My computer is acting very strangely... help?

Question

My computer has been doing very weird things lately, and I've estimated that the time of the start of the problems circulates around the time I started play The Sims 2 again after a long while.

For example, when I tried to download custom sims/lots from the OFFICIAL Sims 2 website, firefox started lagging to the point of nearly freezing. This concerned me because firefox pretty much NEVER has problems. Ever. Also, sometimes my computer will not shut down; like, it'll reach the "Windows is shutting down..." screen, but sometimes doesn't actually go off. It just sits at that screen and I have to push/hold the power button till it shuts off.

Yesterday, I tried logging into a forum on firefox and firefox just kept directing me back to the previous forum page still not logged in. IE was worse. It closed itself without warning when I tried to log in.

I've run spybot scans, virus scans, defragged my C drive since it was low on space, did a disk cleanup, and nothing wrong shows up.

Since I ran out of characters, I'll add more here. So yes, I ran practically every computer health-checkup on my computer that I know I can do, and still I can't find anything wrong. My spybot picked up adware, but I seriously doubt that's the problem, seeing as my computer still didn't shut itself off after that scan.

So PLEASE if anyone can help, that'd be great. I think I might have to reinstall The Sims 2 if I really can't find any other problems. I'll just back-up my current game files and then reinstall the game and see if that helps... but other than that I'm at a bit of a loss.

And no, I won't change my PC. It's been running fine and healthy for as long as I've had it. Mind you it's had its problems, but that was mostly when I had Windows 98, but we now have XP. I don't want computer-replacement solutions. I want real diagnostic solutions please.

My C drive has a 20-gig capacity and currently has around 4-5 gigs of free space... is that TOO low? Is space really the only issue?

Answer 1

I didn't notice if you said you already did, but you should definitely run 'chkdsk.'

Also, you said you are running low on space?

It is recommended that you never let you hard drive disk space reach 20% or less available disk space. Once you reach this point, regardless of how much you delete files or try to make more available space, you hard drive just never seems to function as it should.

If that is the case, reinstalling the game probably won't do the trick. I recommend backing up your most critical files, and then reformat the hard drive.

Good luck! :-)

Answer 2

20GB's is almost nothing in to days world. Buy a new hard drive for sure. SI'm's2? If your PC has 20GB I'm scared of what video card it has!!! Sims 2 can stress out low end card.

More info to come soon.

It seems like your PC is old that something is no longer good enough. First of all windows XP needs 128MB minimum of ram and 256 just to run it OK. 512 or higher is that you should want.

Just running windows XP could be hurting your PC it could be over heating too that can cause problems.

Your PC better meet most or all of the Sims2 recommended system requirements. Really if I were you... I know you said you did not want to replace but you can only hang on to it for so long.

Your PC must be upgraded or replaced. Sadly in its current state both of witch will probably cost the same. I suggest you get a new PC backup all your other PC's data then reformat it. 20GB hard drive is bad. Believe it or not 200GB hard drives are now low end. 80GB hard drives are on the lowest end. 40GB no longer exist and 20GB were crappy 5 years ago. I have files on my PC that are 8GB. I got my self a 300GB Hard drive and I still went out an got my self a 200GB extra external drive.

So I have 500GB to play with and you have 20GB that says it right there. Without knowing your PC's stats I cannot say how bad it is. But if it has not been upgraded sense the 20GB hard drive was added I assume all of its hardware is on the lowest end and will need to be replaced.

You can get a good PC that will probably eat your alive for breakfast for $400-$700. or you could do something smart and spend 800-1300 and get yourself a higher end PC.

Answer 3

Sounds like you may still be low on disk space. The disk cleanup probably was not able to remove enough from your PC for it to run right. All those issues sound like you are low or out of space for the Windows swap file.

You may need to delete, or move off your PC to CD or DVD, some of your files (music you rarely listen to, picutres, etc.) Also uninstall any programs you can live without to free up space.

You want to get a minimum of 10% of your hard drive (or at least 1 gig) free. That will be just enough to keep Windows running. More than that (about 25%) to keep Windows happy.

Answer 4

If you are sure, there is no virus or another malware, pay attention on what you said already: your disk is low of space. It can be the main problem.
1. Free at least four times space your RAM is.
2. Define in Virtual memory settings constant size of virtual memory, do not allow to Windows to do it automatically. The best thing will be to define both min. and max. size twice RAM size.
3. Try to keep more free HDD space forever.
If you really have no malware, it might help.

Answer 5

Defragging your hard drive will not free up any space. If you're low on disk space on the drive with Windows installed, you're going to have problems. You need to uninstall some programs or burn some of your documents to CD to free up disk space.

Answer 6

One of your memory chip is broken down. To find which one you remove then all them and check them one at a time. I mean you run your computer with a single memory chip. When your computer won't run at all then you will have found the broken chip.

Answer 7

You can speed up your pc and get rid of viruses, worms and trojans by cleaning up your register. A good free program is CCleaner. Link here http://bitly.com/UrAPaS

Answer 8

change your pc!