M
MS
Hi,
I've an old PC with a 266 mhz CPU and just upgraded to 256MB RAM (though
the motherboard can only cache 64MB RAM), running Win 2000 Pro (fully
updated).
I've set it up as an MP3 playing 'jukebox' connected to my stereo in the
living room and have plugged a wireless card in so it can stream the MP3s
which are on a hard disk connected to my wireless router. It will also be
used for web browsing and OpenOffice apps.
It's slow EG. OpenOffice apps take 5-10 seconds to load, though both IE
and Firefox load faster than that. Once loaded the apps work quite
reasonably and responsively.
The problem is that when playing a CD (from the internal CD drive - not
streamed over wireless) and with playing some, but not all, MP3s streamed
over wireless, is that the occasional crackle occurs. This was much worse
when the PC had only 64MB RAM - I upgraded it to 256RAM (which is the max
the motherboard supports) - in an attempt to solve the crackle problem.
Strangely the crackle problem is much worse playing from the (local) CD
drive than it is playing the streamed MP3s.
I don't really want to buy a new motherboard with a faster processor. How
can I minimize the processor and RAM usage of the Win 2000 Pro OS? For
instance I am sure many services are running that I don't need, but I've
no idea which are safe to stop. All advise from you gurus would be greatly
appreciated. --Please don't suggest installing Win98 (or suchlike) since
my wireless card is compatible with only Win2k and XP.
Finally I should mention that when playing music (I use WinAmp) I close
all apps, except ZoneAlarm firewall, D-Link wireless connector, and of
course the LAN.
Many, many, thanks and regards, etc..
I've an old PC with a 266 mhz CPU and just upgraded to 256MB RAM (though
the motherboard can only cache 64MB RAM), running Win 2000 Pro (fully
updated).
I've set it up as an MP3 playing 'jukebox' connected to my stereo in the
living room and have plugged a wireless card in so it can stream the MP3s
which are on a hard disk connected to my wireless router. It will also be
used for web browsing and OpenOffice apps.
It's slow EG. OpenOffice apps take 5-10 seconds to load, though both IE
and Firefox load faster than that. Once loaded the apps work quite
reasonably and responsively.
The problem is that when playing a CD (from the internal CD drive - not
streamed over wireless) and with playing some, but not all, MP3s streamed
over wireless, is that the occasional crackle occurs. This was much worse
when the PC had only 64MB RAM - I upgraded it to 256RAM (which is the max
the motherboard supports) - in an attempt to solve the crackle problem.
Strangely the crackle problem is much worse playing from the (local) CD
drive than it is playing the streamed MP3s.
I don't really want to buy a new motherboard with a faster processor. How
can I minimize the processor and RAM usage of the Win 2000 Pro OS? For
instance I am sure many services are running that I don't need, but I've
no idea which are safe to stop. All advise from you gurus would be greatly
appreciated. --Please don't suggest installing Win98 (or suchlike) since
my wireless card is compatible with only Win2k and XP.
Finally I should mention that when playing music (I use WinAmp) I close
all apps, except ZoneAlarm firewall, D-Link wireless connector, and of
course the LAN.
Many, many, thanks and regards, etc..