Wifi And Audio Trouble?

I just moved and now have wifi in my new home. I have an old HP Elite C2D 3.0ghz, New 4GB Memory, 250GB, Windows 10 Professional (Renewed), which has been good enough for me (a dinosaur, I know). I set it up but noticed that I didn't need the speakers, as audio was coming from somewhere else; maybe my ViewSonic VA2055SA 20 Inch 1080p LED Monitor with VGA Input that I bought in 2020?

Everything seemed fine and I was able to control the volume through the Speakers icon at the bottom right corner of the screen. However, I seem to have problems where Taskmaster shows too many Background processes running and that seems to muffle the audio (as well as slow everything down). What can I do?

 

More RAM and maybe a SSD would help some, but it will be a slightly faster dinosaur as it was old when you bought it. Unless you have a special attachment to this PC, I would consider a newer one.

 

Assuming you mean Task Manager (TM), what makes you say "too many"?

Click on the column headings (CPU, Memory, Disk, etc) to sort on that resource then see what process or processes are consuming the most.

Also, click on the Startup tab and see what is starting (and is Enabled) with Windows.

I agree, 4GB is certainly a limiting factor. Fortunately, the description of that computer shows you have 64-bit Windows. Therefore, your computer will support more RAM. You definitely would see a significant performance increase just by adding another 4GB of RAM.

BTW, not sure why Amazon keeps saying "Renewed" after "Windows 10 Professional 64-bit". That seems odd since they already refer to the computer as "Refurbished". I am not aware of any way to "renew" a Windows license - if that is what they are suggesting.

 

1. Oops, I can't get Task Manager back to the way it was when I first opened it, but it showed 37 or 38 other processes running, plus I think 88 Windows processes. Firefox (10) and Task Manager were at the top but didn't seem to be using up that much of the "juice."

2. When I clicked on the column headings, Memory shows 82%. The Disk column is now showing only 4% after I restarted the computer. I show Firefox (10) (whatever that 10 means ), plus I show it 8 other times. Is that normal?

3. I clicked on the Startup tab and unpinned a lot of things that I never use, so maybe that will help too.

4. And now the BIG Question! How would I add 4GB of RAM? This computer is perfect for my special needs son, who only looks at youtube videos. I'll get another for myself.

 

Hmmm, sadly, I cannot find a complete specs page for that computer that says anything about the memory, except that it comes with 4Gb of DDR3. You would have to open the case and look to see if it has more than one RAM slot. If it has, you could probably just add a second 4GB stick. If it only has 1 slot, you would have to replace the current 4Gb stick with an 8GB stick "IF" it supports more than 4GB.

There is a chance the current RAM is "surface mounted" meaning it is does not go in a slot (socket) but is soldered directly to the motherboard. That cannot be upgraded.

I recommend you run the Crucial System Scanner. This will tell you what you have and what your computer will support, then suggest options, if any. You don't have to buy directly from Crucial, but if you buy recommended from them, they guarantee compatibility. And for the record, last time I bought recommended from them for my own laptop, it was $10 cheaper than Amazon for the exact same item.

Most other RAM makers have similar scanners. Crucial is probably the most popular, and one of the more reputable brands.

One problem you might have is DDR3. DDR5 is the standard now so DDR3 may be hard to find.

 

I guess I'll bow to the inevitable and get him a new-used computer, as well as a new(ish) one for me. But thank you so much for all your help; I really do appreciate it!