Application "Not Responding"

[Dash]

Hi everybody, will appreciate if any of you could give
me some feedback on the following. Thanks!

Many a time when I clicked on certain function/button of an
application the "Not Responding" message would sometimes
appear next to the title of the application in the title bar (at
the of the screen).

And most of the times I would not be able to even close the
application. Instead, I would need to launch the Task Manager
and end that particular application under "Processes" tab there.

What could be the cause, any idea?

Thanks!

 

[KSoD]

Most of the time it is 1 of 2 things. 1 the applications is working on the proccessing of the action requested but due to certain factors like to many apps running or what not it is taking a long time. 2 the application just crashed.

If its the frist 1 where the app is just taking a long time for it to work then just let it sit for a minute and see if it works itself out. If after a coupel minutes nothing changes then its option 2. The application crashed. That could be a laundry list of reasons why for that.

 

[Dash]

Most of the time it is 1 of 2 things. 1 the applications is working on the proccessing of the action requested but due to certain factors like to many apps running or what not it is taking a long time. 2 the application just crashed.

If its the frist 1 where the app is just taking a long time for it to work then just let it sit for a minute and see if it works itself out. If after a coupel minutes nothing changes then its option 2. The application crashed. That could be a laundry list of reasons why for that.

Thanks a lot, Makaveli !

 

[KSoD]

Not a Problem. Hope it helped.

 

[Dash]

Not a Problem. Hope it helped.

Yes it did. Thx!
You've just helped confirm what I suspected the cause to be.

So will a powerful pc (with say 1GB of RAM) solve such a problem?
Or will it just reduce the frequency of it occurring only?

Thx once again

 

[KSoD]

Well since i dont know your current specs and what it is your trying to run i cant confirm if 1GB of RAM will help. But i can say that 1GB of RAM should be able to help handle more processing. RAM only assists the CPU so if you dont have that powerful of a CPU then it could be a dead point.

Give some specs and what your trying to run and i can better help out.

 

[Techguru75]

It's been my experience that because we run Windows in so many machines that when applications fail we automatically blame Windows for the troubles. When in fact, a lot of third party software is sometimes poorly designed and causes conflicts in Windows with resources or processes that the OS performs normally.

It's sort of like buying a Chevy and trying to put an off brand stereo in it. Sometimes the two are just not designed to work together.

 

[Dash]

I remember it usually happens when I try to launch two or three apps simultaneously that the "Not Responding" problem arises. Even though it could be running simple apps like opening My Computer, or starting a Notepad , Internet Explorer or launching Windows Media Player only.

However, such problem didn't occur when I ripped CDs, burned DVDs or did photo editing. Maybe because when I ran such programs, tendency is that I only launch one program at a time and did not launch anything else.

I don't think it's because of the software that I use that caused such problem cos all the software that I use are proven and well-established ones. Besides, I don't remember such problem happening on me when I ran programs like Norton Antivirus/Ghost, ZoneAlarm, iTunes, QuickTime, WinAmp, Nero, Adobe Reader, Winzip, Ad-Aware, Spybot,etc. Come to think of it, it's Windows XP components that give me such a problem more than any thing else!

My pc spec is Pentium 3 of 866MHz with 512MB RAM.

BTW, when I said " powerful pc", I meant something like Pentium D or the AMD Athlon64X2. I wonder with such processors, the pc still has such a problem and whether it still hangs???

Any one of you out there with such a system???
Care enough to share with me your experience???

Thanks!

 

[Techguru75]

When was the last time you did maintenance on your PC? Try defraging your hard drive and your registry. Also, Google a free registry cleaner and adware cleaner. Sounds like you just got some performance issues that should be easy to clear up. Your system specs indicate you shouldn't have a lack of resources for performing these simple operations.

EDIT: I currently run what would be considered a powerful PC, at least I like to think so (see sig). I can play an online game, burn DVD's, check email, download mp3s from ITunes (spend too much money there), and voice chat all at the same time with no problems.

 

[Dash]

When was the last time you did maintenance on your PC? Try defraging your hard drive and your registry. Also, Google a free registry cleaner and adware cleaner. Sounds like you just got some performance issues that should be easy to clear up. Your system specs indicate you shouldn't have a lack of resources for performing these simple operations.

EDIT: I currently run what would be considered a powerful PC, at least I like to think so (see sig). I can play an online game, burn DVD's, check email, download mp3s from ITunes (spend too much money there), and voice chat all at the same time with no problems.

Wow! That's cool!
Didn't know that one could do so many such things all at the same time. With your current system can it also records TV program, records internet-based home CCTV surveillance, stream video/mp3 to hifi system and runs scheduled backup (to an external hard disk) SIMULTANEOUSLY? Will be great if it can cos I hope to set up such a system for my next upgrade.

I must admit that lately I've been slack on maintenance work on my pc. Think that's probably why the problem is happening more frequent now.

BTW, any idea whether the WinDoctor component inside Norton SystemWork suite cleans up Windows Registry? If not can you recommend a good one to me. For adware I use Ad-Aware and Spybot and I believe should be ok, right?
Thanks!