HELP please with "not responding" problem

I have a Dell Inspirion 1501. The typing is slow as can be on it as well as page down and backspace. Internet browser as well as Yahoo quits responding all the time. When they quit responding I go to task manager and I cannot see anything robbing or using up CPU's. I have downloaded all kinds of adware, spyware and such. I have run the diagnostics programs that came with computer and everything checks out. Any other suggestions before throwing this thing in trash. If i do need to reload XP how do I go about loading it back on here.

Thanks

 

Your best bet is to reinstall windows XP

Did your 1501 come with a windows installation disc?

if it did than you can simply back up the files you have on your system on DVD or external harddrive.
Than format your system with the windows installation disc.

After you reinstall windows, you will need to reinstall all software, such as word, powerpoint, adobe, etc.

If you do not have the windows installation discs, than the only way to reinstall is to make a clone of your current setup. However doing that will yield the same performance, so its not really worth it.

How many processes are running in the background?
It tells you at the bottom of task manager.

With XP, you want close to 40 or so processes
If you have like 80 processes running, that is why your system is running slow

K-TRON

 

This is simply not true. You're basing your advice on the number of total processes running, not the type or kind of processes they are. Evaluating what the processes are versus the total amount is a far more valuable metric when troubleshooting a system that is lethargic.

Besides which, I'd like to see some documentation that asserts your claim that if you have, like, 80 or so processes running, that's the reason why the OP's system is running slow.

 

how about adding some RAM?

 

not if all the processes idle. i can have a system slow with one process on it (per (hyperthreaded) core), and i can have it fast with 100reds of processes...

is it only ie not responding from time to time? try the "save mode" of ie if it behaves the same. try another browser if it behaves the same.

 

I have tried Internet Explorer and Mozella Firefox, it does it with both. I have 62 processes running but as I mentioned none are taking up more than 1 or 2% when it stops responding. I have 896 MB of RAM

 

rest of the pc as slow? booting, too? one thing i had sometimes with xp is that it "lost" the ultra-dma mode for the hdd. then it went to pio mode and all went terribly slow.

other than that, try reinstalling the gpu driver (at least for the scrolling issue, that may help).

for more, i'd need to have the system in my hands to "debug". (but maybe a simple cleaning of the disk and registry with ccleaner and defraggler could help.. maybe even regoptimize or how it's called afterwards.. helped me once on a slow xp machine, too).

 

How do I check and see what "mode" it is using and how do I change it back if it has gotten changed? Also I have downloaded some of the programs mentioned and they found tons of errors, but they can't fix them unless you purchase the product. Do these programs really work? I would purchase if I knew which ones worked and which ones to stay away from.

 

right click my computer
go to properties
then go to the "hardware" tab
you should find a button labeled "Device Manager"

scroll down and click the "+" on "IDE ATA ATAPI controllers"
you should find a sub menu called "primary IDE channel"
right click and go to properties

then go to "advanced settings"
it says "transfer Mode"
set to "DMA mode if available"

that will make sure the drive is in DMA mode

if it refuses to go into DMA mode, uninstall the IDE driver. Windows will automatically reinstall the driver in DMA mode


Any system with 40 processes will be more responsive than one with 80-100 processes. Slimming down the processes in the background will yield faster XP booting times and loading times.

K-TRON

 

I show 2 Primary IDE channels under my device manager. One was set to PIO mode and the other was set to Ultra DMA mode 5. Should I delete one of these and have only the one?

 

Both the Primary and Secondary IDE channels should be set to DMA mode.
Try setting it with the pulldown menu first

K-TRON

 

I call BS. It's not the quanitity of proccesses that matter, it's the type. Feel free to prove me wrong.

 

OK, I am back........I formatted my hard drive and reinstalled Windows XP, still get lock ups on internet browser, any suggestions as to what to look for now. I have not loaded anything back onto laptop other than XP.

 

If one wants to properly diagnose this problem start using process explorer instead of task manager.