Computer performance recently slowed significantly

AgentCipher

Member
Nov 24, 2005
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Hey guys,

I'm a long-time lurker, but I believe this is my first post... I have a problem that I can't solve myself, so I figured I'd open it up to the community and see if any of you are generous enough (and knowledgeable enough) to help me. I decided to scavenge the "template" from mechBgon, so maybe a little more order will help. Thanks again!

  1. Overview of the problem
    Overall computer performance, particularly fps in games, has recently dropped significantly after a move

  2. Full description of the problem and symptoms
    Three days ago I moved back to the United States after living in Ireland temporarily, and upon moving into my new residence (a residence hall at a university) they made me install Cisco's Clean Access Agent to access their internet network. After this, my fps in certain games has dropped significantly, as much as 40 in WoW to 15 (even after reducing the resolution and terrain distance and etc), and even Penny Arcade's new game is running far slower than it was before the move. While my internet speeds are much faster now since I don't have a trans-atlantic connection, my overall system performance is shot. I am even more confused, as when I checked task manager it says that my system's resources are fairly free, but my system lag begs to differ.

  3. I already tried these steps:
    I have tried disabling CCAA, but I am unable to access the internet without it... so regardless, it seems I MUST run it unless someone here knows a way around the system if this is the root of the problem.


  4. My software:
    • Operating System: Vista
    • Antivirus: AVG Free
    • Firewall: None



    • My hardware
      • Dell Inspiron e1505, 2 gig ram, radeon x1400 mobility



        Anyways, any help with the matter would be greatly appreciated. If there is any other information I can give or SHOULD give to resolve this matter, please let me know.

        Thanks!


        PS I don't really know html very well (as I said, I scavenged the template) so I apologize for the really weird stuff that's happening at the end. My apologies!
 

robisbell

Banned
Oct 27, 2007
3,621
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well, I'd point to the CCAA as being the culprit, if you can, install PC Wizard and run it's benchmark and post the results, thanks.
was the E1505 purchased over there or here?
 

AgentCipher

Member
Nov 24, 2005
45
0
0
robisbell;

Thanks for your reply, below is the report from PC wizard.

CPU : Compression : 76.10 MB/s
CPU : Compression 2 : 235.00 MB/s
CPU : Encryption : 40.70 MB/s
CPU : Encryption 2 : 311.00 MB/s
CPU : Direct Show Encode : 10.50 s
Memory : 3165.50 MB/s
Graphic DWM : 12.20 F/s
Graphic Memory : 643.70 MB/s
Gaming Alpha : 6.50 F/s
Gaming ALU : 7.40 F/s
Gaming Texture : 7.70 F/s
Disk : 34.40 MB/s
Windows Experience Index : :
2.00 :

General Information :
Processor : Intel Core Duo T2250
Frequency : 1733 MHz
L1 Cache : 2 x 64 KB
L2 Cache : 2048 KB
Chipset : Intel i945PM
Physical Memory : DDR2-SDRAM PC2-4300 (266 MHz)
Video Card : Mobility Radeon X1400
DirectX Version : 10.00
Hard Disk : ST9160821AS (160 GB)

Tests Information :
Instructions SSE, SSE2 : 128-bit
Instructions SSE3, S-SSE3 : 128-bit
Instructions SSE4.1, SSE4.2 : 128-bit
Instructions SSE4a : 128-bit
Instructions SSE5 : 128-bit
Instructions FPU128 : 128-bit
Instructions MMX : 64-bit
Instructions 3DNow! : 64-bit
Instructions FPU (x87) : 64-bit
Instructions INT : 32-bit


Also, I bought the lappy from Dell in the states, brought it abroad, and now brought it back to the US.

Thanks for your help!
 

AgentCipher

Member
Nov 24, 2005
45
0
0
Yes it was; I just ran a quick benchmark without it, and here is the results...

CPU : Compression : 76.20 MB/s
CPU : Compression 2 : 235.10 MB/s
CPU : Encryption : 40.60 MB/s
CPU : Encryption 2 : 311.10 MB/s
CPU : Direct Show Encode : 10.60 s
Memory : 3157.20 MB/s
Graphic DWM : 12.20 F/s
Graphic Memory : 645.10 MB/s
Gaming Alpha : 6.40 F/s
Gaming ALU : 7.30 F/s
Gaming Texture : 7.90 F/s
Disk : 34.40 MB/s
:
Windows Experience Index : :
2.00 :


Looks to be the exact same. I don't know what the problem is, in that case, but since the problem occurred so suddenly I thought that they were related.
 

AgentCipher

Member
Nov 24, 2005
45
0
0
No, it doesn't, hence my confusion. I haven't tried uninstalling it though, checking my performance, and re-installing it. Was thinking about that, but then realized that many of the programs I'd use to subjectively benchmark (ie games) are online...

but I could run purely objective ones too.

All I know is that in Ireland, my system ran smoother, and now that I got to DC it's suddenly a LOT slower... but internet is faster. Go figure, lose one problem, gain another.
 

Cutthroat

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2002
1,104
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You did switch the 120/220v switch on the back of the PSU to 120v right? Although I don't see how that would effect performance, I just doubt it would even work.
 

bruceb

Diamond Member
Aug 20, 2004
8,874
111
106
Sorry to say the Cisco app is at the root of your issues. The only way around it
would be to talk with the LAN or IT folks to see if they can open the ports for the
game. They may be able to allow access to specific ports only by certain MAC
addresses, or the entire network can slow to a crawl. The app they installed was
designed to enforce security & access controls on internet usage.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6128/index.html
 

AgentCipher

Member
Nov 24, 2005
45
0
0
To Cutthroat: My laptop has a variable voltage input; the power cord has its own adapter that acts as a transformer; works from 100 to 240 volts. Only thing I needed to change when coming back was remove the outlet adapter.

To Bruceb: As much as I think it may be Cisco, I still do not understand how that affects such non-networking aspects of performance. Does the agent not only check every single data packet sent through the network, but also every bit sent to the processor? I am just curious as I am noticing applications that do not even have online capabilities suffering in performance.


Thanks to all for your assistance so far, I really do appreciate it! :-D
 

bruceb

Diamond Member
Aug 20, 2004
8,874
111
106
I can't say. I was under the belief that it was only internet related
problems you are having. If it is otherwise, clean out all the Temp
Files under the User ID and C:\Windows\Temp .. do a disk defrag.
Run CCleaner and also AdAware Se ... see what turns up. Also run
a virus scan.