Help !! (computer very slow/bogged down)

11-13-2002, 07:23 PM

I'm wondering if anyone might be able to help me figure out what is wrong with my computer. It's been acting up for months and now I can't even run it for an hour without it acting up.

It seems to lose time, whether I'm trying to play a game, post, download files, no matter what. Even if there is nothing running it seems to lose track of time by a half hour..If I'm doing something it loses anywhere from 45mins to 4 hours..

The system is just a year old and I was on the phone to tech support and the technician told me to do a selective start up as she said she thought that perhaps it was an issue of incompatable software. Well, it didn't do diddly, and she said the next step was to do a complete system restore..but I haven't had the chance to put my files on CDs yet..I had a death in my family so I put fixing the computer aside for a few weeks and now my warranty has expired. My extened warranty with the store I bought it from is now in effect, so I most likely will have to contact them instead. Rather than having me ship my computer all over scotland or wiping out all my stuff, does anyone have any idea of what might be causing this to happen?

I have a HP Pavilion 7950 , 1.4GHZ, 256MB and it's running with Windows ME..tell me what other info you need to know . I can't download any files , post or even play a game without having to reboot every hour!

Thanks!

FrYGuY · 11-13-2002, 07:34 PM

Hrm... What do you mean by 'lose track of time'?

If it's just the clock messing up, it *might* be the lithium battery, could check that...

If it's an actual clock error which is effecting the performance, it might be an OS error which could be fixed by reinstalling the OS, or upgrading, or it might be a motherboard problem, in which case you'd have to buy a new motherboard, and if it's anything like my Pavillion case, that means you have to get a whole new computer because the case is too small to get a decent motherboard in there, unless you try REALLY hard and find one small enough...

Hopefully, somebody else will provide a better solution though... I hope so, it'd stink to have to replace something like the motherboard (I already had to do that once... lukily, it was within a MONTH of me buying it, so it was under warranty...

11-13-2002, 09:11 PM

When I say lose track of time, the whole entire system is in slow motion, to move the mouse from one point to another can take a minute or more when it's acting up, so it's more than just the clock.It's getting so bad that everything takes ages to do. If it is the motherboard, then I'm really glad that I bought an extended warranty , because if they can't fix it or the repairs cost as much as my computer is worth, they'll replace it w/a new one.

**DreamCaster** · 11-13-2002, 11:15 PM

Hiya finvola

You may want to look into your system resources as well. Are there any recent software additions that may have caused this change? What programs are loading when Windows starts? And lastly, you may want to make sure that you don't have a trojan on your system using it for malicious purposes and bogging it down

Hopefully you're running an up to date anti-virus as well

my .02
~Peace
DC

Fister · 11-14-2002, 12:28 AM

If your system is that slow, here is what I did when I have similar problems.
1 I minimize the number of programs that run in the background
2 I check to see if I have anything that fires up when my cmputer starts that is unneccessary
3 I delete all the usless sh*te thats on the HD
4 I then defrag it
5 I reinstall windows

Oh yes one more thing, one of my friends runs ME or SE and let me tell you how bad it sucks! (your problem might just be a poor O/S). I have had to go over and fix her computer a few times, at first I thought I was because it was a celeron (I hate celerons). The we added more memory and changed the O/S POOF problem solved!

FrYGuY · 11-14-2002, 02:53 AM

Whew! I thought it was a problem with the clock malfuctioning and that giving you wierd bugs...

From what you describe, look in the task manager, see what all is running. If there is anything you can get rid of, get rid of it... if it loads on startup, don't let it, if it is using up more than 10 megs of ram, make sure you need it.

Once you prune all that up, run a disk defragger.

If you can, you might also want to try Norton Systemwork's One Button check up... you'd be suprised how many invalid entries and broken shortcuts and such can be fixed.

Hope it gets better!

LPDad · 11-14-2002, 03:31 AM

(I changed the thread title to hopefully get more people to help)

I am not very savvy on windowsME problems, but I had something similar happen to my wife's Win98 puter a long time ago. It was caused by a file corruption in the windows operating system and the only way to really fix it was to back up our data files and do a complete format and reinstall. (We had one of those stupid compaq restore discs, so I borrowed a 98 disc and tried to just reload windows but it did not really fix the problem--I messed with it for about a week trying different things but it was a waste of my time.-- Once I did the reformat/reinstall everything worked fine again.)

Now all of my puters are running WinXP which is a much more stable operating system.

If you do not find a virus, then I fear your best solution is to back up what you can and start over from scratch with a clean system.
sorry I don't have any better suggestions but you could spend a few hours backing up your data, reformat, and reloading windows OR you could spend literally days and day trying to locate the problem. (and It already sounds like you have had enough frustration)

LPDad · 11-14-2002, 06:27 AM

Just a thought: You might try SystemSuite and see if that is able to correct your problem. Worth a shot.
You can download a trial version.
(do a google search for system suite)

Cirga · 11-15-2002, 05:39 PM

Silly posts disappeared.. just wanted to make sure this tidbit got back in.

------------

I had the same problem you are having with my WinME machine. Basically I had to defragment my hard drive every day or it would just bog down completely. I believe it has to do with a bad install of the Operating System.. because after I formatted the drive and reinstalled everything it ran ok.

ME is a bit buggy.. and I dont think its an OS to run any kind of business applications on.. but for gaming or a home PC I guess its not so bad.

Upgrading might be the best option in your situation.. to 2k or XP.

Ok all done.

LPDad · 11-16-2002, 06:56 PM

They disappeared during the server switch

11-16-2002, 06:57 PM

and so did i

11-16-2002, 08:58 PM

lol it figures. I will give that System Suite thing a whirl. I'm in the process of moving back to the states, so I'll probably end up doing it after the move rather than before.

the hunter · 11-16-2002, 09:12 PM

Sorry to hear about your loss, and I hope things are starting to look up now. Also I am looking forward to hearing from you on here. Take care, and remember you a lot of friends here.

Fister · 11-16-2002, 09:35 PM

I noticed I was missing a few posts...

11-13-2002, 07:23 PM	#1 (permalink)
finvola Guest Posts: n/a	Need your help! I'm wondering if anyone might be able to help me figure out what is wrong with my computer. It's been acting up for months and now I can't even run it for an hour without it acting up. It seems to lose time, whether I'm trying to play a game, post, download files, no matter what. Even if there is nothing running it seems to lose track of time by a half hour..If I'm doing something it loses anywhere from 45mins to 4 hours.. The system is just a year old and I was on the phone to tech support and the technician told me to do a selective start up as she said she thought that perhaps it was an issue of incompatable software. Well, it didn't do diddly, and she said the next step was to do a complete system restore..but I haven't had the chance to put my files on CDs yet..I had a death in my family so I put fixing the computer aside for a few weeks and now my warranty has expired. My extened warranty with the store I bought it from is now in effect, so I most likely will have to contact them instead. Rather than having me ship my computer all over scotland or wiping out all my stuff, does anyone have any idea of what might be causing this to happen? I have a HP Pavilion 7950 , 1.4GHZ, 256MB and it's running with Windows ME..tell me what other info you need to know . I can't download any files , post or even play a game without having to reboot every hour! Thanks!

11-13-2002, 07:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
FrYGuY Member Type Guy Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 501	Hrm... What do you mean by 'lose track of time'? If it's just the clock messing up, it might be the lithium battery, could check that... If it's an actual clock error which is effecting the performance, it might be an OS error which could be fixed by reinstalling the OS, or upgrading, or it might be a motherboard problem, in which case you'd have to buy a new motherboard, and if it's anything like my Pavillion case, that means you have to get a whole new computer because the case is too small to get a decent motherboard in there, unless you try REALLY hard and find one small enough... Hopefully, somebody else will provide a better solution though... I hope so, it'd stink to have to replace something like the motherboard (I already had to do that once... lukily, it was within a MONTH of me buying it, so it was under warranty... __________________ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GB/G/H/J/MC/S d-(--)@ s+:+ a-- C !U--- P--- L--(-) E- W N-(--) !o K--- w++ O--- M--(--) V-- PS+ PE+ Y+ PGP- t-- 5-- X- R(+) tv(++) b-- DI+ D---- G- e+++ h-- r* y++ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ Yeah, my computer sucks. You try and do better.

11-13-2002, 11:15 PM	#4 (permalink)
DreamCaster Tune Raider Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: New England Posts: 1,353	Hiya finvola You may want to look into your system resources as well. Are there any recent software additions that may have caused this change? What programs are loading when Windows starts? And lastly, you may want to make sure that you don't have a trojan on your system using it for malicious purposes and bogging it down Hopefully you're running an up to date anti-virus as well my .02 ~Peace DC __________________ Boston Red Sox - 2004 World Champions New England Patriots - '02, '04, '05 Superbowl Champions

11-14-2002, 12:28 AM	#5 (permalink)
Fister h3\|P \| 4m 5tUcK Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UVic Posts: 1,898	If your system is that slow, here is what I did when I have similar problems. 1 I minimize the number of programs that run in the background 2 I check to see if I have anything that fires up when my cmputer starts that is unneccessary 3 I delete all the usless sh*te thats on the HD 4 I then defrag it 5 I reinstall windows Oh yes one more thing, one of my friends runs ME or SE and let me tell you how bad it sucks! (your problem might just be a poor O/S). I have had to go over and fix her computer a few times, at first I thought I was because it was a celeron (I hate celerons). The we added more memory and changed the O/S POOF problem solved! __________________

11-14-2002, 02:53 AM	#6 (permalink)
FrYGuY Member Type Guy Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 501	Whew! I thought it was a problem with the clock malfuctioning and that giving you wierd bugs... From what you describe, look in the task manager, see what all is running. If there is anything you can get rid of, get rid of it... if it loads on startup, don't let it, if it is using up more than 10 megs of ram, make sure you need it. Once you prune all that up, run a disk defragger. If you can, you might also want to try Norton Systemwork's One Button check up... you'd be suprised how many invalid entries and broken shortcuts and such can be fixed. Hope it gets better! __________________ -----BEGIN GEEK CODE BLOCK----- Version: 3.1 GB/G/H/J/MC/S d-(--)@ s+:+ a-- C !U--- P--- L--(-) E- W N-(--) !o K--- w++ O--- M--(--) V-- PS+ PE+ Y+ PGP- t-- 5-- X- R(+) tv(++) b-- DI+ D---- G- e+++ h-- r* y++ ------END GEEK CODE BLOCK------ Yeah, my computer sucks. You try and do better.

11-13-2002, 09:11 PM	#3 (permalink)
finvola Guest Posts: n/a	When I say lose track of time, the whole entire system is in slow motion, to move the mouse from one point to another can take a minute or more when it's acting up, so it's more than just the clock.It's getting so bad that everything takes ages to do. If it is the motherboard, then I'm really glad that I bought an extended warranty , because if they can't fix it or the repairs cost as much as my computer is worth, they'll replace it w/a new one.

11-14-2002, 03:31 AM	#7 (permalink)
LPDad Admin & "Fixer" Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Costa Mesa, CA Posts: 2,293	(I changed the thread title to hopefully get more people to help) I am not very savvy on windowsME problems, but I had something similar happen to my wife's Win98 puter a long time ago. It was caused by a file corruption in the windows operating system and the only way to really fix it was to back up our data files and do a complete format and reinstall. (We had one of those stupid compaq restore discs, so I borrowed a 98 disc and tried to just reload windows but it did not really fix the problem--I messed with it for about a week trying different things but it was a waste of my time.-- Once I did the reformat/reinstall everything worked fine again.) Now all of my puters are running WinXP which is a much more stable operating system. If you do not find a virus, then I fear your best solution is to back up what you can and start over from scratch with a clean system. sorry I don't have any better suggestions but you could spend a few hours backing up your data, reformat, and reloading windows OR you could spend literally days and day trying to locate the problem. (and It already sounds like you have had enough frustration) __________________ We don't need no stink'n TechSupport We ARE TechSupport. *LPDad* Administrator

11-14-2002, 06:27 AM	#8 (permalink)
LPDad Admin & "Fixer" Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Costa Mesa, CA Posts: 2,293	Just a thought: You might try SystemSuite and see if that is able to correct your problem. Worth a shot. You can download a trial version. (do a google search for system suite) __________________ We don't need no stink'n TechSupport We ARE TechSupport. *LPDad* Administrator

11-15-2002, 05:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
Cirga Lurking AdMiN Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: In my own little world. Buts its ok. They know me here. Posts: 3,245	Silly posts disappeared.. just wanted to make sure this tidbit got back in. ------------ I had the same problem you are having with my WinME machine. Basically I had to defragment my hard drive every day or it would just bog down completely. I believe it has to do with a bad install of the Operating System.. because after I formatted the drive and reinstalled everything it ran ok. ME is a bit buggy.. and I dont think its an OS to run any kind of business applications on.. but for gaming or a home PC I guess its not so bad. Upgrading might be the best option in your situation.. to 2k or XP. Ok all done. __________________ Vote For Us! -- It will get you hot chicks. No really It will! ---- www.myTego.com - Give your devices a face! Dont be a conformist!

11-16-2002, 06:56 PM	#10 (permalink)
LPDad Admin & "Fixer" Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Costa Mesa, CA Posts: 2,293	They disappeared during the server switch __________________ We don't need no stink'n TechSupport We ARE TechSupport. *LPDad* Administrator

11-16-2002, 06:57 PM	#11 (permalink)
Guest Posts: n/a	and so did i

11-16-2002, 08:58 PM	#12 (permalink)
finvola Guest Posts: n/a	lol it figures. I will give that System Suite thing a whirl. I'm in the process of moving back to the states, so I'll probably end up doing it after the move rather than before.

11-16-2002, 09:12 PM	#13 (permalink)
the hunter getting hitched Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: canada Posts: 2,655	Sorry to hear about your loss, and I hope things are starting to look up now. Also I am looking forward to hearing from you on here. Take care, and remember you a lot of friends here.

11-16-2002, 09:35 PM	#14 (permalink)
Fister h3\|P \| 4m 5tUcK Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: UVic Posts: 1,898	I noticed I was missing a few posts... __________________

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