Eghads, I'm going to kill my computer...help?

[Guest]

Ok everyone, here's basically what's been going on:

About a month and a half ago, I noticed that my computer was experiencing some strange slowdown (nothing like this had happened before then). Whenever a program was/is opened (especially IE), a file is unzipped/decompressed, or even when a program is installed, the mouse's movement becomes erratic rather than smooth, and the system responds very slowly for a few seconds. This even occurs when simply switching between webpages now.

So at first I thought the problem was software related and simply reformatted...nothing. Reformatted again with a repartition, nothing. So I begin wondering if the issue is hardware related. I'd been wanting a new motherboard for a while anyways, so I go out and get one (switched from MSI K7T Pro2a to DFI somestrangemodelnumberIcan'trememberusing KT133A chipset), install it...and still see slowdown. I then become somewhat annoyed and unplug everything in the computer save one of my three sticks of memory and the video card...still see slowdown. I then switch out the memory one stick at a time, and see slowdown with all three. I begin to think at this point that the problem is my harddrive or videocard. Switch out the video card, and no change. Switch out the harddrive, and still see slowdown.

So now I'm beginning to think that the issue is my processor. The slowdown seems to most occur when my harddrive is in use heavily (immediately after -but not during- decompression or installation, while a program is being opened, and while webpages are loading). Does anyone know if a dying processor could be causing these issues, and if not what else I should begin looking at? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[FUGGER]

Sounds like corrupted swap file.

remake your swap file, change from "desktop" to "server" in your performance control panel under system.

If this doesnt work reformat and reload.

 

[Guest]

The desktop to server switch has been a staple of this system's for the past few years, so that's already been setup. And the reformatting and repartitioning has been done roughly four times in the past two days, as I at first thought the problem was software related. Thanks for the input, though Any other suggestions?

 

[FUGGER]

When you get heavy HD activity its usually caused by data getting swapped from ram to disk. This wil cause your machine stutter and pause.

Seems swap file related. did you remake it? perminant vs windows controlled?

 

[Guest]

It's not so much that the HD activity is heavier than normal, it's just that when the harddrive is really put to use (such as when opening a program or decompressing a file) the system doesn't enjoy it, and begins to slowdown. However, I haven't tried remaking the permanent swap file yet to my knowledge...explanation on how that's done?

 

[Kelledin]

IIRC, when you right-click on "My Computer" and choose "Properties," you get a dialog box with five or so tabs at the top. Under the "Performance" tab, there should be a button for "Virtual Memory." Click that button, and you get a dialog where you can set the minimum and maximum size of the swap file for each drive. Setting min=max=0 for a drive specifies that the drive should have no swap file; setting min=max for a drive specifies that the swap file is a fixed size.

Just out of curiosity, how much memory do you have, and what O/S do you have?

Kelledin
[dave@discovery ~] kill -9 1
init: Just what do you think you're doing, Dave?

 

[jihiggs]

sounds to me like you keep filling up the hard drive

access-list 1 deny stupid comments
int eyes
ip access-group 1 in

 

[camieabz]

Do you have a lot of background apps? Maybe you're running out of resourses.

<b><font color=blue>~scribble~</font color=blue></b> <A HREF="http://www.ud.com/home.htm" target="_new">Help cure cancer.</A>

 

[Guest]

At the moment I have 512mb of RAM and am running win98se. My harddrive is actually fairly empty (I think I'm using a whopping 5-7gb out of 40), and hasn't ever been more than roughly 1/3 full. And the background apps running are always kept to a minimum (it's a hobby, heh). The only icon I ever leave in my system tray is the nice little speaker so that I can adjust my volume. Other than that, no other persistant programs are loaded.

 

[Ncogneto]

Things to try:

Make sure your HDD is on a controller by itself
Make sure yo have dma enabled in device manager
Try swapping your ide ribbon cables
Try swapping your HDD form the primary to the secondary controler

If you think it is your swap file there is a neat utility called "vopt me" that can help you optimize it( it allocoates the designated swap file to the very begining of the drive) and set permanent parameters.

If none of these things seems to make a difference you may either have a controller problem or a failing HDD.

It's not what they tell you, its what they don't tell you!

 

[BigRat]

same thing here. but my problem is caused by McAfee viruscan. jeez, i had to use 3 different versions and ended up with an evaluation copy to get my system stable. i used pccilin for a while then got infected by sircam32 and received major screwing from people in my add book. Then i switched back to McAfee again. God i hate it but its the most reliable scanner i've used.

:redface: :frown: :lol: :tongue:

 

[error_911]

Sounds very much to me like a CPU burnout, because as the Hard drive works more, the CPU's gotta process more info, and that would explain it all. If you can, try another CPU, and then check on your system's cooling. What is the CPU you're running? And what heatsink are you using, as well as case fans ? Make sure you've got many of all, because the newer the system, the hotter the components.

 

[LtBlue14]

LOL? you searchin the archives for stuff to reply to?

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

<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=faq&notfound=1&code=1" target="_new">mubla otohp eht ni ecaf ruoy teg</A>

 

[RobD]

Bigrat, I know what you mean. Had this problem at work. McAfee have a hot fix on their website, and several listings of this problem. Give it a try.

 

[BigRat]

Wow! This is a really old post. I'm using Norton now and its great so far. But thanks anyway.

:redface: :frown: :lol: :tongue:

 

[Groveling_Wyrm]

<i> Bump </i>

Heh, this thread has to be going for the record of longest open thread (almost a year now), so I guess I just as well do my part and help it along...hehehehe



Quick!!! Whats the number for 911?