Computer issue

[rajncajn]

My work PC has become increasingly slower. Now it's to the point where if I try to listen to Windows Media Player it cuts in & out and when I move my mouse around it stutters.I've cleaned everything up on it, ran the Windows clean up utility and defrag. Removed a couple of programs I don't use and deleted a lot of excess files & it's still no better. Anybody have any ideas before I run to the IT dept? I know all they will do is slick my PC & I can't really afford and entire day's downtime.

[Square]

I'm assuming "slick" means they will re-image it or reinstall your OS? Is it possible you are low on memory? Right click on the C drive under my computer and see if the pie chart shows much free space.

Edited March 29, 2011 by Square

[rocknrobn26]

Actually your better of running 'Task Manager'.

Hit 'ctrl-alt-del' and select it.

Look at totals at the bottom after selecting the 'Processes' tab.

Look for processes that might be eating RAM.

Then report back.

I'm assuming you mean prosesses are slow, NOT the Net.

[rajncajn]

Processes: 78

 

CPU Usage: 2-6% Idle, Jumped as high as 43% just moving the mouse around, but hovered in the 25% range

 

Commit Charge: 776M / 4701M

 

Firefox 160,136 K

System 122.448 K

explorer.exe 39.780 K

svchost.exe 37,536 K

tabtip.exe 20,828 K

avggam.exe 17,440 K

plugin-container.exe 16,528 K

keyboardsurrogate.exe 16,436 K

FlashUtil10m_Plugin.exe 13,612 K

avgwdsvc.exe 12,172 K

 

Everything else tapers town from 9,600 K

[Ursa Majoris]

Looks to me like it's junk, judging by the hugh processor hit just from mouse movement. What does Task Manager say for Physical Memory under Performance?

[rajncajn]

Looks to me like it's junk, judging by the hugh processor hit just from mouse movement. What does Task Manager say for Physical Memory under Performance?

Physical Memory (K)

Total: 2881392

Available: approx 1960000 (Idle)

System Cache: approx 1058000 (idle)

 

System specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo

U7700 @ 1.33GHz

2.75 GB of RAM

[rajncajn]

IT guy just finished running CCleaner on it, which included a disc cleanup tool & registry cleaner and it's no better off.

[Ursa Majoris]

Physical Memory (K)

Total: 2881392

Available: approx 1960000 (Idle)

System Cache: approx 1058000 (idle)

 

System specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo

U7700 @ 1.33GHz

2.75 GB of RAM

Those aren't great specs but not rock bottom either. I wonder why there is 2.75GB RAM? Someone surely must have added some at some point.

 

All that said, there's a lot of difference between one component and the next - in other words, not all motherboards, drives, etc are created equal.

 

I still think your fundamental problem is that your PC is too old and underspecified

[polksalet]

Those aren't great specs but not rock bottom either. I wonder why there is 2.75GB RAM? Someone surely must have added some at some point.

 

All that said, there's a lot of difference between one component and the next - in other words, not all motherboards, drives, etc are created equal.

 

I still think your fundamental problem is that your PC is too old and underspecified

 

I have two laptops with less power and both run great with windows.

[rajncajn]

Those aren't great specs but not rock bottom either. I wonder why there is 2.75GB RAM? Someone surely must have added some at some point.

 

All that said, there's a lot of difference between one component and the next - in other words, not all motherboards, drives, etc are created equal.

 

I still think your fundamental problem is that your PC is too old and underspecified

High RAM due to the need to run programs such as AutoCAD and PDF editing on a regular basis. I've talked to the IT guys and they are going to just reload it tomorrow. I've got a desktop to use in the meantime. They said it shouldn't take longer than half a day, but that never turns out to be true.

[Shaman]

Task Manager works but you can download: process explorer from sysinternals at filehippo it gives you a more complete look at the processes and will tell you their software signature if it is on the database.

 

Then you can also check another program called autoruns, again from sysinternals at filehippo: .

 

This will give you a more in-depth look at what things are running without you knowing. Make sure you consult with your IT ppl in case they want o run something that doesn't necessarily pertain to your job, like audit logs, etc.

 

Good Luck!

[tosberg34]

Don't forget to clear all the pron off your PC before you give it to the IT guys.

[Ursa Majoris]

High RAM due to the need to run programs such as AutoCAD and PDF editing on a regular basis. I've talked to the IT guys and they are going to just reload it tomorrow. I've got a desktop to use in the meantime. They said it shouldn't take longer than half a day, but that never turns out to be true.

But it isn't high RAM, it's low. It's an odd amount too. As for AutoCAD, that won't run properly in that amount of RAM. We have 8 GB and 64 bit Windows 7 as our standard for high end CAD programs.

[lennykravitz2004]

But it isn't high RAM, it's low. It's an odd amount too. As for AutoCAD, that won't run properly in that amount of RAM. We have 8 GB and 64 bit Windows 7 as our standard for high end CAD programs.

 

Odd amount is usually related to system reserved memory, IIRC, including video as previously mentioned, especially for 32 bit OS. I have an older Gateway with 4GB installed, but only displays 3.18 due to addressing for 32 bit, and some system reserved. Drove me friggin crazy trying to figure where the rest of the RAM was going. Especially true older for boards/systems, in my experience. Since he only has 3GB, the limit due to 32 bit doesn't really apply here, but the system reserved is probably what's affecting it too. I think your assessment is spot on with the "old system". I didn't see a post with the model and mfr? That would probably answer a lot.

[buddahj]

Have you tried a hammer?

[Ursa Majoris]

Odd amount is usually related to system reserved memory, IIRC, including video as previously mentioned, especially for 32 bit OS. I have an older Gateway with 4GB installed, but only displays 3.18 due to addressing for 32 bit, and some system reserved. Drove me friggin crazy trying to figure where the rest of the RAM was going. Especially true older for boards/systems, in my experience. Since he only has 3GB, the limit due to 32 bit doesn't really apply here, but the system reserved is probably what's affecting it too. I think your assessment is spot on with the "old system". I didn't see a post with the model and mfr? That would probably answer a lot.

Good call on the video RAM (and also a nod to the earlier poster that mentioned it). Has the OS version been mentioned? XP and Vista both need a gig to run themselves. I have a 2GB laptop with Vista and it runs like a stunned pig even though I'm only using a browser on it. Using CAD, it is probably frantically paging to the HD most of the time.

[rajncajn]

But it isn't high RAM, it's low. It's an odd amount too. As for AutoCAD, that won't run properly in that amount of RAM. We have 8 GB and 64 bit Windows 7 as our standard for high end CAD programs.

At the time it was the most we could get for it and for what we do, which entails bringing large amounts of data (drawings) in the field. It was pretty much one of the best options.

 

Odd amount is usually related to system reserved memory, IIRC, including video as previously mentioned, especially for 32 bit OS. I have an older Gateway with 4GB installed, but only displays 3.18 due to addressing for 32 bit, and some system reserved. Drove me friggin crazy trying to figure where the rest of the RAM was going. Especially true older for boards/systems, in my experience. Since he only has 3GB, the limit due to 32 bit doesn't really apply here, but the system reserved is probably what's affecting it too. I think your assessment is spot on with the "old system". I didn't see a post with the model and mfr? That would probably answer a lot.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is the case. I'll try to find out what the actual specs are on my model. It's a Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC

 

Have you tried a hammer?

Tempting...

 

Good call on the video RAM (and also a nod to the earlier poster that mentioned it). Has the OS version been mentioned? XP and Vista both need a gig to run themselves. I have a 2GB laptop with Vista and it runs like a stunned pig even though I'm only using a browser on it. Using CAD, it is probably frantically paging to the HD most of the time.

It's running XP & the company won't spring for Windows 7 licenses to upgrade the "older" machines.

[keggerz]

is MsMpEng.exe one of the process running?

[Ursa Majoris]

At the time it was the most we could get for it and for what we do, which entails bringing large amounts of data (drawings) in the field. It was pretty much one of the best options.

 

 

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is the case. I'll try to find out what the actual specs are on my model. It's a Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC

 

 

Tempting...

 

 

It's running XP & the company won't spring for Windows 7 licenses to upgrade the "older" machines.

A Win 7 upgrade probably won't help in and of itself. Time for a new 'puter, methinks. For our high end laptops, we renew every two years because the software we use outpaces the hardware. In your case, I would say three years is likely right - after that your productivity is going to decline.

[rajncajn]

A Win 7 upgrade probably won't help in and of itself. Time for a new 'puter, methinks. For our high end laptops, we renew every two years because the software we use outpaces the hardware. In your case, I would say three years is likely right - after that your productivity is going to decline.

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. If you think that one is old then you should see my desktop.

[buddahj]

Did you scan for viruses/spyware??? When did it start acting up? Sometimes you can use system restore to go back to before it started to act up.

[SayItAintSoJoe]

It's running XP & the company won't spring for Windows 7 licenses to upgrade the "older" machines.

 

I hate it when companies are too short sighted to see the long term affects of not upgrading their systems. Someone looks at the price tag for upgrading to Windows 7 and says they can’t afford it. Meanwhile they leave their employee’s machines more vulnerable to security issues by leaving XP on them. They also have no problem paying IT personnel to chase down these issues that may have very well been avoided altogether. Add to this the loss of employee productivity because their machines are running at a snail’s pace and all those things need to be considered when determining whether or not to upgrade.

 

I also don’t like how often I see IT guys try one or two things to solve the problem and when that doesn’t work they immediately play the “re-install the OS” card. This doesn’t get to the root of the problem. I want the IT guys to find out why your machine has slowed down to a crawl. If it is due to a virus of some sort I want to know which virus and how did it get into your machine? Are others at risk? Is your virus protection software adequate? If it’s a hardware issue what needs to be upgraded?

 

In the end someone should be able to put together a pretty good analysis of what it is costing the company by NOT upgrading. Then you have something to compare the cost of the new licenses/hardware to.

[Square]

I also don’t like how often I see IT guys try one or two things to solve the problem and when that doesn’t work they immediately play the “re-install the OS” card.

That is exactly why I don't trust our IT guys. They are located about 5 states away (some opiehole state called Georgia) and they are way to quick to just re-image a system if they are having problems. It restores some of your stuff but also leads to a lot of glitches and loss of info. Then they usually don't give any real info to the user about how or why this happened or what they need to do different in the future. There are about 12 people in my office and there is only one other person here I would call a "competent" PC user.

[rajncajn]

I hate it when companies are too short sighted to see the long term affects of not upgrading their systems. Someone looks at the price tag for upgrading to Windows 7 and says they can’t afford it. Meanwhile they leave their employee’s machines more vulnerable to security issues by leaving XP on them. They also have no problem paying IT personnel to chase down these issues that may have very well been avoided altogether. Add to this the loss of employee productivity because their machines are running at a snail’s pace and all those things need to be considered when determining whether or not to upgrade.

 

I also don’t like how often I see IT guys try one or two things to solve the problem and when that doesn’t work they immediately play the “re-install the OS” card. This doesn’t get to the root of the problem. I want the IT guys to find out why your machine has slowed down to a crawl. If it is due to a virus of some sort I want to know which virus and how did it get into your machine? Are others at risk? Is your virus protection software adequate? If it’s a hardware issue what needs to be upgraded?

 

In the end someone should be able to put together a pretty good analysis of what it is costing the company by NOT upgrading. Then you have something to compare the cost of the new licenses/hardware to.

Pipe dreams...

 

On a good note, when I brought the tablet up our IT admin made the mistake of mentioning how he wished he could put Windows 7 on it because then they wouldn't have to install the tablet software as well. I talked him into going ahead and putting it on & then asking for permission later.

[Ursa Majoris]

That is exactly why I don't trust our IT guys. They are located about 5 states away (some opiehole state called Georgia) and they are way to quick to just re-image a system if they are having problems. It restores some of your stuff but also leads to a lot of glitches and loss of info. Then they usually don't give any real info to the user about how or why this happened or what they need to do different in the future. There are about 12 people in my office and there is only one other person here I would call a "competent" PC user.

In defense of IT people, there aren't enough hours in a day to follow up on every issue. Most companies mandate a short time to fix a problem, then they'll reimage as the fastest way to get the user back up and running. All data - no exceptions - should be on a server, not a local desktop.