Insane Lag

[hismajesty]

Lately, I've been receiving a ton of lag on my computer. Even typing things, such as instant messages, URL's, etc. to opening folders/programs/restoring minimized programs, basically everything. I've run A/V software, AdAware, cleared my temp files, uninstalled useless programs, pretty much everything I can think of. I still have about 40-50 GB's left on my Windows partition. The lag has become unbearable to where I can tell a program to open a folder, walk across the room to the trash can, come back and it still be opening the folder. Right now, I'm on another computer which is working fine (which eliminates it being a networking problem). My question is what is my best bet? I've considered formatting, but if anyone knows of an alternative I'd rather do that since the lag of the computer would probably make it a bitch to backup things.

Thanks for any help.

[Grok]

Why do you run adaware?

[hismajesty]

Why do you run adaware?

Why not?

[Yoni]

Check taskmgr for processes hogging your CPU.

[hismajesty]

Check taskmgr for processes hogging your CPU.

I looked, the highest one was Winamp.

[Thing]

The current Solar Flux Density is 101.1.  This is most likely the cause of your problem.
I recommend shielding your memory.  You can accomplish this by following these instructions:

1.  Remove the memory sticks from your computer.
2.  Cut a piece of aluminum foil 15 mm x 250 mm for each stick of memory.
3.  Fold the foil along it's long axis and place the contacts of the memory sticks in the fold.
4.  The contacts should be completely covered in foil on both sides.
5.  Place the memory back into your computer and power up.

You are now safe from the effects of Solar Flux.

[warz]

The current Solar Flux Density is 101.1.  This is most likely the cause of your problem.
I recommend shielding your memory.  You can accomplish this by following these instructions:

1.  Remove the memory sticks from your computer.
2.  Cut a piece of aluminum foil 15 mm x 250 mm for each stick of memory.
3.  Fold the foil along it's long axis and place the contacts of the memory sticks in the fold.
4.  The contacts should be completely covered in foil on both sides.
5.  Place the memory back into your computer and power up.

You are now safe from the effects of Solar Flux.

zzzzz.

[hismajesty]

When I did that the computer didn't even boot past the motherboards splash screen.

[warz]

You tried it?

[hismajesty]

You tried it?

mmhmm

[Adron]

That's because you forgot the burn-in step. You must only cover half of the memory chip at a time, between each step running it 60 seconds in the microwave on full effect to ensure a solid connection between the shielding foil and the circuitry.

[iago]

Back to the original topic, I would recommend formatting.  When was the last time you did it?  I would recommend a good format every 6-12 months if you want to keep it clean.

Another option: look for RegClean.exe.  It used to be (and probably is) somewhere on MS's site.

Finally, which OS are you running?  You will get consistantly better performance from windows xp, as long as you meet the ram requirements.  I will probably get flamed for saying that, but I've used both OS's considerably, and it's true

[hismajesty]

Yes, Windows XP. I've never formatted heh, it's been 7 months since I built the computer I guess it's time I did it anyway. Backing up my stuff now, too bad I don't have enough disks for all my important music files.

[Probe]

this is a stupid question, but have you defragged

[MyndFyre]

Yes, Windows XP. I've never formatted heh, it's been 7 months since I built the computer I guess it's time I did it anyway. Backing up my stuff now, too bad I don't have enough disks for all my important music files.

I've found that XP can last considerably longer than the 9x flavor of OSes, topping off between 9 and 12 months before I say, "Damnit, I gotta reinstall Windows."  Fortunately since I got XP, I've had catastrophes cause me to reinstall Windows anyway several times.