Computer: Slow between commands & High CPU usage

[Philz]

Hello I was wondering if someone could help me...

I have an AMD 2000+, 512 RAM, computer. It was fine untill a few weeks ago when out of no where it started lagging 4-8 seconds after each command. Everytime I went to switch windows or programs it would lag 4-6 seconds. In that time the CPU usage would go to 100%.

I have nortions, Ad-ware- Spybot S&D ect and scan once a week so there isn't a problem there.

I haven't really changed anything I can remember since this started so I have no idea what it might be...

But It's really hard to work when changing Firefox windows takes 6-7 seconds....

If anyone can help me I will do anything!

[alc6379]

Just curious... What process jumps up to 100% when it spikes like this?

[dp11]

can this problem be due to excessive fragmentation????

[MartyMcFly]

Are you sure that you have enough room on your primary partition, (c:\ drive) for your page file. For your amount of RAM that should be 800mb in an ideal world, and definately something higher than 512mb.

fragmentation would happen over a period of time and would not be noticable as an immediate change, but adding something to your system that eliminates room from virtual memory would.

Other than that I suppose a OS fault or hardware fault could be to blame, but not easy to diagnose.

[srp555]

Have you tried defragmenting your HD?
When you use everyday applications like your net browser or even Microsoft outlook, temporary files are created and used in the background; these files might get heavily fragmented. And everytime you use the same applications, they have to read these fragmented files which results in performance degradation. It’s generally noticed that slow down of applications can be because of excessive fragmentation.
Try running a defragmenter on your HD. If you haven’t defragmented in a long time, it would be a good idea to do so regularly as it can speed up your PC considerably.