1. SPS Accounts:
    Do you find yourself coming back time after time? Do you appreciate the ongoing hard work to keep this community focused and successful in its mission? Please consider supporting us by upgrading to an SPS Account. Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling that comes from supporting a good cause, you'll also get a significant number of ever-expanding perks and benefits on the site and the forums. Click here to find out more.
    Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
You are currently viewing Boards o' Magick as a guest, but you can register an account here. Registration is fast, easy and free. Once registered you will have access to search the forums, create and respond to threads, PM other members, upload screenshots and access many other features unavailable to guests.

BoM cultivates a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. We have been aiming for quality over quantity with our forums from their inception, and believe that this distinction is truly tangible and valued by our members. We'd love to have you join us today!

(If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you've forgotten your username or password, click here.)

Laptop slowdown issues...HELP!

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Faraaz, Jul 3, 2005.

  1. Faraaz Gems: 26/31
    Latest gem: Diamond

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2003
    Messages:
    2,403
    Likes Received:
    0
    Remove all ads!
    Right...well, I bought a laptop about 5 months ago, with the following details:

    Dell Inspiron 9100
    3.2 GHz P4 with HT
    1 GB DDR-SDRAM (266 Mhz I THINK...not sure about this)
    256 MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9800
    100 GB HDD
    Windows XP Home Edition with SP2 (preinstalled)

    The problem is that the system used to run fine when I got it. But from about a couple of weeks ago...it slows down a LOT! I used to get 30 fps in Doom III a month ago. Now I get 5!!

    Same thing with Half Life 2...even Condition Zero for crying out loud! I don't get more than 5-10 fps in Condition Zero when playing in SINGLE PLAYER!! :(

    I realy have no idea why this is happening and I am really hoping you guys can help me out with this.

    Any additional details required?
     
    Faraaz, Jul 3, 2005
    #1
  2. Morgoth

    Morgoth La lune ne garde aucune rancune Veteran

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2002
    Messages:
    3,652
    Media:
    8
    Likes Received:
    86
    Gender:
    Male
    Any processes taking up huge amounts of memory, or CPU time even?
     
    Morgoth, Jul 3, 2005
    #2
  3. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2000
    Messages:
    23,645
    Media:
    494
    Likes Received:
    564
    Gender:
    Male
    Christ, that laptop's got twice as much firepower as my desktop box... That must have cost a pretty penny...

    Try defragging your hard drive.
     
    Taluntain, Jul 4, 2005
    #3

  4. Faraaz Gems: 26/31
    Latest gem: Diamond

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2003
    Messages:
    2,403
    Likes Received:
    0
    That's the thing...I defrag my hard drive once a month...I've even scheduled it in that task manager thing.

    A few further details I think.

    I was in Sydney when I purchased it, but I came to India for my holidays. This was a week ago. After reaching India, the slowdowns have gotten a lot worse. Also, the laptop heats up a LOT...I'm thinking that this is the reason for the slowdown.

    Earlier, I could leave it just running idle for hours together with no ill effects, but now just leaving it running for an hour or so gets it so heated up I can't keep it on my lap without burning myself!

    Any reasons for this?

    @Tal: Heh...yeah...but I've been saving up for a LOONG while for it, and I got it at a discount so it wasn't that expensive.

    This is embarassing!! I couldn't even play Condition Zero at a LAN party last night! Help!
     
    Faraaz, Jul 5, 2005
    #4

  5. Chimera Gems: 5/31
    Latest gem: Andar

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2004
    Messages:
    123
    Likes Received:
    0
    Run diagnostics and check if all of the fans are working.
     
    Chimera, Jul 5, 2005
    #5

  6. Faraaz Gems: 26/31
    Latest gem: Diamond

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2003
    Messages:
    2,403
    Likes Received:
    0
    How do I do that?

    Alright...I just started it up and it takes AGES for just the Windows login screen to come on, let alone actually doing anything on it.

    Help!
     
    Faraaz, Jul 5, 2005
    #6
  7. Colthrun

    Colthrun Walk first in the forest and last in the bog Veteran

    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2004
    Messages:
    1,856
    Likes Received:
    6
    Gender:
    Male
    Faraaz, check the recommended humidity and temperature conditions for the laptop in the documentation. It is possible that extreme heat or humidity are affecting the processor.

    Regarding checking the fans in diagnostics: some computers/laptops nowadays have a Diagnostics Mode accessible from the startup screen. Check for any options displayed when the system is booting up.

    You may also check the Dell Forums. I found this article: Inspiron 9100 heat issue
     
    Colthrun, Jul 5, 2005
    #7

  8. Chimera Gems: 5/31
    Latest gem: Andar

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2004
    Messages:
    123
    Likes Received:
    0
    Chimera, Jul 5, 2005
    #8

  9. Faraaz Gems: 26/31
    Latest gem: Diamond

    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2003
    Messages:
    2,403
    Likes Received:
    0
    Thanks guys.

    I've sort of pinpointed the problem to heat issues.

    I got heaps of anti-spyware stuff from Download.com and checked my system and found nothing of the sort. Also, apart from Norton AV, tons of games like Doom III, KOTOR II etc, and Microsoft Office, I don't have anything installed on my system.

    I'm going to be handing it in to customer support once I'm back in Australia for a month's time, so that they might be able to clear this out for me. I think it is very likely that dust is the issue here.

    Thanks a lot to Colthrun for that link...the problems that other guy had were exactly the same as mine! :) Hopefully, a cooling pad can work out as a successful temporary fix.
     
    Faraaz, Jul 5, 2005
    #9
Sorcerer's Place is a project run entirely by fans and for fans. Maintaining Sorcerer's Place and a stable environment for all our hosted sites requires a substantial amount of our time and funds on a regular basis, so please consider supporting us to keep the site up & running smoothly. Thank you!

Sorcerers.net is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products on amazon.com, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.