OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

My computer is randomly pausing. It's not critical (Only lasts a second), but I'd like to figure out why.

Any suggestions?

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Partially depends on your OS and system specs, but....
Essentially, it means that something is hogging recources - perhaps a system routine, perhaps a program - in a relatively exclusive mannor.

Check the Task Manager when everything's fine, write down what's in it, then check it again while paused (if you can); what's new? Might be the problem.

Try Alt-Tabbing when it pauses (hold down Alt) I once found a program that had come installed on my machine which was trying to call home for an update... I eventually found out it was a program that was no longer supported due to security issues, and removed it. Was a pain anyway, as it would interrupt me in the middle of typing and change the focus to the desktop.

Edit: Also, get your machine scanned for viruses & spyware. Either could cause such a phenominon

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Thanks.

I've got XP, 2.0GHz Athlon, and 1Gig memory.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

It's happening more often, and I have yet to identify a pattern in the cpu usage.

I have already done a virusscan and spybot.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

How technically competent are you? If it's increasing in frequency, it's probably a virus; many find, disable, and replace virus scanners as one of their top priorities.
You might try a free online one, such as This one (pretty much must be run from IE; sigh) as something you just picked up is less likely to be affected (but not impossible).

Are you up to:
1) shutting the thing down
2) opening the case
3) removing all hard disks
4) opening another machine
5) putting the potentially infected hard disks into the second machine as non-booting drives
6) having the second machine scan the disks of the first
7) then putting everything back the way it was
?

A much simpler option is to back up non-executable stuff you want to keep, wiping the machine, and re-installing everything, of course; but the above preserves all data (at the cost of a small risk to the second machine)

An even simpler option (for you, anyway) is to phyisically take the thing to an expert... but that tends to cost money....

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

I have a machine with a crappy sound driver...
It freezes the machine for an extra millisecond or so before playing each sound sent to it.

After a couple days, the milliseconds add up; the lag is quite noticable and it needs a reboot.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

The keyboard seems to be slowed, too. Running that virus detection thing.

Between me and my dad, we should be able to switch drives.

I havn't changed a single piece of hardware within months. It started today after a BSD and reboot.

Um, could it have been caused by hitting the reset button while the computer was still downloading the ram to the drive? There wasn't anything I needed to keep...

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

If all else fails, the local techs rates are reasonable.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

So...How is this a threat?

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Kinda sounds like Window's virtual memory manager throwing a hissy fit trying to resize the page file...

Try this:
1. Right click on "My Computer", and select "Properties"
2. Select the "Advanced" tab
3. Click the "Performance Options" button
4. Click the "Change..." button
5. Here are the settings for your virtual memory. Most likely, the Initial and Maximum values are not the same. This is a problem, especially if Windows decides that it wants to resize the file. When it does that, it is taking a while to copy all the information needed to a new paging file. To stop this, all you need to do is make the Initial and Maximum fields the same; a good number for 1GB memory is 1536 or 2048. Pick one of those, put that number in both fields, and click the set button.

That should help some. If that doesn't work, and none of the other options given here work... yeah, try taking it to a tech guy. He might catch something that we're missing.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Might also be a sign of something more serious like a failing HD.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Setting the paging file to a permanent size is something I always do, but thanks anyway.

How would I check to see if the HD is failing?

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Be very still. Slowly, creep up on your computer (a la Steve Irwin). Listen to it's little noises. If it has clicking, your hard drive is dying.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

HD failure is a good thought. Also consider the power source may be flaking out.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

It's not dying.
I'll see if I can find motherboard monitor or something.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

I think perhaps MBM #5 is not reporting correctly. First my CPU was at 89F, now it's supposedly at -32.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

If the voltages are right, though, many are at the edge of the green area.

Maybe time for a new power supply.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Thanks to everybody for all your help. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

How dangerous is a bad power supply?

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

I doubt if a power supply fault is the cause of strange pauses by your computer. Power supply faults will generally kill the machine outright. It's more likely a software problem. But that said, your whole computer depends on the quality of the power supply. If you need a new one, make sure you get a good one, not a cheapie.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Sags and lags are usually due to lack of resources, but can also be bad hard drives or heat problems too. You can record resource use, and you can read temps real time. Hard drives you need to have a sixth sense about. I’d run some stress tests at it and see what shakes out.

PSU's are not dangerous as long as you don't open them or poke around the insides. Your problem does not sound at all like a PSU.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Where would I find stress tests? (And what's a good one?)

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Could Sisoft Sandra do stress tests?

Found this: http://www.passmark.com/

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Sandra is OK, PCMark would be better.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Ok, downloading the free version of PCMark now.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

I've got a bunch of data; what am I looking for?

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Go to the orb site and check your results against systems of the same specs. See if you are way down on anything. Also, if it ran pcmark with no trouble, it usually ain't broke at the moment.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

That makes perfect sense.

Thanks for all your help, everyone.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

"In order to run properly, PCMark04 requires Media Player 9 or newer to be installed on your computer."

What is this bs?

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

After installing WiMP, I can only seem to run the video and ram tests. All of the other tests abort on me. The FAQ an their web site is pretty useless, and google isn't turning up any viable results...

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Needs to test your ability to play movies, I guess.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Well, after all the worry, on the suggestion of my Dad, I pirated the mouse from our little-used mac and so far it's working properly.

So it seems the problem is with the mouse itself.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Is it an older mouse with the ball? If so, try opening it up on the bottom and cleaning the 'rollers' inside. If it is a problem with the mouse there may be dirt and junk caked onto the 'rollers'. I have seen this happen a lot.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Nope. Optical mouse, same type as the one I replaced it with.

Exact same model, too.

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

Glad it was nothing serious, mousey-wousey.

T

Re: OT: Computer is randomly pausing.
 

...I'll take that as a compliment, *Then* pound you into a frisbee.