This computer is acting slow, could this be why?

[BZeto]

PIC

I've been wondering why my mom and dads computer has been so slow lately. From doing basic tasks to printing(takes multiple minutes to print one page) it seems like it pauses fairly often.

So I was looking around in the system info and noticed there are 7 things sharing IRQ 9.

Just look at the pic, but I see I have my video card, USB controller (hence why printing might be slow), Audio controller, IDE controller and Network card all sharing IRQ 9.

I dont know why they are all on that IRQ. I dont even see 10-12 listed, those should be free, correct?

How should I go about putting some of these devices on another IRQ(s)?

 

[mechBgon]

AndyHui's FAQ on Windows IRQ sharing

What are the system specs, particularly the brand/model of the motherboard? Verified clean of spyware/adware and viruses?

 

[randomlinh]

sounds more like spyware/adware/virus problems if it's the 'rents computer.

 

[BZeto]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
AndyHui's FAQ on Windows IRQ sharing

What are the system specs, particularly the brand/model of the motherboard? Verified clean of spyware/adware and viruses?

So what I have gathered from reading that article is that it is normal for all of these devices to use one IRQ. Yet there are some cases where people have problems.

I have not had any problems with this motherboard before. But its an Asus A7V-133.

 

[mechBgon]

I'd be interested in the complete system specs if you recall them. PCI cards especially. But a board of that age could simply be failing, too. And unless Mom & Dad are pretty computer-saavy, what are the chances they let some wonderful useful piece of spyware get hold of it...

There's a reason my mom has a Restricted-User account on her own PC. And that goes quadruple for my little sister who hangs out over there a lot. Rrrrrrrr... :frown:

 

[BZeto]

Asus A7V-133
AMD Athlon T-Bird 1.33 Ghz (10x133)
256MB Crucial PC133 memory
Powercolor Geforce2 GTS 64MB
Maxtor 80GB 7200rpm HDD
Belkin F5D5000 PCI network card
US Robotics 56K PCI Modem (currently disabled)
CenDyne external 56K modem via serial port

I have scanned the system with Adaware (using the latest reference file) and it turned up a few tracking cookies but not much other than that.

 

[LTC8K6]

Hard drive dropped into pio mode?

 

[BZeto]

Originally posted by: LTC8K6
Hard drive dropped into pio mode?

How do I check that?
I thought I would be able to see that under its properties in Device Manager but I did not see it.
It should still be using DMA though.

 

[Bovinicus]

Windows 2000 and XP use virtual IRQs. As long as you have ACPI installed and configured on your system that is how the IRQs will be assigned. Check for malware/virii of any kind. That is the main thing bogging down systems these days. When I optimize someone's system it usually consists of the following:

Thorough virus/malware scans and manual cleanup if necessary.
Windows updates.
Norton & Regclean registry optimization/cleanup tools.
Create a static page file.
Defragment.

That's about it. Essentially evey time the system comes out booting up in a fraction of the time, and acts a whole lot snappier in everyday operations.