My computer keeps lagging real bad

[KoolAidMan]

All the time when im doing pretty much anything with sound my computer just suddenly starts to skip the sound real bad and run real slow. Its especially annoying during games when it does it. Could this be because of overheating? It hasnt always done it, it just started in the last few days. The hottest i have seen it is 120 degrees but if the soundcard or whatever is causing it is hotter than that im thinking it might be overheating. any ideas?

 

[Jeff7181]

Check this out.

Specs on your computer might help too... if you have an old as dirt machine, don't expect to be able to run current software with ease.

 

[KoolAidMan]

It is a good computer, at least pretty good.
DDRAM 512MB|64X64 PC-2700 CRUCIAL
MB nFORCE2 EP-8RDA+ EPOX
HD 80GB|WD 7200RPM 8MB
CPU AMD|2400/266 ATHLON XP TBRED RT
POWER SUPPLY|ANTEC SL350BLUE 350 R
VGA ATIOEM|RADEON 9500PRO 128M

it runs at about 115 ferenheit most of the time. i have 3 fans in it. It definately isnt that it cant run what im trying torun, because when it starts to do it, it keeps doing it until i restart nomatter what im running. It takes ages to get to webpages when it normally is like a second, and sound is extremely chopped and distorted. With music running its bad enough i cant tell what the song is most of the time. It mostly seems to start when im playing warcraft 3, but it does it even when im just in the map editor too. It does it when im playing counsterstrike too, so its not that the computer cant handle it.

 

[Jeff7181]

Have you updated the drivers for your nForce2 chipset? (I assume you're using onboard sound since you didn't specify a sound card)

 

[deadseasquirrel]

couple of things:

what have you done/changed/added/installed/deleted/downloaded in the "last few days"? since this is a recent happening, maybe we could pinpoint something.

i would also update the nforce2 drivers like Jeff7181 mentioned (new ones are out, i think), but since it has been working fine in the past, i kinda doubt it's a driver issue (though it sure behaves like one).

go to your MSCONFIG and see if there are any suspect programs that load on windows start-up. in fact, write down everything that has a checkmark by it and type it in here if you're unsure. sometimes, even if you think your positive it's a legit program... trojans are known to take the name of something that looks legit (i.e. mouse32.exe).

if you have a restore point from before this started happening (winxp), you could try to restore to that point.

deadseasquirrel

 

[KoolAidMan]

ok i got the new drivers and it didnt do anything. it has happened before a while ago but only once or twice, it happens everytime i use it now. Could it be a bad part? I dont know how it would have just gotten so much worse unless somehow a part just went bad, which i guess could have happened if it got too hot or something. What part does it sound like this could be if that is the problem.

 

[Ionizer86]

Tweak the latency, like they said. Or roll back your state if you're on XP (or, unfortunately, ME)

 

[Jeff7181]

Windows sometimes throws a fit when you install and uninstall a program... I've also had Windows XP go nuts when I used fast user switching... after I did that once it took 15 minutes for Windows to boot, and then everything else was extremely slow... I think it was an issue with McAfee Virus Scan though... McAfee sucks... don't ever buy their junk.