PC running very slowly

[gale force]

Just recently my pc has been very slow to freezing in these instances:

1 When running a Zone Alarm virus/spyware scan.

2 Defragging hard drives.

 

Defragging is done as needed and I run a tune up prog regularly.

 

Pc is approx 5 years old with this spec.

 

Pent. 4 3ghz (HT) 800 mhz FSB

Chip Intel 865pe

RAM 512mb (2x256) PC 2700(DDR400) DDR SDRAM (Dual channel DDR)

Cache 512kb (on die)

 

C&D hard drives are only about half full.

 

Apart from this the machine is OK can you suggest any replacement components to improve the performance.

Many thanks

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Hello Gale Force

 

Welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help

 

5 years old is starting to get long in the tooth for a box and to me the initial problem could be a dying hard drive which could also be coupled to a PSU that's on it's way out.

 

The memory could also be doubled to 1024mb.

 

How many programs do you have running on start up?

[Dalo Harkin]

I agree with Wolfey, and also if you have never reinstalled the OS within the 5 years that will not help -

most users reformat every 1.5-2.0 years,

[gale force]

pc running very slowly

 

I will investigate number of progs running at start up but the C & D drives are on a Maxtor 10 160gb drive added about 18 months ago.

Does that help?

[gale force]

The OS was reinstalled after a crash about 1y ago

[gale force]

I think approx 26 progs on start up, how does that sound?

Thanks

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Have you checked the CPU heatsink and fan for dust and debris?

 

What do you use for Antivirus and malware protection, if just Zone Alarms new suite then I am unsure of just what protection that affords.

[gale force]

I use Zone Alarm Security Suite's latest upgrade version 7, it takes approx 5hrs. to do a full scan inc. spyware of 270,000 files.

I have not investigated inside so will start there.

Many thanks

[Guest Wolfeymole]

No problem but just let me get this right, ZA takes 5 hours to scan your 160GB drive?

 

That's madness.

[gale force]

Yes thats correct, it used to be quicker. So I am unable to do much whilst it churns away.

A "clean install" might help but pc performance is also greatly degraded when defragging

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Open Command Prompt and type chkdsk /r

 

Note the space between the k and the forward slash.

 

This will attempt to recover any bad sectors on the drive and report back.

[Dalo Harkin]

right - what you describe seems really odd.

Have you changed absolutely anything before this started to happen?

[gale force]

I went into Command prompt.

Headline said, Specified command search directory bad.

I entered chkdsk /r and response was:

chkdsk is not recognised as an internal or external command, operable programme or batch file.

Re. the system I have not changed anything but upon log on and loading there are a couple of slight "clunks" quite distinct from the normal "gurgling" of the hard drive.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Ok try just typing chkdsk as a single word.

[gale force]

No joy with that but Googled www. commandprompt.com and found list of commands, tried a few but not sure what I'm looking for, any suggestions.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

If you can't run the command chkdsk Gale then that drive is dead.

[Dalo Harkin]

there are a couple of slight "clunks" quite distinct from the normal "gurgling" of the hard drive.

 

Oh dear - sounds like the HDD is really struggling, backup data ASAP

[gale force]

Oh dear this sounds serious, I'm talking about drive "C" with all the progs on, the other part "D" has docs/photos etc. everyday stuff works ok

Can you expand on your diagnosis ?

Thanks.

[gale force]

Just seen your reply, will do so asap

[Guest Wolfeymole]

If D: is a partition on that drive and NOT a separate physical drive then that will be gone too when the drive dies Gale.

[gale force]

Yes understand that, all data etc. not reloadable from CD will go on the separate drive.

The faulty drive is only 2y old, is that usual for it to go now?

The other drive in the box is the original WDC 120gb but has only been the back up for last 2yrs.

Can you recommend a good drive to replace the Maxtor 10 160gb or is it desirable to replace the desktop as it is 5yrs old ?

Many thanks

[Dalo Harkin]

You dont need to replace the desktop if there is nothing wrong other than the HDD - just buy the cheapest biggest drive that you can afford.

there is no point spending £50 on a 500GB drive if you only need 200GB that will cost £25

Drives can die at any time >> I had one for 6 days and it died :mad: