External hard drive for desktop running Windows XP

Hey all,

I apologize in advance if this has been repeated 1000+ times.

Here are the specifics of my computer:

AMD Sempron(tm) Processor
3400+
1.81 GHz, 896MB of RAM
Microsoft XP Pro
Version 2002
Service Pack 3

I've had the same computer since November-ish of 2004 (my first big purchase after getting my first - and current - job!), it was custom built. It's obviously been updated as the years have gone by, and it's been in for regular clean ups and tune ups. It's starting to run sluggish :cry I've done everything I can think of except take it to "the doctor". I've run Spybot, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Super AntiSpyware, and AVG 9.0. All full scan results come up empty (thank goodness). I run CCleaner everyday. I have also gone through every folder in my documents and gotten rid of the files I don't need anymore.

So the only thing I can think of is that I need more RAM. I just took my computer to "the doctor" for a clean up and a tune up last summer, he put more memory into it as well. As far as I'm aware I have had as much RAM as possible put into it (I'm going to double check). Since the only thing I can think of is that I'm running out of room, and I have had all possible memory put into my baby I'm looking to buy an external hard drive.

Only thing is, I haven't the slightest idea where to start looking. I use my computer for school and general play. I'm online a lot, I store pictures and music (iTunes/Limewire) as well as documents and any videos I make take with my camera. I also like to play games the obviously require a flash player such as Ultima Online (best mmorpg ever! Haha).

As I'm a poor college student working a part-time retail job at a chain grocery store (haha) I can't really afford to spend too much money on one. I have a lot of pictures and music stored on my computer, so I'd mainly be using the external hard drive for storing those. I'm wondering what brands tend to have the best quality for decent prices?

Any/all suggestions/tips would be awesome! Even if they're for the computer itself.

Thank you so much!

 

Visit Crucial and download and run their online scan, it guarantees to find a RAM or multiple RAM modules that they guarantee to work with your PC, if the scanner does not work, just enter your PC details into the site.

Are you after an external Hard Drive aswell, i don't understand?

WesterDigital are probably the best when it comes to HDD's, also look at Seagate and maybe Hitachi if price comes above performance and reliability.

If you give me a preferred website that you would like to purchase from, a budget and what size you need, i will be happy to recommend you one!

 

Depending on how many megabytes of files you want to put on an external media, another option could be burning your photos and music to DVD discs. If you don't have a DVD burner, a new one could be purchased at a much lower cost than an external hard drive. DVD's hold up to 4.7GB, much more than CD's.

 

Since limewire is a P2P program, other people can take files from your computer. Any P2P software can slow down a computer. Disable that and see if the computer seems peppier.

Also AVG can slow down some computers too. It varies from person to person.
Make sure with Spybot that you do not have Teatimer on; that slows down some computers.

 

Thanks, I'll have to try that.

I am specifically looking for an external hard drive. What I meant by "Any/all suggestions/tips would be awesome! Even if they're for the computer itself." was that , aside from suggestions/ideas for an external hard drive, if you had any extra tips that could help make my computer run less sluggish would be sweet.

As far as budget goes... well as I mentioned I work only part time in a chain grocery store, so my hours vary, hence my pay varies. I'd really like to not go over 125-150. Brand; doesn't matter.

I've thought about burning DVDs but I'd rather not, it'd just be easier to have an external hard drive to store all my photos/music. As I'm almost constantly adding more of both (except for the time being.)

I've used AVG for years, and it's never slowed down my computer this much. I have limewire file sharing disabled, still slow. As for the Teatimer, pretty darn sure I have that disabled, but I can't remember how to check and see if it is or isn't.

Thank you for all your replies!

 

For an external have used Seagate and Western Digital in the past Latest purchase was a Verbatim 1T external. It has a Samsung HDD and a seven year warranty, easy to use and only powers up if I press the power button.
http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/xptweaks/supertweaks1.htm
http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html
For speed these two guides might help with what you have, just take it slowly. The second link has a free version that should suffice, and use part of that external to backup your system files and registry, just in case. You can always restore to a folder if needs be. Windows backup (system32/ntbackup.exe) isn't the best, but it is usually enough.
I like Avast, just my personal preference.:wave