Electronics

[scotttie]

On 10/10/2014 Lynnj said: There is something (or a bunch of something's) that are using up your CPU. This is not good for your computer, or hard drive. I am sure you can hear the fan noise and I bet the bottom is very hot. What are you doing at the time you get these messages? Are you playing any games? Facebook games? Do yourself a favor, make a back up of the hard drive on an external hard drive ASAP. If these messages are happening frequently, and you can't figure out what is taking up the CPU, you'll run the risk of the computer hard drive crashing.

Thanks Lynn. No, I don't hear the fan and I have no Facebook account anymore. Thanks for the advice about backing up the hard drive.

[scotttie]

On 10/11/2014 PamelaSue72 said:

The Vista OS is known for "hard drive thrashing". Most often, it's because of Search Indexing. I completely disabled Search Indexing on my DH's Vista system; the constant drive thrashing gets beyond annoying. That worked for several months, but I've noticed that the drive has started to thrash again and now, I don't know what to do to stop it. It's pretty much constant, from the time we start the computer until I get so frustrated I have to shut it back down.

Google "Vista hard drive thrashing" and you'll see what I mean. I think this is what you're talking about. It has nothing to do with malware; it has nothing to do with any program or software that you're running. Check it out.

It's a common thing with Vista and if you figure out how to stop it (and keep it stopped), please let me know.

Thank you. I have never heard of hard drive thrashing. And I have never heard of search indexing. Is there a downside to disabling it?

I'm getting in the mood for a new computer but want to wait for the new Windows 10 to come out.

[scotttie]

Thank you very much to all who responded.

PS: This is a desk top and not a lap top computer

[glb613]

I did a complete restore on a computer a friend owns. After I installed all of the security software, it ran so slow, it stopped. I was able to determine it was the free/trial version of Malwarebytes using all of the resources. Once it was uninstalled, the computer ran great. I was able to find an old version of Malwarebytes(free edition), install it and it didn't hog resources. Chances are there is a program on your computer doing the same thing.

[gardenman]

It's not always something obvious. A few years back the Google Toolbar would occasionally grab every resource it could get its hands on. If it recurs open Task Manager, click on the "Processes" tab, click on the bottom left where it says "Show all processes from all users," click okay when you get the warning and then take a look at what's using the CPU. In most cases the big user should be System Idle which means that most of your CPU is just sitting there waiting for something to come along and need it. If you see a big reading anyplace else, then that's your problem child. There are some processes you don't necessarily want to shut down, so if it's one of them, then a restart is your best bet. If it's something else, then you can try shutting down that process and see what happens. If it recurs routinely and the offender is something you can live without, check for an updated version, or delete the offending program.

When you click on the "Processes" tab you'll get a heading with Image Name, User Name, CPU, Memory, and Description. The CPU column will show you what's using the CPU and how much it's using. You may have to scroll all the way down to find the big users. Once you know what's using the CPU then the Image Name and Description will give you a starting point to identify the software causing the trouble.

[poregirl]

Internet explorer browser is a piece of junk bloatware that uses too much resources. I recommend Opera browser.

I would suspect malware too.

[Mayfayre]

On Vista, in addition to Search Indexing hogging the CPU, Windows Problem Reporting will also cause things to hang. I turned off both of those on my Vista computers.

Run > services.msc, then right click on whatever service you need and click Properties.

If you want to know which services are safe to disable or set to manual on Vista, check out Black Viper's website. He's been providing reliable information about services on all Windows OSes for years now. I found out about his website from a Computer Security forum that I belong to, and I've used his site as a reference site since WinME days.

http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-vista-service-configurations/

[scotttie]

On 10/11/2014 gardenman said:

It's not always something obvious. A few years back the Google Toolbar would occasionally grab every resource it could get its hands on. If it recurs open Task Manager, click on the "Processes" tab, click on the bottom left where it says "Show all processes from all users," click okay when you get the warning and then take a look at what's using the CPU. In most cases the big user should be System Idle which means that most of your CPU is just sitting there waiting for something to come along and need it. If you see a big reading anyplace else, then that's your problem child. There are some processes you don't necessarily want to shut down, so if it's one of them, then a restart is your best bet. If it's something else, then you can try shutting down that process and see what happens. If it recurs routinely and the offender is something you can live without, check for an updated version, or delete the offending program.

When you click on the "Processes" tab you'll get a heading with Image Name, User Name, CPU, Memory, and Description. The CPU column will show you what's using the CPU and how much it's using. You may have to scroll all the way down to find the big users. Once you know what's using the CPU then the Image Name and Description will give you a starting point to identify the software causing the trouble.

Thank you. It happened tonight and I did the task manager and "unhooked" the MSN messaging thingy that I never use anyway. Also, there was another program but I can't recall and I took that off too. I looked at the warning window and couldn't make hide nor hair of the information there but I didn't click the processes tab. I will do that next time!

Thank you gardenman. You are always so helpful.

[scotttie]

On 10/11/2014 poregirl said:

Internet explorer browser is a piece of junk bloatware that uses too much resources. I recommend Opera browser.

I would suspect malware too.

Thank you but I don't want to change browsers. Every time I have I was sorry. I HATED Google Chrome and I'm not real fond of firefox although I use it occasionally.

[scotttie]

On 10/12/2014 Mayfayre said:

On Vista, in addition to Search Indexing hogging the CPU, Windows Problem Reporting will also cause things to hang. I turned off both of those on my Vista computers.

Run > services.msc, then right click on whatever service you need and click Properties.

If you want to know which services are safe to disable or set to manual on Vista, check out Black Viper's website. He's been providing reliable information about services on all Windows OSes for years now. I found out about his website from a Computer Security forum that I belong to, and I've used his site as a reference site since WinME days.

http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-vista-service-configurations/

Thank you. I will check this out. I don't know what search indexing is btw.