[shermlindcastle]

Hi, I have a Toshiba Satellite A505 with a 2.10 GHz processor, 4 GBs RAM, Vista, and every now and then (probably less than once an hour) things will slow down for a couple seconds, and the "thinking" spinning circle will come up. This is fine if I'm just browsing the web and the like, but if I'm listening to music audio will cut out. Worse still, I produce music and DJ with Ableton Live and audio will drop out in that as well, even with ASIO drivers enabled.

I think it's the CPU just deciding it can take a break for a second or two, but this isn't okay in certain situations. Are there any programs or settings that I can change that will make performance more consistent in any way? By the way, this problem happens even with the power in "High Performance" mode.

Thanks for any help, and sorry if this seems like a trivial problem.

m.

[smax013]

shermlindcastle, on 14 January 2010 - 10:04 PM, said:

Hi, I have a Toshiba Satellite A505 with a 2.10 GHz processor, 4 GBs RAM, Vista, and every now and then (probably less than once an hour) things will slow down for a couple seconds, and the "thinking" spinning circle will come up. This is fine if I'm just browsing the web and the like, but if I'm listening to music audio will cut out. Worse still, I produce music and DJ with Ableton Live and audio will drop out in that as well, even with ASIO drivers enabled.

I think it's the CPU just deciding it can take a break for a second or two, but this isn't okay in certain situations. Are there any programs or settings that I can change that will make performance more consistent in any way? By the way, this problem happens even with the power in "High Performance" mode.

Thanks for any help, and sorry if this seems like a trivial problem.

m.

You might want to pull up the Task Manager (or whatever Vista calls it) and click on the Processes tab and then sort by CPU usage and try to see if you can spot what process is using the CPU when that happens. This might lead us to the problem.

[LincolnSpector]

shermlindcastle, on 14 January 2010 - 10:04 PM, said:

Hi, I have a Toshiba Satellite A505 with a 2.10 GHz processor, 4 GBs RAM, Vista, and every now and then (probably less than once an hour) things will slow down for a couple seconds, and the "thinking" spinning circle will come up. This is fine if I'm just browsing the web and the like, but if I'm listening to music audio will cut out. Worse still, I produce music and DJ with Ableton Live and audio will drop out in that as well, even with ASIO drivers enabled.

I think it's the CPU just deciding it can take a break for a second or two, but this isn't okay in certain situations. Are there any programs or settings that I can change that will make performance more consistent in any way? By the way, this problem happens even with the power in "High Performance" mode.

Thanks for any help, and sorry if this seems like a trivial problem.

m.

A question and a theory.

The question: When did this start? How long had you been using the computer at that time?

The theory: Malware is a possibility. Some infection may be using your PC for criminal profit.

Try scanning your PC with something other than your already-installed antivirus program (which, by definition, has failed). I recommend either SUPERAntiSpywareor Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware.

Lincoln

[shermlindcastle]

Hi, thanks for your replies. I've scanned for malware, only one item was found. I removed it, but the problem persists. I have tried to watch the task manager processes when it happens, but it happens too infrequently and too quickly for me to find anything. I will keep trying that. Any other thoughts?

[rgreen4]

shermlindcastle, on 16 January 2010 - 12:05 PM, said:

Hi, thanks for your replies. I've scanned for malware, only one item was found. I removed it, but the problem persists. I have tried to watch the task manager processes when it happens, but it happens too infrequently and too quickly for me to find anything. I will keep trying that. Any other thoughts?

Try keeping the task manager window open so that when it slows down you can click on the window to open it. It's a lot faster than trying to open task manager. If you have a wide screen monitor, you may want to shrink your main window a bit to allow the task manager window to remain open but reduced in side on the side.

[LincolnSpector]

shermlindcastle, on 16 January 2010 - 12:05 PM, said:

Hi, thanks for your replies. I've scanned for malware, only one item was found. I removed it, but the problem persists. I have tried to watch the task manager processes when it happens, but it happens too infrequently and too quickly for me to find anything. I will keep trying that. Any other thoughts?

What did you scan with? If it's whatever antivirus you have running at all times, that doesn't count. If your PC is infected, the program's probably already compromised.

And you need to answer the first question: When did the problem start and how long had you been using this PC before the problem started?

Lincoln

[shermlindcastle]

LincolnSpector, on 17 January 2010 - 11:07 AM, said:

shermlindcastle, on 16 January 2010 - 12:05 PM, said:

Hi, thanks for your replies. I've scanned for malware, only one item was found. I removed it, but the problem persists. I have tried to watch the task manager processes when it happens, but it happens too infrequently and too quickly for me to find anything. I will keep trying that. Any other thoughts?

What did you scan with? If it's whatever antivirus you have running at all times, that doesn't count. If your PC is infected, the program's probably already compromised.

And you need to answer the first question: When did the problem start and how long had you been using this PC before the problem started?

Lincoln

I used Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. I've had the computer since early August 2009, problem-free. The problem has been happening for about 2 weeks I would say. I installed VLC Media Player and Fences, a desktop managing application around that time, but I don't see why those would cause any problems. I have tried uninstalling them (don't really need them anyway), but no luck.

Thanks,
m.

[matchbox2022]

There's always the good old system restore. Tried that yet? If it's on there should be some image for 2 weeks ago.

[LincolnSpector]

shermlindcastle, on 17 January 2010 - 10:10 PM, said:

I used Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. I've had the computer since early August 2009, problem-free. The problem has been happening for about 2 weeks I would say. I installed VLC Media Player and Fences, a desktop managing application around that time, but I don't see why those would cause any problems. I have tried uninstalling them (don't really need them anyway), but no luck.

Thanks,
m.

One of those two programs is almost certainly the culprit. As RGreen suggested, a system restore from before the installation might work.

What happened when you tried uninstalling them. (The fact that the uninstalls failed suggests that these are not well-behaved programs, which adds to my suspicion that one is causing problems.)

Lincoln

[shermlindcastle]

LincolnSpector, on 19 January 2010 - 08:32 AM, said:

shermlindcastle, on 17 January 2010 - 10:10 PM, said:

I used Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. I've had the computer since early August 2009, problem-free. The problem has been happening for about 2 weeks I would say. I installed VLC Media Player and Fences, a desktop managing application around that time, but I don't see why those would cause any problems. I have tried uninstalling them (don't really need them anyway), but no luck.

Thanks,
m.

One of those two programs is almost certainly the culprit. As RGreen suggested, a system restore from before the installation might work.

What happened when you tried uninstalling them. (The fact that the uninstalls failed suggests that these are not well-behaved programs, which adds to my suspicion that one is causing problems.)

Lincoln

Wait, my post wasn't clear, or maybe i misunderstood yours. I was successful in uninstalling both programs, but this didn't solve the problem. So the uninstalls were successful, they just didn't fix anything.

Anyway, I did a system restore and it seems to have helped, but I think it's too early to say that everything is back to normal. Thanks,

m.

[LincolnSpector]

shermlindcastle, on 19 January 2010 - 12:38 PM, said:

Wait, my post wasn't clear, or maybe i misunderstood yours. I was successful in uninstalling both programs, but this didn't solve the problem. So the uninstalls were successful, they just didn't fix anything.

Anyway, I did a system restore and it seems to have helped, but I think it's too early to say that everything is back to normal. Thanks,

m.

Thanks for clarifying that.

Unfortunately, what you describe is all too typical. All too often, an uninstaller removes its program's functionality, but not the harm it does to Windows.

Have you tried System Restore?

Lincoln

[shermlindcastle]

I have tried system restore, but it did not help.

[jan7]

shermlindcastle, on 20 January 2010 - 05:48 PM, said:

I have tried system restore, but it did not help.

Hello, I just solved a long-standing problem I had with Firefox malfunction. A side effect of this malfunction was wildly fluctuating cpu usage . I kept the task manager open and when the icon turned completely green checked which program was causing the surge. It was firefox, I manually shut it down many times, since it would lock-up my system. I gave it up as my browser, until I found a forum stating my add-ons may be the cause. I shut down add-ons a little at a time--restarting, until full function returned, and with that change in Firefox, it is as quick as Chrome, and the cpu surges stopped too

[rgreen4]

jan7, on 04 February 2010 - 11:10 AM, said:

shermlindcastle, on 20 January 2010 - 05:48 PM, said:

I have tried system restore, but it did not help.

Hello, I just solved a long-standing problem I had with Firefox malfunction. A side effect of this malfunction was wildly fluctuating cpu usage . I kept the task manager open and when the icon turned completely green checked which program was causing the surge. It was firefox, I manually shut it down many times, since it would lock-up my system. I gave it up as my browser, until I found a forum stating my add-ons may be the cause. I shut down add-ons a little at a time--restarting, until full function returned, and with that change in Firefox, it is as quick as Chrome, and the cpu surges stopped too

Which add-in was it?

[A41202813]

My Performance Problems Were Related With Some M$ Hungry Update(s).

[shermlindcastle]

jan7, on 04 February 2010 - 11:10 AM, said:

shermlindcastle, on 20 January 2010 - 05:48 PM, said:

I have tried system restore, but it did not help.

Hello, I just solved a long-standing problem I had with Firefox malfunction. A side effect of this malfunction was wildly fluctuating cpu usage . I kept the task manager open and when the icon turned completely green checked which program was causing the surge. It was firefox, I manually shut it down many times, since it would lock-up my system. I gave it up as my browser, until I found a forum stating my add-ons may be the cause. I shut down add-ons a little at a time--restarting, until full function returned, and with that change in Firefox, it is as quick as Chrome, and the cpu surges stopped too

Hmmmm. The only add-ons (extensions at least) I have are Greasemonkey, 4chan, and Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant. Plugins are pretty standard (flash, acrobat, silverlight, etc). Also, my problem happens if i'm using Chrome or Firefox.