[Shadow-Legacy]

ran TFC it cleared 59MB ten restarted now running defrag program

[Advertisements]

Yep I understand that and because of the lack of memory your virtual memory is low which then means everything slows down after a memory hungry program has been completed. because the virtual memory has to clear which takes time to do on low memory systems.
By increasing the ram memory the virtual memory will be increased. You can also manually increase the virtual memory also which is a temporary fix for the issue.





Go to Start then to Control Panel
Click on System then click on Advanced tab.
In the Performance Field click on Settings
Now on the Advanced Tab click on Change
Now take a screenshot and include it in your next reply.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply

[rshaffer61]

Yep I understand that and because of the lack of memory your virtual memory is low which then means everything slows down after a memory hungry program has been completed. because the virtual memory has to clear which takes time to do on low memory systems.
By increasing the ram memory the virtual memory will be increased. You can also manually increase the virtual memory also which is a temporary fix for the issue.





Go to Start then to Control Panel
Click on System then click on Advanced tab.
In the Performance Field click on Settings
Now on the Advanced Tab click on Change
Now take a screenshot and include it in your next reply.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply

[The Skeptic]

The computer has very limited resources of which the most import at is the Pentium 3, 700MHz. I think that this computer was never meant to work with windows XP and is not capable of dealing with modern programs, such as antivirus and games, fast enough.

One thing that I would suggest is that you check the CPU temperature when the computer slows down. Many computers have a feature in their BIOS that drops CPU speed to half if it overheats, to protect it from heat damage. To see the temperature open Everest again and click Computer > Sensor. Wait few seconds for the parameters to show up and report CPU and other temperatures.

[rshaffer61]

After checking the original specs below:

Pentium III-850/700 CPU, 128MB of SDRAM, 256KB L2 cache, Windows 2000 Professional, 15-inch active-matrix screen, Trident CyberBlade-XP graphics chip with 16MB of SDRAM, 20GB hard drive, 4X/4X/24XCD-RW/6XDVD-ROM combo drive, built-in network adapter, V.90 modem, eraserhead pointing device, 8.4-pound weight (with AC adapter and phone cord)

I have to agree with The Skeptic on his synopsis of the issue. It looks that Win2000 was the original OS and going to XP is probably stretching the system resources to it's limits.
Though increasing the ram may help I don't think the system will perform in a normal manner due to the limitations of the system itself.
The GPU itself is only 16 megs which is not made to play anything more then flash games at best.
A 20 gig hd in itself is small by today's standards and not even sold brand new from any retailer that I know now.
We can maybe make it better but I just don't think you are going to ever truly resolve the issue simply because of the age and limitations of the system itself.

[Shadow-Legacy]

yes I understand, I'll have a check on everest as said by skeptic and manually put the ram up, I don't really need any free space on the laptop to be honest, its a personal laptop I use to play runescape a browser game, nothing more really, I may start saving up for a desktop but for now I'll just keep trying to work around any problems that appears.

Anyway thanks for your help and I'll try what you both said and say the results

[Shadow-Legacy]

also this is a second hand laptop but to the best of my knowledge the original OS is Windows xp

[rshaffer61]

Check the bottom of the laptop. There should be a sticker that has the original OS name and version on it. If not then what we find as the original specs all say it was Win2000.
Not to say it may have been one of the last ones of that model made and XP was put on it but realistically it is highly unlikely given the default specs on the system.
If you really like the mobility of the laptop you may consider buying a newer one as the prices are down where you could buy one for less then 400USD anymore which is about the same it would cost for a barebones system not counting a monitor, kb, mouse or OS.

[Shadow-Legacy]

theirs no OS sticker on the bottom, but I'll take your word for it, I have a windows 2k disk so would it be worth installing that instead of windows? and if so is it very compatible with programs?

[rshaffer61]

The newer programs in the last couple of years may not work to well.
If you really want to keep XP increasing your memory will help but it won't fix the issue.
Running Crucial's online scan will give you the type, configuration and maximum amount of memory your system can handle. Then we can check the price for the upgrade in memory.
As I said this in turn will increase your virtual memory and page file thus the slowing down should decrease then.

[Shadow-Legacy]

I may have found the problem after looking inside I found that the fan wasn't plugged in, so it was overheating to about 50 degrees or so, hence slowing the laptop down to a snails pace, when I tried to plug it back in I found the little bit where it plugs into was actually damaged and it came off in my hands, any way to fix it myself or should I get a professional to do it for me?

[rshaffer61]

Laptops are a lot smaller so I myself would take it to a shop.
If the piece is the actual connector then you may have another problem as they are soldered to the mobo.
If the issue is the plastic housing surrounding the connection that may be able to be replaced..

[Shadow-Legacy]

it is the plastic housing on the green board, it a plastic piece connected to 2 metal connectors, 1 of them is partially broken, the other is not, it is extremely irritating as this happened in the shop because its been like this since I got my laptop fixed, it was obviously a coverup job on their part and if I still lived there I would demand they replace it, I'll start saving up I guess and try and get it repaired properly

[rshaffer61]

If it is the fault of the shop then it would seem they are responsible for correcting the issue.
If the pins themselves have been damaged then a new mobo would be needed.

[Shadow-Legacy]

it is the housing that is actually broken, it just comes right off, I'm going to try and get it fixed at a computer shop near me, and yes it is the fault of the original people as they fixed it and when I got it back I had this problem, only just found out what the actually problem was though, unfortunately I can't do anything about them, they're roughly 6 thousand miles away...

[rshaffer61]

After rereading the situation if the plastic housing is damaged though not good it should not affect the fan. If the actual pins are broken or not connecting then that is a problem. Have you been able to correct this yet?