Should I have Staples tune up my PC?

PC''s getting slow and I get a Firefox not responding message sometimes which just stops everthing. I did everything I could to clean it up so far and run Advanced System Care 5 and CCLeaner often.
Staples has a free tune up special going on. I'd have to leave it with them for 2-3 days. Any downside to letting them do this service?

Specs:
IBM, Pentium 4 CPU 2.40 GHz
2.39 GHz 256 MB of RAM

I don't want to find out this is a covert gov. program that will install spyware on it so they can monitor inside my house.
That was just my tinfoil hat side commenting.......

Appreciate any ideas.

256MB RAM? Wow dude. Which OS are you running? And which version of Firefox? More RAM is almost certain to make it run better, and a Pentium 4 motherboard should be able to handle a minimum of a couple of gigabytes. Might not hurt to reinstall or run the install disk repair option on the current OS. I've never dealt with Staples on anything computer related since I do everything myself, but I would not leave my computer in the hands of retail store "techs" or anyone else who wasn't an agent of the company that made the computer. Especially if it has an personal info on it. And of course you would have to have a full backup made before giving it to them. Then again, the Pentium 4 was EOL'd in 2007 - might be getting close to time to upgrade. I think I got rid of my P4 system like 3 years ago - and I thought I kept computers a long time!

Your computer could most def use more memory. Install the maximum it can handle and you will be much happier

256.. :(

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Needs more ram!

You need a new computer.


Sure you could buy some more ran, but I don't believe that is the only bottleneck in your system.

It would be a much better use of your hard-earned greenbacks to buy a new computer than trying to keep that old dinosaur running.

If you just surf the net and email get more mem, run good antivirus software and DL Malwarebytes free edition and run it, get the mem first though. just look at the system specs and it should tell you what mem you need.

Meh...the old computer will work, but needs more RAM. It is what...10ish years old? My dedicated download/trash laptop is about 12 years old.

Instead of going to staples, just backup everything to CDs and reformat. Make sure you have your OS disks with codes(likely XP due to age). If you are running any other expensive software, MS Office, etc, make sure you have copies of that as well.

It is highly recommended that you have another computer that can access the internet to enable you to download extra "stuff" to get your computer back running.


Of course, new laptops are relatively cheap nowadays. Here pretty soon, you will need a new computer.

If Staples is too far to drive, try Kroger grocery. Same place they do the payroll check cashing has an extension of their internal IT department. They've done a lot of virtualization and optimization and need less IT staff but due to their union contracts, the staff is stuck doing mundane tasks through the end of this fiscal year. Just take the tower in when you go to town next.

-Luke

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I've had this pc for about 10 years now. Running Firefox 11.0 so that's up to date. OS is Windows XP. And as I stayed I've run everything I could think of including this: http://securitytango.com/tango.php .
Just bought my wife a HP laptop for X-mas so really no funds for another one in the near future. If spending a few bucks on upgrading memory will suffice for what I need ( internet, e-mailing no gaming and such) I may try that route and hope to get another year out of it.

Wow! You sure got your money's worth out of that box! Yeah, sure, hike up the ram and HDD, drive it till the wheels fall off!

As others have stated, bump up the RAM. If you visualize your system memory being a work surface, or tabletop, it would be so cluttered with items and you'd have very little space to get work done. If you move up to at least 1gb, the background services won't be taking up all the workspace.

Heh. Firefox 11 says it wants 512MB RAM, so I'd say that's the source of the browser issue. A really old version might run a little smoother on the limited resources. More RAM or a new system is definitely the better option though.

Thanks did not know that. FF updates automatically so I never questioned it. BTW my 1st PC had 8 MB of RAM and a couple of years later when I installed a 32 MB board into It I got a woody with the new great speed!!!!!

Pretty sure I was running 28mb RAM when I first started using Firefox (back when it was called Phoenix)

I still have some Camino, Phoenix and Firebird installers lying around.

Holy crap I thought it was an April fool's gag on the board.

-Luke

I recall about 10 years ago, 256mb ram was standard for a 2.4 ghz P4 from Dell. They also packed their systems with so much bloatware, you'd have about 9mb left to actually run with.

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