Computer Naturally Slow Down Over Time...

[Pixle]

I know my comp. is not the latest (4 years old ) . But I notice that after a few hours 4-6 of leaving it on after using e-mail, interenet, progs...it will slow down.

By slow down I mean that - when I try to play a game like Age of Mythology...I will get a slow gameplay (not fps)...more like when I try to look across the map, the game will freeze and my computer will try to process it.

The reason im asking this is because most of you seem to run your machines all day - wont that just lead to having more cpu processes open and thus slower performance?

To fix my problem I do a fresh restart and load up the game only. Seems to give be a better gaming experience. Any of you do this with progs, etc?

Pixle.

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P3 1ghz
256 Rd Ram
Ati 9800 AIW Pro
160gb WD HD
450 PS
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[Budmantom]

I would guess it has a memory leak or the computer is getting too hot.



Tom

 

[otispunkmeyer]

mine hets like that if i leave it on over a week, but its a new system, reboot sorts it

 

[HardcoreRobot]

its becuase you only have 256mb of ram and your programs are eating it all up

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

You can also try cleaning out spyware/adware and also clean out any defunct or unecessary registry entries.

The 256MB is probably the main killer in this case though.

 

[FNC Jon]

what operating system is it?? IF its WINDOWS ME your introuble, it naturally has a memory leak. Other wise there is an application running in the back ground that is grabbing your resources and not rycling them like it should. I recommend spybot and adaware. Run adware first and then spy bot makesure they are updated first.

FNC JON

 

[gamerj]

memory leak? worms?
run a virus check, get rid of all sh*t by using something like "pc cleaner' or something
clean your cache of the massive amounts of porn muhahahaha lol, i crack myself up

p.s, its not a heat problem i think

 

[Pixle]

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo
You can also try cleaning out spyware/adware and also clean out any defunct or unecessary registry entries.

The 256MB is probably the main killer in this case though.

Its running Windows Xp...and I am extra carefull to not get spyware. I have spyware, adware, and another "hijack this".

It might be the ram , but even when nothing is running in the background and i have like 6 icons on desktop. Only norton is running in the background.

 

[FNC Jon]

DId you check to see what process are running in the background?? You said nothign is runnign in the background but there still eb some process. Hit "ctrl" + "alt" + "del" then "task manager" then "processes". There will eb a big list. ANything that is running under your username (not system) is running when you load your profile. ALso it shows the mem usage for each process.. there is also a nother tab, "performance" click that is hows your mem usage. If your "PF Usage" is continuless rising you have a memory leak. ALso if your PF usuage is above 256MB then you are running your memory on swap off your hard drives which is sooo much slower. CHeck it out let me know

FNC JON

 

[Makaveli]

The first thing u need to do is Get rid of that NOrTON POS. Uninstall norton I bet u will see a increase in speed. Next thing it u need more ram, 256 is the minimum u should be using on windows XP!

did I forget to mention norton is the biggest memory hog piece of junk out there!

 

[FNC Jon]

It depend on what version of nortan, the corporate is nto a hog, the std one is a hog. More ram is always a good thingh and needed, but it all depends on if you can afford it. You can disable your virus scan wil playing some single player games that do not require then net. that will save you some speed. ALso you can kill explorer with the ctrl alt delete then the task manager and then click "file" add a "new task" search for the game and then your running minium process and more speed ofr the game. and then to start the explorer back up again hit crtl alt del and add a "new task" type explorer and it will start up again.

BUT if you have the money upgrade the ram, anotehr 512 will suit you and a big performace increase as well.

LAter
FNC JON

 

[ggjb]

Well first and fore most, get more ram. Then check your page file and see if it needs to be larger. Defrag the partition that contains your windows installation. Scan for spyware and viruses. But I guarantee that your problem is the memory.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: Makaveli
The first thing u need to do is Get rid of that NOrTON POS. Uninstall norton I bet u will see a increase in speed. Next thing it u need more ram, 256 is the minimum u should be using on windows XP!

did I forget to mention norton is the biggest memory hog piece of junk out there!

I will ask the next logical question: What is a good alternative to Norton? McAfee? Something else? (Aside from nothing, which is almost absolutely not an option if it's a "family" PC that's ever used by kids or other noobs.)

Norton is obviously running in order to serve a purpose. It behooves you to offer a better alternative after you call Norton "the biggest memory hog piece of junk out there;" without a better suggestion, your advice may be difficult to follow.

 

[resStealth]

first off i agree with everyone in saying that 256 just isnt enough. today demands 512 minimum. id try cleaning out adware and spyware with a few different programs, clean out internet cookies, temporary internet files etc. try uninstalling extra programs that arent needed, and stop trying to multitask with 256 megs of ram

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Pixle

Originally posted by: Dethfrumbelo
You can also try cleaning out spyware/adware and also clean out any defunct or unecessary registry entries.

The 256MB is probably the main killer in this case though.

Its running Windows Xp...and I am extra carefull to not get spyware. I have spyware, adware, and another "hijack this".

It might be the ram , but even when nothing is running in the background and i have like 6 icons on desktop. Only norton is running in the background.

Believe it or not, Norton could be part of the problem... you're running XP on a 256mb machine... and have Norton. I would ditch Norton.

But another 256mb of ram will do wonders for you.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Thegonagle

Originally posted by: Makaveli
The first thing u need to do is Get rid of that NOrTON POS. Uninstall norton I bet u will see a increase in speed. Next thing it u need more ram, 256 is the minimum u should be using on windows XP!

did I forget to mention norton is the biggest memory hog piece of junk out there!

I will ask the next logical question: What is a good alternative to Norton? McAfee? Something else? (Aside from nothing, which is almost absolutely not an option if it's a "family" PC that's ever used by kids or other noobs.)

Norton is obviously running in order to serve a purpose. It behooves you to offer a better alternative after you call Norton "the biggest memory hog piece of junk out there;" without a better suggestion, your advice may be difficult to follow.

McAfee is just as bad as Norton. I would go with Nod32 or Kaspersky. I use Kaspersky, and i don't even have it loaded in the background. I scan everything i download, and do a weekly system scan... i don't need it running all the time.

 

[Pixle]

220 mb of pf usage with 4 internet explorer windows open, task manager , and a folder open. Norton is also running.

The processes that are running are just norton ,explorer (for now), media player (for now). I'm sure it's the ram that is killing me a bit in games. Although my cpu is old, my mobo must also be a poor performer.

I'll start a job soon and get some money.

Upgrade is much needed.

 

[Insidious]

did anyone mention 256MB of RAM is not enough for XP to run well yet?

-Sid

edit: I hear bitdefender is a good AV (~$30)

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: Pixle
220 mb of pf usage with 4 internet explorer windows open, task manager , and a folder open. Norton is also running.

The processes that are running are just norton ,explorer (for now), media player (for now). I'm sure it's the ram that is killing me a bit in games. Although my cpu is old, my mobo must also be a poor performer.

I'll start a job soon and get some money.

Upgrade is much needed.

I do agree that you need more RAM, but it would be best to plan for a bigger upgrade at this point.

With a new job coming soon, I would deal with it for now and start planning for a new Motherboard/CPU/DDR RAM upgrade. If you're running Rambus RAM (is that what you mean by Rd RAM?), it would certainly be better bang for the buck to budget $400-500 on a new MB/CPU/DDR RAM combo than to spend any amount on obsolete Rambus RAM.

If you know what you're doing, it's OK to disable Norton temporarily while you're playing games, but if like I said, it's a family PC or if it's used by anybody who might get the PC infected with spyware or viruses, don't permanantly disable it.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: Budmantom
I would guess it has a memory leak or the computer is getting too hot.

Tom

Yep, that's the classic symptom of a memory leak.