RAM to be

it's unlikely to be your RAM, the fact that the computer is still working means that it is more likely a virus which is hogging your system resources. Use task manager and on the processes tab, look which is using most of your resources. It should be the system idle process, if not you may have a virus.

I contend that the System Idle process is what is killing us. Every time I look at the task manager I see the Idle process hogging 98% of my CPU time.

Why is my computer so lazy?

It's not lazy, it's just sleepy. Trying pouring a cup of coffee (not decaf) over the keyboard. You'll have results in no time.

chance the the RAM

I suggest you run an anti-virus program, it sounds like you might have a trojan.

If you think you might have a bad RAM - which I doubt - I suggest you just buy some more. And get 1GB while you're at it.

Also, if you have installed any new sw lately, that may be the problem. My mom downloaded a cute little monkey avatar and its hidden programs just about killed her machine, and it was hell to get rid of. Open your Add/Remove programs thingy and see if you see anything you don't recognize.

Have you "upgraded" to IE7? If you're running IE I suggest you install Firefox - it's way faster and uses less resources.

Also, and probably first, hit ctrl+alt+del and open the task manager. Click on the tab that shows you your memory and processor resource usage. If nothing is running, you should be idling at >90%, if not, you've got something running you need to get rid of.

Happy hunting!

I highly recommend AVG by Grisoft.com, they have a free version, and an Advanced version with included Anti-spyware. AVG catches viruses Norton never sees. You ALSO need a Anti-spyware, as Spyware will also slow down your system tremendously. I use AdAware by LavaSoft.com. And if your running Vista get 2 gigs of ram while you are at it. PC manufactures have a diagnostic boot disk that will test memory 100%, contact them. I have used Dell's before, came on a CD, and yes you can set your BIOS to boot from CD.

I, now and again unplug the modem! Disconnect the line, wait a few minutes then plug it all back in again! This resets all the stuff at the server and gets the web moving again! Or OTOH, you could have a bug in the system which the other have offered ideas on!

Ask yourself what changed?

If you changed operating systems to say Vista, then you are probably screwed. Sorry, but there isn't enough money in the world to get me to install Vista.

If you installed an anti-virus program, and then it slowed down, there might be some settings you can change that will help.

If you installed some type of application (game...), then you can uninstall it, and see if the problem gets better.

If none of the above is true, then you probably have a bug/virus/spyware problem.

One last thing: Check to see if your hard drive is badly fragmented, or almost full.

I doubt it is a RAM issue, your system would be crashing not just slowing down.

Taskmanager will show you what process is eating up your resources. Also use msconfig to see what programs are being loaded on startup and what services are running. You may well be running stuff you never use. Good adware and virus scans are essential.

(Adaware, AVG 7.5, Spybot S&D and the online Trend Micro scanner work for me.) Also check to see if your drive(s) are fragmented. (In explorer right click the drive > properties > tools > defragment). If possible move your swapfile onto a drive that is on a different cable from the drive your OS lives on.

Good luck.

Assuming XP...

I recently ran into a similar issue with one of my older Dell laptops. Slowed to a crawl and when checking task manager showed CPU was at 100% or close to...even if basically nothing was running. I found a bit of decent info and what was ultimately in the machine was something that had gotten into svchost.exe. In my machine, one of the instances of svchost was like 30mb and was killing the machine.

Windows put out a fix...don't remember which or what...if need be I can go pull my laptop off the machine PLC I have it on at the moment and try to dig out that info..

Anyway...running msconfig will give you some basic selective start capabilities of crap that wants to run. Running MSinfo to find out what all is loading up on you seems easier to me. You may even have to stop some things from starting at the registry level.

Run services.msc ... this will allow you to turn off some things...some others you don't want to mess with. If, like me, you don't think you need to send Microsoft a report every stinking time a program faults...you can turn off Alerter here.

In chasing the issue in my laptop I found a couple sites that were useful info...

http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm#Services

http://www.neuber.com/taskmanager/process/svchost.exe.html

As someone said before, its unlikely that a bad RAM is the cause, else it won't boot up at all. Maybe its the timing, but that's another story.

If you're pretty adept with what's inside your pc, download and run HijackThis from TrendMicro. Look out for any unwanted startup programs that might be chugging the resources and delete it. Or, do a system scan, save the logfile and send it to any tech forum, they might be able to help.

For the resources to go from 1% to 100%, it is quite common actually, and usually the perpetrator is an antivirus program.

All Answers are good advise.

I once had a slow system and i found out I had too many Antivirus programs running at once. (adaware and Nortons). Too much is sometimes as bad as too little.

Norton, while a good program can be the worst culprit in machine slow down. It is up to you to shut off elements and restrict Norton to what you expect of it in the preferences of that program. You said a p4, my question would be does this slow down get progressively worse as the machine runs over time or is it present from start up.

If it gets progressively worse does it do it only as you surf of is it constant regardless of the processes you are running.

if it is a constant slow down over time it could be temperature related and a check of your system fan and a good cleaning may help some. Processors like it hot but not more hot .

I would explore the hardware stuff secondly to the software issues raised here. A quick check of system fans and as some one already mentioned a plug unplug of modem and or cable with a fresh restart afterward is an easy first step. I assume you have done some general checking of dust etc. . .

I run avast and adaware as well and they do good job of protecting my sons pc ( he surfs in places I fear to tread at times ) - Our Business computers I service are full time and run 24x7 so I also run Norton there because I need it really locked down. Zone Alarm is a good alternative. One other thought comes to mind programs such as key loggers can slow you down i wonder if you don't have one of them sneaky buggers running in the background. We had an employee that didn't understand "Don't go there at work " after a week of my installed key logger logging every key stroke he made he complained of system slow down - so I checked the log - fired the employee and unloaded the software.

Your milage may vary. . .

Stop! Before you waste time and money, open control panel/system/General and make sure all your memory is showing. I have had 1/2 my ram missing do to dust. Also, pull the memory and clean the chips and the slots and re insert them.

Easy to do!

Thanks I appreciate all you guys help. I love this website with all the smart people giving input to my particular problem

Run a test with a program like "Prime95" which just runs a stress test for memory. If anything is unstable (or overheating) this will make the problem surface.

You have been given as good advice here already as you will get anywhere I feel, I am not going to repeat the same stuff again, but please remember, that any link you have to you ISP is really, really slow in comparison to ANY PC, no matter how old.....

So once you have followed all the good stuff above and the link is still slow, use a DSL speed checker (assuming a DSL link) and see just how fast your link is actually running at!!! Maybe you have a problem outside of the house....

But do all the other things first......

Hi Qince,

I had the same problem but don't anymore. I found that some of the spyware software is okay but doesn't really get rid of the problem of being slow. I found that there were two items that I can use that clean my system up nicely and I use them regularly now:

1. Window washer by www.Webroot.com. This program washes your system and cleans all of the temp files and other useless things that may affect your processor and memory. It does not clean any of the programs that you run but will clean your passwords for some internet applications. This program does a good job on keeping my system clean. You can set the system clean to whatever parameters that you like including the degree of cleaning that you want.

2. www.Registryfix.com. This website offers a free scan of your system to determine what registry problems that you are experiencing, which usually results in slow system speed. Check it out. You won't be able to clean or fix the problems without buying the program but at least you will know why your system is slow. Again, I run this program regularly.

These two programs are very cheap. Good luck. Rol-N