My computer is running slow

From a Fan:

Client emails me to check “Computer running slow”. I set appointment and when I am finally asked to come on-site I note that…


PC is about 6 years old, Win7 x64 with 4 Gb RAM (DDR3)
Open applications:
2 Excel spreadsheets
Outlook with a big PST file
Chrome with approx 20 tabs open

Hard drive seriously paging

I ask “Can I close everything that is open ?”

So I close everything and all is good.

Client: “But I need all that stuff open ! No spare money to upgrade the PC”

Me: “At very least you need a serious RAM upgrade, if you can still get DDR3”

Client: “I’ll just put up with it”

Ticket closed