Pages freezing

[leukoshoopr]

lately when searching or viewing pages our laptop keeps freezing or becoming non responsive and we cant even close it down properly.This usually happens if we leave the laptop alone for a few minutes and return to use it but only the cursor moves around and doesn't click on anything- any ideas?
It's a Dell Inspiron 510 and about 6 years old

 

[MANTO]

You could try Increasing your Virtual Memory:

<LI id=jsArticleStep1>Step 1
Click the "Start" menu and select "Control Panel."
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<LI id=jsArticleStep2>Step 2
Select the "System" icon. This will open up the system properties.
<LI id=jsArticleStep3>Step 3
Click the "Advanced" tab and then click the "settings" button under "Performance." This will open up the performance options menu.
<LI id=jsArticleStep4>Step 4
Click the "Advanced" tab and then click the "Change" button located in the "Virtual memory" section.
<LI id=jsArticleStep5>Step 5
Select the disk drive that contains the paging file that you wish to change.
<LI id=jsArticleStep6>Step 6
Click the "Custom size" check box located in the "Paging file size for selected drive" menu. Enter the initial size and maximum size of hard drive space you wish to allocate for use as virtual memory. A general rule is to have at least 1.5 times as much virtual memory as you do physical memory.
<LI id=jsArticleStep7>Step 7
Click the "Set" button and then click "OK." Your virtual memory is now set to a new level.

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[leukoshoopr]

cheers Manto- I brought the initial setting to 1000 it was at 768-
when you said 1.5 times the physical memory do you mean whatever the Ram is? my laptop is 512MB ram so is 768 more or less the 1.5 times

 

[pudds]

I hate pages freezing so i'm very interested in this also. I've taken a snapshot of my settings and would appreciate if anyone can let me know if they need any tweaking.

I haven't been having any problems btw.

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[AlbacoreA]

Hard to say what the problem is, could be anything.

Windows usually manages virtual memory fine by itself. Can't say I've ever needed to change it on any computer ever. I'd be curious why you think it needs adjusting, and does it fix the problem. First thing I'd do is clear out the machine. A spring clean so to speak. Run CCLeaner on it. http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner. Then Uninstall all programs that you don't use. Defrag the hard drive. See what its like after that. Let us know.

Windows collected all sorts of temporary files over the years, and eventually, it slows down. Therefore a fresh install of windows usually makes a night and day difference to a old machine. Not everyone has the technical ability to do this. Drivers for old machines can be tricky. Old machines, especially laptops can fill with dust which makes them overheat, causing them to freeze. When the machine is off, blowing compressed air through the vents cleans this out and solves the overheating.

Finally point I'd make is that, websites and AV software become more advanced every year, and there comes a point when an old machine simply is too slow. One of the oldest machines I look after is a 1.7Ghz P4, with about 768mb of ram, its almost at the point where its too slow for browsing the web and running the latest updates to AV software.

 

[leukoshoopr]

Thanks AlbacoreA-

I've done all of what you suggested-Uninstall -Defrag- Ccleaner- and although things are a lot faster the laptop still freezes leaving just the cursor moveable on the screen if it's left idle for a few minutes- it wont even close down ,I have to use the main power button to switch off

 

[AlbacoreA]

Sounds like its over heating. Perhaps its full of dust.

You should track what temps its running at.

 

[leukoshoopr]

Sounds like its over heating. Perhaps its full of dust.

You should track what temps its running at.

haven't come across how to do that yet can you point me in the right direction please

 

[AlbacoreA]

I'm sure theres a bunch of them. A quick google suggested

http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/
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To clear it out of dust. You get a can of compressed air and when the laptop is off and not connected to power, you blow through all the vents. If you can open it up (might be a lot of screws) and get more dust out, especially out of the headsink, the better. Wait for any moisture (from the compressed air) to dry before turning it on again. You may even try cleaning the base of the headsink and reappying some thermal paste.

 

[leukoshoopr]

thanks again -I downloaded and ran MobileMeter and the temp is hovering around 35 which is ok according to the first link you gave me- I'll try the dust extraction next and see how it goes

 

[AlbacoreA]

That suggests its not the heat then.

Maybe try a memory test. http://hcidesign.com/memtest/ I've not used this, its just the first one I found.