my computer loads all the time

[jason]

my computer is a few years old, pasts its prime but i want to get another six months or so out of it if i can. the problem im having is that my computer loads all the time. sometimes seemingly for no reason, other times it takes ages to load programs, even lags some when opening 200 byte text files.

i know part of the problem is that i have a lot of windows open at once. explorer, eudora, a few remote connection windows, cd player, icq messages...in all about 30 windows right now. my specs are 1600 amd with 256megs of ram and 40 gigs of hard drive space, most of which is filled.

i've tried deleting a lot of stuff to see if it makes a difference and it doesn't seem to. would installing more ram possibly solve the problem? or do i just have to try and use less windows at once?

[Rick]

would installing more ram possibly solve the problem? or do i just have to try and use less windows at once?

Yes... Exactly

[stuffradio]

yep... it should fix the problem nicely :)

[Jamson]

try not having 20 windows open at once, and more memory will really speed it up

[jason]

well yes, i know using less windows would help but i was wondering if there was another solution. would getting a better computer solve it? like a p4 3 ghz with 1gig of ram? or would adding ram to my current computer help at all?

[Tree]

RAM should take care of the problem.

[ced]

scanvirus
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

[Ravn]

My laptop does this sometimes, just starts to load 100% for a couple of minutes or even hours. I'm not sure what the problem might be but check your processes and look for ones that consumes a lot of CPU and close them if possible.

Ravn

[Richard]

Format :P It will be as good as new.

If your running windows you are recomended to format once every 6 months to avoid this kind of problem.

[needlehost]

Format :P It will be as good as new.

If your running windows you are recomended to format once every 6 months to avoid this kind of problem.
lol, I read this and went to format my hd, only to find that becuase of a screwed up windows install blocking the root completely I cannot use the command prompt o_O when I want to format this laptops hd I'll have to take the HD down the repair shop:)

[jason]

RAM should take care of the problem.
cool, so how do you know what is the right ram to get? is 256megs of sdram better than 512 of ddr ram? does it matter how many 'pins' it is? how can i tell how much ram my computer can take?

[jason]

My laptop does this sometimes, just starts to load 100% for a couple of minutes or even hours. I'm not sure what the problem might be but check your processes and look for ones that consumes a lot of CPU and close them if possible.

Ravn
its not the cpu, its usually only at 10-20%. its the memory thats maxed.

[Bruce]

cool, so how do you know what is the right ram to get? is 256megs of sdram better than 512 of ddr ram? does it matter how many 'pins' it is? how can i tell how much ram my computer can take?
SDR and DDR are not compatible. SDR has 168 pins, DDR has 184. You'll have to check out your motherboard's manual to see what kind of RAM it accepts.

For your sake, I hope it's DDR because you're going to pay out the --- for SDR now.

[jason]

SDR and DDR are not compatible. SDR has 168 pins, DDR has 184. You'll have to check out your motherboard's manual to see what kind of RAM it accepts.

For your sake, I hope it's DDR because you're going to pay out the --- for SDR now.
ah, ok. yeah it takes ddr. much cheaper :) also it says it takes pc 1600 and 2100 but can it take newer ones? they don't make those anymore.

[Bruce]

Yes, DDR is backwards compatible. It'll just run at the lower speed.

[jason]

Yes, DDR is backwards compatible. It'll just run at the lower speed.
thanks bruce. going to pick this up tomorrow.
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10047700&catid=20359

[Outstrip]

Installing more RAM may be the solve the problem. But i suggest try with make some more free space on your OS installed drive (3 GB Free space will be best). And you didnt mentioned your OS version. If you are useing Windows XP then try with system optimization like Tweak Xp or other.

[jason]

Installing more RAM may be the solve the problem. But i suggest try with make some more free space on your OS installed drive (3 GB Free space will be best). And you didnt mentioned your OS version. If you are useing Windows XP then try with system optimization like Tweak Xp or other.
i usually have at least 3 gigs of free space. i need a bigger hard drive tho, 40 gigs just doesn't cut it these days but it will have to do for now. my OS is windows 2000. anyways, i installed half a gig of ram and it has seemed to fix the problem. i should of done this ages ago. thanks everyone.