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Awful slowdowns


roshan

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Ive been using a laptop for about a year now and the specs are still quite good: Pentium 4 3.0ghz with hyperthreading, 256 mb ATI Mobility Radeon 9800, 1 ghz ram.

 

However, recently, Ive been getting some pretty bad slowdowns with the laptop, even running older games like diablo 2. Ive disabled pretty much all the processes and applications on my laptop and Im quite sure that it hasnt got any spyware on it.

 

What could be the cause of these slowdowns? I used to leave my laptop on for days at a time. Could it be that some part of the hardware has somehow been damaged due to this?

 

What are the chances that reformatting and reinstalling windows will make a difference?

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plenty. winders is known to become bloated with itself and slow down. i'd recommend re-install every 3-4 months, actually. i've heard XP is better in this regard, but i don't know for sure. also, a hard drive defrag is in order if you choose not to rebuild.

 

taks

comrade taks... just because.

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Computer hardware seldom becomes slower with use. It's basically either functioning or broken (a bit boolean in its behaviour). Since the laptop is only a year, I don't think your harddrive is dying either. And fragmentation shouldn't be a factor (at least not that big) either, unless your harddrive is brimful already (worth to check and possibly free up some space).

 

Windows XP doesn't have to be reinstalled more often than perhaps once every 18 to 24 months under normal conditions. I recently reinstalled Windows XP on my girlfriend's computer. She hadn't done it for over three years, and it was working perfectly for her (but I had to change her motherboard). Unless you install/remove lots and lots of programs on your computer, of course. Then you have to clean your XP more often (as I am a reviewer of games, I know this.. the hard way..) as the registry tends to become cluttered after a while, and that can slow down your system severely.

Swedes, go to: Spel2, for the latest game reviews in swedish!

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You never really have to reformat Windows completely, that's what the Repair function is good for. IF you're good at IT stuff, you can repair just about any software problem, especially in Windows XP.

 

Check your processor's temperature (assuming you've got sensors in your CPU, which is probable) by using AIDA32 (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download181.html). Install AIDA and when you click on it, go to Computer, then Sensor. If you're processor temperature is 150 + F, you might have a dust contamination problem within your laptop--I've certainly had that problem before. This would also explain the slowdown.

Edited by STDSkillz
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Hey Rosh - serves you right for NWN2 bashing! :D

 

In all seriousness though, go to your start bar, then select run. In the textbox type in "msconfig" (without the quotes) and press enter. When the system configuration utility shows up, select diagnostic startup on the general tab so you can boot up with the minimal drivers and processes. After that try testing out your comp. If it's still struggling, then the slow-down is not attributed to background processes and application loaded within the RAM. Therefore, it would probably be best to if you were to then run your virus scanner (Norton or McAffee work great) to dig out those potentially nasty worms, trojans and whatnot. If that fails (i.e. no virus is found), go to your start bar-->accessories-->system tools-->system restore. Select an earlier date (one when you know it was working fine) and roll it back. If after this it's still slower than Troika when releasing patches, then you're going to have to re-install Windows to factory settings, so look out for your system discs (or recovery partition).

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You never really have to reformat Windows completely, that's what the Repair function is good for. IF you're good at IT stuff, you can repair just about any software problem, especially in Windows XP.

 

Check your processor's temperature (assuming you've got sensors in your CPU, which is probable) by using AIDA32 (http://www.majorgeeks.com/download181.html). Install AIDA and when you click on it, go to Computer, then Sensor. If you're processor temperature is 150 + F, you might have a dust contamination problem within your laptop--I've certainly had that problem before.  This would also explain the slowdown.

 

How do I access the repair function?

 

I used AIDA but it doesnt seem to detect any sensors, the window is black when I click on it.

 

If that fails (i.e. no virus is found), go to your start bar-->accessories-->system tools-->system restore. Select an earlier date (one when you know it was working fine) and roll it back.

 

I turned off system restore long ago :blink:

 

Therefore, it would probably be best to if you were to then run your virus scanner (Norton or McAffee work great) to dig out those potentially nasty worms, trojans and whatnot.

 

Are there any good free anti virus programs out there?

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When you have 12-15 games installed, it's very difficult knowing which registry entries you can remove and which you can't. But I'm sure it's possible.

Swedes, go to: Spel2, for the latest game reviews in swedish!

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The registry cleaner I use (TuneUp Utilities) checks for keys that no longer have software associated with them. So far I haven't had a problem with just letting it remove everything it finds. So it'll probably work for you as well.

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while i don't totally fully buy that XP can go 18-24 months as mkreku states, i agree XP is more stable/less corrupting than other winders versions (i've only had it installed for about 6-8 months with not many program changes so i have to reserve judgement on this till i have more experience). two things are particularly maddening - 1) fragmentation and 2) inability to fully remove all keys associated with a program during uninstall (for whatever reason, fragments always seem to remain in the registry, at least with other versions of winders). if you're constantly adding and removing various programs, which is often the case for gamers, both will crop up. the more you do this, the worse off you'll be.

 

another potential issue, i'm not sure has been mentioned, is the drive controller. normally hardware acts as noted, i.e. either it works or it doesn't, however, i had a VIA 8237 chip go bad and, at least at first, i experienced massive slow downs due to retransmits from the hard drive. essentially, the error rate went up so it had to recopy data repeatedly, which slows things down. eventually, the channel went down completely and i got irrecoverable read errors (system crash). i switched the drive to another controller and all was well. my mobo is in need of replacement, i think.

 

taks

comrade taks... just because.

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I think the registry cleaner(TuneUp Utilities) has done its job.... My computer is in better shape than it has ever been. I was able to run KOTOR at maxed settings! But then again im not an FPS junkie. But I only had a minor lag in the highly populated areas.

 

BTW how do I measure my FPS rating when running games? Is there some sort of tool that I need to download?

 

And my KOTOR file is still fragmented into 1200 parts. I will try defragging again and see what happens.

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I haven't reformatted in a long long time - (edit: over a year I think) - hubby even longer. I've definitely noticed XP needs it a lot less often than 98 or others. I'm sure it'd run a little better if it was a clean install but it's still going strong.

 

I'm kinda like Diamond, tho - I usually keep things "clean" for a long while before I start doing crazy things, and a defrag a lot on principle. But even with all the stuff I've installed the past several months, XP's still crusin' along.

Edited by LadyCrimson
“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
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not installing a lot (and conversely, uninstalling) has always been the key to good winders health. that plus defrag are the best remedies to a slow system. of course, it is winders, so it will choke on itself eventually. >_<

 

taks

comrade taks... just because.

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