Need help, not sure where to post this...
Hey guys. Is there a program that will run in XP and display more specific real-time info on my CPU processes and memory usage than Task Manager?
If you need more background on what I'm asking and/or why:
About 4 months ago I downloaded & installed an MMORPG and played it for awhile, then uninstalled it. While I was running the program I noticed something strange about how my PC would run. I figured it was just due to the MMORPG hogging resources, but even now that I got rid of it I still notice the same effect - it's just not anywhere near as noticeable as when I had that game running.
What happens is that my PC will run fine for about 5 minutes, then for about 3 minutes CPU usage will jump and everything will start running slowly. Then all of a sudden the CPU will drop back down to normal and gameplay goes back to normal. This cycle repeats constantly, which was annoying as heck while playing because for every 5 good minutes of play I'd have 3 minutes where gameplay ran like molasses - sometimes so bad that I'd disconnect from the server.
My first hunch was that periodically the game was uploading or downloading data from the game server, or that I might have gotten some virus or spyware that was sending out batch emails, but the network tab of Task Manager didn't show any extra traffic. I downloaded and ran a packet tracer that confrmed that - no traffic spikes coming in or out. Whatever is causing this is on my PC, not interacting with the network.
My next hunch was that the video requirements were eating up all my RAM, but I have the max RAM this PC can take so I can't just add more (yes, onboard video card - this is a laptop, can't add a video card). I read somewhere that increasing the page file could help... tried that, no difference. I gave up at that point thinking the game was just too much for my PC. But I still notice the same thing now that the game is gone, for example when I'm on Youtube and watching a video. I think it happens even when I'm not watching video, but because I'm not doing anything really time-sensitive it's harder to notice. Which leads me to wonder if there's some way I can take a closer look at what my PC is doing during these max CPU times.
Any help is appreciated
If you need more background on what I'm asking and/or why:
About 4 months ago I downloaded & installed an MMORPG and played it for awhile, then uninstalled it. While I was running the program I noticed something strange about how my PC would run. I figured it was just due to the MMORPG hogging resources, but even now that I got rid of it I still notice the same effect - it's just not anywhere near as noticeable as when I had that game running.
What happens is that my PC will run fine for about 5 minutes, then for about 3 minutes CPU usage will jump and everything will start running slowly. Then all of a sudden the CPU will drop back down to normal and gameplay goes back to normal. This cycle repeats constantly, which was annoying as heck while playing because for every 5 good minutes of play I'd have 3 minutes where gameplay ran like molasses - sometimes so bad that I'd disconnect from the server.
My first hunch was that periodically the game was uploading or downloading data from the game server, or that I might have gotten some virus or spyware that was sending out batch emails, but the network tab of Task Manager didn't show any extra traffic. I downloaded and ran a packet tracer that confrmed that - no traffic spikes coming in or out. Whatever is causing this is on my PC, not interacting with the network.
My next hunch was that the video requirements were eating up all my RAM, but I have the max RAM this PC can take so I can't just add more (yes, onboard video card - this is a laptop, can't add a video card). I read somewhere that increasing the page file could help... tried that, no difference. I gave up at that point thinking the game was just too much for my PC. But I still notice the same thing now that the game is gone, for example when I'm on Youtube and watching a video. I think it happens even when I'm not watching video, but because I'm not doing anything really time-sensitive it's harder to notice. Which leads me to wonder if there's some way I can take a closer look at what my PC is doing during these max CPU times.
Any help is appreciated
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