My hard drive seems to go mad with activity when I try ans access a program. I have defraged my drive, cleaned all redundant files and removed stuff I don't use any longer, but Opera takes upto 10 seconds to open. It especialy takes longer when I leave the pc for more than 10 mins unattended! What causes the hard drive to seek so much? What should I do? Many thanks people! :-)
2006-12-10 07:52:03 · 10 answers · asked by Charles London 2 in Computers & Internet ➔ Hardware ➔ Desktops
Try using Ccleaner to clean out the temp files and other crud, use the Cleaner and the Issues tool.
http://www.ccleaner.com
2006-12-10 08:35:21 · answer #1 · answered by sarah c 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you deleted the the Internet cache in Opera and then defragged?
If so, the swap/virtual memory is a good place to start.
Have you checked for spyware, with Spynot and Adaware.
Assuming you run XP, have you tried a system restore, or a couple of restore points back in time?
2006-12-10 08:05:18 · answer #2 · answered by Blunt Computer Guy 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
They are using the virtual memory paging file - a hidden file that windows creates on your hard disk that acts as extra RAM when your physical RAM is short on the ground.
If you have less than 512mb RAM you really need to upgrade some. I have 2048mb and even then I sometimed get short, but then I share 256mb of it with my graphics card, and run a lot of graphics software.
2006-12-10 08:04:50 · answer #3 · answered by ashypoo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First, you should check task manager to see if some program is using loads of memory for no good reason.
If this is not the case, then you should probably either buy more memory (cheap and easy), or a faster hard drive (a larger hassle).
2006-12-10 07:56:48 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Working with a slow computer can be time consuming as programs/ applications take a long time to start. This problem is more pronounced in computers which have been used for 6 or more months. More information at http://fixit.in/slowcomputer.html
2006-12-11 03:11:50 · answer #5 · answered by BU1 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Programs like Opera use a lot of memory to run, and in the absence of real physical memory, they will use the temporary disk space to "page" the memory required to run. My advice is that you should increase your physical memory in your machine.
2006-12-10 07:58:39 · answer #6 · answered by Robert W 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
your physical ram is too little-your machine is compensating for it by using a swap file on your hard drive.
solution: upgrade your ram.
2006-12-10 22:19:42 · answer #7 · answered by L.s.t.b.h. 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1) You are using slow hard-drives or
2) You hard-drives need defraging.
2006-12-10 07:55:10 · answer #8 · answered by sashafroyland 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋