[BobDoleX]

I've been having the most unusual issue with my laptop for quite a while, and no sources I have consulted have been able to help me. The problem: whenever I'm playing games (WoW, Guild Wars, FEAR, HL2, BF2), performance will be sufficient, and, once every few minutes, my computer will hang for 1-4 seconds, accompanied by sound looping in most cases. What is especially strange is that when this happens, most of the time it is displayed as 0% CPU usage in the task manager. Let me clarify: instead of the CPU usage spiking up to 100%, it spikes down to 0%.

All my drivers are up to date, everything that I need to have downloaded, from DirectX to anti-spyware and more is all there. I've tried all the usual steps. Disabling background processes, etc etc. I've even tried tweaking my PCI latency settings. I don't know what to do to resolve this. Ideas? Thank you very much, I'm really looking to find what's going on.

System: Compaq R3000 Laptop
3.2 GHz Pentium 4 w/ Hyperthreading
1.5 GB PC 2700 DDR RAM
ATi Mobility Radeon 9600 w/ 128 MB RAM (dedicated)
Creative Audigy 2 ZS Notebook (PCMCIA)
Hitachi Travelstar 80 GB 7200 RPM

Edited by BobDoleX, 06 January 2006 - 04:26 AM.

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I had the same problem on my desktop. Every 5 minutes or so...a 1-2 second "pause". noticeable in games, but when watching DVD movies (even ones ripped to the hard drive), it was a noticeable breakdown/pixelation.

I downloaded RegistryFix and it found a bunch of problems, and when it fixed them it got rid of that one too. Something about VXD (virtual device drivers). Just dont try to find a crack on the web for it. It's worth the $20 for the program. I cracked it but wound up catching some virii and spyware (even with norton AV 06) that screwed xp all up. I fought even worse problems for a month before reloading everything from the ground up.

[theosus]

I had the same problem on my desktop. Every 5 minutes or so...a 1-2 second "pause". noticeable in games, but when watching DVD movies (even ones ripped to the hard drive), it was a noticeable breakdown/pixelation.

I downloaded RegistryFix and it found a bunch of problems, and when it fixed them it got rid of that one too. Something about VXD (virtual device drivers). Just dont try to find a crack on the web for it. It's worth the $20 for the program. I cracked it but wound up catching some virii and spyware (even with norton AV 06) that screwed xp all up. I fought even worse problems for a month before reloading everything from the ground up.

[BobDoleX]

I'll give it a shot.

EDIT: I used it (I'll report back), but doesn't your post seem like an ad? You're a new user recommending specific software that comes with a pricetag. Oh, and two of your three total posts recommend that specific software, which is, unlike many other registry utilities available, not free.

Edited by BobDoleX, 06 January 2006 - 05:19 PM.

[BobDoleX]

Update: Still having the problem.

[BobDoleX]

This issue is annoying me to no end. Does anyone have the slightest clue or advice as to how to address it? Thanks in advance!

Small update: When I haven't restarted for a while, this can get really bad, causing the screen to go black when the CPU spikes to 0%, lasting up to 5 seconds before returning to normal. Is this a video issue because of the black screen? A CPU issue because of the 0% issue, or a sound issue because of the sound looping that sometimes occurs? I haven't a clue!

Edited by BobDoleX, 08 January 2006 - 06:43 PM.

[BobDoleX]

Still no progress. Can someone please advise me?

[BobDoleX]

Tested:

Memory (memtest86): no errors
Network: no problems
Anti-virus: uninstalled, no effect
Sound card: removed, no effect
Update: Heat: doesn't appear to be an issue, temperature of CPU is at a constant 52 C, plus I use a rather robust cooling pad

Still suffering from the problem, and no legit replies yet. Help?

Edited by BobDoleX, 14 January 2006 - 02:28 AM.

[Roëll]

dude.. hi maby you need to increase your virtual memory .. i had the same problems before.. firstly the hard disk memory.. then the graph. card.. then the ram memory.. then i came up with the virtuall memory increase.. asked around and poof.. gone were the problems..
heres the info on how to do it.. and it doesn effect other programs.. at least.. its doesn with me.. or with the people that i helped with it so far..

heres the things

click desktop then my computer (or my computer if you have the thing on yer desktop already, anyways.. go to my computer... )
on the left side of the screen it says view system information click it
now the computer gives a new window with lots of tabs,
system restore, automatic updates,remote,general,computer name,hardware,advanced
click the advanced tab
now you see a part with performance with as a lil help underneath it : visual effects
click the dialogue box beside the thing that says : settings
again you get another window with 2 tabs with 1 of them saying advanced and again you have to click advanced
now you see something with process scheduling and virtual memory @ ###
underneath theres a part that says custom sixe and 2 boxes where you can fill in numbers..
you need the second 1 that says maximum size
change the maximum to 9999 and it will give you a prompt of what the true maximum can be
now input the maximum size figures into the maximum field thing..
press apply or ok and the computer will tell you to restart ( if not.. still restart it.. )
press yes and the restart commences.. so be sure to save your files before pressing yes / oke
the computer will restart and the operation has been finished.
the effect will be reall noticeable when the computer is restarted...


hope this helps a bit...

[BobDoleX]

dude.. hi maby you need to increase your virtual memory .. i had the same problems before.. firstly the hard disk memory.. then the graph. card.. then the ram memory.. then i came up with the virtuall memory increase.. asked around and poof.. gone were the problems..
heres the info on how to do it.. and it doesn effect other programs.. at least.. its doesn with me.. or with the people that i helped with it so far..

heres the things

click desktop then my computer (or my computer if you have the thing on yer desktop already, anyways.. go to my computer... )
on the left side of the screen it says view system information click it
now the computer gives a new window with lots of tabs,
system restore, automatic updates,remote,general,computer name,hardware,advanced
click the advanced tab
now you see a part with performance with as a lil help underneath it : visual effects
click the dialogue box beside the thing that says : settings
again you get another window with 2 tabs with 1 of them saying advanced and again you have to click advanced
now you see something with process scheduling and virtual memory @ ###
underneath theres a part that says custom sixe and 2 boxes where you can fill in numbers..
you need the second 1 that says maximum size
change the maximum to 9999 and it will give you a prompt of what the true maximum can be
now input the maximum size figures into the maximum field thing..
press apply or ok and the computer will tell you to restart ( if not.. still restart it.. )
press yes and the restart commences.. so be sure to save your files before pressing yes / oke
the computer will restart and the operation has been finished.
the effect will be reall noticeable when the computer is restarted...
hope this helps a bit...

Doesn't resolve my issue

[warriorscot]

Try using pc tune up 2006 might free you up some resources, hen see if you can get a bios update, and then if that doesnt wok try disabling hyperthreading games dont like it.

[BobDoleX]

Try using pc tune up 2006 might free you up some resources, hen see if you can get a bios update, and then if that doesnt wok try disabling hyperthreading games dont like it.

Tried the application, doesn't resolve my problem. Already installed the latest BIOS update. However, I'm not sure how to disable HT. My BIOS is a Compaq BIOS, so I have no freedom to change settings such as HT. How can I do so?

[BobDoleX]

Anyone know how to disable HT if your BIOS doesn't allow such changes?

[BobDoleX]

I'm quite certain that this issue is related to FAST WRITES.

How can I disable them? When I attempt to do so with ATI's SMARTGART, the settings refuse to stick after restart. Help?

Edit: I'm trying to compile a list of "triggers," if there are any, for this problem. I'll update my post with them soon, perhaps they can help find the real source of the problem.

Edited by BobDoleX, 17 January 2006 - 03:40 AM.

[BobDoleX]

It's odd, because I almost never get this problem with all my sounds muted. However, if I remove my PCMCIA sound card, and enable my onboard sound, I still have the same problem. What could that mean? Help would be appreciated, thank you!