Running A P4 3.0 Ghz, With 1GB RAM But System Slow, Now Why?

It could be many things.

First, how much hard drive space do you have free? If the number is fairly low, this could be the cause of your problem. (Delete some junk to free up some space)

Second, have you scanned for viruses AND spyware? If the answer is no, this could be the cause of your problem. (Run antivirus and spybot S&D)

Third, when you start up your computer, do a thousand icons appear in the right hand corner? If the answer is yes, this could be the cause of your problem. (Tell things like quicktime and other unimportant tasks not to run on startup)

Fourth, there are many other possible causes to your problem.

Best of Luck

In one word "software"

anitvirus?
spware?

check your task manager, see whats slowing you down. With new anti-badware programs have add features and alot more things to scan for.

if you use spysweepr with your 3.0 it will use 50% of cpu just when u surf!


i assume -- that you clean the tif's and scan for badware

second, as you add programs they load in the start menu and use your resources.

run--msconfig--start menu----> turn off everything except anti spy and virus

run--msconfig---services--hide microsoft --- turn off non essential services

I heard the Caps lock take a lot of ressource

  Me too.

What do you prefer?

This?:

I'D TAKE A LOOK AT THE SHIFT KEY (THERE'S TWO OF THEM, ACUTALLY). IF THERE IS SOMETHING ON THAT IT MIGHT BE CAUSING YOUR PROBLEMS. NEXT, TAKE A LOOK AT THE CAPS LOCK KEY. MOST KEYBOARDS HAVE A LIGHT THAT INDICATES WHETHER THIS "FEATURE" IS ON OR OFF. IF THE CAPS LOCK INDICATOR LIGHT IS LIT, THAT USUALLY INDICATES THAT YOUR CAPS LOCK STATE IS ON.

Or this?:

I'd take a look at the shift key (there's two of them, acutally). If there is something on that it might be causing your problems. Next, take a look at the Caps Lock key. Most keyboards have a light that indicates whether this "feature" is on or off. If the Caps Lock indicator light is lit, that usually indicates that your Caps Lock state is on.

nah, it's the porn

PERHAPS YOU NEED A NEW KEYBOARD.

I just had this problem - if your CPU is maxed while copying files from a CD/DVD, you are likely stuck in PIO mode rather than UDMA mode.

Go to device manager to your secondary IDE chain & check this.

To resolve the issue see this thread:
http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/modules.php?nam...

You will likely just have to delete a registry key.

Jo

I PREFER THE TOP ONE !!!11

*Hides*

Check task manager to see what processes are running and slowing down your computer. Clear the recycling bin often. Keep our desktop uncluttered with shortcuts by moving them to a central folder. Clean your temporary Internet files and cookies from time to time along with your history. Run disk defragmenter. And... turn off the fcuking CAPS lock.

PENTIUM 4 CPU'S RUN EXTREMLY HOT.....THE CHANCES ARE YOU HAVE LITERELY BURNED SOME IF NOT ALL THE CAHCE OFF IN YOU CPU, THUS MAKING IT EXTREMLY SLOWER......TRY OPENING THE TOWER AND LOOKING FOR SMALL BROWN BALLS, SIMILAR TO RABBIT POO......ALSO I THINK YOUR CAPS LOCK BUTTON MAY BE STUCK IN, IF ITS NOT TRY TURNING YOUR KEYBOARD UPSIDE DOWN AND TRY TYPING WITH YOUR PENIS!

IF YOU PUT BUTTER ON YOUR dvd'S THEY WILL SPIN FASTER. THIS MAKES THEM BURN MUCH FASTER, AND PLAY BETTER IN YOUR dvd PLAYER. MAKE SURE YOU USE UNSALTED BUTTER, BECAUSE SALTED CAN DAMAGE THE dvd.

PHIL r.

Lol. Bit out there though

Check your hard drives for any irregularities. Try sanding the platter with some rough sandpaper. That makes the surface area larger, giving you larger capacity and high read speeds!


Just kidding. I'd recommend you reformat your HDD.

Why does everyone have such a problem with all caps? It's no harder to read. Unless you're a moron.

It just makes me think you're a 10 year old kid tbh.

It's bad netiquette - THIS IS CONSIDERED SHOUTING on the Internet, where we can't actually change the tone of our voices. (due to the fact we don't have them)

Almost as bad is Capitalising The Beginning Of Every Word. It's bad for your shift key and Means That When You Read It In Your Head It's Really Annoying Sounding, you dig?

LOL that is a good point, when i try to read text in caps lock, it reminds me of barry scot of the cillit bang advert, cuz i always read caps as shoutin so it kinda reseminds me of:
"HI IM BARRY SCOT.....DO YOU HAVE TROUBLE WITH GROUND IN DIRT?? THEN USE CILIT BANG!!!!"
always makes me laugh when i read that.

As help with the troubleshooting, i think i may have a cure so to speak about the dvd issue. It sounds to me as if you dvd drive is rusting up and spinning slower, thus making you dvd's burn slower. removing the drive and soacking it in a tub of crude oil for a few days will fix the problem. reconnect the dvd drive after and it should be ok.

Also if this doesnt work, try removing your cpu, and frustratingly and angrily destroy the pins and throw it aggresivly at a hard brick wall several times whilst shouting abusive phrases!  

Cillit Bang. Great stuff!

You know they had one guy do the advert and then another do the voiceover because it was cheaper to make! That sort of penny-pinching tells you a lot about the company I think! Drum n Bass remix was awesome, too.

o yer dont even get me started on that. try watching that after you have been on drugs and you are like........im so dizy.

"BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG LOOK AT THIS 2 PENNY GOOD AS NEW GOOD AS NEW GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD AS NEW CILITT BAAAANNNGGGGG...AND THE DIRT IS GGGOOOONEEEEE"

an all time classic. the same guy also done a e-sure insurance advert remix as well shich was good.

Tell more. So that help at an adequate level can be submitted:
Are you a noob?
Who put together your computer?
Who chose and added extra memory (no details required)?
Why do you use caps (details please)?
What is the country of your origin?
What do you use the computer for (you can skip the porn)?
Do you know what malware is and what kinds of it exist?
Do you know about protection (i mean on the computer)?
Did you ever install an operating system?
Do you know what UNIX is and what is it used for?
Can you use UNIX?
Did you ever compile any kernel?
Do you know what general protection fault is?
Do you remember encountering one?
Do you know what segmentation fault is?
Did you stumble upon one?
By copying do you mean from dvd or to dvd?
Did the problems arise after extra memory was added?

I'm even more curious about your screen name.

Did YOU   give that name to yourself?

Do you normally refer to yourself as "CUTE"?

For that matter "SEXY"?

-----------------------------------------------------------------

OK enough of the fun... Now for some real help...

When is the last time you did a system refresh?

By that I mean backup data, format your primary partition, re-install Windows, and re-install your "NEEDED" applications?

If the answer to this is > say probably 8 or so months then I say it is probably time to do this.

Windows inherently SLOWS down over time do to itself and other applications not cleaning up after themselves. They leave things in the registry, on the hardrive, in temp locations and etc...

By doing the above your system will likely return to closer what you expect performance wise. I refresh my system about once every 6 or so months depending on the amount of install/de-installation of apps I do.

PS...

People are giving you grief because writing in all caps is considered shouting on the internet and on forums. Proper use of grammar and punctuation, with a generous helping of humility/thanks will go a long way toward helping you get the answers you need.

Welcome to THG and don't let these folks scare ya off.

Contrary to what you read above (myself included) you came to the right place to ask questions.

PS..

You should currently be running applications such as the following:

Personal Firewall
Spyware detection/eradication
Adware detection/eradication
Virus detection/eradication

All beleive it or not are available for free.

The refresh mentioned above helps cure some of these types of issues as well. Since it will get rid of Spyware and Adware on your PC.

LASTLY  

Do you have your machine up-to-date?

If running Windows XP do you have the updated service packs and critical patches?

Are you sure you just take 5 minutes to copy a 4.7 GB dvd. I am really surprised.

Oh man, I did not even notice the screen name. There is no excuse for that. The punishment must be swift... and capital.

Hey, my questions were quite serious (almost all of them). They will help in assessment of user's knowledge so that we can see what could be helpful.

Not sure if it matters now.

Op is pretty much a NO show after first post.

You rquestions were valid as well but also appeared to include SOME grief.

Not that it is a bad thing (I did it myself). It is not a bad thing cause you tried to help the guy too.

Hope the OP comes back!

hey people thanks for trying to help and for the caps lock i dont sit on the net so i would not bout not putting it on so sorry!!!
anyway im from south africa were are u people from



and i defragment everyday, i took the processor back to sahara,
i work for a computer company so we buy from all dealers
as you may know the stuff hits your market quite fast so here for example a e6300 costs like 2000 if u never had to convert currency,


so wat chip should i change it to???

Do NOT change your chip.

If you are able, do the refresh listed above.

For a more efficient way of accomplishing this finish your refresh and GHOST your machine.

Ghost is an app that essentially takes a snapshot of your newly cleaned system and can be put back on at any time to complete the refresh in a quick manner.

Is your ram running in dual-channel? If they are that may be the problem seeing how they are not a matched pair.

Adam,

He pretty much stated that it slowed over time.

Sounds like what I like to call "Windows Baggage"  .

I had 3 GHz P4 LGA with 1 GB RAM DDR2(dual channel) last year from Summer 2005 to Fall 2006, it used to be very fast. Then later it runs slower because it's old quickly already. Therefore, I bought new motherboard, ASUS P5W DH and new processor, Core 2 Duo E6400, it runs pretty fast but loads still slow because I think there is problem with the ram, and it has not enough space of ram, which I am using tasks too much. I bought new pair of 512 MB DDR2, then now my computer has 2 GB ram; it runs no problem, and everything are fine. I guess that you should buy new rams.

Jeeeeeeesssss!!!!!!!!!!!!

So you actually think that when people say that computers get old and outdated over time they actually get slower?????

What the heck of multitasking do you do to need 2 gb ram for smoothness?

DONT YOU PEOPLE SEE THE MAIN SUSPECT HERE: WINDOWS and its malware that gets collected over time?

As to the OP's problem, windows might not be the cause if it occured after memory upgrade, first thing you should do is to remove the new module and see if it is still slow.
You should also run memtest86+ which is something everybody should do after touching memories at all. This will tell you if you have real problem with the memories. Test both modules and then one at a time (or other way around).

memtest runs off a floppy or a bootable cd so it is OS-independent.

Third thing you should do is to run a linux livecd such as knoppix. If you have 2 cd drives you can burn from whithin knoppix and test how it goes. In 1 gb configuration you can choose to load the cd into ram so you can free up all drives. (Im not sure how is the hardware compatibility with newest stuff but trying truly cant hurt)
Knoppix cd comes with memtest - just type memtest on the boot prompt.

If ram is okay and knoppix runs fine then we have windows left..
Solution: kill crush destroy, spread the ashes
..and install a REAL operating system =)
...(or whatever)

If the memories are bad then we can take it from there...

Actually you could run the memtest and knoppix parts before you remove any modules, if you want to start with non-invasive methods.

.

eeee ... delete this...

im swedish-living Pole.

as in citizen of Poland.

cheers

Hey guys im back
im still having problems my system freezes on windows start up
and if my power supply is faulty will it make the system slow
anywayhope ull can help


are maxtor hard drives good and how good is transcend memory
i gonna build an E6400 system soon
any advice

bad psu can cause anything.
Check how the system behaves in knoppix.