Slow computer -all of a sudden

B

budpytko

Registered
Computer is a home brew...AMD 2.something gig processor. 1meg RAM on an ASRock motherboard. Was running great, as of 2 nights ago, processes slow way down. A virus scan what used to take minutes now takes hours. Memory chip gone bad? I have 2 512's in it. Haven't even taken the cover off yet. Will be doing that this evening. Gonna remove and reset processor and memory chips to start with. Any other ideas on what to check?

I did recently upgrade to IE 7.0.

Bud Pytko
'97 LSC Silver Frost
'05 F250 SD CC PSD 4 X 4 AZ Beige
'94 Prowler 5th Wheel
http://squarebirds.org/images/BudPytko97LSC.jpg
 
RE: Slow computer -all of a sudden

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
Computer is a home brew...AMD 2.something gig processor. 1meg RAM on an ASRock motherboard. Was running great, as of 2 nights ago, processes slow way down. A virus scan what used to take minutes now takes hours. Memory chip gone bad? I have 2 512's in it. Haven't even taken the cover off yet. Will be doing that this evening. Gonna remove and reset processor and memory chips to start with. Any other ideas on what to check?I did recently upgrade to IE 7.0. Bud Pytko'97 LSC Silver Frost'05 F250 SD CC PSD 4 X 4 AZ Beige'94 Prowler 5th Wheel http://squarebirds.org/images/BudPytko97LSC.jpg
[/div]

There isn't usually a partial failure of memory or CPUs. They either work fast, or not at all. It can happen though.

Do the following:

1. Purchase and install a hardware firewall if you don't have one already. Most routers come with them now. Software firewalls are easily infiltrated, including the Windows firewall.

2. Purchase a system utility suite. Norton is very popular, but I've heard the scariest horror stories about them. I'd get a suite other than Norton. Or you can go the free route and download a registry cleaning utility. www.majorgeeks.com is a great site for this kind of thing. You'll have your choice of at least five free registry cleaners. I use RegCleaner.

3. Run Windows Update over and over until all updates have been installed. Be sure to run their custom update as well. Then run Microsoft update if you haven't already done so.

4. Update your drivers (if needed) in the following order:

Network adapter (if off-motherboard)
BIOS
Motherboard
Video card (if off-motherboard)
Sound card (if off-motherboard)
Monitor (yup, this too)

5. Update directx.

If you've still got problems, there is one more trick to try. Go into your BIOS menu and disable anything you don't use. I've turned off my serial ports, parallel port, on-board network device (I've got a wireless card), and on-board sound (I've got a separate sound card). This reduces IRQ sharing, which can slow down a system quite a bit.

There is one last thing unique to your system. Asus motherboards (ASRock is an ASUS brand) use built-in IRQ sharing on their PCI bus. What this means is that two PCI slots could share an IRQ - and this is not alterable in Windows or the BIOS. My wife has an ASRock card and I do believe that some of the PCI slots are shared. I found this out on an old system I had with an ASUS board. I had a video card in a slot that shared an IRQ with the same slot my sound card was in. Gaming performance sucked. Some techie told me to move the sound car to another slot. Problem solved. Your ASRock motherboard manual has a table showing which slots share an IRQ. Check your setup against that.

If you've still got problems after all that, I'm out of ideas.
 
RE: Slow computer -all of a sudden

Well, did what I'd said I'd do....oops...made it worse. Now can't even boot up. Gets as far as Windows screen.,.and reboots. Never does start. Me thinks that it's probably the C Drive. I had already done about everything in the above post before I posted the original.

As the machine is reaching that point in time where it's time for a good excuse to start looking for a new 'puter. Son-in-law works for Hewlett Packard.

Thanks for listening....


Bud Pytko
'97 LSC Silver Frost
'05 F250 SD CC PSD 4 X 4 AZ Beige
'94 Prowler 5th Wheel
http://squarebirds.org/images/BudPytko97LSC.jpg
 
RE: Slow computer -all of a sudden

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
Well, did what I'd said I'd do....oops...made it worse. Now can't even boot up. Gets as far as Windows screen.,.and reboots. Never does start. Me thinks that it's probably the C Drive. I had already done about everything in the above post before I posted the original.As the machine is reaching that point in time where it's time for a good excuse to start looking for a new 'puter. Son-in-law works for Hewlett Packard. Thanks for listening....Bud Pytko'97 LSC Silver Frost'05 F250 SD CC PSD 4 X 4 AZ Beige'94 Prowler 5th Wheel http://squarebirds.org/images/BudPytko97LSC.jpg
[/div]

Ahhh...sounds like overheating. I have much experience with this. Check the temps in your BIOS. Athlon XPs don't like running over 70C. You should be at about 35C at idle. If your computer gets over 50C at idle (wait for it), you've got a bad CPU or improper cooling. I'd go cheap first; remove the cooling fan/heat sink, wipe off all thermal grease, and clean the mating surfaces with CLR. Do a final clean with Windex. If you don't already have Arctic Silver thermal grease, go buy some - all thermal grease is not the same. Apply the Arctic Silver and remount the fan/heat sink. Then recheck your BIOS temps. If you're still hot, check to make sure your CPU fans rpms are in spec; should be at least 2K rpms, but they vary. If suspect, purchase a new cooling fan/heat sink. If you're still hot, it's CPU time.

All that being said, I'm guessing your CPU is bad.
 
RE: Slow computer -all of a sudden

Open it up and blow everything out with air.

My last PC (that blew up Monday) needed that about annually. It would start shutting down and whatnot, i'd blow all the dust out, and it'd be fine again.

My new parts should be here today. Athlon XP64 X2 3800+, ASUS MB w/ integrated graphics (i don't game), and 2 matched 512 mb sticks of crucial ballistix DDR2-800 memory. Going to hit up CBW at lunch to pick up a power supply and some USB ports for the front of the machine.
 
RE: Slow computer -all of a sudden

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
Open it up and blow everything out with air.My last PC (that blew up Monday) needed that about annually. It would start shutting down and whatnot, i'd blow all the dust out, and it'd be fine again.My new parts should be here today. Athlon XP64 X2 3800+, ASUS MB w/ integrated graphics (i don't game), and 2 matched 512 mb sticks of crucial ballistix DDR2-800 memory. Going to hit up CBW at lunch to pick up a power supply and some USB ports for the front of the machine.
[/div]

If you don't game, why are you getting all of the other high-end stuff?
 
RE: Slow computer -all of a sudden

I would have gone with, at minimum, an athlon 64 processor that would cost in the $90-$100 range. Basically the most for the money. But for another $50, i stepped up to a low-end dual core, the x2 ($148). the regular 64 would have done me just fine, but for $50, the computer will be newer for longer.

same with the memory. i needed to go ddr2, since that's what the board i picked out takes. a good 512 chip would have run under $100, but not by much. And i'll still have to set aside some of that 512 for the on-board graphics. Going with 1GB only cost another $70 or so ($160). I've been partial to crucial in my last few systems, so i stuck with them and got the ballistix chips. The matched set will run faster than a single one. I might have saved $30 on 1gb by going with cheaper RAM, but i didn't want to skimp in that area.

I'm looking for a computer that will last a long time and be very stable and reliable. And it's really not much more $$ to go with something reasonably good. If i'd cheaped out, i'd only have saved $100-$120.

All together for the MB, CPU, and memory i spent $395. Then i went to CBW and bought a new power supply and UPS (just to be on the safe side with the new machine) for another $95. I still want to buy another harddrive, this board supports SATA and IDE, so i can keep my two drives i already have and hook up a 250gb SATA drive for $85. Another $30 to add front USB ports to my case, and maybe $100 for a copy of XP 64-bit. But that all (except maybe the USB ports) comes after christmas shopping is paid for.
 
RE: Slow computer -all of a sudden

"As the machine is reaching that point in time where it's time for a good excuse to start looking for a new 'puter. Son-in-law works for Hewlett Packard."

I found a nice HP ..their Pavilion Model 7570. Has Duo-Core (I think that what it's called)- Devise mgr shows two 2.80 processors, 2 g Ram, 320 gig HD. It also has a TV and FM tuner and a bunch of stuff. Two DVD drives, one is a LightScribe. I do a lot of vidio making...8mm to DVD and stuff, so I need the power. I thiunk that's what did in the old AMD processor in the old computer. This one sure burns DVD's a lot faster!!

Oh yeah, it's got a nice 19" LCD monitor too....Ummmm nice!


Bud Pytko
'97 LSC Silver Frost
'05 F250 SD CC PSD 4 X 4 AZ Beige
'94 Prowler 5th Wheel
http://squarebirds.org/images/BudPytko97LSC.jpg
 
RE: Slow computer -all of a sudden

[div class="dcquote"][strong]Quote[/strong]
Oh yeah, it's got a nice 19" LCD monitor too....Ummmm nice!
[/div]

One of these days I'm going to hook up my 51" Sony SXRD LCOS to my computer and play DOOM 3. It comes with a VGA hookup.
 
RE: Slow computer -all of a sudden

Oops...you're a little late. The old 'puter is now an anchor! Look up a few posts and you'll see I got a new HP Pavillion full blown. Dual core Intel 2.8 - 2G Ram 320 G SATA HD /Lightscribe DVD /Media Center w/ free upgrade to VISTA.

I had already looked at the startup list - even started computer with STARTUP not loading. Twas still slow. Looked at processes and memory usage and didn't see anything weird. Anyways, I was ready for the latest and greatest...well...close to it. MY son-in-law works for HP/Compaq. He shamed me into getting a new one....thanks for asking to help tho. 'preciate it. He thinks it was my hard drive causing the slowdown....but after reformating it it seems ok now. I'm using it in a COMP USA USB case so I can use it for an external back-up drive. Thanks again!

Bud Pytko
'97 LSC Silver Frost
'05 F250 SD CC PSD 4 X 4 AZ Beige
'94 Prowler 5th Wheel
http://squarebirds.org/images/BudPytko97LSC.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top