things of the like. It is next to no effort to transfer documents, databases, etc.

Server platforms are another story, but were not talking about that.

Passwords and user names, by design, are more challenging to transfer, and often all but impossible. As example, you probably wouldn’t want your bank or stock access user name and passwords to be transferable without a lot of headache.

But it’s easier to do nothing until forced to do so. Fwiw, you can hire any of a number of people who can do the work for you. An average home workstation takes 1-4 hours for a build, not including the OS itself.

Just make sure you have reliable backups and are patient as the computer becomes slower and slooooooooooooooooooooower.

And who would that be? I don't really know most of my relatives so I couldn't be sure who you are talking about but if they are throwing around enough money, they are my BFF. :confused:

Even if he flushes the OS and reinstalls, he is basically going to have to "transfer" the programs back in. Sure the standard suite will be in place but I would want a clean install. That gets us back to the "why". If I am going to do a clean install, why bother with the old POS that probably will break faster than a new one and you'd be back to square 1. Plus the OS and the hardware is antiquated and isn't that good for surfing (speed wise). Fixing it is throwing good money after bad.