Yrag - Jafo - anyone out there - I need help!

Hell i have a 3.4 dual core and 2g ram and I go thru same thing on a daily basis, maybe not as much as you do but on a fairly low end machine I can imagine theres not much ur going to be able to do about it.

Open up your task manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del, for any noobs who may have found the post through google) and see what's being used. Based on the specs you've listed, I'd guess you don't have a lot of available memory, as 256 is what I personally consider a minimum for XP. You may want to look into a memory upgrade.

256 is usually more than adequate for Linux platforms, so that could explain the difference.

I'm going to assume you've done all your system maintenance (defragmented the hard drive, run all of your up to date A/V, anti-spyware, registry cleaner). If not, do those.

Also, don't forget to check the actual physical components. Dust can slow up a computer more than most people realize.

My gut instinct is screaming "memory" though, but everything else bears checking while you're at it.

One more thing: With onboard graphics, you may have shared video memory which would affect your available memory even more.

My pc is just a few months old, not dusty, I have nothing running at startup , all useless services disabled, it's defragged regularly and zero spyware, still hangs and cpu spikes while most forum based pages load, especially here and Neowin.

XP home.

P 3.4 dual core.

2 gigs ram.

BFG 8600GT overclocked w\512.

Drives me nuts on a daily basis.

Oh, I know, vstyler. He asked for some tips, though, and I thought it prudent to give him some tips that might help.

Hah.. no i'm askin for tips too Gideon!!   

Kona - Lack of memory. It's writing everything to the hard drive. Forums are simply more complex then the average web page.


vStyler - Sounds like a security program. Actually, it smells like Zone Alarm.


Jafo should be the one to address this....he's a virtual encyclopedia of all that can/will go wrong with a computer.

yrag = my hero

LOL

Good answer on vstyler, yrag. I had kona's pegged, but vstyler's was a new one.

vstyler,

Have you looked closely at the processes and the CPU usage of the individual processes?

That would be from personal experience, I'd bet.

Yes, I'm fanatical about keeping memory and processes down.

No, I run XP firewall only.

I think my similiar slow downs are Modem related but I am already in over my head here.   

Actually, come to think of it, while my pages load on my work computer (no such problem with my home computer) I have, on occasion, had spikes on JoeUser that have required me shutting down that instance of IE. In my case, it could be a firewall/security issue as I am on the network at work (which I don't maintain), and don't have these problems on the network at school (which I do)...

What browser are you using? Have you had similar experiences with different browsers?

call your phine company and have them do a line test!

            

Sorry, man...could NOT resist!

I typically use IE6 but same in FF, and IE7 on Vista... I dunno.. guess i need an even faster PC, just got this in JAN.   

Kona with those specs.........it's time for an upgrade  

A shot in the dark...

Windows defender supposedly has real time checking that is a resource hog.

kona0197, your computer needs more power. Mine is almost 5 years old. It is a compaq that came with 256 and now it's got 1.2 megs of RAM. RAM is cheap right now so if you plan to keep using this machine get as much as it can hold. Mine has onboard intel graphics too. It has a Intel Cely 2.8 GHz CPU. Running XP Home. Running WB, OD, etc. etc. and that Thoosje sidebar thingie. The point is I don't have any of your issues. It flies! ok, there is some process that is causing this. Go here WWW Link and be very careful. Follow all directions carefully. This guy is an expert. I was using Zone Alarm for a couple of years but the last update really played havoc on this machine so bye bye. I'm using sygate now and it seems to do just fine and doesn't slow anything down. There could be any number of things causing this problem. I'm no expert I just have picked up tips along the way.

A couple of other things that can cause a low-level hardware freeze...

If you have had any disk read/write errors (CD or hard drive) in the past, XP may have bounced your device back to PIO mode instead of DMA. If you find that the device is running in PIO, you can just uninstall the device (sometimes you have to uninstall the controller device too/instead) from within the device manager and then reboot. Since these drivers are built into XP, it will reinstall them from the cache and with the default (DMA on) settings.

Anything by Norton/Symantec...

Hope these help.

The answer is somewhere in there. First off, excluding Windows, you do have 'Startup's. AV, spyware, WB etc. My reference to ZA was not the firewall, but the apps that run with it. Secondly, everyone has their own opinions as to what 'useless' is and it's impact on speed, but very few actually hinder performance. Disabling some could actually have the opposite effect. Your machine should have no problems running anything.

Having said all that, my money is still on a security app that is on-access. Most likely a spyware/phlishing type. When you hit a site (as in forums) that have a lot of frames, scripting et al, your CPU instructions are off to the races. On a dual processor, it's not a problem. On a single, you're done until it's done. Since you have a dual, it's not CPU related (unless you've changed the affinity or priority), so you either have a service disabled that shouldn't be or it's app related. My guess is that your CPU, as it relates to your fan problem, is spiking more then you think.

Agreed. I'm looking at a machine with the following:

AMD Duron 1.6 GHz CPU
512 RAM - DDR
52x CDROM
Nothing Onboard...
I own a 64 MB Nvidia 4000 XT I can through in it along with a 52x32x52 Burner.

Save your money for a few months and you'll be able to double those specs and more Kona.

Actually due to three paydays in November and a chance to use that money now says I have to buy now. And yep I'm not using ebay this time...

I will look for a better deal however. I have about $120 to play with.

yrag, all I have running at start up is WB.. nothing non-MS is in services in Msconfig and nothing at all is in startup. The only services I disable are print spooler, messenger and error reporting.

As far as AV.. I install it periodically, scan fully, then uninstall, same with spyware removers. I keep my PC updated and use windows firewall only. I only frequent 5-10 safe sites, I dont open anything suspicious and have learned to protect myself using my wits over the years as opposed to bog down protection based appz. I can promise you I have nothing intrusionary on my PC.

I guess not............  



How of curiosity....what drivers are you using for that graphic card?

kona, that Duron is not going to get you far. If you have only got 120 bucks to play with you might consider waiting, saving a bit more and then having a look around. An upgrade to your current system will cost a lot of money and I would wait until you have 500 bucks and then get in the market for a new box