My computer needs help...

[Hawks]

This is just a random question. I'm running Windows 2000 with like SP3 I think. When it starts the screensaver (the starfield, set to as fast as possible and 200 stars) runs very slowly and screws up the rest of my comp (slows it down a lot) for a few seconds after I get it off the screensaver, if that makes sense.

 

 

 

Is there a way to get it to not do this?

[pryomancer]

All those stars and the speed means your pc is struggling afterwards as it deals with rendering and loading.

 

 

 

Just decrease the stars and speed, that's what sounds like the problem.

[dsavi]

True. And if you're on Win 2k, I think an upgrade is in order really.

[pryomancer]

How much is XP these days, it can't be very much, and you'll see a better performance.

[Nadril]

Think XP is the same price as vista ($99). If his computer is lagging from a screensaver, however, then I don't think an upgrade is going to help.

[D. V. Devnull]

Unless my brain is messed up, aren't there a series of other screensavers to choose from? If nothing else, there's always the option for a blank screen. Further, hawkxs could also set start/stop program sounds, so they can hear what's going on, instead of having to trust a graphical item to tell them the PC is awake. (Heck, that's how I listen to a PC I'm using... Very interesting what you can hear.) :-k

 

 

 

Hey, hawkxs, could you provide a small stack of system specs? And BTW, what is going on behind the screensaver when this happens? I use the starfield myself, and don't have these issues, even with RuneScapeHD running. :-s

 

 

 

~D. V. "There must be an option that works here." Devnull

[Hawks]

System specs (I ran dxdiag, I assume that's what you wanted):

 

OS: Windows 200 Professional

 

It's a Micron Millenia GS with a Intel Pentium III processor, ~800MHz, with 512MB RAM

 

And if there's more you need I currently don't know where to find it...

 

 

 

Usually running behind the screensaver are a few IE windows (2-3), along with various background programs... which include Norton AntiVirus, EPSON Photo RX600 (printer), Control Center (other printer), InCD Essentials (CD burner thing), and Norton Internet Security. That would be everything in the system tray that's running as soon as I log on. There's other crap but it doesn't start automatically...

 

 

 

Also I have changed the number of stars and speed but it doesn't seem to be running any faster.

 

 

 

I don't know if it's the graphics card, I highly doubt it, I play Warcraft on this comp without any problems, although it won't support RS in HD.

[D. V. Devnull]

Do you know what video card you have? If not, you can check with DXdiag's "Display" tab(s), or just use the item located at http://www.rasterwerks.com/game/tool/swdiag.htm, which is another graphics diagnostic, but done in shockwave... (I personally certify the link as clean, because I have used it myself and found no bad elements in the page.) ... BTW, if you can post a screenshot with the info, it will be very helpful. :geek:

 

 

 

As for CPU, you're actually below the minimum requirement... That isn't good, seeing as RSHD is very heavy on a computer... Also, sadly, you are on the minimum for RAM. If possible, upgrade that. :?

 

 

 

~D. V. "Ouch, you need more..." Devnull

[BlueLancer]

I don't know if it's the graphics card, I highly doubt it, I play Warcraft on this comp without any problems, although it won't support RS in HD.

 

 

 

I know it's not really much of a solution, but instead of WoW that's probably WC2/III, and you should know playing RS2 in high-detail with a 800mhz processor will more likely than not bring your whole computer to a crawl even if you turn off anti-alias and special effects. The screensaver isn't much of a problem, set it to blank in display settings.

 

 

 

A somewhat-proper single core 1.5ghz costs no more than about $40-$80 these days, it would significantly improve your performance (as would a good graphics card, but RS isn't fortunately too dependent on it)

[Nadril]

Do you know what video card you have? If not, you can check with DXdiag's "Display" tab(s), or just use the item located at http://www.rasterwerks.com/game/tool/swdiag.htm, which is another graphics diagnostic, but done in shockwave... (I personally certify the link as clean, because I have used it myself and found no bad elements in the page.) ... BTW, if you can post a screenshot with the info, it will be very helpful. :geek:

 

 

 

As for CPU, you're actually below the minimum requirement... That isn't good, seeing as RSHD is very heavy on a computer... Also, sadly, you are on the minimum for RAM. If possible, upgrade that. :?

 

 

 

~D. V. "Ouch, you need more..." Devnull

 

 

 

Devnull, the only problem he is having is with a screensaver. Not RSHD. Not WoW. His video card is of no importance.

 

 

 

 

 

As I thought the computer is just aged. Just change the current screensaver.

[Hawks]

Yeah. It's having issues with shockwave... and adobe flash... (because of Norton Internet Security, the download for Flash is like go.flash.adobe.com but it registers as virus or some such crap and shockwave probably has not been updated in at least a few years...) but here's the screen from the DX Display:

 

 

 

 

 

BlueLancer: I did mean Wc3, and honestly the browser won't even attempt to load HD. I'm not really in control of anything we do with the computer (otherwise I'd have FF among other things :roll: ) Yeah we need a new comp... Actually, we have a crappy XP sitting here... (almost brand new, bought refurbished from where my dad works... Only comes with XP though, no Office... and it still has a crappy graphics card.

[Nadril]

Honestly you are not going to get anywhere with a Pentium III, 512MB or RAM and a GeForce 2. The entire computer is out dated beyond belief.

[Dracion1]

Not necessarily, it depends what he wants to use it for. Should do fine for general web browsing, and you could run sd on that.

 

 

 

Anyway, I'd reccomend removing Norton Internet Security in favour of another AV. It's resource intensive, and the latest version will do more bad than good.

[OldJoe]

Run Slax, then you'd see a boost in performance hehe =)

[D. V. Devnull]

Run Slax, then you'd see a boost in performance hehe =)

*groan* ... We're not trying to make hawkxs change OSes! ... Please, let's try to fix this person's Win2K OS! ;)

 

 

 

 

 

His video card is of no importance.

Not true. The video card is what renders/displays everything that a person sees. Without it, you have nothing in the PC to send the video image from RAM/CPU to the monitor. I asked about it because I was trying to learn if there might be any problems with 2D/3D. (Was never trying to pull RSHD into the conversation by intent, though... and WHERE did WoW come from???) BTW, unless my memory is totally shot, Micron wasn't great with Y2K-vintage GeForce 2 cards. :?

 

 

 

Also, did you notice the resolution/refresh that hawkxs is running at? 1280x1024 is (again, unless I miss my memory) harsh on an 800 Mhz CPU and an early GeForce 2 video card like what hawkxs has... More than likely, however, Dracion1 is right, and changing security suites may provide a better performance boost than just simply ducking the resolution back to 1024x768 or 1152x864. :-k

 

 

 

 

 

~D. V. "Ergh..." Devnull

[hatebringer]

Honestly I would just say its your computer being idle for awhile making it go into the screensaver, and then when you start it back up, most of the computer's RAM is probably hibernating to save power. Try checking if you have any power saving options on, like turning off hard drives, memory after a certain time limit.

[Sbrideau]

I would also remove Norton, just too heavy in RAM and CPU usage. Avira Antivir or Avast will do a much better job for less RAM and CPU usage, much less.