Jim writes:

<<    For the last month my computer hesitates - or freezes - for from one to
ten seconds>>

Usually this is an indication that your computer is running short on resources.

Some possible causes:

1.Too much running in background.  This is by far and away the most common
reason for slowdowns.

2.Some a-v programs are far too invasive for normal home use in their
default form. I only have mine running when on internet (which might not be
advisable if others have access to your computer).

3. So-called "crash-proof" software can have disastrous affect on
performance, although may appear impressive initially. Shouldn't be
necessary on a properly-maintained computer, and may  mask symptoms until
they get so bad that all hell is suddenly let loose.

4. Poorly maintained system.  How long since you last did a registry
restoration, for example?  Or cleaned out caches and redundant hidden files
such as orphaned .dll's.  There is plenty of good freeware for these
things.  Even a registry cleaner is better than nothing, though a regular
system of full registry restoration is far better ( at least every 3
months). It's vital to have a good registry restoration system in place if
you, as I do, continually download, try, and reject lots of new software.
Installation monitoring software such as Cleansweep is also pretty useful,
though not vital if you have a good manual registry backup habits. (ie
backup registry before you install major software).

5. Improper procedure restarting after a serious crash (ie reboot without
proper closure of major programs). This can leave the computer in rather a
mess, which will show up in erratic performance, freezes,  and possibly
total failure. (see my tutorial). In short, always restart into Safe Mode,
wait for HD activity to cease completely, reboot normally, close down and
reboot again as normal. Thus giving the OS the best opportunity to clear
itself of the chaos left by the crash or bad shutdown.

Try booting with Shift held down until hard drive activity stops. This will
prevent most startup programs from opening.  See what effect this has on
your problem. If you see a marked improvement, then it's likely the problem
is simply caused by too much running.  Open msconfig and turn off
everything non-essential.  It may be trial and error to find the right balance.

If this doesn't help much, try a registry restore, going back maybe 6
months. Even better, to your original registry if possible. Though this
won't help you much, as you will probably have to reinstall most of your
software, at least it does help to see if it fixes the immediate problem.
If it does, you can be fairly sure you have some registry corruptions or
maybe just too much clutter which slows performance.

You shouldn't have to reformat unless things have really got out of hand,
or you have no registry backups---in which case you may be up the creek
without a paddle.

Of course, a complete reformat is the most complete solution, if that
doesn't pose too many problems for you.

But if you can learn to maintain your computer properly and follow sensible
operating procedures, you should never need to reformat. (I've not
reformatted in 6 years, though admittedly the computer is running a bit
slower now than optimum, but not enough to worry me. And it's perfectly
stable).

For more detailed info on most of these points, and on the more mundane
possibilities such as regular defragging, regular cleanups, etc, see my
on-line tutorials.

Also, check that you have at least 200 Mb of free hard drive space---a full
HD will slow performance something horrible, even though you have a ton of
RAM. Windows needs lots of space to expand and contract as it works.

Don't forget to empty out all your deleted items in OE---these seem to get
hidden and many people don't realise these have to be regularly cleaned
out. A friend recently wondered why his computer suddenly started behaving
much as yours is.  We found about 3 years accumulation of old stuff hidden
in OE which he'd never cleaned out. Deleting it all took ages, as memory
could only cope with deleting a limited number of items at each hit.

If you have Word's or Office's "Find" permanently on, I believe this can
eat up performance, as can any auto-indexing.

There are endless possibilities.  It's really a matter of logic and trial
and error, once you've done all the maintenance bits.

Could even be failing or badly-seated RAM chip, though unlikely.

Also check all fans for intermittent failure. Overheating could cause
erratic symptoms.

Don Penlington




Free computer tutorials at: http://www.geocities.com/donaldpen/
Also Fractal Galleries,  free icons,  poetry,  and beautiful Queensland beaches.

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