Speed Up That Old Computer!

START HERE! ::: Close unnecessary applications to free up some virtual memory; more memory equals faster-loading pages. Some programs may close on the screen but still have processes lingering in the background. Press CRT+ALT+DEL on your keyboard. Click the button labeled "Task Manager." Under the tab that appears there will be a long list of running processes (i.e. firefox.exe, wmplayer.exe). Select the process that you would like to end and then click the "End Process" button. Be sure that you know which program the process is a part of--otherwise you could cause a crash.

NEXT ::: Install a firewall to stop unnecessary applications from accessing the Internet and hogging your bandwidth. Free firewalls, like Comodo's found at Personalfirewall.comodo.com, let you deny or approve the attempts of any application or process attempting to connect to the Internet and in turn will allow more bandwidth to be allocated to your Web session and faster speeds.

STOP excessive scripts from loading by installing a copy of Noscript at Noscript.net. This add-on works for any of the Mozilla browsers and blocks slow, unresponsive and unnecessary applets from loading--so your Web pages will load quicker. You have the option to unblock scripts in case a necessary script was blocked.

DOWNLOAD a copy of Flashget at Flashget.com/download. While this will not boost the speed of your connection by much, Flashget will give you some elevation. Also Flashget allows you to resume downloads if you get disconnected.

GET the Internet Speed Kit. The biggest advantage of this program is that it is completely free. All you need to do is download and install it. You should see pages download as much as eight times faster. The only downside is that it relies strictly on the compression technology of the software while the other programs combine the use of a proxy server with the compression software, making their download speeds significantly faster!

You know, digital life via a 28.8 (-or- "shudder" 14.4) modem is like surfing the Net in an Amish buggy. There are millions of netizens around the globe who have no other choice. I've looked for ways to speed up my dear old PC. But there's only so much one can do.

CHECK OUT MY tips for living with Dial-Up in 2010! One of the best is to simply enter any website's MOBILE URL in the address bar! You'll think you're back in 1995, the difference in speed is quite remarkable! I just call it "Factor M" !!!

If you look past the scanning lines on the "screenshot" below, you'll see how simple the gmail interface becomes using Factor M!


On WinME with Firefox, signing in at the gmail interface takes you to the basic html dashboard. But on the way back to gmail thru the same session, you'll see incoming mail as if you were connected via your cell phone!



Usually, you can put the little "m" in front of a website to arrive at the mobile version. If not, check on your phone or sometimes you can Google up the mobile addy!

Tags: Dial-Up Internet, Dialup