hi, im using a Dell desktop XPS 400 with a 200 gb harddrive Pentium 4 processor and 1 gb of RAM. My computer is only a year and half old



I’m 15 so usually when I get on the computer it’s only to talk to my friends on MSN messenger or to play games {Battlefield 2, Company of heroes, Grand Theft Auto}


The problem always occurs after I click on my name from the main startup menu. I share my computer with my sister so I click on my name and it gives me the Welcome Greg and I get the satisfying windows sound as it brings up my desktop. This is where the problem starts. Everything runs smoothly then slowly it begins to become really really slow. Soon it’s as if I’m watching a slide show of my mouse move across the screen. Then suddenly it changes back to normal and I can do things at its normal pace. I bring up Itunes so I can listen while I chat. When it’s open I click on a song and nothing will play. It’s as if the song has been paused at 0.00 and won’t be aloud to play. After this I bring up MSN messenger. I have messenger play what song I’m listening to and have it display it under my screen name so my fiends can see it. The song I have chosen under Itunes is now being shown in Messenger as it being played. I open up www.youtube.com and watch a video but when I play it it starts at the beginning and instantly goes to the end. This happens with every video that I try to watch over the net, and I get the same sound problem that I get with Itunes. Usually 15 mins into using my comp the same problem comes back. Nice and fast then slowly becomes extremely slow then back to its normal pace. {Usually takes about 1-2 mins to go back to normal}. If I were to use the program TeamSpeak I log in and it tells me that my mic has been muted. I try to un-mute it but it wont let me.

I get this problem everyday when I use it. Usually if it brings up my desktop fast enough I can open Itunes before this “wave of slowness” comes and play a song and it will be fine. But when this “wave” comes while I have a song playing it will make the song sound as if it has been horribly scratched. But when It goes back to normal the song or sound playing will sound fine. I’ve noticed that if I have Itunes up or any PC game then everything will stay fine. Yet as soon as I close them I cant play any media. If I’m in a game talking through Teamspeak and this “wave” comes then the persons voice becomes static-ish and my game ping will become extremely high. Then as soon as it goes away then everyting will be back to its original pace.

Please help!!!


Thanks.

strange problem......don't worry tho, youl get to the bottom of it

You need to narrow things down to find the problem. First of all i would check your RAM (memory) for any faults. Download the bootable cd file of memtest86 here and burn. Reboot and when memtest starts, in options choose test selection 8. This is a very intense test, run for 15 mins, if no errors show then your ram is fine.

Have you checked for spyware etc atall? If not use Adaware SE (get here) and spybot (here) to sort u out in that department. What about defragging your Hard Drive? If youve not done that then use the built in disk defragger in xp or get a prog called diskeeper to do this.

Please tell more about what youve already tried.

does it occur on any other usernames?

if you log on as you, leave your pc inactive for a while then start to use it, do you get this problem? or it is only after it has been in use for a while?

I thought that it could be 2 programs conflicting with eachother. So i un-installed Realplayer and it seems to be alot better yet it still comes but not as often. The audio problem comes instantly though when my sister uses itunes then closes it and logs off her account so i can get on mine.



I have Spybot search and destroy and McAfee so every week or so i scan with both of them and i also Defrag the drive. As for RAM im planning on buying another 1 gb soon


My sister gets this problem on her account but rarly. Iv tried leaving it alone for a while but the problem is still there.


I noticed it first when i first bought it off Dell.com but i thought since its new it will go away but it never did My friend also suggested that the Windows XP files could be currupted so he thought i should re-install XP.

I have seen this twice. The first was when I had a similar problem a couple months ago where a "wave of slowness" (a perfect description, BTW) would come through my speakers. I noticed it occurred shortly after I ripped a bunch of CDs and realized I was running low of disk space. But first, I suggest you run a complete malware scan and not just AdAware and Spybot - which are not the dynamic duo they used to be. McAfee is fine, though a resource hog. Check Cleaning Out Malware.

Then go through Control Panel > Add and Remove Programs and uninstall any programs you are sure you no longer need.

Then defrag your HD but note that you should never run defrag without first ridding your system of the 1000s of temporary files cluttering up your disk. CCleaner or something similar, as suggested in that link above, should always be run first. Defragging in Safe Mode is more effecient.

I don't see this as being a RAM problem as they manifest into system faults (reboots and freezes). But still, it does not hurt to test your RAM, but a single test over a few minute is inadequate. To test your RAM, I recommend MemTest86+ - an updated MemTest86. Select Download - Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win). Unzip the file to a convenient location, insert a formatted floppy disk in the floppy drive, double-click on install.bat to install. Then, with the floppy in the drive, reboot the computer. The computer should boot to the floppy and start testing your RAM. Let it run for several passes or even overnight. You should have no reported errors. Instructions to create a bootable CD version is available too but I note this is yet another reason why the floppy is not dead - yet! An excellent how-to guide is available here.

You say you uninstalled Realplayer - so what are you using now?

In the second case of this "wave of noise", rolling back from WMP 11 to 10 cleared the problem and from there, we were able to upgrade to WMP 11 again, with no more problems.