Right now I have my tower like 6 inches away from my computer chair, and the tower is sitting right on the ground. I’m always scooching around on my chair pretty hard resulting in lots of banging and movement..since it’s so close to my comp can this bad banging mess with any hardware in the comp? Like loosen something up and make it less effective or brake it.
I just got a really nice comp last month but it seems to be gradually becoming more slow, like my web pages are taking slower to load, to switch from page to page, and my online games I’m playing are starting to freeze every once in a while and sometimes are a little slow when my computer hardware should not allow that to happen.
So I was just wondering if my movement and banging right outside my comp could be affecting the hardware inside. Also when I had a local store put together the comp (I bought everything seperate) I think they installed some parts incorrectly. My cpu says it has 2.49 gb of ram when I infact bought a Kingston HyperX HyperX 6GB (3 x 2GB) memory card. Could that be a problem, though it was still wayy faster right when I got it and I really haven’t downloaded many programs at all.
Thanks in advance ~ lold8ub
Banging a computer especially while it is running could cause damage to it. If you bang it while the hard drive is running, it could damage the read write heads or the platters themselves in the hard drive. Banging could also knock components loose inside the case (ie ram, video cards, etc) so you might want to make sure they are all firmly seated in their sockets. As for your computer running slower, you should do some basic cleanup things if you havent done any yet. You should delete temporary internet files and cookies and maybe see if your hard drive needs to be defragmented. I use a program called CCleaner which is good for removing temp internet files and other old temp files. It can also clean up the registry on the computer and can help you stop programs from running at startup that dont need to be (such as adobe reader and quicktime quicklaunch, etc). As far as the RAM goes, if you are running a 32bit operating system, it wouldnt recognize any more than 4gbs at most, usually it will show more like 3 or 3.25, but could show less, depending on the hardware you have installed. If you are running windows 7 it should see all 6GBs. If so, reseat all the RAM in their slots to see if they have come loose. Also, check the BIOS to see how much the BIOS is seeing. You should also run a Memtest86+ scan to see if any of the RAM is bad. You should also check the RAM to be sure of the size of each stick (see if they are indeed 2GBs each) just in case the wrong RAM was installed.
Alright I’m not actually banging the computer itself but thumping around on the ground only like 4 inches away, so I guess I should find a better spot to put it. I usually delete my internet history, cache, temp files and all that good stuff but I’ll definitely install CCleaner as I forgot about it with this new computer.
“Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950” is the proccessor I have. I made sure everything was compatible with eachother and a very good product in general before I got it, and I think that processor can identify all the memory I should have. I only have Windows XP though.
What’s this BIOS you speak of and how do I do it, I look at my memory through control panel > See Basic Information about your Computer. For the memtest how do I know if the ram is bad based on what I need it for? (Mostly just the game World of Warcraft and othre basic needs for ram)
“You should also check the RAM to be sure of the size of each stick (see if they are indeed 2GBs each) just in case the wrong RAM was installed” What do you mean here? My email confirmation from the place I bought it says it’s the 6b (3x2gb) memory card.
I’m going to take it back to the store though to see if they can install parts more securly and correctly this time, thanks for the help..hope you answer
This BIOS is a program that lives on the CMOS chip on your motherboard. It stands for basic input output system and is responsible for doing a quick check of your hardware when you turn on the computer and then passing control of the computer over to the operating system once it finishes its powered on self test. When you turn on your computer, the BIOS checks what hardware you have installed and if it is responding correctly, and also loads basic drivers for things like video and keyboard, and then looks for an operating system to pass control to. You can go into the BIOS to setup your system clock, processor, memory, and other devices on your motherboard. Getting into the bios differs depending on the manufacturer, but most often times you need to hit the delete key or F2 to get in when the computer is first powered on. You shouldnt really need to change anything in there unless you are overclocking or doing an initial setup on your computer. Inside the BIOS you can see the timings of your RAM and how much is installed. Sometimes the BIOS will recognize your full amount of RAM when your operating system will not seem to.
Memtest is a program that tests the functionality of the RAM. It basically will tell you if it is working correctly, or if the RAM is returning errors. If the RAM returns errors during the tests, that means one of the chips is bad on one of the memory sticks which can cause all sorts of problems, from memory leaks, system lockups, blue screens, or random reboots.
You mentioned that you are running windows XP on your computer. Unless you have windows xp 64 bit, the most that your computer will recognize is 4GBs, but more often than not, it is only going to show as being 3 or 3.25, but it depends on the hardware you have installed. This is a limitation of a 32bit operating system where it cannot recognize (or give memory addresses) to more than 4GBs of ram. A 64bit operating sytem is able to address more than 4GBs though, and should be able to see all 6 GBs of RAM if that is the version of XP that you have.
Oh, one other thing. Slowness can also be caused by malware/spyware viruses, etc. If you dont have any antispyware programs installed, you should download one and do a scan just to be sure. I like spybot search and destroy or another one called malwarebytes which works well. You should also have antivirus software and a firewall of some sort as well. Komodo and zonealarm are free firewalls, and Avast and some versions of AVG are free antivirus software that you can use as well.
Ok I’ll give the bios and memtest a shot thanks. Even if I was only 32 bit operating system I should at least be at the 4gb cap instead of 2.49 when I should have 6 >.< But I’ll definitely look into that to. Thanks for all the help!
