comp slows down after a while

hey guys i got a p4 2.4 gig and im running 512MB DDR RAM and an FX5200 vid card well just by looking at that my computer should hardly slow down correct? well mine does no matter what i play or what i do after a period of about 20 mins my comp slows down not to a hault but put it this way there is no point in playing games like say call of duty as it just runs way to slow now if i reset the computer it then runs fine for another 20 mins i was wondering if it could possibly be my ram is there any way of clearing the rams memory in windows XP or what also is there any way of fixing the problem if it is ram or will i have to go and get more ram

When your computer starts to slow like this, open task manager (ctrl+alt+del) and go to the processes tab. Take a look at your CPU Usage at the bottom of the sceen and your Mem usage. Then review the processes to determine exactly which process is maxing out your CPU and/or RAM.

It would help with an answer to know exactly which process is the problem.

hmmmm well i had a look and the cpu usage the only one using it is system idle process and its on 16, however mem usage is different the 4 highest are rtvscan.exe and thats using 10,456, also explorer.exe using 17,100(but i guess thats coz im on the net, then svchost.exe and its using 23,604, and finaly the lsass.exe and its using like 46,696. should there be anything i should be keeping my eyes open for or something and does what i just put down help ne1 help me:( its really annoying me please im calling SOS

It's CPU that's most important, over the RAM.

If something's eating up all the RAM, it's easy to detect. Windows will start going to your hard drive every 2 seconds for virtual memory.

If something is eating all your processor power, then it's not so obvious to detect.

So, when it slows, have a look at the CPU column, to see what % of your processor's power is actually being used by each application.

Generally idling, with a few browsers open, mIRC, Outlook, and a bunch of misc things in my status bar (NAV, MSN, EditPad, etc.) my "System Idle Process" is usually around the 97-99 mark if all I'm doing is typing.

Some programs will occasionally eat all your spare processor power (especially graphics applications), allowing not much left over for other stuff. So, that's what you want to watch out for.

Like Axe said, your system idle process is going to normally be about 97% to 99% on your CPU - if it's low and something else is high, that's a concern, but yours looks normal.

I think the virus scan may be slowing you up a bit when you're playing games but that's not outrageous. The explorer.exe look about normal, but the svchosts and lsass look abnormally high to me.

You might want to scan for spyware/adware. The fact that sasser is out and about makes me wonder when I see your lsass number that high. But for the most part your info doesn't look too bad.

Are those numbers your actual mem use? you might want to maximize your task lisk so you can see virtual mem. I'm wondering if while you're playing games you're maxing out on virtual mem. Perhaps increasing the amount of virtual memory you have allocated might help.

Wow yeah see what you mean ATNO/TW, LSASS.exe on my laptop is at 1.5MB lol! Definately looks a bit naughty that.

S

LSASS is definately a problem. mine is at 1200k!!! Just a hair over 1mb. Either you got sasser or something isnt agreeing with lsass that should. Im not to sure on that stuff though. What is the CPU Usage for lsass?

Yep, sound like you got a virus. Check for Sasser virus, it can slow down the computer & the net connection.

Also, maybe the cooling isnt properly installed, this might heat up the comp, it happened to a friend. i also stick to the Sasser virus, i had to fix it in a friends computer today, just search for a removal on windows.com

As I'm looking currently, I'm at 3.6MB...That 46 some-odd MB just didn't seem right at all.

yeah my svchost is at 19,660k i think im going to have to get that fixed

Check out all your startup programs with a program I like called "Reg Seeker". Download that, then check all your start up entries, and disable all the things you don't need. That might get ridof some over-usage. Usually some games or crappy spywares try and do things in your background while you go aobut your business. Try the Reg Seeker, and try cleaning your computer up with another free program called "Spybot - search and destroy".

thatnx guys i think my computer is just racist and dont like me i dont think the heating is a problem coz thats what i thought was the original problem and bought a new cooling system for the comp but it didnt seem to effect it one bit. i got server 2003 now so i think ill just format and reinstall server 2003 thatnx for all ur help guys much appreciated

svchost has 3 or 4 instances running almost all of the time. LEAVE THEM THERE! They are critical to operation of your OS. Unfortunatley, one of them does use about 20 MB of RAM, however, most of this is on your paging file when it isnt active.