Windows 7 Random applications starting to lag on new computer

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sina12345

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Hi,

A few months ago I got a new computer, its a Core 2 Duo E8400 @3.00ghz, 8GB of Mushkin Ram, Gigabyte mobo, which for the life of me can't remember the name, but I can get it if I need to. It's a very fast computer, and it's working great with most of the programs I'm using. Oh and I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit build 7100.

Unfortunately about a month ago it randomly started having these horrible lag spikes on some of my applications. It started with chrome, that whenever I scrolled, clicked, or opened a new tab, it would lag for around 3-5 seconds, if not more. So I switched to mozilla, which thankfully is running smoothly so far. But maybe 1 week after this, Divx 7 had the same problem, it would lag for around 3-5 seconds when I would be watching clips or movies, including the webplayer (running in mozilla) and the normal player running on my desktop. Recently it has gotten so bad that I cannot open Windows live messenger anymore because that lags for about 10-20 seconds, and Quicktime 7 which lags constantly throughout the entire clip.

It is getting so bad that I can't even use my computer comfortably on a day to day basis, which was the REASON i got a new computer. Again this problem started around a month after I got my new computer, and everything worked fine before that, it is slowly spreading to my other apps too, so I'm thinking it could be a virus, in which case if someone could refer me to a trusted anti-spyware/virus program since I don't have one at the moment as the hog up ram and processing power.

Hopefully this problem has arised before, and I just missed it in the forum and google searches I did. I hope someone can help me out with this problem, since it is slowly driving me nuts.

Thank you in advance!

Sina
 
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Solution
LOL..... I just realised where your missing GB's are...

It's all to to with 'Gigabytes and Gibibytes'...

When you buy a drive, you look at the size which is given in Gigabytes. The pc/os however see's HDD sizes in Gibibytes.

Gibibyte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A 'Gibibyte is 1024 'Mebibytes' and when you convert 640 Gigabytes to Gibibytes the figure is 596 or there abouts..

data storage size conversions online

I did a conversion for you and is in the screenshot..

Thats why whenever you buy a drive it always appears smaller when attached to your machine..

I hope this clears it up for you...
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I would flash the bios also.

But have you run HDD diags?
Memory Diags?

If not,,, you need to run mem diags for no less than 4 to 6 hours.
I recommend Windows Memory Diags,,,, just hit "t" when they start to run extended tests.

Just cause they are new, doesn't mean they aren't bad.
 
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I left chkdsk to run overnight and oddly enough the lag spikes seem to have gone away (for now anyways). I'm not quite sure yet if the problem is actually fixed, because sometimes the lag spikes go away for a few days but then return. If they do come back I'll report back. Thanks for your help and friendly welcome!
 
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Actually I already have F9 installed, which is why I had mentioned before that I have all the latest drivers. The other reason that I'm relatively confident of that fact is that I constantly check my manufacturer's sites for updates, just last week I installed my new ATI drivers which fixed an array of problems, and I constantly check for others, I don't like staying in the dark when it comes to my computer and hardware, which is also why this thing is such a mystery to me.


It sucks that you're having these problems, I know mine are just aimed at certain applications, but the way you explained it, it sounds like yours is all around, which is probably really annoying.

Hopefully we can work this out soon, because I have a feeling it's getting worse as the days go by.


PS. On a side note, my OpenGL now works in After effects (I might have not mentioned it before, but it was always a problem), with the install of ATI's new drivers, which I'm really happy about.


UPDATE: I just ran a checkdisk, and it didn't find any problems up until the last stage, which was when I had to leave at about the 20% mark, when I came back windows was loaded, and I had no pop-ups or messages; so I don't think that it found any problems with disk check.

As for the memory and HDD diags, what happens if I find out that problem lies with them, though I highly doubt that it does, what course of action do I take after that? I don't have the time or the money to replace them or send them for warranty.

I'm a student and I use my computer for my programming classes often, and I can't have it gone for more than a couple days at the most.
 
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Great! Fingers crossed your problems won't return.
As Tepid say's chkdsk will (if you checked the box) repair broken sectors. If you missed the on screen action the event viewer will contain the chkdsk logs.
 
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Sina

If you do find a problem with the scans,,, there are no other options.

replace them or send them for warranty repair

If it's a bad HDD,,, then you need to get your data off ASAP , (not joking)
If the memory is bad, you need to replace it ASAP cause bad memory can cause mass data corruption

Either way, run the scans, if either are bad, you need to know. Neither is a good thing to go un-noticed or un-repaired.

Memory Diags should run for no less than 4 to 6 hours.
If you use Microsoft Memory Diags (recommended), when it starts, hit 't' to run extended
let it run for no less than what I said, if there are no errors by then, then memory should be fine

Run Manufacturers HDD Diags. no one else, unless it's a Toshiba drive, then you could try Western Digital WDDiags or Seagate Seatools. Toshiba sucks.
 
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I think my lag spikes have gone away after the check disk as well, but I'm still not 100% sure.
I think Divx still lags (not nearly as much as the others, which I suspect might be the cause of ANOTHER seperate problem in itself), but chrome and msn don't seem to be lagging anymore, which is great.

Now the only problem that remains is why I have around 50GB missing from my HD.

Do you think I should still do the memory diags? Also, I'm not exactly sure how to do it, I know kemical put up a link, but I couldn't really figure it out.

Thanks again guys.
 
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Hi Sina,
if you checkout the memtest page, full instructions are given on how to use the app.

As for your missing 50GB.. I wonder if it's in your system restore section.... Try checking the configure page
(see screenshots which show you how to get there and then the actual dialogue box)
 
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Oops...sorry about that Sina..

I did a little googling and found this link Link Removed

Now I don't think it has an actual solution but it might offer some clues as to what might be causing this issue..
 
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kemical said:
Oops...sorry about that Sina..

I did a little googling and found this link Link Removed

Now I don't think it has an actual solution but it might offer some clues as to what might be causing this issue..
Click to expand...

Unfortunantly about 2 months ago when I first noticed this problem I came across that same forum thread, and I couldn't use it for anything.

So far I've brought down my system restore space down to the minimum, erased all my previous system restores, I have no back up files on my computer or a system image or anything. And the weird thing is that My Computer only shows 595 GB worth of space.

The first day my new computer came in, and I put all the parts together, and popped in the Windows 7 DVD, the format screen only showed 595GB worth of space; while PC Wizard clearly sees that I have a 640GB hardrive.
 
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LOL..... I just realised where your missing GB's are...

It's all to to with 'Gigabytes and Gibibytes'...

When you buy a drive, you look at the size which is given in Gigabytes. The pc/os however see's HDD sizes in Gibibytes.

Gibibyte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A 'Gibibyte is 1024 'Mebibytes' and when you convert 640 Gigabytes to Gibibytes the figure is 596 or there abouts..

data storage size conversions online

I did a conversion for you and is in the screenshot..

Thats why whenever you buy a drive it always appears smaller when attached to your machine..

I hope this clears it up for you...
 
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Solution


Oooooooh!!! haha, well that clears THAT up. Last thursday my comp. science teacher was talking about how HDD manufacterers don't put the proper units, I didn't quite understand what he meant, but now I see it!

Thanks for all your help! Couldn't have done it without you guys.
It still remains a mystery though as to why my Divx lags when I play movies or videos, both on the web and in the player.
I usually have to save the divx videos, open them in WM11, and THEN i can properly play the video.
I don't suppose anyone has any idea as to why that happens do they?
 
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So your saying that the movies play ok when you save them to your HDD but if you watch them straight off the net you get lags and stutter?
If that is the case then your download speed might not be enough to properly stream movies ect...
 
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No, if I'm watching anything on Divx player, be it on the internet or on my desktop, it stutters every so often.
It plays smoothly with WM11.
It doesn't have anything to do with my internet for a number of reasons:
1. I have a 10Mbps connection, which 90% of the time gets used to full potential (which is around 1.1MB/s)
2. I usually let it stream till the end
3. If i don't let it stream to the end, the buffer bar is always miles ahead of where I'm watching.

In this problem I can assure you my internet connection is working properly, this only happens with Divx player, and occasionally Quicktime player.
Before my new computer I had a really crappy 4-5 year old PC, which was as loud as a vacuum, even that computer could handle Divx to near perfection, which is why I'm baffled why my new rig with Windows 7 64-bit is having problems.
 
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Yea Divx 7, is the one I have, I checked yesterday for a newer version but nothing.
It's odd, Divx hasn't even done a small update or patch in months..
 
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