Greersome said:
I'm hoping someone here can help guide me in my search for the root
cause of a chronic windows XP problem I have.
Periodically after powering up after hibernation, my laptop becomes
so sluggish that even running diagnostic tools is painfully time
consuming.
I imagine that some application somewhere is hogging some resource,
but all my efforts to investigate have been fruitless. I've looked
at the event logging for tell tale signs or trends I can
investigate. I've used an application called Process Explorer to
try to see what app is causing the problem, I've tried using task
manager to see which app/process is using too much memory or cpu
resources.
Nothing seems to stand out as a problem.
Can anyone recommend a course of action, diagnostic tool, or any
other method I could use to find the root cause of these annoying
and frustrating performance problems?
Shenan said:
Multi-posted instead of cross-posted (limiting the usefulness and
quite possibly the value/possibility of responses) and not really
even close to enough information.
You essentially have *walked* into several different mechanic shops
and explained that your car has a mechanical issue and nothing you
have tried has resulted in you figuring out what is wrong or any
improvement occurring. It would be better if you called each of
these mechanic shops with details such as make/model, etc.
In this case - you could have cross-posted (putting your post in
the same groups you already have but having actually only sent it
once and those replying to it by default would reply to all the
groups at once too) and given details such as the specific Windows
XP version (Home, Professional, Media Center, TabletPC, x64...) and
service pack level (RTM, SP1, SP2) and more specifics on the
trouble and what you have tried yourself so one might have an idea
of your technical expertise and ability to actively search and
follow directions you find related to solving your issues.
- Have you made sure you have the latest hardware device drivers
for each device? Straight from the manufacturer - not Windows
Updates? - Is your Windows XP OS fully updated with security patches?
- What happened between it working and not working or has this been
consistent since purchase?
- Have you contacted the support for the laptop manufacturer and
what did they say?
- What tools/methods have you utilized to help diagnose the issues?
The more information you give - the better chance you have of
finding someone helping you blindly like this with the right
steps...
With all due respects, I've requested recommendations for ways to
identify applications and processes which are hogging resources or
approaches to identify which resources are being over taxed. I've
also asked for any recommendations for tools to help me in this
investigation. You've offered none of these, thank you.
My device drivers are all of the latest version. I'm running SP2, I
use the latest version of zonealarm security suite, I have all the
latest patches and fixes.
This information is irrelevant to the question. My question focuses
on finding a tool that will help me identify which application is
causing the computer to hang. My question is NOT asking someone
else to identify the problem for me but to allow me to find it for
myself.
It is relevant. The tools to diagnose what problem you are experiencing may
well depend on what hardware you have (AMD, INTEL, if the motherboard
manufacturer or hard disk drive manufacturer has diagnostic utilities,
etc...), what OS and patch level you are at, what third party software you
already have and what your computer troubleshooting experience and
understanding level is at.
Whether or not you want someone to find the solution to the specific problem
you are looking for - someone would need to know more information than you
originally gave in order to properly point you to the specific tools you
might be able to utilize to figure it out on your own.
Also - if you give the problem and what you have tried in detail and someone
solves it for you - they are likely to tell you how (or might if you ask)
and then you know what they did. It's not a bad thing to be given an answer
and you - unless I don't know something - can ask for more information past
that point and learn how they troubleshot that problem.
Basic troubleshooting is always the same. First figure out what changed
between things working and things not working as expected. Eliminate all
those causes. Research all things left one-by-one (software packages,
hardware, etc) to see if anyone else has reported these problems. Eliminate
things you even have a slightest inkling might cause the issues. Sometimes
it will turn out to be something you wouldn't have guessed - ever. Like a
power supply issue when that doesn't even make initial sense.
You can use applications like Process Explorer and such to figure out what
is going on. You can create another user and see if the other user has the
same trouble as the first to eliminate profile issues. Set your BIOS
settings to Default and/or High Performance settings. Check for BIOS
updates, hardware driver updates, software package updates. Sometimes what
you are looking for seems like it would have no connection.
Troubleshooting does not depend on some magical tool. There is no single
tool that can troubleshoot every problem. Just going through the basics
that apply to ALL troubleshooting (whether it be a computer or a leaky roof)
usually leads to the best answer.
