Needs long coffee breaks - pauses inexplicably

[Howard]

Running XP Pro on a Dell G260.
This is a general problem but since I use Outlook a lot
the example is: Opening new or read emails in Outlook
2000 frequently takes 0.5 to 5 minutes to open - say 75%
of the time. Changing folders in Word 2000 when opening a
file produces the same problem. And so on . . . There
appears to be no other CPU activity at this time. Have
tried loading only MS drivers. DLLs' etc - no change. No
power-saving/sleep features enabled.

Anyone have any ideas?

Howard

 

[Quaoar]

Running XP Pro on a Dell G260.
This is a general problem but since I use Outlook a lot
the example is: Opening new or read emails in Outlook
2000 frequently takes 0.5 to 5 minutes to open - say 75%
of the time. Changing folders in Word 2000 when opening a
file produces the same problem. And so on . . . There
appears to be no other CPU activity at this time. Have
tried loading only MS drivers. DLLs' etc - no change. No
power-saving/sleep features enabled.

Anyone have any ideas?

Howard

Start at ground zero: do a complete maintenance cycle. Run Disk Cleanup
( do not check the box Compress Old files). Defragment the HD, even if
XP says it doesn't need it. Do you have years worth of emails in
Outlook? If so do whatever archiving and cleanup that Outlook offers to
reduce the message stores to recent emails sent and received.

Check the pagefile settings: System control panel, Advanced Tab,
Performance Settings/Advanced Tab/Virtual Memory/Change Button. Select
your HD and check System Managed.

Go back to system /Hardware Tab/Device Manager and see if there are any
red or yellow notices on any of the devices. This will indicate
problems with either hardware or drivers.

From Start/Run/type: msconfig. Select the startup tab. Of the startup
applications, which do you absolutely need (virus, etc.) and which not?
If you do not know what these programs are, go to this site to help
identify them: http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm#Select

Q