Computer Slows Down
I have a laptop that slows down through out the day. By the end of the day it's so slow that the user can't get anything done. Any idea what causes this and how to fix it.
The machine is a Dell Laptop 266 with 64mb's. It connects to a NT Server and a Novell server.
Thanks
The machine is a Dell Laptop 266 with 64mb's. It connects to a NT Server and a Novell server.
Thanks
ASKER
Has over 2 gbs free space on the hdd
Is it overheating, and slowing itself down, in order to protect itself?
If you shutdown and reboot, is it still slow?
If you shutdown and reboot, is it still slow?
What operating system are you running. Windows 95 is notorious for running out of memory depending on how you open and close applications. If your user is opening and closing applications all day, this will fill up the memory and the system will need a reboot.
What applications are you running. Some applications cause the same memory leak problems that windows 95 does.
How long has it been since you did a scandisk and defrag of the hard drive. Regular disk maintenence will help improve system throughput even on NT systems. They say NT doesn't frag the hard drive and they're wrong. Diskeeper is a good program to use in NT defrags.
Good Luck!
What applications are you running. Some applications cause the same memory leak problems that windows 95 does.
How long has it been since you did a scandisk and defrag of the hard drive. Regular disk maintenence will help improve system throughput even on NT systems. They say NT doesn't frag the hard drive and they're wrong. Diskeeper is a good program to use in NT defrags.
Good Luck!
ASKER
I don't know if it's over heating or not. This just started to happen in the last week or so. Yeah if you shut down and reboot it's still slow. But if it sits for a while it's not.
How would check to see if it's overheating? and what can be done about it. It is after all a Dell Laptop
Thanks
How would check to see if it's overheating? and what can be done about it. It is after all a Dell Laptop
Thanks
Strange. Could it be running a virus checker or using Microsoft's Fast Indexer in these periods? It sounds like it's doing something and when it is finished it's OK again.
Some IBM laptops will regulate the speed of the CPU based on how hot it gets. So the longer it is on, the slower it will get. You might need to just turn off that feature in the BIOS or with the system utilties. You may also have a failed cooling fan that is allowing the CPU to get way too hot.
i think Otta's on the right track. Sounds like overheating to me.
If any vent holes are clogged and the fan isn't running at it's full capacity, then the CPU overheats and the system slows and in some cases will kick out errors all over the place. Have the unit checked out by service center ASAP.
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Have you checked the resources remained in the Windows when it is running slow? You may find this info in Control Panel -> System -> Performance -> Resources. If it is very low, eg: below 30%, actually, you can't run anymore program at all. So, do you have a lot of programs/drivers running at the background at that time? Try to remove it one by one to check which one is causing the slow machine.
ASKER
Yes, I Checked that and at the time of running slow it showed 84%
Did you check the free disk space on the harddisk at the end of the day......maybe he has a very large swap-file then and there is no hd space left....