Problem with computer lagging (program seem to use too much mem and process)

[coconutgizmo]

Hey guys, this is my first post. I read the rules and i hope i live up.

Well, i have a problem that has me very very very annoyed. First off let me tell you my specs:

Dell Inspiron 9300 (less than 1 year old)
1.83ghz Pentium M Centrino
1GB Ram ddr 667mhz
80GB 4900rpm
AtI mobility Radeon x300 128mb (not sure if its dedicated)

This laptop has been my pride and joy for the last year. I am an avid gamer, and i was quite pleased to see that this PC could play almost any game quite well. However, lately my computer has been lagging in a very annoying way, the symptoms are as follows:

Anytime the system is opening a program, say Firefox, the computer seems to alot 99%+ process to that process and the computer totally hangs for a few seconds - SO MUCH THAT NOT EVEN THE MOUSE POINTER RESPONDS! The lag occurs for about 5 seconds, but it has never ever ever happened until the last few days.

Another thing is that when i load up a game (this is the most annoying thing) the lag occurs. But when i hit Ctrl-Esc to minimize the game for a while, the lag becomes overbearing. I ussually do this to check my IM or Itunes while i play the game (Rise of Nations) never had problem doing this before. Now, when i do this, the sound effect of the game lags! So say when i ussually need to here "Thump" i would here "Thu-Thu-Thu-Thump".

Another thing that i used to do is leave itunes play in the background, since i prefer that msuic than the in game music. NOW if i try that, the game lags like crazy, and so does the music!

Its the most annoying thing i have ever experience in a Laptop.

After about 5 minutes of playing through the lag, the game re-stabalizes, but if i minimize the game again, it starts dpoing the lag again.

So thats the symptoms. On an average the pc doesnt lag, only when i make accdess to a process (i.e open a program).

I have checked online for solutions and the closest thing i found was something about Virtual Memory Lag, but nothing they said there helped. I am so lost... i am contemplating reformat, but i have never done that before and would like to only do that as a last resort.

Pls help... pleasei would greatly appreciate it, so much as to put a link to this website on my company's site if you can help me fix! heheh (well i am gonna put a link anyway, cause this site is so rich with info).

Thanks guys, pls respons soon with any advice you may have or any more info you need.

 

[Snake-Eyes]

Sounds to me like you're running out of memory. Before playing a game, try restarting, and then running the game. When you restart or shut down, the memory gets cleared completely, allowing full memory usage upon next reboot.

To give you more options; After that, try increasing the page file. Google it, if you don't know how. If that doesn't work, you can try going into task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete) and on the Processes tab, right click on some processes and click "Set Priority>Low" on the processes you don't necessarily need when playing a game (ie. Norton Anti-Virus, any firewalls, etc).

 

[coconutgizmo]

Hey man thanks for the reply. Unforutnately, your solution can;t work since it shappens every single time i start up. Even if i was to reboot, once i hit the windows button to minimize my the game lags.

The fact that this is happening lately, and never before, means that there is something wrong. I hope someone could help me identify what could have changed my pc.

Update:
Anybody know if the problem might have to do with Kernel Dump? I was doing research, and found this in my hijacklog:

[KernelFaultCheck] %systemroot%\system32\dumprep 0 -k

This is happenind at startup... maybe this is causing the problem?

Well i fixed it with hijack... will restart and see if it works.

 

[Snake-Eyes]

In that case, it's never a bad thing to go through Warez' guide.

 

[coconutgizmo]

Repairing the kernel didnt do jack fricking $%#^. Man i am getting pretty fustrated. Very close to reformat... but i'll see if more people can come with other advice. Thanks so farfor evetything snakeeyes.

 

[coconutgizmo]

FOUND THE SOLUTION OMFG!@!!! yahoo... wow guys you would never believe what it is.

It was frikkin gay *** windows doing crap. Apprently windows reset my Hard Drive IDE drivers to a settings called PIO, which is a super duper slow ssettings. Basically i found a guide that showed me how to totally fix the problem!

I have a link to the guide for anyone that might have experience a laggy PC!

http://users.bigpond.net.au/ninjaduck/itserviceduck/udma_fix/

A great comprehensive guide on solving the problem.

Apparently the kernel error was a clue. When the blue screen of death happen, that problably when the PIO settings changed.

Thanks for the help guys, bye!