computer short of breath!

[spindown]

I bought my computer new in 2005. When I first go on ebay my computer seems to go back and forth between items and listings ok, but after an hour or so it slows down and can hardly crawl. I just installed 1GB of ram to my existing 256mb. and initially seemed to run better but one day later it is back on the ropes and short of breath as before. The slowness has now spread to nearly every site I'm on. Can someone help me? Thanks Paul

[CeaSaR]

Have you run scans with your antivirus, adware and spyware scanners? You may
have an infection of some kind.

Also, did you make sure that the memory is the same speed as the original? If not,
there may be a conflict. Also, your largest memory chip should be first, ie, where
the original chip was when you bought the machine. That way, it is used first instead
of the smaller one. 256 MB is about the min recommended for WinXP.

I know there is a setting somewhere to manage your memory, but I cannot recall
where at the moment.

If you are still having problems, try going to Microsoft's website and download Sysinternal's
Process Explorer (>here<) to take a better look at what is really going on in your machine.
I use it quite a lot to turn off some things on my HP tower, that I haven't had time to remove
from the system. Works great, and if you turn off something that should stay on, just reboot
and it will be back to the way it was.

Let us know what you find.

CeaSaR

[dacflyer]

with ebay i have the same damn problem..i have to use the firefox browser to be able to work with ebay now..it works just fine.. try that,.,
free download on the net..

[reloadron]

Hi Ya Paul

There are a number of things that can cause the problems you are seeing. A few things to try right off the top would be to clear the browser cache and drfrag your HDD. Since you don't mention which browser you are using I will assume maybe MSIE (Microsoft Internet Explorer) version 7 or newly released 8. I would start with something like this:

1. From Internet Explorer 6, choose "Tools" - "Internet Options".

2. When the "Internet Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "General" tab.

3. Click the "Delete Files" button.

4. Check "Delete all offline content".

5. Click "OK".

6. Wait (it could take a few seconds or a few minutes) for Internet Explorer 6 to clear its cache.

Next, I would think about doing a disk defragmentation:

To defrag your hard drive. Double-click "My Computer" on your desktop. Right-click your hard drive in Windows Explorer, choose "Properties", select "Tools", click "Defragment Now", and follow the on-screen instructions.

Also as was mentioned trying another browser may be a good solution (though it won't fix MSIE). Firefox is a very good choice.

You don't mention how you connect to the Internet? Most people these days are using DSL or a Cable connection but there are several out there running with a basic dial up connection. There are things that can cause dial up problems related strictly to dial up. Now if you are running DSL or a Cable connection you may want to run a Speed Test which can be found HERE.

[spindown]

Thanks to all who replied. I'm sorry I didn't mention that YES I am on a dial
up server using an outboard US Robotics modem and get on at 44mbs sometimes. And YES I'm using microsoft internet explorer.
I will try your suggestions and get back to you later.
Thanks again Paul