At first glance, this looks like it might be a memory problem caused by a 
program that improperly uses memory, so that it slowly uses up all the 
available memory in the system.  Upon rebooting, the memory is freed up and 
the system returns to normal temporarily.  In order for this to be the 
problem, the program has to be running continuously or continually.  (A 
dormant process would not do this.)  This is known as a "memory leak," and 
is a result of a programmer's oversight that was not caught in final 
testing.

You might be able to track this down in the Windows task manager.  Let your 
computer run for a while, then press <ctrl><alt><del> (simultaneously), 
which will bring up the task manager.  Look to see which program(s) might 
have been using an excessive amount of cpu time and/or memory.  Then, try 
running without those programs, one at a time.   (Reboot, then end the 
process in question, then wait a few hours.)  If you can track down the 
process that is causing the problem, then you will have to decide how to 
resolve it;  you may need the process sufficiently badly to put up with the 
annoyance.

Multiple checks for malware are also called for.

HTH

Dean Kukral


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Missy Hoppe" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 5:29 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] mysterious sluggishness with new computer


Hello. I'm having a really weird problem with my new computer system and
hoping that someone on this list might be able to help me find a way to fix
it.
First of all, here are my system specifications.
Abit AB9 QuadGT motherboard with bios 13, Intel qx6700 processor, Zalman
600W power supply, 4 GB
kingston hyper-x 8500 memory, Zalman 9700 cpu cooler, 4 80 mm
thermaltake thunderblade fans, 1 120 mm thermaltake thunderblade fan,
MSI 8500 video card, Windows XP Media Center edition sp2, 2 sata Samsung
dvd ram drives, Creative x-fi extreme music sound card, Samsung 500GB
sata hard drive, Samsung 17 inch LCD monitor and Apevia x-Dreamer2 blue
case.
I'm using a screen reading program called Jaws for Windows, but I'm
almost certain that this problem is happening with or without my screen
reader running.
I am using the windows classic theme with standard colors, and as far as
I know, have made all necessary video changes to adjust for best
performance, unless there's more changes I need to make from within the
nvidia control panel, which I can't seem to access very well with my
screen reader. I'm running at 1024-768 resolution in 32 bit color mode. In
general, the only programs that are running constantly are AVG Free edition
antivirus software, Windows Defender, Outlook express and my screen reader.
This new system has been up and running for about 3 weeks, and  on the
whole, it has been simply a joy to use; it hasn't ever locked up on me,
and I've been amazed by how many things I can accomplish simultaneously.
Unfortunately, I am experiencing an extremely weird problem that I'm
hoping someone on this list might be able to help me resolve.
After running for a couple of hours, my system becomes very sluggish
when performing certain tasks, most noteable of which is attempting to
enter the control panel. The slowdown is also very noticeable when
minimizing all applications and going to the desktop and also wen
working within any other dialogue boxes.
I've tried checking things out in task manager, and everything appears
to be just fine; nothing appears to be significantly bogging down the
system. If I reboot, everything goes back to working instantaneously for
a couple of hours, and then the slowdown returns.
Does anyone have any ideas for things I might try to resolve this issue?
Are there any bios settings I might be able to change that could have an
effect in this situation? I've written to the Abit forum, and they
suggested disabling eisd and C1E from withing Bios, and as soon as I have
someone with vision around here that I can trust to go playing around in
Bios, I intend to investigate those options. In the mean time, though, I'd
really appreciate any other advice that you may have.
I haven't attempted any overclocking yet, but am eventually hoping to
get the processor running at an even 3.0 GHZ. My system temperature
rarely exceeds 90 degrees F, so I don't think it's an over-heating
issue. I've tried disabling all non-essencial services in windows, and
except for IE7, I have fully updated my system with all security and
other patches.
Any ideas you may have for things I can try to resolve this issue would
be extremely appreciated.
Thanks in advance for any ideas you may have, and I hope that you're
having a really great day!
Missy

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