Constant lagging with Windows Vista Ultimate x64

[Nxtar]

hey guys, I am in need of help yet again. My computer is lagging like crazy. Some of these spikes last as little as a few seconds up to 20 - 30 mins per spike. I have recently upgraded hardware and also reformatted and still the problem persists, Most of the time its not too noticeable. the easiest way i can think to describe the issue is, I boot the computer and straight off the bat it spikes for up to 30 mins and software completely stops untill the spike is over, on the other hand when software starts working again it can be within seconds that it spikes again and the HDD led rarely stops flashing. I know this computers version of idle blinks on the led but in my case the lite stays on and dont blink at all.

Please help as I'm about to reprograme a brand new quad core with a large axe

if you need more info / sys specs just ask

 

[EXCellR8]

"updated hardware" is a pretty vague statement

it would be helpful to have the complete system specs, including the amount or RAM, video card and power supply. there could be a driver conflict or the system may be locking up due to excessive heat.

 

[Nxtar]

my system specs are
AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955
NVIDIA GeForce GT 240
M4A785TD-M EVO mainboard (using onboard VIA HD sound)
4gig corsair DDR3 1333mhz ( 2x2gig sticks)
Seagate Baracuda 1tb HDD sata2
Thermaltake Titan 750w PSU
Case : Gigabyte 3D Aurora
Cooling consists of 3x 15cm chassis fans running at 1000 rpm each (1 front and 2 rear)
CPU fan: Thermaltake TMG A2 running at 3000 rpm
Screen: BenQ FP222W 22" wide screen at 1680 x 1050 resolution

 

[tipstir]

Turn off the system. Open the case and see if the fins on the CPU are clogged with dust. If so get a small blower and clean out the dust in PSU and the rest of the internal system. On the PC desktop side I run IOBIT Advanced System Care Pro (free version also) But that cleans out all the junk, defrag, fixes registry, removes pest. OS all versions like Windows Client/Server can slow down even the most powerful quad-core system.

 

[DelJo63]

use the taskmgr (ctl-alt-del) to determine which process is using the cpu;
once it's running click the column heading CPU twice which will displace CPU usage in decending order.

hight cpu at boot time has two major players

1. starting all the sevices and Autorun programs
2. all the AutoUpdate programs are busy phoning home,
   which includes downloading the pattern files for your A/V program

Depending upon the A/V program you are using, any Real Time Protection service will scan every program you launch and thus rattle the HD very obtrusively.

 

[Nxtar]

I have run IOBIT, it fixed a ton of things but I did notice a huge increase in performance so i'd like to say thanx for that advice Tipster.

Joeard, I followed what you suggested and CPU usage rarely goes above 5% and the maximum frequencie sits at 100% at most times, on the other hand the during the spikes the Disk usage is through the roof sitting on flicking between 60 and 100% highest active time and bareley peaks above 5mb/sec.

But i will say thanks again for all the help, the spikes have reduced to only a few secs each spike, but will let you know if they get bad again

 

[Nxtar]

well after 8 hours of running the computer after updating all hardware drivers and updating windows, the lagg is still there and its now frozen 2 times since the update. I even went as far as changing the HDD settings in the BIOS from sata type ACHI to IDE. not to sure what difference it will make over the long hall but sofar no improvement.

If theres any other tricks to try I'm open to suggestion
thanks