Why is my computer slow with Winamp?

[nags]

My computer is plenty fast. It's a p4 2.4Ghz with 1.5gb of Kingston ram. Running WinXP Pro. Why when I play Mp3's via winamp does it slow down my computer to the point where its hard to do anything? Same thing with playing vids in WMP. Everything else is real fast. I was using a friends cheap HP this weekend. Like a 2ghz celeron with 512mb of ram and it can play mp3s and surf the web at the same time without a problem. My computer is clearly faster in both specs and feel when using it. But for some reason his playing mp3s hardly affects it. Whats up with this?

 

[nags]

anyone?

 

[Mullzy]

In the settings you can set the process priority of Winamp. Possibly you set it too high and it's getting way too many cycles. Try dropping it down to normal or below normal... if it's not already.

 

[nags]

Originally posted by: Mullzy
In the settings you can set the process priority of Winamp. Possibly you set it too high and it's getting way too many cycles. Try dropping it down to normal or below normal... if it's not already.

I've got it at the lowest settings... Windows Media Player also does the same thing for me

 

[Fenixgoon]

what version of winamp? winamp 5 slowed me down bigtime.. i'm still using 2.9:beer:

 

[n0cmonkey]

Is your hard drive set at the correct DMA mode?

Winamp bites the big one anyways.

 

[nags]

I'm using the latest version of Winamp. If it was just Winamp I'd be looking more into that but its also when playing videos with WMP.

I'm not sure about the DMA mode?

 

[viivo]

Same here. The newer versions of Winamp are pieces of bloated garbage and they kill my system resources. Try one of the early versions.

 

[nags]

Originally posted by: viivo
Same here. The newer versions of Winamp are pieces of bloated garbage and they kill my system resources. Try one of the early versions.

Like I said.. It's not just winamp. Sometimes even opening a new window in IE can take a while and other times be very fast. There's no spyware or anything strange running in the background or anything like that....

 

[MrChad]

What soundcard are you using? Do you have the latest drivers installed? What version of DirectX do you have installed?

 

[nags]

I have the latest drivers of EVERYTHING installed. About once a month I go through and update all my drivers. I'm just using the onboard sound on my Abit VT7

 

[NewSc2]

You could always format your hard drive... I'm running a 2.0 ghz p4 and 512mb ddr and I can easily surf and do winamp. Usually when my computer slows down to a crawl a reformat and fresh install of programs fixes every problem. Like my dumb iPod that couldn't connect... reformat magically solved that.

 

[nags]

I thought about it, but I just have too much to lose right now

 

[MrChad]

To check DMA mode, under Control Panel / System / Hardware / Device Manager, go to your Primary IDE Channel (under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers), right click and go to Properties. Under Advanced Settings, your transfer mode should be set to "DMA if available."

 

[nags]

Originally posted by: MrChad
To check DMA mode, under Control Panel / System / Hardware / Device Manager, go to your Primary IDE Channel (under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers), right click and go to Properties. Under Advanced Settings, your transfer mode should be set to "DMA if available."

Yep, its set on DMA if Available

 

[MrChad]

Did this problem start happening recently? If so, have there been any recent changes to your configuration (hardware or software)?

 

[nags]

No, its always been doing this.. Since I built the computer. Just now getting on my nerves. Some things just seem slower than they should be on a somewhat quick computer

 

[MrChad]

From Start / Run, run "dxdiag". Under the Display and Sound tabs, make sure that Hardware Acceleration is fully enabled.

 

[nags]

Originally posted by: MrChad
From Start / Run, run "dxdiag". Under the Display and Sound tabs, make sure that Hardware Acceleration is fully enabled.

Yep, its enabled

 

[MrChad]

Hmm, running out of ideas

What programs do you have running in the background?

 

[nags]

Originally posted by: MrChad
Hmm, running out of ideas

What programs do you have running in the background?

Nothing out of the ordinary.. Outlook XP, AIM, Msn messenger, and Norton. Just installed Norton a few days ago. It did it before that as well

 

[clarkkent333]

Jesus. Its no wonder your comp is running slowly with 2 IM programs, Outlook, and Norton. The last 2 are huge resource hogs, not to mention all the other crap you've got going. Try disabling everything and then running it to see how your comp reacts.

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: clarkkent333
Jesus. Its no wonder your comp is running slowly with 2 IM programs, Outlook, and Norton. The last 2 are huge resource hogs, not to mention all the other crap you've got going. Try disabling everything and then running it to see how your comp reacts.

:roll: That's ridiculous. I have an AMD Athlon XP 1600+ with 512 MB of RAM, and I run Outlook, two IMs and Norton all the time. There is little to no noticeable effect on the responsiveness of my system. If those are the only programs he is running, he should not be experiencing any slowdown with Winamp, WMP or any other media player.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

I'm running winamp 5 and it runs just as well as 2. Winamp 3 was the one that crapped out.

 

[Childs]

Is your L2 cache enabled in the bios? Probably seems like an outdated question to ask, but this is one thing that can make a fast system ass slow.