Why is my computer doing this??

[fuel tanker man]

I have about a 6 year old HP computer... it's the hp pavillion 513c, with Windows XP.

I have for my anti-virus the free AVG program. Not sure how good this is, but hey, it's free...

But here is the thing: When the computer has set for a while without my using it, it's like waking up my 16 year old son (nearly impossible, that is).

I have to move the mouse around and/or tap some keys on the keyboard and I will notice that the hard drive is responding (little yellow light flickering, lots of hard drive activity/noise)...

But it take three or four or five minutes, sometimes even longer, for the computer to get to where it starts responding normally.

This problem is especially bad after the computer has set overnight. When I go to start it in the morning (I just leave it running all the time, 24/7)... it's like waking the dead.

When it finally does start up, all is normal until I leave it alone for fifteen or twenty minutes, then it's another minute or two or three just getting it up and going again.

Any ideas what's wrong? Other than that, the computer seems to do fine.

By the way, I've run current spyware programs, and a registry mechanic program, and the AVG says there are no bugs--but this hasn't improved the problem.

Not sure what to do...

Any help appreciated!

Dan

 

[ThirdeYe]

Sounds like some sort of parasitic RAM drain, perhaps... Not for sure on that though. How long has it been since you defragmented your hard drive(s)?

 

[VK56VD]

Try CC Cleaner & A-Squared.

Then do Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragment.

 

[chevrofreak]

It sounds to me like it has been set to go into standby mode after a period of inactivity.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
It sounds to me like it has been set to go into standby mode after a period of inactivity.


Exactly. The HP computers I've purchased will go into hibernate mode. Sometimes, they don't come out of hibernate easily, or at all. That's a Vista-ism. It's better with SP1, but w/o Vista SP1, it ain't fun.

Change the Hibernate and/or Standby mode to "never" when plugged in.

 

[firemachine69]

Even if you change it in Windows, it may still go into hibernation. My Acer Aspire One does this, even though I have it set to "never" for hibernation mode while plugged in. Solution: Check your BIOS (hit DEL, ctrl-F2, F8, or whatever else key combo your system requires). It's kind of hit and miss, but you may find something in their to disable hibernation (sometimes it's built into the BIOS itself, such as my laptop).

 

[97tbird]

Originally Posted By: Spartuss
Try CC Cleaner & A-Squared.


I wouldn't do CC Cleaner; it might wipe your credit cards away

Now, C Cleaner might be better

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: chevrofreak
It sounds to me like it has been set to go into standby mode after a period of inactivity.


Yup, sounds like exactly what is going on.

 

[greenaccord02]

I'm just going to throw this out there, but could it be that the monitor, likely a CRT, is taking a long time to warm up? So perhaps it seems like it's taking longer to wake up, but in fact it's just the screen? I mean, in view of the problem description and in the interest of working from the simplest problem up... I've seen similar things happen before in equipment this age.

My .02

 

[Smoky14]

If you still have the origional hard drive, it sounds like it's getting ready to go south. Back up your important stuff.

Mine did the exact same thing.

 

[ZZman]

I would check the Hibernation and Standby settings and change them to never. Also check the HP website for any updates that may have come out to correct this issue.

 

[fuel tanker man]

Appreciate all the help!

I did check hibernation... it's turned off, and has been off.

The monitor is okay, it's working normally...

I did turn off the AVG anti-virus program and that seems as though it has helped the situation considerably. So it might have something to do with what AVG is doing.

Is there any reason an anti-virus program or a real time spyware blocker (which I also had turned on) would cause the computer to be extremely slow to "wake up"?

I had someone else recommend that I enlarge the cache folder, but I must admit I don't know how to do that...

"Also check the HP website for any updates that may have come out to correct this issue." That might be of some help. I haven't updated with HP in well... like... never?

Thanks again for the help.

Dan

 

[OVERKILL]

Switch AVG for AntiVir or Avast and see what happens.......

 

[PandaBear]

AVG is the issue here. I used to use it and after about 12-16 days of not turning on the PC, it will go whacky and start doing all sorts of scanning, fail to update, etc. What you end up having to do is uninstall and reinstall it.

There are better free AV out there.