Posted March 18, 201114 yr Hi, My computer lags when I am on the internet and sometimes when I using microsoft office software applications. My system is clean. No spyware, trojan, viruses, etc. I've run a disk cleanup quite often and also defrag. I run the chkdsk as well with no problems. The only this I can think of that could be causing this is that last year I had to reformat my hard drive and when I re-installed windows xp it installed it to my secondary drive. I didn't notice until later. Other than the lag (which is annoying) no other problems. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance. Eddie
March 18, 201114 yr Administrator One thing I can think of - though the chances are slim - is that the secondary hard drive runs slower in terms of RPM (5400 instead of 7200) than the primary. How old is the computer and what are the specs?
March 19, 201114 yr Author One thing I can think of - though the chances are slim - is that the secondary hard drive runs slower in terms of RPM (5400 instead of 7200) than the primary. How old is the computer and what are the specs? I would say the system is 6-7 years. Not really sure. It's a good computer for my needs except for the lag. Hope this helps. Specs are listed below. Thank you. Operating System System Model Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (build 2600) Hewlett-Packard HP Vectra VL420 Processor a Main Circuit Board b 1.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 8 kilobyte primary memory cache 256 kilobyte secondary memory cache Not hyper-threaded Board: Hewlett-Packard HP System Board A05 Serial Number: S630QLG0112B002038 Bus Clock: 100 megahertz BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. JA.01.03US 07/19/2001 Drives Memory Modules c,d 120.41 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 85.28 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space GoldStar CD-ROM CRD-8482B [Optical drive] HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4120B USB Device [Optical drive] 3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive] MAXTOR 6L020J1 [Hard drive] (20.40 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 661242340323, rev A93.0500, SMART Status: Healthy ST3100011A [Hard drive] (100.03 GB) -- drive 1, s/n 4LH0G8D2, rev 3.02, SMART Status: Healthy 1536 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory Slot 'DIMM1' has 512 MB Slot 'DIMM2' has 512 MB Slot 'DIMM3' has 512 MB Local Drive Volumes c: (NTFS on drive 1) 100.02 GB 80.86 GB free d: (NTFS on drive 0) 20.39 GB 4.42 GB free Network Drives None discovered Controllers Display Standard floppy disk controller Intel® 82801BA Bus Master IDE Controller Primary IDE Channel [Controller] Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] Rage Fury Pro/Xpert 2000 Pro (Microsoft Corporation) [Display adapter] Acer E211H [Monitor] (21.7"vis, s/n Q270W0014310, September 2009) Multimedia Intel® 82801BA/BAM AC'97 Audio Controller Virus Protection [back to Top] new Group Policies AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2011 Version 10.0 Virus Definitions Version Up To Date Realtime File Scanning On None discovered Communications Other Devices U.S. Robotics 56K Fax Win [Modem] Intel® PRO/100 VE Network Connection USB Human Interface Device Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard HID-compliant mouse USB Mass Storage Device USB Root Hub (5x)
March 19, 201114 yr FastEddy: In my opinion you may be right, when you mention XP installed in disk D as a possible problem. From your data: d: (NTFS on drive 0) 20.39 GB 4.42 GB free These figures show that you have in that disk 21.6% free. That is below tne recommended 25 % free minimum, specially for disks or partitions containing the OS. Try freeing another 15% on top of present 21.6%, to get a healthy 35% free.
March 19, 201114 yr Yes, freeing up some room off the System Drive is easy, and a good idea. As you have 20.40 GB System Drive, compared to 100.03 GB Secondary, personally I'd use the larger for "all" storage. In that way you can seperate your Operating System from clutter, and primarily use the 20 GB Drive soley for your OS needs. Store Videos, Music, anything large on the second drive. Also check your System restore settings to see what size you have allocated for Restore points, you don't need a full drive of restore points. your System is good spec. wise, except the "weak link" is you're running quite a slow CPU compared to all other Hardware, go through the points of organising your Data onto the spare Drive trying to take a load of that 1.80 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 Processor is my advice. Let us know how it works out, there are many tips to "tweaking"extra power out of Win XP Best of luck
March 19, 201114 yr Administrator As the others have mentioned, one potential problem is the slow processor and the other is the hard drive space if Windows is on drive D:. The 1.5GB of RAM should be plenty for your needs, though you may want to consider a new computer pretty soon. Also, AVG has been fairly common with causing issues in the past. You may want to consider uninstalling it and switching to Microsoft Security Essentials.
March 19, 201114 yr Author Would it be worth upgrading the processor? If so, what should I could intall?
March 19, 201114 yr Administrator It may be worthwhile. Though I would recommend getting a whole new computer, since upgrading the processor would mean you'd need a new motherboard, new RAM, etc etc. Last year my grandfather got a new laptop from Walmart for about 500 and I had a computer a bit like yours (3.4GHz Pentium 4 with Hyperthreading - single core, 2GB of RAM later upgraded to 3GB, 128MB graphics card later upgraded to 512MB) and I can tell you I noticed a huge performance improvement when using his laptop vs my old computer. YouTube videos and other Flash items went so much faster, along with many other every day tasks were a major improvement. In addition, having a 64 bit processor will help you be prepared for the future and a 64 bit OS has some nice perks like better security (better driver signing, etc). Ultimately, what you want and feel you need is up to you in the long run. But everyone here at Lunarsoft is happy to give you tips, advice and share personal experiences to help you. :)
March 19, 201114 yr Author I have removed AVG and have installed MSE. That alone gave me an extra 100MB of hard drive space. I am working as we speak to move all my working files to the secondary drive. One other thing, not sure if it means anything, but when I go to my "Add and Remove Programs and views the currently installed programs I noticed that there is a big amount of space in between the 8th and 9th listed programs. I have to scroll down quite a bit the see the 9th program. I would say I have to click on the scroll down arrow over a hundred times before I see the next program. Just thought I'd mention that. Thanks to everyone and I will post how my system is doing. I will look at my options for a new PC. Any recommenations On what I should be looking to get? I just use your standard programs and surf the web. Thanks again.
March 19, 201114 yr Administrator What sort of standard programs are your standard programs? A few names can definitely help. Also, would you prefer a laptop or a desktop computer?
March 19, 201114 yr Author What sort of standard programs are your standard programs? A few names can definitely help. Also, would you prefer a laptop or a desktop computer? Programs: Microsoft Office I prefer a Desktop Computer Thank you. PS: is Bon Temps in Lousiana?
March 20, 201114 yr My computer lags when I am in the internet, etc The blue 'e' is not the Internet.
March 20, 201114 yr Author My computer lags when I am in the internet, etc The blue 'e' is not the Internet. Not sure what you mean by that.
March 20, 201114 yr Administrator I believe he's trying to say avoid eMachines computers. For a ballpark idea of a good, affordable machine in this day and age, here's the laptop I referenced earlier. The hardware will give you a good idea of what you'll need. A touch of future-proofing isn't bad either. Also, Bon Temps is a fictional place. If you've ever seen True Blood on HBO or read any of the Sookie Stackhouse series you'd hear plenty about the fictional town.
March 20, 201114 yr Author I believe he's trying to say avoid eMachines computers. For a ballpark idea of a good, affordable machine in this day and age, here's the laptop I referenced earlier. The hardware will give you a good idea of what you'll need. A touch of future-proofing isn't bad either. Also, Bon Temps is a fictional place. If you've ever seen True Blood on HBO or read any of the Sookie Stackhouse series you'd hear plenty about the fictional town. Thank you for the link to the Laptop. Never seen True Blood or read SS Series, but thanks for the info.
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