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system out of control

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by honey_11

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My cpu needs a vacation really. Everything is going so slow that i cant perform any other task in windows. All that because of "system idle process". I know it is an important process & cannot be turned off but it is using all the resources & other programs are suffering from it. I dont know how to make it work under my commands. My pc doesn't have any viruses whatsoever nor the unneded files. My system looks like-

xp pro sp3
800mhz,40gb hard disk
2.80 processor
248 mb ram

Most importantly i dont have much programs installed in it. Please reply

10 replies

by the scummy one

and run anti-spyware and anti-virus SW
then
defragment your HDD and run the system cleanup utility

by computercookie

so even if it is running a 99%, it is using virtually no resources.

Never heard of SP3 only Beta and a RC! your main problem is that you only have 256 MB of RAM (8 MB shared video).

Get a program like FreeRam XP Pro to clear you memory, when required.

by honey_11

it doen't work. Anyway thx for your suggestion.

by absolutely

There are some good articles about freeing up resources in WinXP, but System Idle Process is the name Microsoft gives to CPU resources when they're idle, meaning available for whatever command you give them. So probably the CPU is not your problem and having only 256MB of memory, is. But, you can try these, maybe some of them will free up some memory.

http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=173620
http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=173565
http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=172521
http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=172641
http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=173960

by david.wallis

a minimum of 512mb ram to run XP properly.. if you only have 256 your pc will run like a dog! upgrade the ram you will see an instant improvement :)

by honey_11

thats not the problem. i have seen many pcs running with same h/w config. except the ram which was 128mb . thx for ur advise

by ic-it

but that is one of your biggest issues. 2.800Mhz with only 256MB and an under power video will result in the speeds you are seeing.
Especially after the system has been used for awhile (new apps, new BHOs, etc). You may see some improvement by cleaning out your temp files (both windows and in your local settings folders), temp internet files, and clean out the windows\prefetch folder (it will be a tad slower booting, but will be faster after that.
Also to improve boot times, clean up your desktop to minimize the number of icons that must be loaded.
To reiterate upping the RAM to 512MB and even a cheap 64 - 128MB Video card will help tremendously. (Added although with the extra memory you should be able to up your AGP aperature in the BIOS).
edited to clean up sleepy errors.

by mayhem1969

You mention no viruses, but you didn't mention whether you ran a check for spyware, which can really slow down a computer. Also, you might want to clear your internet cache of temporary files, history, etc. You might also want to defrag the disc as mentioned earlier.

by absolutely

"Most importantly i dont have much programs installed in it."

What was the last thing you did before you noticed your computer slowing down?

Also, have you tried Linux? A LiveCD live Knoppix or the like might be worth a try. If you can accomplish the same tasks in Linux, that usually requires fewer resources and higher performance. It's especially noticeable with older hardware.

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