desperately needed computer help

[Red in Chicago]

I've got an HP PC that's about 8 years old. No real problems until the other day. I went to check email and nothing was working. The clock was still showing time from about 8 hours prior. I couldn't get the mouse to acknowledge, tried to power off PC, but nothing. I ended up unplugging it for a few minutes then turned it back on. Still nothing. The only thing that happens is that the fan seems to run very high.

Is the computer fried? I've got lots of pictures that I would hate to lose. Also, with regards to email. I have a comcast email account tied to this PC. I thought that by logging into comcast.net, I would be able to have access to my folders and / or old emails, but the only thing I seem to be able to access are emails going forward.

Is this a "Geek Squad" task, since I'm completely retarded when it comes to computers? Someone please help!!

Thanks

[hebroncougar]

If I could tell you what to do, I would. If it is fried, there's a pretty decent chance you could have the stuff on the hard drive put into another computer, or at least the contents transferred. I'd highly recommend hard copy backups, or upload them all to a website that will store them like snapfish if you can get them to come back up.

[westofyou]

so it won't boot windows?

If so let me know and we can try and check the thing by opening in SAFE mode (start it up prior to windows opening hit the F10 button) it should display a menu to choose SAFE Mode opening

[cincyinco]

As far as your email not being on Comcast.net, if you previously used a program like outlook express for your email, or other 3rd party emaio client.. Well you probably used the pop3 protocal and downloaded your email OFF of the server... So it was all stored locally on your computer's hard drive if this was the case.. This you only are messages from the time this happened going forward.

If its a problem with the OS its probably fixable. If its a fried hard drive, you might be at a loss. Your message is vaugue, unfortunately. Whatever happens, keep your hard drive. You can pull information from it if its not bad, and in some cases, even if it is.. This is assuming worst case scenario where you need a replacement.

Former Comcast high speed internet tech here, so I may be able to help a bit.

[TRF]

If the PC won't boot into safe mode, it's likely toast. You probably can get most of your files off the hard drive though.

[JaxRed]

Chances are this is NOT a hard drive. If so, you should by a new computer. (Dude it was 8 years old. That's like 150 in computer years).

Then you pick up a external drive enclosure ($39) and put your old hard drive in there and get your stuff off.

[westofyou]

(Dude it was 8 years old. That's like 150 in computer years).

I have 2 laptops older than that, windows will degrade over time for sure... that's why I took them and slapped Ubuntu on them. They run dandy with that OS.

[TylerScottDavis]

Sounds like your hard drive is probably ok, and as others have said, you should be able to get your pictures, etc. back off of it even if the rest of the computer is fried. What exactly DOES happen when you turn the computer on now? Absolutely nothing? Blank screen? Windows loads but is frozen? The BIOS loads but Windows doesn't? Knowing this will help to diagnose what's broken.
On a side note, if the hard drive is 8 years old, you REALLY REALLY REALLY need to make copies of your important files onto a new hard drive or some other medium.

[Red in Chicago]

so it won't boot windows?

If so let me know and we can try and check the thing by opening in SAFE mode (start it up prior to windows opening hit the F10 button) it should display a menu to choose SAFE Mode opening

It won't boot anything. It's basically a black screen, since it doesn't acknowledge the monitor. The monitor just shows no signal and then goes to sleep. Everything is plugged in correctly.


As far as your email not being on Comcast.net, if you previously used a program like outlook express for your email, or other 3rd party emaio client.. Well you probably used the pop3 protocal and downloaded your email OFF of the server... So it was all stored locally on your computer's hard drive if this was the case.. This you only are messages from the time this happened going forward.

Former Comcast high speed internet tech here, so I may be able to help a bit.

Thanks for the tip on the emails. I believe I had the pop3 that you referenced above.


Sounds like your hard drive is probably ok, and as others have said, you should be able to get your pictures, etc. back off of it even if the rest of the computer is fried. What exactly DOES happen when you turn the computer on now? Absolutely nothing? Blank screen? Windows loads but is frozen? The BIOS loads but Windows doesn't? Knowing this will help to diagnose what's broken.
On a side note, if the hard drive is 8 years old, you REALLY REALLY REALLY need to make copies of your important files onto a new hard drive or some other medium.

I've kept the pc off for a day now, and when I power it up, I basically get nothing. The monitor (no signal), keyboard and mouse are not acknowledged. The only thing that happens, is that the fan on the pc is very loud and seems to be running very fast. I tried the F10 thing, but since the monitor doesn't show a signal, I can't see anything happening. The fan speed and noise level did not change.

[KronoRed]

Sounds like the power supply,CPU or motherboard has called it quits, the good news is your hard drive is most likely just fine.

New computer time :D

[AtomicDumpling]

It could be the video card too, but since it is an HP it probably does not have a separate video card and the graphics processor is built into the motherboard.

It might also be the hard drive, but probably not. Since you are not getting anything on the monitor even early in the boot sequence (before the hard drive is accessed) it almost has to be the motherboard.

So the bad news is you will need a new computer. The good news is the data on your hard drive is probably recoverable.

[TylerScottDavis]

It could be the video card too, but since it is an HP it probably does not have a separate video card and the graphics processor is built into the motherboard.

It might also be the hard drive, but probably not. Since you are not getting anything on the monitor even early in the boot sequence (before the hard drive is accessed) it almost has to be the motherboard.

So the bad news is you will need a new computer. The good news is the data on your hard drive is probably recoverable.

What he said

[dougdirt]

I have 2 laptops older than that, windows will degrade over time for sure... that's why I took them and slapped Ubuntu on them. They run dandy with that OS.

I generally just back up my stuff and fdisk my computer once a year just to start over fresh and get things back to running smoothly. I tend to take good care of my stuff, but like you said, windows breaks down over time with installs, uninstalls, registry issues etc...

[cincyinco]

Just like cars, you do maintenance on your computer..

Its always a good idea to defrag a couple of times a year, its good to back up your data, properly ininstall software you don't need, etc...

[hebroncougar]

A great program for defragging is JKDefrag, it's free online. Especially if you are running vista, it's very fast compared to the crappy defragger that comes with Vista.

[JBChance]

I have 2 laptops older than that, windows will degrade over time for sure... that's why I took them and slapped Ubuntu on them. They run dandy with that OS.

Ubutnu, huh? Sweet.


It could be the video card too, but since it is an HP it probably does not have a separate video card and the graphics processor is built into the motherboard.

It might also be the hard drive, but probably not. Since you are not getting anything on the monitor even early in the boot sequence (before the hard drive is accessed) it almost has to be the motherboard.

So the bad news is you will need a new computer. The good news is the data on your hard drive is probably recoverable.

Maybe, but not necessarily.

Does it beep and try to POST? Do you get ANY text at all. (memory test, etc.)?

If not, my money's on the power supply, especially with the noise. It could be another component (memory, processor, motherboard/BIOS), but the power supplys do tend to wear down and blow over time. I don't like the fact that it was actually ON and acting up; power supplys are usually the "it just shut off" or "it wont turn on" variety of death. They can do that though, if they start to go and the voltage gets irregular - causes all sorts of funky things.

HP + 8 yrs. old = ATX type mobo and power supply. I'm pretty sure a decent repair shop (check the yellow pages for a local joint) could fix it in about an hour or at least give you the lowdown quickly. If its the actual mainboard, fixing it would cost some significant coin - enough to take a look at upgrading to a new system. If you do go there, ask them to install your old HDrive in the new system as a slave.

Don't take it to "The Geek Squad". They will try to sell you a new eMachine and try to sell you on some "optimization" package. Be very afraid.

Hope this helps.

[Chip R]

I am having some problems with my computer. When I boot it up, I will eventually get a message that Windows will be closing and then my computer restarts. I can bring it up with Safe mode but can't keep it on otherwise. Any suggestions?

[TylerScottDavis]

I am having some problems with my computer. When I boot it up, I will eventually get a message that Windows will be closing and then my computer restarts. I can bring it up with Safe mode but can't keep it on otherwise. Any suggestions?

How long does it take before windows shuts down? is it fairly immediate (something in your startup folder or autoexec.bat file could be causing it) or does it take awhile (more than 5 mins or so)?

[reds1869]

Had the same thing happen with my 6 year old G4 Power Mac. It was the motherboard in that case.

[Chip R]

How long does it take before windows shuts down? is it fairly immediate (something in your startup folder or autoexec.bat file could be causing it) or does it take awhile (more than 5 mins or so)?


The background come up and the startup files do the same. and afer 3-4 minutes, I get the message then a couple of minutes later it restarts.

[TylerScottDavis]

Interesting. Could be any number of things I suppose. I would recommend downloadingGlary Utilities (http://www.download.com/Glary-Utilities/3000-2094_4-10508531.html?tag=mncol)and using it to check your startup programs and repair your registry. I would also go here (http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp) and run a Windows Memory Diagnostic test on your computer. If neither of these fix or find a problem (and I assume you've already ran a virus check) then I would backup all important files and do a clean install of Windows.

Edit to add: You can also run msconfig and use it to control several aspects of how your computer starts up. This may help you diagnose the problem.

[Chip R]

I figured this out. I ran msconfig and took MSN Messenger out of my startup files and no problems after that.

[westofyou]

Interesting. Could be any number of things I suppose. I would recommend downloadingGlary Utilities (http://www.download.com/Glary-Utilities/3000-2094_4-10508531.html?tag=mncol)and using it to check your startup programs and repair your registry. I would also go here (http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp) and run a Windows Memory Diagnostic test on your computer. If neither of these fix or find a problem (and I assume you've already ran a virus check) then I would backup all important files and do a clean install of Windows.

Edit to add: You can also run msconfig and use it to control several aspects of how your computer starts up. This may help you diagnose the problem.

That Glary Tool is AWESOME, it's the Leathermen for the windows user, thanks so much I slammed that on my fathers machines and cleaned up over 2500 errors.

This tool is a tad strong for the uninformed, but everyone should have it.

[Chip R]

I should have posted this before instead of waiting till the last minute but I've been on vacation for the past week. I'm staying at my mom's house and going online is slow. I've seen dial-up connections faster than this. For example, I will click on a thread or hit post on here and sometimes I have to do it several times to get it to go to that thread or post. It just sits there and sits there and I have to wait. It's extremely frustrating. She's got 43 GB available on her hard drive (she's using XP). I defragged it last night as well as installed Spyware Cease. I've fixed the registry. I've deleted the trash, cleaned out cookies and temporary internet files, ran the error checking utility. She doesn't have a lot of startup applications. I've optimized Windows and installed Google Chrome and it acts the same as IE. I'm leaving Wednesday morning about 9 Central time so if anyone has any ideas on how I can get her computer to run faster for free, I'd appreciate it.

[TRF]

Glary rocks. I also just discovered Smart Defrag (http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html). Increased my boot speed by almost half. Google tools includes Spyware Doctor. If you have a GMail account, you can get the free version. I have it set to scan everyday. Great at finding and eliminating minor threats.

Chip, how much memory does she have? If the system used to run fast, but now runs slow even after all you have done, it sounds like a memory issue. Could be a corrupt/broken stick.

[acredsfan]

This may be too late, but is she on a wireless network?

[pedro]

Interesting. Could be any number of things I suppose. I would recommend downloadingGlary Utilities (http://www.download.com/Glary-Utilities/3000-2094_4-10508531.html?tag=mncol)and using it to check your startup programs and repair your registry. I would also go here (http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp) and run a Windows Memory Diagnostic test on your computer. If neither of these fix or find a problem (and I assume you've already ran a virus check) then I would backup all important files and do a clean install of Windows.

Edit to add: You can also run msconfig and use it to control several aspects of how your computer starts up. This may help you diagnose the problem.

Great tip thanks. That glary utility is great.

[pedro]

Glary rocks. I also just discovered Smart Defrag (http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html). Increased my boot speed by almost half. Google tools includes Spyware Doctor. If you have a GMail account, you can get the free version. I have it set to scan everyday. Great at finding and eliminating minor threats.

Chip, how much memory does she have? If the system used to run fast, but now runs slow even after all you have done, it sounds like a memory issue. Could be a corrupt/broken stick.

Like that defrag too. thanks!

[Chip R]

Chip, how much memory does she have? If the system used to run fast, but now runs slow even after all you have done, it sounds like a memory issue. Could be a corrupt/broken stick.

She's got about 80 GB.


This may be too late, but is she on a wireless network?

No.

[Heath]

I am the brand new owner of a power supply box. Thank goodness the motherboard was fine.

Wife has recipes all on hard drive.

[TRF]

She's got about 80 GB.


Not HD space, RAM.

If she had 80 GB of RAM, I'd suspect she was working for the CTU.

[Chip R]

Not HD space, RAM.

If she had 80 GB of RAM, I'd suspect she was working for the CTU.


Don't know. I'm back here now.

[Chip R]

Not HD space, RAM.

If she had 80 GB of RAM, I'd suspect she was working for the CTU.


Since I'm back visiting my mother for the holidays, I thought I'd bring this thread back since her slowness problems are still happening.

She has 512 MB of RAM.

[Highlifeman21]

Since I'm back visiting my mother for the holidays, I thought I'd bring this thread back since her slowness problems are still happening.

She has 512 MB of RAM.

512 MB of RAM is on the bare minimum side, IMO.

Have you defragged her hard drive that has her operating system on it?

I would also do a simple Ctrl + Alt + Delete and open up Task Manager and find out in the Processes tab what is taking up the most Mem Usage. I would also then click on the Performance tab and see how the CPU Usage is doing. With 512 MB RAM, it's very possible there's a lot of background processes running which are bogging the machine down.

[Chip R]

512 MB of RAM is on the bare minimum side, IMO.

Have you defragged her hard drive that has her operating system on it?

I would also do a simple Ctrl + Alt + Delete and open up Task Manager and find out in the Processes tab what is taking up the most Mem Usage. I would also then click on the Performance tab and see how the CPU Usage is doing. With 512 MB RAM, it's very possible there's a lot of background processes running which are bogging the machine down.


Yeah, 512 MB is pretty low but it's always been like that and up until recently it's never been this slow.

I defragged it in October and tried again earlier in the week but it said defragging wasn't recommended.

I did what you suggested in task manager (The CPU percentage is 100%, by the way) and a couple of the processes that took up a lot of memory were Avgtray.exe and qttask.exe. I took them out of the startup and it's still using 100% of the CPU. A couple other processes are two iexplore.exe one is taking up 51,556 K and the other 15,276 K. svchost.exe takes up 20,316K. The big hog is system.exe that takes up 85,364K. explorer.exe takes up 23,492 K.

I just checked some programs and The Sims 2 is on there at 1,390 MB. If I didn't know better, I'd say that might be a problem but it won't uninstall and it hasn't been touched in a year.

[Highlifeman21]

Yeah, 512 MB is pretty low but it's always been like that and up until recently it's never been this slow.

I defragged it in October and tried again earlier in the week but it said defragging wasn't recommended.

I did what you suggested in task manager (The CPU percentage is 100%, by the way) and a couple of the processes that took up a lot of memory were Avgtray.exe and qttask.exe. I took them out of the startup and it's still using 100% of the CPU. A couple other processes are two iexplore.exe one is taking up 51,556 K and the other 15,276 K. svchost.exe takes up 20,316K. The big hog is system.exe that takes up 85,364K. explorer.exe takes up 23,492 K.

I just checked some programs and The Sims 2 is on there at 1,390 MB. If I didn't know better, I'd say that might be a problem but it won't uninstall and it hasn't been touched in a year.

CPU percentage @ 100% is impressive, but also means that all 512 MB of RAM are taken up by all those processes.

Avgtray I'm assuming is the AVG anti-virus and or malware program? If so, need to let that one run.

qttask is QuickTime player, and you can turn that off, and or remove it from your start up menu. Essentially, you don't need to always have qttask running.

Instead of running Internet Explorer (iexplore), I'd recommend Google Chrome or Firefox, as they seem to run faster for me.

svchost has to run, but you can check what's running in that instance of svchost, and then determine if there's any services you can turn off. If you want to disable some services, type "services.msc" in the command line after clicking "run" from the start menu. This will bring up all the services on the computer, and you can manually stop services, as well as right click on a service, go down to properties, and then if you want you can change the startup type to manual if you don't want the service to trigger on startup.

system.exe is, IMO, a virus, based on some google research I just did. I would verify this with your own searches. Looks like it's removable, which is good.

explorer.exe is your Windows XP, and needs to run (obviously).



So, based on everything you told me from the task manager, looks like that system.exe is a virus, and is what's bogging down your RAM.

[Spring~Fields]

Search link for describing system.exe

http://www.bing.com/search?q=what+is+system.exe&src=IE-SearchBox&FORM=IE8SRC

Independent virus check and system cleaner, cleaner does not remove viruses, but gets rid of junk and fixes registry errors. Virus check does detect and clean if it can.
link:
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm

link for good cleaner for registry and computer, also wipes free space on HD
http://www.ccleaner.com/

If it was mine after you are sure it is free of viruses, and HD and registry is cleaned up I would add an additional stick of RAM which is easy to plug in. Just have to make sure that you get the right type for that computer.

Microsoft security search for "what is system.exe"
Link
http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Threat/Encyclopedia/Search.aspx?query=what%20is%20system.exe

[kpresidente]

If the system.exe is a virus or spyware, just end the process and see if that fixes things. It might come back when you reboot, but at least you'd know what the problem was and you could get a spyware program to clean it up.\

It could be something else, too, though. Your processor shouldn't be running at 100% for any extended period of time regardless of how much RAM you have.

My guess is you've got a hardware issue. It doesn't mean the motherboard is fried, though. It could be some less important component that's screwing around and trapping the processor in an endless loop. Same thing happened to me a couple years ago, turns out the USB ports were bad, so I disabled them from the BIOS and bought an aftermarket USB card, which solved the problem.

Go into your BIOS and disable all the hardware components you can, reboot, and see if the problem persists. If it doesn't, re-enable each component one-at-a-time until you come across what's causing the problem.

[Spring~Fields]

If the system.exe is a virus or spyware, just end the process and see if that fixes things. It might come back when you reboot, but at least you'd know what the problem was and you could get a spyware program to clean it up.\

It could be something else, too, though. Your processor shouldn't be running at 100% for any extended period of time regardless of how much RAM you have.



I think that Highlifeman21 told him right about that system.exe.

I did a registry search on this and it is all Microsoft software and nothing is found in the registry or in a files search on the HD called system.exe. There is nothing in the system information either.
I think he has a criter that he doesn't want or need on that computer.

Couldn't that prog. be using the processor and causing it to be running at 100%, of course your correct, it shouldn't be running at 100%

Hope Chip comes back and tells us what he found out, what the cause was and how he resolved it. Might save another some future grief.

[Chip R]

I think I was somewhat mistaken on the system.exe process. It just says System under user name SYSTEM and it's taking up about 85,000 K. I have her on Firefox now so the iexplore.exe processes are gone. So now it's firefox.exe taking up 35,700 K svchost.exe taking up 26,000 K and explorer.exe taking up 20,000 K

She does have cccleaner on here and I did avirus check and system cleaner as Springy suggested. It's still running at 100% and not really running too quickly. I'm going to try the BIOS as kpresidente suggested.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

[Spring~Fields]

I think I was somewhat mistaken on the system.exe process. It just says System under user name SYSTEM and it's taking up about 85,000 K. I have her on Firefox now so the iexplore.exe processes are gone. So now it's firefox.exe taking up 35,700 K svchost.exe taking up 26,000 K and explorer.exe taking up 20,000 K

She does have cccleaner on here and I did avirus check and system cleaner as Springy suggested. It's still running at 100% and not really running too quickly. I'm going to try the BIOS as kpresidente suggested.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

Since the time that you were running that computer, when it ran faster, and between now, have there been any downloads or updates? Has there been any hot fixes etc?

Does the computer have the latest updates as in service packs (SP3) for XP and the hot fixes?

Has the drivers been updated after the service pack 3?

I did some further research on the 100% CPU usage, there were so many examples and answers that I grew weary of looking, but that one above regarding service packs, and hot fixes at Microsoft caught my eye as a possibility. I have had some of there updates do what you have described.

What I got from their information was that some of their issues, might be causing the problem with the computer. They were talking about SP2, and issues and hot fixes that SP3 was to take care of. There probably are updates to even SP3 by now.

You might want to check that above and the drivers updates.

[GAC]

I just checked some programs and The Sims 2 is on there at 1,390 MB. If I didn't know better, I'd say that might be a problem but it won't uninstall and it hasn't been touched in a year.

Sims games are friggin monsters. I know from experience because Rachel loves those games and has them all.

MINIMUM requirements......

First off - your computer better have a capable video card with at least 32 MB of video RAM.

- 800 MHz processor or better
- 256 MB RAM if Windows Vista, XP, Windows ME, Windows 98 or Windows 2000
- At least 3.5 GB of hard drive space

Here are a couple websites that will test your computer and see if it meets the requirements for Sims.....

http://www.simprograms.com/the-sims-2-system-requirements/

http://compsimgames.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=compsimgames&cdn=gadgets&tm=18&f=20&tt=12&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//simopedia.servopro.com/

[Highlifeman21]

If the system.exe is a virus or spyware, just end the process and see if that fixes things. It might come back when you reboot, but at least you'd know what the problem was and you could get a spyware program to clean it up.\

It could be something else, too, though. Your processor shouldn't be running at 100% for any extended period of time regardless of how much RAM you have.

My guess is you've got a hardware issue. It doesn't mean the motherboard is fried, though. It could be some less important component that's screwing around and trapping the processor in an endless loop. Same thing happened to me a couple years ago, turns out the USB ports were bad, so I disabled them from the BIOS and bought an aftermarket USB card, which solved the problem.

Go into your BIOS and disable all the hardware components you can, reboot, and see if the problem persists. If it doesn't, re-enable each component one-at-a-time until you come across what's causing the problem.

Sometimes viruses with an exe as a process you cannot stop the process, b/c it'll give you the error message that it's in use and cannot be stopped.

[Highlifeman21]

I think I was somewhat mistaken on the system.exe process. It just says System under user name SYSTEM and it's taking up about 85,000 K. I have her on Firefox now so the iexplore.exe processes are gone. So now it's firefox.exe taking up 35,700 K svchost.exe taking up 26,000 K and explorer.exe taking up 20,000 K

She does have cccleaner on here and I did avirus check and system cleaner as Springy suggested. It's still running at 100% and not really running too quickly. I'm going to try the BIOS as kpresidente suggested.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

That "System" process shouldn't be 85000K, which still leads me to believe it's a virus. My "System" process on my laptop which runs Windows XP is only 240K.

[Chip R]

Since the time that you were running that computer, when it ran faster, and between now, have there been any downloads or updates? Has there been any hot fixes etc?

Does the computer have the latest updates as in service packs (SP3) for XP and the hot fixes?

Has the drivers been updated after the service pack 3?

I did some further research on the 100% CPU usage, there were so many examples and answers that I grew weary of looking, but that one above regarding service packs, and hot fixes at Microsoft caught my eye as a possibility. I have had some of there updates do what you have described.

What I got from their information was that some of their issues, might be causing the problem with the computer. They were talking about SP2, and issues and hot fixes that SP3 was to take care of. There probably are updates to even SP3 by now.

You might want to check that above and the drivers updates.

Thanks. I ran the service pack then updated all the drivers. Only about 6 drivers needed to be updated. I restarted the computer and it's still slow as hell and running at 100%.

I haven't really done anything with the BIOS yet. I did turn off some things like the sound and the network and the keyboard but couldn't get it to test it out. I'm not quite sure how I should do anything with the BIOS.

I did log on to another user she has set up on the computer that's seldom used. It would spike up to 100% but usually stayed down in the single digits. It seemed faster when I logged on to RedsZone and Facebook but not by a great deal.


That "System" process shouldn't be 85000K, which still leads me to believe it's a virus. My "System" process on my laptop which runs Windows XP is only 240K.

"System" is now down to 116 K. I'm going to post a picture of the currently running processes from highest to lowest.

[Roy Tucker]

"System" is now down to 116 K. I'm going to post a picture of the currently running processes from highest to lowest.


That task manager display shows the system idle process at 99%. Which means a whole lot of nuthin' is going on. :dunno:

[Chip R]

That task manager display shows the system idle process at 99%. Which means a whole lot of nuthin' is going on. :dunno:


From what I've read, that doesn't mean much.

After all the stuff I've done and it's still running slow, is it just a RAM problem?

[Highlifeman21]

Thanks. I ran the service pack then updated all the drivers. Only about 6 drivers needed to be updated. I restarted the computer and it's still slow as hell and running at 100%.

I haven't really done anything with the BIOS yet. I did turn off some things like the sound and the network and the keyboard but couldn't get it to test it out. I'm not quite sure how I should do anything with the BIOS.

I did log on to another user she has set up on the computer that's seldom used. It would spike up to 100% but usually stayed down in the single digits. It seemed faster when I logged on to RedsZone and Facebook but not by a great deal.



"System" is now down to 116 K. I'm going to post a picture of the currently running processes from highest to lowest.

Increase the size of your Virtual Memory.

Click Start

Right Click on My Computer

Choose Properties

Click on the Advanced Tab

In the Performance Group Box, Click Settings

Click on the Advanced Tab

Down @ the bottom, you'll see Virtual memory. Click Change.

Look at the bottom, where it says "Recommended", and make sure that your Virtual memory is at least that number. The way I run my laptop is I run a Custom Size, in the middle of the screen. The Initial size is 1/2 the size of the recommended, and I set the recommended as the Maximum size. Once you've changed the values, Click Set. Then you'll have to restart your computer.

If that doesn't help, then I'm temporarily out of ideas.

[Chip R]

Increase the size of your Virtual Memory.

Click Start

Right Click on My Computer

Choose Properties

Click on the Advanced Tab

In the Performance Group Box, Click Settings

Click on the Advanced Tab

Down @ the bottom, you'll see Virtual memory. Click Change.

Look at the bottom, where it says "Recommended", and make sure that your Virtual memory is at least that number. The way I run my laptop is I run a Custom Size, in the middle of the screen. The Initial size is 1/2 the size of the recommended, and I set the recommended as the Maximum size. Once you've changed the values, Click Set. Then you'll have to restart your computer.

If that doesn't help, then I'm temporarily out of ideas.

Recommended is 763 MB. 768 MBs are currently allocated.

Oh, and System is back up to 85,000 K

[Highlifeman21]

Recommended is 763 MB. 768 MBs are currently allocated.

Oh, and System is back up to 85,000 K

Then my guess is that System is a virus, and that you do not have enough RAM.

That's all I've got.

[Spring~Fields]

Go into your BIOS and disable all the hardware components you can, reboot, and see if the problem persists. If it doesn't, re-enable each component one-at-a-time until you come across what's causing the problem.

I think I would try what kpresidente suggested next. Take your time with it, and look, and think before clicking around, and then disable them, I would do one at a time, but Kpesi says all that are possible to run it without a given hardware item. (I don't know your experience level, so that is why I am telling you to go lightly) unless you are really comfortable with it.

What does it say or do if you boot in safe mode?

Does that computer have temp on the bios ? To tell you what temperature it is running at?

I don't think this matters in this case, but make sure all the fans are running and all the dust is air blown out of the case etc off the mother board and fans, cpu and other.

I want to make sure I got this straight because I get one impression that the computer is running abnormally slow, then I get an impression that you are talking about it being slow on the Internet. It is running slowly regardless of the net right?

One more question, are sure that computer doesn't have one of those Hog Symantec or McAffee virus scanners on it, those I have seen really slow them down. I mean one of those scanners that seem to scan everything, and then most of us don't know what it is talking about anyway, at least I don't, I deleted those, they slowed this computer down way too much.

Have you already checked in add/remove programs to see if something "odd" might have been loaded to the computer since you last experienced it, that might be causing a problem?

Other than what the other's have said and what I suggested, I don't know anymore without being there and going through all that you have done step by step and then on to the next.

[Chip R]

I think I would try what kpresidente suggested next. Take your time with it, and look, and think before clicking around, and then disable them, I would do one at a time, but Kpesi says all that are possible to run it without a given hardware item. (I don't know your experience level, so that is why I am telling you to go lightly) unless you are really comfortable with it.

Really not too comfortable with the BIOS. I'm not quite sure how to go about it. When I started it up, I went into the system menu F12 (I think) where you could change the time and date and turn on and off things. Is that the BIOS?


What does it say or do if you boot in safe mode?

I started it up in safe mode with networking and System was down to 200 KB but it even slower - if that's possible - getting online. RedsZone was bad, couldn't get into Yahoo or Facebook.




As I said, not sure about the BIOS but I haven't taken the back off the computer yet. It's in an enclosed area, like a mini closet in the desk and I'd hate to fool around with it like that if I didn't have to.

[quote]I want to make sure I got this straight because I get one impression that the computer is running abnormally slow, then I get an impression that you are talking about it being slow on the Internet. It is running slowly regardless of the net right?

One more question, are sure that computer doesn't have one of those Hog Symantec or McAffee virus scanners on it, those I have seen really slow them down. I mean one of those scanners that seem to scan everything, and then most of us don't know what it is talking about anyway, at least I don't, I deleted those, they slowed this computer down way too much.

Have you already checked in add/remove programs to see if something "odd" might have been loaded to the computer since you last experienced it, that might be causing a problem?

Other than what the other's have said and what I suggested, I don't know anymore without being there and going through all that you have done step by step and then on to the next.

It just seems slow on the internet regardless of what browser I use. I could get into Word and Excel and print something out immediately. Windows Media Player and Real Player didn't have any problems.

No Symantic or McAfee virus scanners.

I deleted a few programs that took up some room but their deletion haven't made a difference.

[Spring~Fields]

It just seems slow on the internet regardless of what browser I use. I could get into Word and Excel and print something out immediately. Windows Media Player and Real Player didn't have any problems.


Well if the computer and it's programs such Word, Excel, Media player and Real player are functioning and responding at the speed you expect. Then it sounds like the computer is running fine and that your issue is with the speed on the Internet.

If I interpret you correctly then I would call the ISP, the one that provides the Internet connection and ask their tech support. They might have a problem on their end, and might be able to get that straightened out for you.

Or give you a better guidance, most of them can connect to your computer and just take it over and make corrections if they can. Ask them to check the speed for you that they have. Have them check the modem too if it is one that they supplied. Someone can correct me, but I think they can PING that to see if reads and responds like it is suppose to be.

The following is probably not a problem, but you can check.
Have you made sure that the browser's are set to default settings, and that in TOOLS, Internet options, on the general tab, click on settings, in there is place to set disc space usage, and you can view objects, delete any you don't want or need, you can also make sure the cookies are cleaned out under view files. Under advanced you can reset default settings, you can also set the browser on IE to empty files when closing the browser, in the advanced tab.

Are you getting when going to some sites, that the computer sounds like it is racing, getting louder, and then the pages are slow to load, meaning certain pages? Is that where you are getting the 100% CPU usage input ? If that is the case I would still call tech support for the ISP and also see about getting an additional memory for it. I don't think those cost to much anymore, and they just plug into the mother board very easily then the computer detecs it, you really don't have to do much at all.

On memory just ask where they bought it what it's capacity it can be upgraded to, and what memory they have for it, then you just open the case, find the area on the mother board that has the memory, then you should see a slot for additional memory next to that one, and just plug it in. turn it on, then check to see, you can look in system info to see if it recognizes it, it will. That is one of the easiest things to do inside the computer. Or the manual or manufacturer's website.

Oh, have they been to the manufacturer's website to see if there is any updates or fixes for that model by the manufacturer? Often a manufacturer will have fixes, patches, bios updates, and other for certain of their models, and people often forget to check with the manufacturer's site.

[Roy Tucker]

From what I've read, that doesn't mean much.

After all the stuff I've done and it's still running slow, is it just a RAM problem?

I think, at the end of the day, that's what its going to be. A few things;

The System process in Task Manager refers collectively to all of the fundamental operating system kernel threads that are necessary for running your computer. As you've noticed, it can be really small or really big depending on what the OS is doing.

Download the Sysinternals' Process Explorer tool http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx . I've found it to be very handy for finding out exactly what a Windows process is doing. Windows is very good at hiding what is really going on but this tool pops the hood on the OS.

IIRC (I can't run PE here at work), you can double-click on a process and it has a Threads tab. Do that on System and see what is running inside of System.

[Spring~Fields]

I wish we could have helped Chip solve that puzzling computer. That bugs me, get a chance to help, and all the input I had drew blanks. :(

[Chip R]

I wish we could have helped Chip solve that puzzling computer. That bugs me, get a chance to help, and all the input I had drew blanks. :(

She's called the ISP before and they haven't seen anything wrong with it when she brought it in. I might give them a call tomorrow and see if they can spot a problem. Otherwise, I'm going to get some more RAM. Never installed anything like that before but there's a first time for everything. Thanks to everyone who has helped! :)

[Chip R]

O.K. this is weird. Tonight I listened to a basketball game online using Quick Time. I couldn't listen during the first half and technical support told me to manually open up Quick Time and put a URL in after I clicked on Open URL on Quick Time. When the game came on, Firefox started running like a champ. No delays, no refreshing. When I closed the Quick Time application I was listening to the game on, it was back to running slow again. Even Internet Explorer seems to run a little faster with that Quick Time application running.