Computer has slowed in accepting input

Gustavus

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
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This is a weird problem. My main computer has started lagging in accepting keyboard input and the cursor quivers on screen for a short time. If I type at normal speed the characters do not appear immediately on screen and the cursor quivers until they do. For example if I hit del or back space to delete characters it will lag and then overrun where I had planned to backup to if I hit the key more times than needed.

ESET does not detect any malware, nor does SuperAntiSpyware

Any idea of what could be causing this?

Thanks
 

silicon

Senior member
Nov 27, 2004
886
1
81
This is a weird problem. My main computer has started lagging in accepting keyboard input and the cursor quivers on screen for a short time. If I type at normal speed the characters do not appear immediately on screen and the cursor quivers until they do. For example if I hit del or back space to delete characters it will lag and then overrun where I had planned to backup to if I hit the key more times than needed.

ESET does not detect any malware, nor does SuperAntiSpyware

Any idea of what could be causing this?

Thanks

what does system manager say when you open it? Maybe the use percentage is very high?
 

Ketchup

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2002
14,553
248
106
What keyboard do you have? Do you see this in a specific application or in all of them?
 

THRiLL KiLL

Senior member
Nov 18, 2010
903
29
91
sounds like a problem with usb.

i have seen similar behavior when a usb port is broken, and the pins touch each other.. causes all usb ports to lag.


ignoring the above statment, i would assume that you have tried diffrent usb ports/ diffrent keyboard / mouse and have tried to unplug all other usb devices.
 

Gustavus

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,840
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0
Thanks for the replies.

It hadn't occurred to me to look at CPU usage in System Manager. With no programs running it varies between 0% and 4% for several readings and then bounces up to in the range of 40% for a single reading. On one or two occasions it bounced up to in the 80% region. Have no idea of what is being invoked to make the jump, but it only shows that for a single reading and then goes back to the very low readings.

The keyboard/mouse combo is a Microsoft pair. It is an older unit that uses a desktop receiver as opposed to a nano receiver. I have moved the connector to another USB port. Had no discernable effect when I did that yesterday, but this morning I do not have the quivering cursor and am able to type at normal speed again.

The problem appears to have gone as mysteriously as it came. I hate it when computers do that.
 
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Gustavus

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
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cubby1223

I wasn't aware of that. This is an older machine -- the one I work on since it is familar. I will make a backup immediately to an external harddrive just in case. Thanks for the warning..
 

cubby1223

Lifer
May 24, 2004
13,518
42
86
Not saying it is a failing drive, but anytime the system slows down very significantly and seemingly random, it could be trying to read a bad spot on the drive.

I've also seen similar symptoms when a directory is just too overloaded with files. Most recently had a slow laptop in to look at, and at one point it had a buggy version of Google Earth which would just keep expanding the cache directory without any stop, I never got an actual file count, just know it was over 200,000 files in one directory! System would run normal but if it ever tried to access any file in that directory (like for instance the antivirus software doing its normal scanning), the whole system would come to a near halt and never recover. Once I got the directory wiped off, the system ran normally at all times.