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#1
lots of "not responding" and freezes
I am trying to help a friend with her PC and am stumped. She is having major problems with programs "not responding" and occasional BSOD and just a general slow working environment. HP has been little or no help to her. I have a few hours to play with it next week and thought I would do the basic bonehead stuff like cleaning out her msconfig startup programs and whatnot, but wanted any suggestions you all might have (memtest? disc scan?).
One theory is this: Insufficient power supply...
She is a user who doesn't game but will have Photoshop, illustrator, Outlook and a few other programs all open at the same time that she is watching a streaming video online - and she always has about 15 firefox tabs open. i looked at her PC's specs (below) but what is doesn't say there is that it is a small form factor PC and the power supply is only 240 watts. I think that might be the problem, or part of the problem.
Example of her issue:
Yesterday I was there and she was using a program (Xilisoft DVD audio ripper) to extract some audio. It started up fine and said it would be about 15 minutes to rip a DVD. after a few minutes she wanted to show me some digital photos and we looked at about ten - but when we went back to the program it was stuck at 12% and would not budge. We tried to cancel but it took several minutes to shut the program down (task manager didn't work - ""no response"). When she re-started the program and re-ran it without doing anything in the background, it ripped the DVD in about 12 minutes. So multi-tasking seems to be a no-go with this PC.
Product Description HP Compaq Business Desktop dc5800 - Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz
Type Personal Computer
Windows Vista Certification Windows Vista Capable
Form Factor Small form factor
Dimensions (WxDxH) 13.3 in x 14.9 in x 3.9 in
Weight 17.9 lbs
Localization English / United States
Processor 1 x Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 / 2.4 GHz ( Quad-Core )
Cache Memory 8 MB L2 cache
Cache Per Processor 8 MB
RAM 4 GB (installed) / 8 GB (max) - DDR2 SDRAM - non-ECC - 800 MHz - PC2-6400
Storage Controller Serial ATA ( Serial ATA-300 ) ; IDE
Hard Drive 1 x 250 GB - standard - Serial ATA-300
Optical Storage DVD±RW (±R DL) / DVD-RAM with LightScribe Technology
Card Reader 16 in 1
Monitor None.
Graphics Controller Intel GMA 3100
Audio Output Sound card - stereo
Networking Network adapter - PCI Express x1 - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
Power AC 120/230 V ( 50/60 Hz )
OS Provided Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
Manufacturer Selling Program HP Smart Buy
Environmental Standards EPA Energy Star , EPEAT Gold
Manufacturer Warranty 3 years warranty ( on-site )