Stuttering(Not in HL2.)

[Alix Mcdean]

Hi there.

My computer has been stuttering like a MOFO lately. Be in a game, or just listening to music on ITunes. Let me explain in a scenario-
I have Itunes playing, no other processes other than what Windows absolutely needs. While listening to the music I can click a program, so lets say FireFox to check out HL2.net. Asoon as Firefox starts to load, my music starts stuttering, along with the rest of my computer, everything slows down dramaticly. My music will keep stuttering untill I pause and then push play again.

Now it's not just with music, its with anything. Games stutter after awhile, everything just starts getting jumpy.

It wasnt always like this, it wasnt untill about the begining of summer did my computer start making a slight click noise at the harddrive/dvd-rom area every so often, which would also lead to my computer stuttering while it did that.


Anyone have any suggestions? My computer is clean of viruses, spware and has also been defragged within the past 3 days. I've taken C02 to all the fans and coolants to make sure theres no dust backup.

Specs:
3.2 Gig Pentium 4 with HT.
1 GIG Ddr ram.
60GB HD. 20% Free space.


-Alix

 

[Asus]

How much free space do you have on your harddrive?

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

He said 20%, and as Asus is suggesting, that is most likely the cause. My suggestion: remove useless programs and games you haven’t played in a while, or simply reformat (which is what I would do).

 

[Alix Mcdean]

I'll give that a shot.

I've had 5% and not even the slightest stutter untill recently tho, so i'm not quite sure how that would fully effect.

-Alix

 

[Asus]

Windows update isn't downloading anything is it?

 

[Alix Mcdean]

Nope, no downloading from Windows Update. Infact i've turned it off.

Deleted a bunch of stuff, didint seem to make much of a difference. then again, it was only 4-5 gigs I free'd up.

 

[holydeadpenguins]

Reformat.

 

[sinkoman]

My pc's been like this too ever since I got the new windows update. Also, every time I start my PC up now, it goes into a windows file system check, and until recently, it hasn't been correcting anything. Just the last time, it took maybe a half hour for the file check to finish, but so far i've been problem free since it.

 

[jabberwock95]

Installed any new programs/drivers recently?

 

[DEATH eVADER]

My pc's been like this too ever since I got the new windows update. Also, every time I start my PC up now, it goes into a windows file system check, and until recently, it hasn't been correcting anything. Just the last time, it took maybe a half hour for the file check to finish, but so far i've been problem free since it.

It sounds like a problem my mate had, do you turn off properly, connected to the internet, have anti-virus software?

 

[Glirk Dient]

Defrag your hard drive! After that get rid of all the crap you don't need. Something is hogging up your processor, and it sounds like windows can't find enough memory so it starts to hog the processor.

 

[Alix Mcdean]

As I explained in the first post-

I've defragged, twice now actualy.
Ran diskclean up now.
Free'd up about 50% of my HDD.

Still stuttering like a foo.

-Alix

 

[Alix Mcdean]

Dont mean to bump really, just dont want this thread to get lost and not get any idea's from people on what the problem could be .


P.S. Dont mean to double post either ;(

-Alix

 

[Asus]

Is HyperThreading turned On? Check bios.

Have you messed with virutal memory? That can cause problems if you set things wrong. Personally I have it at default.

If you think excess background programs might be the cause. Go to start/run and type msconfig. Then go to the Startup tab and check out the programs checkmarked. Look at the path or the name to the right to see what program it is and if its something you know doesn't need to startup then uncheck the box. Next time you start windows it will tell you things have been modified.

Have a CD/DVD in the optical drive? That can cause pauses when your PC tries to read the disc or if it's a CD with audio on it then iTunes might try to read it.

How old is your harddrive? Maybe download some diagnostic tools from the manufactures website to see if they catch anything with your harddrive.
Also, maybe your harddrive went on standby. Check power management to see if it's on the 'Always On' power scheme. (display properties/screensaver tab/ power)