About to give up on XP

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rich
  • Start date Start date
R

Rich

Hello, I have posted the past few days describing my
horrible Windows performance. I thank those who have
tried to help me, but the situation just keeps getting
worse. My computer is no slouch, it has an Athlon XP
2000+, 512mb RAM, 128mb nVidia Ti4200 graphics card, an
Audigy 2 sound card. It has been defragged, both of my
internal hard drives (80gb main, 40gb secondary). I have
all of the updates to Windows XP. I have anti-virus
programing, firewire turned on. It has been driving me
crazy, since everytime I try to restore the computer back
to the factory image with the restore disk, it does not
help at all. After performing the actions I was advised
to take, my computer only began to perform worse. Now
instead of reaching 100% CPU usage after a few minutes,
it's at it right when I start Windows. Sometimes it'll
go down to 20-60%, but that's still ridiculous. All I
have to do is wave my mouse around and it shoots right
back up to 100%. Please, I need all the help I can get
because this is my college computer and I do all of my
schoolwork as well as my graphic design work on it.
Thanks in advance..
 
Rich;
If you are restoring to the original factory image and it is still
slow, you have one of two problems.
1. Hardware
2. Something else you install is causing a problem.

1. Power off open case and reseat all cards and cables.
Swap out memory to see if a stick is defective ensuring to stay above
Windows XP 64 MB minimum.

2. What happens if you do not install anything?
Install applications one at a time until issue starts.

Also see:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/slowcom.htm
Especially #10
 
Also what is taking the CPU cycles? There's no point just saying 100%, which one is 100%.

Disable your hardware one by one by removing cards or turning off in BIOS.
 
2 things that MIGHT help, if you haven't already tried
this... #1 Ensure that if you have more than 1 stick of
RAM, ensure that the highest capacity stick is in your 1st
slot "slot zero", then tier down from there if you have 2
or more sticks. #2 Try to turn some of the services your
not using off, in "msconfig" what ever you don't use, turn
it off! Or turn the services to manual, that way they
don't suck resources when you don't need them.
 
-----Original Message-----
Hello, I have posted the past few days describing my
horrible Windows performance. I thank those who have
tried to help me, but the situation just keeps getting
worse. My computer is no slouch, it has an Athlon XP
2000+, 512mb RAM, 128mb nVidia Ti4200 graphics card, an
Audigy 2 sound card. It has been defragged, both of my
internal hard drives (80gb main, 40gb secondary). I have
all of the updates to Windows XP. I have anti-virus
programing, firewire turned on. It has been driving me
crazy, since everytime I try to restore the computer back
to the factory image with the restore disk, it does not
help at all. After performing the actions I was advised
to take, my computer only began to perform worse. Now
instead of reaching 100% CPU usage after a few minutes,
it's at it right when I start Windows. Sometimes it'll
go down to 20-60%, but that's still ridiculous. All I
have to do is wave my mouse around and it shoots right
back up to 100%. Please, I need all the help I can get
because this is my college computer and I do all of my
schoolwork as well as my graphic design work on it.
Thanks in advance..
.
ctrl--alt--del---processes tab look under the cpu what's
Click to expand...
using the it may give you an idea of what eating up your
cpu time.
 
Depending on what manufacturer you've got, you may be just reinstalling an
image that sucks with pre-installed demo-ware, manufacturer's "health
monitoring" software and other free-ware and the like. I had a similar
experience with a well known big name brand system years ago. I trusted them
because I always had good experiences working with their corporate systems
in the past. Their support only keep saying reinstall their image. I finally
had enough, demanded they supply a real copy of the OS (then Win98SE was
current) which of course they refused to do, even though I repeatedly
pointed out I paid for the Microsoft license for this system. I finally got
a copy of someone else's real MS Win98 SE OEM CD, installed it with my legit
CD Key, and I was good to go. I learned that a truly clean install is always
a good thing, and (almost) never trust the home versions of a brand name
system just because they're known to make a good system for businesses - the
retail customer version is always much lower quality.
 
Hello, thanks for all of your responses. I have already
tried two different Spyware programs, running them
multiple times. Both of my memory sticks are 256mb
each. It is really weird, mainly because I have restored
my computer's image many times before to clear things
out, but never had a problem with my computer. I have
nothing on this computer that did not work a month ago.
Perhaps it is hardware, but I reinstalled all of my
upgrades one by one. Please let me know if this triggers
any thought of any recent common problems I may not be
aware of. svchost takes up the most memory when I have
all of my programs turned off. Actually, there are at
least three instances of svchost occuring, but I do not
know what that is for.. =O/. Thanks again.
 
Correction, I only have one stick of 512mb RAM. Also,
when I open my case, I see that my graphics card fan is
not operating. Is it because it is defected or does the
graphics card fan cut on every once in a while? Also,
when I shut my computer off, the card is very hot. Hope
this helps, thanks.
 
Rich the fan most likely should be on at all times at least it should
kick in when the card is hot.
Look closely.
There are a pair of wires from the card fan to the motherboard.
Verify it is connected.
Reseat it if it is, connect if it is not.
 
Hi, the only wires I saw coming out of the graphics card
fan was going to the graphic card itself. However, I
went ahead and unplugged then replugged them, but I do
not know if that'll be enough to fix it. Thanks.
 
Didn't you just say it was time to upgrade your video card anyhow?

Seriously, I hope it is still in warranty. Good luck!
 
Rich;
Try turning the fan manually a few turns, this sometimes loosens them
enough to start.
Reseat video card.
If the fan does not work at all, the video card may be or likely will
soon be damaged by heat.
Contact seller for warranty if applicable.
 
interesting point Dell, mine also is preinstalled and
a "system restore" consists mostly of factory advetisement
as the top priority. A system file scan always
says "insert CD-ROM" to replace missing sys files. I would
think though, that if you registered your version of
windows XP then you could simply enter your registration
number at a given site and download your entire OS.
 
I really feel for you, I have problems that take up 90% of
my time on this machine. One thing I would suggest is
making sure that your hardware is COMPLETELY compatible
with your OS. I had a memory stick the matched all
compatibility charts for my PC, yet it sporadically sets
off my BIOS alarm on startup. I found out later its due to
a chip density problem. ONLY get hardware that is proven
compatible, including all drivers. ONLY buy from a place
that garantees compatibility.
 
Wish it were so, but it doesn't work that way. PC mfg's get discount prices
on OEM licenses, and part of the deal is that they agree that MS will not
have to deal with their OEM customers for support. So you're left entirely
at the mercy of the OEM for however much/little/quality of support they want
to give. That's why since my prior problem, I just hunt down the best prices
on components on the net & build my own system, then be sure to buy a copy
of the OS I want with a qualifying piece of hardware to get a full copy the
genuine OS at the OEM price, which is usually the same as the retail price
of the OS upgrade version.
 
Thanks, I'm pretty happy with the card until the fan
began to stop working. It has a lifetime warranty on it,
and the tech-guy from the company said that they would be
happy to replace the card for another one. So thanks
guys for all of the help.
 
Back
Top