My computer is dieing...I think...

[American Jet]

Each day I feel like my computer is dieing. When I start the computer sometimes it actually starts freezing. I feel like its at the slowest,
and it will grow slower just as soon as I get FsX installed and Windows Vista along with it. Does anybody know why in the world its doing
this? Am I stupid, is it the RAM, is it Fs2004, or some program, or am I stupid?

Please answer my question.
American Jet



Post Edited ( 09-26-06 22:47 )

[Dutch64]

what are the specs? How well maintained is your pc (like mane installed and deinstalled software etc)

[Mikecd04]

Have you run any anti virus/spyware software, to check for viruses and spyware, they are notorious for slowing pc's down

[Mac]

When you're at the desktop, press CTRL + ALT + DEL and look at the processes tab. In the bottom left corner it shows you how many applications are
running. I have 47, which for a 64bit 2.0 GHz processor and 1Gb RAM is about optimal.
You could also look at the performance tab while running FS, and look at the CPU and PF (RAM) usage. If its consistantly high (and/or you have a lot
of processes running) you might need to uninstall some programs tieing up your resources.

[American Jet]

Im checking everything except the antivirus check, I already checked Friday and I see its not that.

[Ryanamur]

When was the last time you defragged your hard drive or formated your PC? I defrag every week and format/reinstall everything at most
every 6 months... sometimes as much as every 3 months. Nothing like a fresh install to get your PC working smoothly again!

Phil

[lar007]

I format and reinstall about once a year. I'd like to do it more frequently but with all these FS add-ons it's becoming more of a pain.

Try installing and running these first:

spybot: http://www.spybot.info/en/download/index.html
adaware: http://www.lavasoft.com/
toniarts registry cleaner: http://personal.inet.fi/business/toniarts/ecleane.htm

1. Go through add/remove programs and clear the clutter
2. Remove unnecessary processes using 'msconfig'
3. Clear Internet cache
4. Then Scandisk and Defrag

If that doesn't work, try the format and re-install.

[AKLupine]

Sorry I don't have a link to add here but get a copy of FSAutostart. It shuts down stuff that you don't need running in the background. I usually
recover about 100 megs with it. Keep your PC on the desktop and not on the floor as it will allow for better cooling. A hot PC doesn't want to work
any harder than a hot Brian, and I should know Be sure you have enough cooling under the hood and that airflow isn't restricked by wiring. Get a
can of air and blow out the dust bunnies at least every 6 months, I would recommend quarterly.

[olseric]

It's possible that componet could be failing as well.

You could try running MEMTEST to see if there are any errors there. That's easy enough. Then run a scandisk test for errors on the HDD.

If you eliminate that problem, I would start by looking at the PSU. It's the cheapest thing to replace and most often the culprit. What size
PSU do you have and what's the system specs it's supporting?

[andy14]

I use system machanic 6

http://www.iolo.com/sm/6pro/index.cfm



Post Edited ( 09-29-06 18:55 )

[HB-100]

If you have enough memory installed (I have 1.5Gybte) then disable the virtual memory.
I rooted out that this was a big performance killer in another game (not FS) and since then I have it off. (little tricky because windows
does not like it and turns it on again on some system)

But with 1.5Gbyte ram fix no virtual ram it is essential that you kill all the sorry the word ('idotic') processes that dont need to run from
start anyway.

at least kill
-> ALL logictec (worst wast of resources ever)
-> ALL apple (second worse)
-> ALL hewlwett packard
-> java (sun)
-> java (microsoft)
-> sql (microsoft) (yeah why not wasting 100Gbyte for nothing)
-> msn (microsoft)
and what else you find on your PC that is not from microsoft and that does not lead to a crash when you kill it.

Download a command line process killer and write a .bat file and creat an icon. So you can kill everything with one click.
the bat file looks like that:
Process -k sqlservr.exe
....

Always keep: firewall and when possible keep antivirus too

I have only 33 processes running when I start FS or other games and still you could reduce them to even less.

The only memory problem I have is when I shrink (more stable than alt-tab) the FS to window mode and start a very cpu and memory
intensive application. But web surfing and even watching videos on goole or youtube is no problem. It's just every a little slow opening
then.

For FsX and Vista I would consider to wait and buy a new system in half a year rather than to try to put it in the limited enviournement of
older systems if you have an older system.