The Hindu Business Line : Slow system that hangs often

My PC's configuration is as follows: P4 processor with HT, 3GHz,120 GB hard disk,246 MB RAM, Windows XP Professional with Intel 915 GAV board. My computer hangs very often and is very slow sometimes.

If I try to run three or four programs at a time, it either hangs or it displays the message, "the program is not responding" and I have no choice but to end the program.

Sometimes it hangs while I am playing games. I am not able to listen to music while browsing the Web because it hangs then too. I have tried reinstalling Windows. I have a Samsung DVD combo drive, but I am not able to play some DVDs. The message that is displayed then is "please insert a disk in the drive."

Why is my system so prone to hanging? Please suggest a solution.

Aditya

Please check whether you have installed the chip set INF updates. You will find it in the mother board CD. If you haven't installed it or need to check if you have done it or not, please insert the mother board CD into the drive. It will autorun and display a dialog box with a list of drivers to install.

If the listed driver is already installed, the check box near it will be disabled and grayed out. If the driver has not been installed, then the check box alongside it will be enabled and unchecked.

Please look up the line reading INF update. It will most likely be the first item in the list. If it is unchecked, select it and click ok.

This will install the INF update for your motherboard. Next, if you had earlier changed any hardware settings in the BIOS, like overclocking or anything related to the chipset or hardware settings, try reverting it back. Or if you have no idea about it, then load the "setup up defaults" in the BIOS.

You can do this by going into the BIOS, by pressing the F10 or F2 or Del key when the system starts, and once inside BIOS press the F9 key which will load the setup default, save the settings and restart the system.

Regarding your CD drive, please use a lens cleaner disk to cleaner your drive lens. Please also check that the DVD media is clean. You can clean the media with a soft cloth.

While cleaning, wipe the disk from the centre of the disk towards the edge, and not in a circular motion.

Please e-mail us at eworld@thehindu.co.in

if you have queries on computer usage or if you find an interesting way of using a computer.

Solution by G. Rajah

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