Hi,
For the past few months my computer has been getting short spikes, where the screen will freeze for a second or so. For example, if I am watching a video on youtube, it will load fine, however, every minute or so it will freeze for a split second (only the image, not audio).
Also, when I am playing Warcraft 3 online, again every minute or so it will lag for a 2-5 seconds. Basically, no matter what I am doing the screen will get these short spikes. Below is an image of 'performance' in task manager. The only process running at the time was Internet Explorer (surfing youtube).
^why the heck does it spike so high when all I am doing is using youtube or facebook, or any website!
My computer model is a HP Pavilion a6220a, purchased about 3 years ago. From my knowledge (which is very limited) this computer is not that great and uses relatively old technology.
There is no graphics card - only an "integrated family chipset". Please note though, in the past I had no problems playing Warcraft online or watching youtube (except that maybe the graphics were not top notch).
Recently I upgraded to 2GB RAM (from 1GB). This made some improvements to my system, such as... Programs would open faster, using the windows key to minimise a game became instantaneous (before it would take a while to close the window, and vice versa reopening it) and I could have more IE tabs open at once (without alot of lag).
However! More RAM did not make the spikes go away. I have run AVG which has not found any viruses.
Some last notes, there are no processess I dont know about running in the backround (I have checked task manager). What ever process is running (IE, mozilla, google chorme) will spike up to %100 CPU usage sometimes! Oh and I have Vista (which is probably the problem haha)
I suspect that it is either a problem with software on my CPU, or my wireless connection to the router in my home. My knowledge of computers is very limited (I wish I knew more) so please bear with me.
Thank you in advance to anyone that helps!!!