PC Going Slow...

mark145

mark145

mark145

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Joined
21 Dec 2007
Posts
70
Hi all,

Basically I've had the same PC for 6 years and I know that is like a lifetime in this world but I have tried to keep it up to scratch throughout the years.

The Spec is :

Pentium 4 3.40GHz >3 years old
2Gb RAM >1 year old
HD Radeon 2600 Pro >4 years old
Dedicated Sound card >2 years old
Windows Vista 32Bit > 1year old Install

So to the point, it has basically become really slow. From my understanding it should be able to play HD video no problem but every HD file I play seems to lag/be very choppy/pixelated or the sound goes too fast for the video. I have tried changing settings, different programs and different codec packs, I really dont know what to do?

Also the cpu has just recently started maxing out, it seems to run at 100% whenever I have anything running e.g now it is running at 100% with safari and uTorrent running but in Task manager these dont seem to be taking up much processor power, any ideas?

Before the inevitable is asked, I have run Spybot S&D and Malware Bytes but these have both come up empty handed.
 
A computer with that spec would be 100x better off running Windows XP. Even Windows 7 would run better on it, Vista is just terrible full stop.

I don't think that graphics card is up to playing HD video, the 'HD' in the name has nothing to do with that AFAIK.
 
Have you gone in to "MSCONFIG" & made sure there are not a load of programmes that are staring up when the PC starts up & are running in the back ground.

Have you tried updating your graphic drivers?

Might seam like a silly question but what anti-virus are you using? as from my own experience if you are using something like AVG it can be very demanding especially on a older system, even tho you not got a scan running it seams to hog power from time to time.
 
I have only a handful of items running at start up ; Windows Live Messenger, uTorrent, Rainmeter,Macdrive and the ATI software.

I updated the graphics drivers last week and I dont have av running all the time, I do however run Spybot and Malwarebytes every few days
 
+1 for mrfun1981

use msconfig, disable everything you don't need
i got my old P4 to boot in 1 second flat (including loading AV) with this
also, try killing explorer while playing HD video, it makes a lot of difference on old machines
 
I personally would backup all important data. Wipe the hard drive (maybe get a new one if it's old) and do a fresh install of windows xp.

Probably the best thing you can do without upgrading everything.
 
It's very hard to keep windows running at peak efficiency over a long period of time even with meticulous attention, it's just quirky like that.

Back stuff up, install a fresh OS (any will do really), get all the drivers sorted out, get yourself a fresh codec pack (I recommend CCCP) and you're good to go. In all likelihood its purely a software issue. Failing that, I would have a look at the hard drive. Of all the components, its the one that may actually be 'getting slower' and degrading with time.


- Ordokai
 
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mark145 said:
From my understanding it should be able to play HD video no problem but every HD file I play seems to lag/be very choppy/pixelated or the sound goes too fast for the video.
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I got a feeling your PC is using your CPU (which is slow) instead of your GPU/graphic card for decoding the HD video. What kind of program/player you using?

And I agree with Andy...damn Vista is sluggish and eat up your system resources like snacks...you'd be much better off using XP/7 32-bit.
 
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hsiaolc said:
Format every 6 months. Atleast every year to get rid of junk. You will be surprised how fast your computer really is.
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Ordokai said:
It's very hard to keep windows running at peak efficiency over a long period of time even with meticulous attention, it's just quirky like that.- Ordokai
Click to expand...

BS

mark145 said:
I have only a handful of items running at start up ; Windows Live Messenger, uTorrent, Rainmeter,Macdrive and the ATI software.

I updated the graphics drivers last week and I dont have av running all the time, I do however run Spybot and Malwarebytes every few days
Click to expand...

You don't have an active anitvirus nor a firewall? There's plenty of things you need to take care off when maintaining a PC. Programs running in the background are just one of many.

Upgrade to Windows 7, you should see a nice improvement and better responsiveness.
 
mark145 said:
Also the cpu has just recently started maxing out, it seems to run at 100% whenever I have anything running e.g now it is running at 100% with safari and uTorrent running but in Task manager these dont seem to be taking up much processor power, any ideas?
Click to expand...

In task manager on XP/Vista and 7 you can select View, Show Kernel Times, which will show how much of your CPU time is spent handling hardware interrupts and other hardware features.

If by chance your hard disk has sent more than a few errors, Windows may have reverted you to PIO disk transfers, which are a complete CPU interrupt HOG, which will be apparent any time applications either read or write to the disk (Torrent client anyone?). Some CD/DVD game copy protection systems can accidently trigger Windows to revert to PIO mode as well.

I believe the correct way to restore DMA transfers is to uninstall the driver for the IDE/SATA controller, and allow windows to reboot. This procedure is normally safe, as windows should be able to boot up with "standard IDE" controller. However if you are running in raid mode, or ACHI you may run into issues doing this. (Windows 7 has native ACHI and handles this problem better).

Vista isnt "THAT" bad, but its certainly true that W7 has improved performance on legacy hardware to "almost XP" levels. I recently did a W7 install on a 3.2Ghz northwood P4, with 2GB ram, and a new hard disk, and it performed astonishingly well. Sure not a modern gaming system, but fine for video/movies/media, web browsing ETC.
 
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