Hey guys, the home computer is deciding to act up....and we really dont know why. Yes it is a DELL, and yes it's about 6 yrs old :-/
Here are the specs:

PIII 866Mhz
Geforce2 GTS 32MB
SB Live Value Digital
128 MB RDRAM PC600
30GB HD

I installed Windows XP on it about a year ago since the version of Win98 they gave us kept on becoming corrupted within 3 weeks of a reformat. When I first installed it, the computer ran pretty fast.
However, it takes forever to load up, refuses to open web pages sometimes etc. Iv run adaware, mcafee virusscan, disk defragmentor, disk cleanup....etc on it and there's not much more i can do. I was wondering what you guys can make of this problem. Thanks for the time and consideration

I'd start with a fresh install. A year's worth of dead registry entries, extra files, etc, but that doesn't account for sudden slowness. Have you checked the processes that are running at startup? Anything extremely resource hungry?

lol there are around 36-40 processes running at startup....i'm actually not sure what most of them are
Should i list them?

Actually on the computer i have now i have 57 processes running on startup...but i do have a faster computer than my family's lol. That and i still dont know what half the processes are.

Go to google and find out what each process is. I have 32 running and that's a lot. People like Necro and Zenn probably have like 15.

Someone just posted a link or list here the other day about what all those processes are, a Forum Search should find it.

Here you go.
http://forums.pcapex.com/showthread....dows+processes

Wow I have around 52 processes running

Interestingly enough, the page that has all the task programs says to check the path of the processes. Under task manager, there's no way to do that. How would I go about checking them? I mean when you have multiple instances of svchost.exe and sometimes it's normal to multiple instances, sometimes it's a virus, i'd like to be able to know where each is coming from.

....*bump*

I have 35 process running.

any help with finding the path of the processes?

yeah this would be very helpful for me as well my family compter has been slow now for about half a year now and mine's gotten a bit slower i feel as well

I *think* run msconfig from the start menu will show to you at the proccess paths from what loads up at startup (can't confirm that at the moment).


Try something like regseeker, spybot , adaware etc.

Obviously try a virus scan.

Then google uneeded windows services or something along those lines and follow one of the many guides to clear a load off.

Hope that helps.

you stated in your first post you had problems with windows xp becoming corrupt, and from what i have gathered from your description of your current symptoms, it sounds exactly like a failing hard drive, which would be very believable since hard drives are the single most failure-prone piece of equipment in your computer, and also usually the first part to wear out...i would say replace your hard drive (unless you already did and i missed it)...

EDIT:CLARIFICATION

win98 kept corrupting after 3 weeks = failing hard drive
takes forever to boot up = failing hard drive

however

Windows xp running on a system with 128mb ram is like trying to take a family vacation, luggage and all, in a mazda miata, you may very well be able to squeeze em' all in there, but you will not be going very fast, and you will have no room to move.

xp is at its most comfortable with 384mb or more of memory, this is enough ram for the core OS, and all those frivolous processes, which i might add, you should not have to mess with...

go find you a decent 256mb stick of PC133 memory, slap that in there, fire it up, and see if that helps, if it doesent help, its ok because XP needed that memory anyway, and you are another step closer to knowing what the problem actually is (and i still think it is the hard drive, and not spyware or viruses like everyone else)...

and to add credibility to my claim, hard drives do not have life expectencies longer than 5-6 years, and no, im not talking about manufacturer claims, im talking about real world, common knowledge, they are mechanical parts that have wear and tear, bearings, heat, moving parts, everything, and many of them are faulty right from the factory, simply because their design is so inherent to problems...its not unusual...

The processes adding up sounds like adware and spyware. I seconed the thought your HD might be about to go.

Quote: Originally Posted by hondatuner The processes adding up sounds like adware and spyware.

i would normally agree with you, but he said he had run numerous scanners and nothing showed up, also, most of us run a pretty streamlined process profile, so 40-60 processes sound like a lot, but in reality, its normal...most of them are negligible, use up virtually no cpu time or resources, and are more important running than they are not running....

BANE, the easiest way for us to help you with processes, if you feel that it is, in fact, causing a problem, is to just simply open the tast manager, make it fullscreen, take a screenshot (press the PrtScn key, open an image editor, and press Ctrl+V, then save it as a jpeg), host it on http://www.imageshack.us/, and then give us a link in this thread to the image, so we can look for ourselves, but i can almost promise you there will be nothing seriously out of wack there, so just do it to easy our curiosity...

For clarification, the home computer has 38 running processes and my personal computer has about 58 :S. Perhaps i'll show you my personal computer as well :S.
Here's the link from imageshack for the home computer: http://img85.echo.cx/img85/5964/taskmngranon9lm.jpg
Mom wants anonymity, so i took out her name. Where you see blank spaces is the user name.
Hope that helps

Yes I understand that there is only 128 MB of RAM on this system. However this computer uses RDRAM PC600 and the only RDRAM i can find is PC1066. I think the memory has to be matched....but I dont know RDRAM that well. Just that you need to fill two memory slots.

As for the HD...it could be failing. I just cant figure out how to remove the HD from the computer. This is an old XPS Bseries DELL, and they have the HD vertical in the front. Anyone know how to take these out? Also, doesn't DELL have proprietary hardware?

edit: here's the task manager from my current computer
http://img230.echo.cx/img230/5754/taskmngranon4px.jpg
Once again, blank spaces under username can be assumed to be the user :-p
ugly isn't it? lol. If anyone can help for my computer as well, it would be appreciated

I looked at your process links, there unreadable , have you actully clicked the link, I cant make out what is what , >>Mike

Quote: Originally Posted by michaelwolf59 I looked at your process links, there unreadable , have you actully clicked the link, I cant make out what is what , >>Mike

they are readable, your browser is just scaling them down, save the images first and then open them with an viewer/editor...

and i see absolutely nothing to be alarmed about in those lists...

Quote: Originally Posted by Fu3lman they are readable, your browser is just scaling them down, save the images first and then open them with an viewer/editor... and i see absolutely nothing to be alarmed about in those lists...

>>Ya thx, fu3l , that did it>mike

eh to tell the truth, I didn't really find anything to be alarmed about either. Just the multiple instances of svchost.exe. I guess a reformat is in order for the family computer. Eh might as well format my own computer....for those who have followed my vid card thread, this would prolly help lol