Sluggish performance - ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve
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Steve

I've been tracking the performance graphs in task manager. Total
memory = 512MB. After reboot, the total commit charge is about 200MB.
It keeps going up as I open and close apps, and performance gets more
and more sluggish as it gets over 400MB. A reboot brings performance
back to normal, but not for long. I've checked for malware using
several different programs, nothing comes up. Any ideas about what
might be causing the memory problems?
 
What programs are you running? What processor are you using, type/speed.
What RAM type/speed?
 
What programs are you running? What processor are you using, type/speed.
What RAM type/speed?
Click to expand...

2.4G Dell P4. 512MB 400Mhz DDR SDRAM. Usually running Firefox,
Pegasus (email), PowerDesk (file manager), Agent newsreader.
 
Some program/process is chewing away at your RAM. See if you can identify
which one by opening the Windows Task Manager and opening the Processes tab.
When there, look for any thing using large figures. Shut any down that you
can live without. I mean the one's listed under the User Name. Leave the
System one's alone.
 
Gene K said:
Some program/process is chewing away at your RAM. See if you can identify
which one by opening the Windows Task Manager and opening the Processes tab.
When there, look for any thing using large figures. Shut any down that you
can live without. I mean the one's listed under the User Name. Leave the
System one's alone.
Click to expand...

Thanks Gene. I wonder if this might be an svchost services problem.
That's by far the biggest memory hog, can get well above 100MB. I
read somewhere about System Restore maxing out CPU usage, dunno how to
check that...


--

My friends tell me I have an intimacy problem.
But they don't really know me.

....Garry Shandling
 
I had that problem one time with a process called mainserv.exe. After doing
a Google search, I found out that it was related to my APC battery backup
software. It seems that the version (Power Chute Personal Edition 1.5) that
I was using was hogging my processor cycles. A letter to APC confirmed
this.


Regards
 
Your setup sounds good, you might conisider 512 MB more RAM. Something seems
to be leaking somewhere, how do things respond is Safe Mode?
 
Geminate said:
Your setup sounds good, you might conisider 512 MB more RAM. Something seems
to be leaking somewhere, how do things respond is Safe Mode?
Click to expand...

I booted to safe mode, but both the keyboard and the mouse were
disabled, not sure why. Had to cold boot to get back...


--

My friends tell me I have an intimacy problem.
But they don't really know me.

....Garry Shandling
 
Do you have a PS/2 mouse and keyboard or USB?

Steve said:
I booted to safe mode, but both the keyboard and the mouse were
disabled, not sure why. Had to cold boot to get back...


--

My friends tell me I have an intimacy problem.
But they don't really know me.

....Garry Shandling
Click to expand...
 
svchost is a file which runs several necessary XP processes. You normally
will see it five or six times in the list of processes which is normal. I
just counted my total on svchost and it adds to 41396K which makes your
"well over 100MB" seem high although system restore when running might cause
a considerable increase.
 
Thanks Gene. I wonder if this might be an svchost services problem.
That's by far the biggest memory hog, can get well above 100MB. I
read somewhere about System Restore maxing out CPU usage, dunno how to
check that...
Click to expand...

You should have about 6 different instances of SVCHOST running. Make
note of the PID number for the instance that is using the 100 mb of
RAM.

Next open a Command Prompt windows (Start - Run - CMD) and in that
window enter the following command:

TASKLIST /SVC

That will give you a listing, in PID order, of what is running, and
the specific services associated with each. Which services are
listed against the "problem" SVCHOST item?

That information should help to identify what is causing the problem.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Ron Martell said:
You should have about 6 different instances of SVCHOST running. Make
note of the PID number for the instance that is using the 100 mb of
RAM.
Next open a Command Prompt windows (Start - Run - CMD) and in that
window enter the following command:
TASKLIST /SVC
Click to expand...

I get message: tasklist not recognized as internal or external command

What folder is the tasklist command located in? I tried root and
windows, no luck...
 
Ron Martell said:
You should have about 6 different instances of SVCHOST running. Make
note of the PID number for the instance that is using the 100 mb of
RAM.
Next open a Command Prompt windows (Start - Run - CMD) and in that
window enter the following command:
TASKLIST /SVC
Click to expand...

I've been unable to use tasklist. But it looks like SVCHOST PID 1088
is a possible culprit. Checked it last night after reboot, it was at
21MB. This morning it was at 133MB, with no programs running. Not
sure what 1088 does, or what if anything to do about it...
 
I've been unable to use tasklist. But it looks like SVCHOST PID 1088
is a possible culprit. Checked it last night after reboot, it was at
21MB. This morning it was at 133MB, with no programs running. Not
sure what 1088 does, or what if anything to do about it...
Click to expand...

Steve,

PID 1088 is the process id of that service. This can change at each re-
boot so it means almost nothing.

PID is a column in the Processes tab of Task Manager.

A better alternative to Task Manager is Process Explorer, d/l from
sysinternals.com .

ProcessExplorer has much more detail and the ablility to easily look
inside each SVCHOST process and tell you the individual services being
provided by each.
 
DanS said:
PID 1088 is the process id of that service. This can change at each re-
boot so it means almost nothing.
A better alternative to Task Manager is Process Explorer, d/l from
sysinternals.com .
ProcessExplorer has much more detail and the ablility to easily look
inside each SVCHOST process and tell you the individual services being
provided by each.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan. I actually have Process Explorer, but haven't quite been
able to figure out to use it in diagnosing this problem. It gives me
a list of 30 or so services registered under this svchost, along with
the directory path. But I'm not sure what to do with this info...
 
A better alternative to Task Manager is Process Explorer, d/l from
sysinternals.com .
ProcessExplorer has much more detail and the ablility to easily look
inside each SVCHOST process and tell you the individual services being
provided by each.
Click to expand...

I'm looking at Process Explorer's screen, and I've identified the
svchost process that's hogging memory. In the lower pane is a listing
of hundreds of handles, with no additional info. Not sure what to do
with this...
 
I'm looking at Process Explorer's screen, and I've identified the
svchost process that's hogging memory. In the lower pane is a listing
of hundreds of handles, with no additional info. Not sure what to do
with this...
Click to expand...

Double-click on the svchost.exe process. Select the 'Services' tab. I would
start there and look for odd names or such. Try disabling the services
inside the svchost one at a time to see if that help at all. Hopefully if a
rogue service is the issue, you should be able to figure out which one.
 
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