hard drive or mobo/cpu failure

[dyoung413]

ok before i rush off to buy and new motherboard and cpu, tell me what you guys think. whenever i access programs my computer really really lags. i mean big time. for example just to open internet explorer it lags, i can tell because my mouse movement is all choppy. sometimes the hd led lights up, i'm not sure if my hd or motherboard and cpu is going bad. also my system will lock up sometimes if i am running too many things. its not my memory cause i have lots of sticks and tested everything out on different ones. my hd is older than my motherboard. so any suggestions? thanks alot. derek

[IrishSS]

What OS are you running?

[sho.gun]

check your virtual memory setting too, something's bottlenecking it for sure.

[xsiled2]

direct x upgrade i had that "slow down" problem on my dads comp i upgraded it and havnt had a problem since

[dyoung413]

i'm running win 98 se. how do i mess with my virtual memory settings? i didnt want to cause i dont really know how to adjust them. i'm running 512 mb of ram right now.

[TommyBoomfiger]

just because its slow, doesnt mean that you need a new mobo and cpu (ummm, did i just type that???). first of all, what kind of processor are you using right now? if its a celeron, duron or higher, you should be fine for now. second, how much free space do you have left on your hard drive(s)? with 512mb of ram, you should have a 768mb page file. This should NOT be changed unless absolutly neccesary! if there isnt enough room on the HD(s) and windows wants to increase the page file (default setting should be up to 1 gig) you will probably get memory errors and slow performance. you might want to try getting rid of programs and windows components you dont use and cleaning out your recycle bin and temporary internet files. i may have forgotten a folder or two, but if you know what you are doing, you may also want to clean out your \windows\temp folder too. this folder often accumulates abandoned files when a program or you computer crashes and can add up in time. hope i helped

[dyoung413]

how do i set the page file?

[spigidygak]

Important questions to answer:

How long has it been since you defraged the hard drive?
How much hard drive space do you have left on your boot drive?
How long has it been since you've had a clean format of win98?

[dyoung413]

havent defraged yet.
11 gigs free out of 12.6 on my primary hard drive (the one with 98 se)
10 gigs free out of 28.6 on my backup
just formatted my computer and installed win 98 a week ago.

i changed my virtual memory settings. i made the max 1000 mb. it runs good right after i restart it, but if i leave it on and come back it runs all crappy again.

[assnips]

also try picking your bum and smelling your finger


if it smells like poop then your comp is ok


ancient native secret

[sho.gun]

I think you have a program running that's sucking up memory and not letting it go. If you boot into safe-mode, does it still slow down after a while? Go ahead and give that a try. Also, do the 3 finger salute and close down any apps that you're not using, antivirus, firewall, ram monitor, AIM, etc. and any other processes thats not necessary. Post the results.

[spigidygak]

Originally posted by assnips
also try picking your bum and smelling your finger


if it smells like poop then your comp is ok


ancient native secret
okieeee. . . :disa:

Anyhoo back to actually trying to SOLVE this problem. You got a lot of proggies running in the sys tray or in the background? Like a norton or similar office suite program?

[assnips]

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ITTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!

[dyoung413]

ok i uninstalled mcafee virus 6.0 and my computer is running much smoother. i had the same problems when i had norton antivirus 2002. so what do i do then? i mean isnt antivirus kinda important? how come everytime i install one it really lags the computer? any ideas? thanks alot for your help so far.