Need some computer help

[brownsfan019]

Computer guys, need your advice -

one of my computers that just runs charting (currently OEC charts) recently started slowing down to the point that I really noticed. After checking it out today, it looks like something is causing the CPU Usage to spike massively - pushing 100% OFTEN.

If I am doing nothing with no programs open, it runs at 0-2%.

As soon as I do anything - open a browser windows, etc. - it spikes all over the place and pushes 100% no problem.

The tech guy at OEC said possibly a hardware or 'system' issue. Problem is that I have no idea what to check for and how. How do you try to test your system yourself to find the problem? Or I am just wasting time and should take it up to the local repair shop?

Thanks!

[TinGull]

My vote would be to take it to a guy who's job it is to figure that thing out. Then they have to back their work up and if it doesn't work, then take it back and stick it to him.

[darthtrader]

how old is the system?
I always build mine but if i get more than 2 years out of the machine and it starts to get flakey i just ditch it and build a new one. At the 2 year mark you could probly build the same machine again for less than what it would cost to repair.
I was just looking at maybe building a new one and you can get a monster duo core 2, with 2 gigs of ram and 500 gig drive with all top of the line components for probly about 700 bucks. i'm sure that would eat anything charting wise you could throw at it for lunch.

[brownsfan019]

Good points guys - it's a fine line between dumping money into this and just starting over. My concern at this point is that I need a system that can handle 6 monitors and I had to custom order this one I have now. I went locally to have this one made and that shop is out of business. There's another shop close by that I used before and was reasonably priced.

[Reaver]

Check out Tune Up utilities 2007, you can download a free trial it scans for things that may be causing problems like you mentioned.

[AbeSmith]

	Quote:	brownsfan019
	Computer guys, need your advice - one of my computers that just runs charting (currently OEC charts) recently started slowing down to the point that I really noticed. After checking it out today, it looks like something is causing the CPU Usage to spike massively - pushing 100% OFTEN. If I am doing nothing with no programs open, it runs at 0-2%. As soon as I do anything - open a browser windows, etc. - it spikes all over the place and pushes 100% no problem. The tech guy at OEC said possibly a hardware or 'system' issue. Problem is that I have no idea what to check for and how. How do you try to test your system yourself to find the problem? Or I am just wasting time and should take it up to the local repair shop? Thanks!

Hey Brownsfan. Could be hardware issue. One way to check is to reinstall your operating system. If the problem persists with different programs then it is most likely a hardware issue. Did you change anything recently with the hardware? I don't know if this is related at all but this morning when running OEC Demo I thought my computer was running slower than usual as well.

[brownsfan019]

	Quote:	AbeSmith
	Hey Brownsfan. Could be hardware issue. One way to check is to reinstall your operating system. If the problem persists with different programs then it is most likely a hardware issue. Did you change anything recently with the hardware? I don't know if this is related at all but this morning when running OEC Demo I thought my computer was running slower than usual as well.

No hardware changes Abe recently on this machine. OEC did an upgrade recently and while I am to think that may be the issue, the machine is still spiking when I have OEC closed down and running internet explorer.

[AbeSmith]

	Quote:	brownsfan019
	No hardware changes Abe recently on this machine. OEC did an upgrade recently and while I am to think that may be the issue, the machine is still spiking when I have OEC closed down and running internet explorer.

Hmm. I don't know. Sometimes after a while a computer gets bogged down with malware or other programs slowing down the computer. From time to time I reinstall my computer's operating system and often it fixes some issues, like slow computer. Otherwise it could be a hardware issue. That I do not know much about but there are sites online that might give good advice. MajorGeeks.com is one site.

[AbeSmith]

Also, it helps not having too many programs running. I try to keep my computer to the bare minimum programs. I check the startup programs to keep unecessary programs from opening up on startup, like RealPlayer and other programs that are not necessary to be starting on startup. This might not have anything to do with your troubles, but just FYI.

[mister ed]

BF, I would try a few things before taking it to an expert,
CCleaner (find it at http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/) will rid the hard drive of unnecessary files, may help speed things up.
FreeRamXP (find at http://www.yourwaresolutions.com/) is invaluable in keeping RAM available, doesnt sound like your problem but might be of assistance.
Try using Firefox instead of IE, see if it makes any difference?