Computer Hope

Microsoft => Microsoft Windows => Windows XP => Topic started by: Boris_yo on March 24, 2011, 02:16:22 AM

Title: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Boris_yo on March 24, 2011, 02:16:22 AM
It seems no matter what i am trying to do, computer always uses hard drive. I have Internet Explorer 8.0 open with 4-5 tabs and everytime i switch tabs it takes at least 30 seconds to switch and all this time hard drive is loading. Or for example i opened tab with YouTube video fully loaded and paused it. After a while i return to it to resume playing and then this loading starts. And this does not happen with Internet Explorer only. It seems computer does not use memory or maybe 1Gb is not enough? What is strange is that when application is loaded, it responds well for some time but later as time passes it starts to load slow and computer seems to use hard drive a lot.

Please take a look at my Task Manager below:

(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g383/Boris_yo/The_1/processres.jpg)

What do you find strange here? Is it too many handles? Maybe Page File is too high?

Here is a screenshot of processes running sorted from processes taking most memory to least:

(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g383/Boris_yo/The_1/processres2.jpg)

Laptop Specs:

Intel Centrino Duo T2400 1.83Ghz
1Gb Ram
80Gb Hard Drive
GeForce Go7400
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Allan on March 24, 2011, 05:37:55 AM
Sort the processes tab in task manager on the cpu column and see if some process is spiking. If not, try a clean boot and work backwards (Open msconfig and on the General tab choose "selective startup" (disable everything from loading) and reboot. Does the problem still occur? If not, start adding items back to msconfig one or two at a time, rebooting after each change, until the problem reappears and you'll have identified the offending process. This is clearly a time consuming process, but it is the best way to determine if some process loading with the system is the cause of your problem.)
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Computer_Commando on March 24, 2011, 12:05:59 PM
It appears that one or more apps are using all of the Paging File (Virtual Memory), which would explain all the disk activity.  How much is allocated to the Page File?
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Boris_yo on March 24, 2011, 06:25:47 PM
Initial Size: 1536Mb
Maximum Size: 3072Mb
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Computer_Commando on March 25, 2011, 12:44:15 PM
Paging File settings are fine.  Add more RAM, if possible, or load less apps.  Firefox alone is using over 400MB.
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Boris_yo on March 25, 2011, 03:55:41 PM
Do you know why Firefox would use that much memory? When i start Firefox it does not use that much memory, but as time progresses it goes up.
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Computer_Commando on March 25, 2011, 04:14:26 PM
I don't know, but mine is using half that much with 2 tabs open.
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Boris_yo on March 25, 2011, 04:52:44 PM
Is there a maximum memory my laptop can handle regardless of limit of slots? I mean if i have 2 slots and use 1GB in 1st slot and 8GB in 2nd slot there might be a chance that my laptop cannot handle so much RAM?

I also heard that memory must be installed in matching parts i.e. 1st slot 2GB and 2nd slot 2GB (1st slot 2GB and 2nd slot 8GB). Is this true?
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Computer_Commando on March 26, 2011, 01:54:21 PM
How much memory & what configuration your laptop can handle is determined by:
1.  The manufacturer of the laptop.  Consult them or www.crucial.com
2.  The OS you are using.  32-bit OS won't recognize more than about 3GB
Looks like you are using WinXP-32bit
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Boris_yo on March 26, 2011, 07:14:17 PM
That is correct, i use Windows XP 32-bit. How did you find out?

Here is Crucial's analysis:

(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g383/Boris_yo/The_1/ramanalysis.png)
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Carbon Dudeoxide on March 26, 2011, 10:01:18 PM
Side Note: Make sure you have updated to the latest version of Firefox. It has much better memory management than its older versions.
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Boris_yo on March 27, 2011, 03:03:58 AM
3.6.16? Nah it is only security update, not performance update. I have been waiting for performance update since 3.5 everytime new version was announced and was disappointed.
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Carbon Dudeoxide on March 27, 2011, 03:52:34 AM
What version are you using now?

Every version usually includes some stability update.

It may be worth installing Firefox 4.0 under a different folder (i.e. instead of C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\, install it to C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox 2\) - just to give it a try.
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Computer_Commando on March 27, 2011, 12:59:48 PM
That is correct, i use Windows XP 32-bit. How did you find out?,,,
Just an educated guess from the appearance of the Task Manager.  It seems you can add 1GB RAM.  I would recommend adding the RAM & see if performance improves.  Crucial's price is $18.99
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Boris_yo on March 27, 2011, 06:58:15 PM
Why Crucial only?
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Computer_Commando on March 28, 2011, 10:52:33 AM
Why Crucial only?
I didn't say Crucial only.
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Boris_yo on March 28, 2011, 07:50:52 PM
What other brands can you recommend?
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Carbon Dudeoxide on March 28, 2011, 11:26:28 PM
Reluctant to update? Fair enough.
Title: Re: Slow Performance And Frequent Hard Drive Usage
Post by: Boris_yo on March 29, 2011, 02:43:23 AM
Reluctant to update? Fair enough.

3.6.15 is my current version of Firefox.