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Hey guys,
I've been running Windows Vista for a couple months now with no major problems until recently. Sometime within the past couple weeks, my computer has been running very abnormally sluggish, even when i have no programs running. Simple tasks such as opening an explorer window or program now sometimes takes 15 seconds - 1 minute. I've noticed in task manager very high physical memory usage (see screenshots below). I've looked in the processes tab and have noticed nothing under the ordinary, and i've run an adaware, windows defender, and virus scans, and nothing seems to be popping up. The only programs that i have on startup are windows defender and my mobo's sound program. I've noticed that the physical memory usage spikes radically, going from 30-40%, all the way to 99% about every 30 seconds or so. I've tried running in safemode, and everything seems to be running absolutely fine. The problem usually happens a couple mninutes after i boot up and login into windows. The problem is very frustrating, and as i type this, firefox is constant going in and out of being Non responsive and back to being responsive. I have no idea what could be the problem, as i've had no major hardware or software additions/changes in the past couple weeks. Please suggest some things that may be the problem. I've attached some links to some screenshots so you guys can be of better help. Thanks in advanced.
oops... sry guys i forgot to post the images... here they are, the first image is my performance tab, then my processes tab.
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oops... sry guys i forgot to post the images... here they are, the first image is my performance tab, then my processes tab.
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Keep in mind that Vista does have the ability to parse files into ram in anticipation of them being used, However due to your statement that it is very sluggish I would think that the first thing you should do is check to make sure other users are not logged on to the machine at the same time (it seems that you do infact have a few programs running in the screen shot. Run disk defrag (should be set already to run automaticly). Run disk clean up (make sure to dump all unneeded internet files. Check system properties to ensure all your ram is being recognized... looks like you got a gig sitting there (it its not you have a bad chip). and last but not least make sure your virtual memory is set to automatically determine the appropriate size.
Omni
MCP, MCDST, Network+
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Omni,
It is clear from the OP's screenshot that no other users are logged in - the "show programs for all users" box is checked, and only entires for "Joe" appear, so that isn't it.
Also, whilst this show shows a few programs are running, they are not nearly enough to cause the problems described, and iTunes shouldn't cause any problems either (make sure you have the latest Vista compatible version though)
However, I see the Indexer is running. Goto Start/Run/type Services.msc and find the "Windows Index" in the list, I think it's called. Right click on it and "stop" - don't worry, this will only stop the service temporarily, until your next reboot - and see if this helps the machine settle down a bit.
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Hey guys,
thanks for the feedback thusfar. As mentioned above, i am in fact the only user logged on. I've done what Alex has suggested and I've tried goign into the services list adn i've stopped the "windows search" process. Once i did this it seems as though my memory usage stopps spiking up and down and system performance then becomes stable. Why is this service causing me so much problems when it is enabled... and why is it acting up all the sudden, bc I believe that it has been active since installation by default. What can i do to fix this, any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks guys.
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Hey,
I'm not at all surprised to see that turning off the Windows Search service has helped sort your problem out a bit. The reason it might have started acting up is because the index gets bigger and bigger as time goes on because it's gathering not only file names, but selected information from files to make searches faster. This will have a hit on performance. I'm reluctant to keep it turned off because it can be useful at times, but if you do disable the service, youl will have the standard "slow search" that is seen in XP by default. Plus you'll have better performance. Hopefully MS will sort this sometime in the future because it does use a lot of resources - they should at least give you the option on first install whether to turn the thing off or not!
But yeah, the only way (for now) that I can see to fix this problem is to disable the service, though if anyone has any other ideas i'd like to hear them.
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Strange coincidence. I just received a BRAND NEW Lenovo X61S in the mail. It is running Windows Vista Business Basic (x32) and my user name is also "Joe". I was very disappointed with my new laptop's performance until I realized that my physical memory usage is off the charts. What the heck is going on? Apparently Microsoft must hate Joe's.
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hey i just recently started to have this problem. All the things that jrm5084 is saying is happening to me. The solution that alex posted seemed to help him so i tried to do it aswell but i can seem to find the "Windows Index" when i put in services.msc. when i click start do i goto search and type in services.msc ??
brandon McManus
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