Run Win7 apps faster in Linux?

[sdsumike619]

I've got this older compaq computer with 2.7GHz athlon processor and 3GB of memory. It's become painfully slow running programs like firefox and quickbooks which is pretty much all I run. Would there be any benefit to switching to linux and running a virtual Windows environment? I don't have much experience with Linux, but I've heard that it runs fast, and runs Windows programs well. Is it worth it to do this, or will I do it and find out it was a waste of time?

[Nelson37]

No. Unless there are Linux programs to do what you want, running thru an emulator will be worse than what you have now.

You mention "it has become slow". This implies it has gotten worse, which unless your hard drive is dying and has performance issues this can be easily corrected.

QBooks is a memory and performance hog but Firefox is very much less so, unless there are some other issues it should run just fine.

If you are prepared to install Linux, then I would recommend instead a re-format and re-install of Win7 with only needed apps, along with some updates. Did that box come with Win7, or was this installed as an upgrade, and if upgraded, was this a clean install? Always, always, ALWAYS install new OS as a clean install after format.

[themaster1]

there are many optimizations u can do on windows such as choose another hdd for the swap file (page.sys) also for the temp files, aswell (vista and later) you can use usb flash drive to act like ram (2 Gb max i think)

[sdsumike619]

It's actually Firefox that is the hog. I have two tabs open right now, this site, and my gmail and according to the task manager, Firefox is using about 250MB of memory while QB is only using 14MB. I did a re-format around last year this time due to a virus. I guess maybe it's time for another one. I'm not sure if it's the memory or HD, but the HD is doing that thing where it sounds like it's constantly reading/writing sometimes. You've answered my question though, running the apps in Windows in Linux isn't going to help the situation.

[newpball]

Firefox is using about 250MB of memory.....

That's rather low!

Mine runs about 600 MB.

If the slowness bothers you there is only one adequate solution and that is to fork out some money to buy a more up to date computer. All the rest is tinkering at the margins.

[sdsumike619]

Normally I would do that, but too much money going out the door lately with new house purchases, taxes, etc.. I'll just deal with it for now

[Cornucopia]

It is NOT just tinkering at the margins. There are plenty of things that can be done; some improve incrementally, some are "game changers".

Run lean: 600MB for Firefox doesn't matter as much if your background & concurrent processes are minimal and you are totally virus free. There are still items to try WITHIN FF: http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/speed-up-mozilla-firefox/ is a good place to start.

Of course, alternately, you could always sandbox FF in a VM and run the VM with an earlier version of FF that doesn't have as big a memory footprint, and without any Anti-virus or Anti-malware, then always reboot to a new (copied) instance if/when it ever gets corrupted. IOW, it's a "throwaway" version.
(Though one must take into account the downside: memory burden of running the VM, and speed inefficiencies of hardware emulation)

Scott

[sophisticles]

Am i the only one that notice he has 3gb of ram? Unless his computer is using unmatched sticks then he probably has 4gb installed but only 3gb is available, perhaps an avenue he should be investigating.

Also, that sound the hard drive is making is most likely either the indexing service or Windows defrag running in the background, both will slow down the computer.

Right click on the hard drive, properties and take a look to see what is going on.

[Cornucopia]

"3GB RAM" is common and expected for 32bit systems that (actually) have 4GB. Assuming profile spec is correct, he's using XP Pro (probably 32bit). Even with the 3GB extension switch, the OS would still never report the full 4GB. Par for the course. Nothing worth investigating there.

Scott

[Bjs]

Be easier to go to ebay and buy an ex lease e8400 system with win 7 for around $200.00 ... newer software plus updates will cause it to grind and get worse.

Still have my old xp2400 (xp sp2) but its long retired as a backup / old games system.