Secondhand PC with Paging File problems

Hello Everybody,

I've inherited a new PC but it's got a problem with the paging file and I'm wondering if I could get any help fixing it. It's now running Windows XP but I'm pretty sure the guy who gave it to me said he encountered the paging file error before upgrading from Windows 98.

It seems to be impossible to change the paging file. Going in through System Prefs>Advances>Performance and editing the paging file options has no effect. It always wants to restart after I make these changes but everytime it boots it can't find a paging file or says it's too small.

So I keep running out of Virtual memory and a certain program (Minecraft) won't run for longer than 1-10minutes.

If anyone can help that'd be great.

Thanks,
dog

First, reformat the computer (after backing up any files you want, obviously). Don't "upgrade" (that is an option in some windows installers, I believe), but actually wipe the disk clean (do a full format, not a "quick format", while you're doing that by the way), and then install an operating system onto the blank disc. That should fix everything.

If that doesn't fix everything, then you have an old computer (as you know), and it's just not going to work very well. It's not that surprising either-- 98 and XP are old operating systems, so if you're running any relatively newer software, then you can expect problems. But honestly even software from back then may not function as well as you'd expect modern software to function on a modern computer.

Using an old computer like that can be useful in some ways, but if you have problems with it, that's just something you'll probably have to accept. There isn't a real alternative to it except formatting and keeping the processing load down.

Of course you could systematically replace parts-- add a bigger hard drive, add more RAM, and maybe even put in a better motherboard or processor, but I'm not sure how much of that you can or want to do, rather than just getting a new computer. And upgrading an old computer like that might not be worth the money compared to buying a relatively cheap new computer. (If it's a laptop, you can't replace much at all, except perhaps RAM.)

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for the reply. I'll give that a go and get back here if there are any more problems.

Thanks again
And happy new year!

dog

Hello,
I am new here and I just want to share suggestions regarding this thread. Based on my experience, I always encountered problems using my 2nd hand pc. I do reformatting when my pc hangs or cannot start windows. Same problem happens the next day. It is a waste of time.

So I suggest to replace your old pc with the new one. Anyway PC's nowadays are affordable as technology arises.