[Spencer2004]

ok so this might be a shot in the dark at best but here goes. i have a basic computer that has been playing me up for years, it has been running very slow for its spec and i have seen computers half its spec run faster than it.

i am cirtin that these things arent causing it:

• a virus - i know its not a virus because i have done multiple reformats and virus scans with different virus scanners and its all clear
• background tasks - all that is running in the background is avg free antivirus, i have disabled some of the ono essential services in windows aswell
• background file transfers - it is still slow when dissconnected from my home network

i have a suspission that theres something up with my fsb, for example its too low. i also have a susspission that its a ram deficiency but 256MB (minus 32mb vram) is enough isnt it? well anyway all the info you need is below mabey you can figure it out. by the way i will be uploading a 3dmark score aswell.

by the way i have onboard graphics if that helps.

[Dave Hybrid]

Open device manager then primary IDE channel, check the tabs, is it in PIO mode or DMA?

[Spencer2004]

its in DMA mode, so is the secondary ide channel if that helps.

[Dave Hybrid]

Sometimes drives get stuck in PIO mode which causes a painfully slow machine, was worth a shot.

[Dave Hybrid]

Are you running anything like Norton or McAfee.

How much RAM has the machine got?

[Spencer2004]

like i said im running avg free and i have 256mb of ram (32mb used by onboard graphics)

[kanoakavirus]

How much of your hd is free? also it wouldn't hurt to go to 1gb RAM.

[Dave Hybrid]

Are you running XP, 256MB is no way near enough and from experience will cause a slow PC, all day long.

XP alone needs 256MB, then you have all your software etc. Stick at least another 512MB in, it will cost peanuts.

[Spencer2004]

omg it was that all allong? ok ill have to buy some ram, thanks for the help guys!!