PC Performance

Computer issues and app recommendations
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The Dríver
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PC Performance

Postby The Dríver » 25 Feb 2015, 12:31

I use two computers regularly - one laptop and one PC, both running Windows 7. The laptop has 4GB of RAM, the PC has 3GB. Both have ample room left on the hard drives and both run dual core processors.

Both also have Firefox installed, and apart from one or two differences both have the same bookmarks. They also both have the same plug-ins and extensions. However....

I find my browsing on the PC to be noticeably slower than on the laptop. For example, if i go to the Lexulous app on Facebook the page loads in a few seconds on my laptop, but it can sometimes be 15-20 seconds on the PC, and every now and then things slow down to a virtual standstill.

A quick check in Task Manager shows Firefox (with maybe three tabs featuring media free pages) hogging anything up to 1.5GB of RAM, which explains the slow running, but the same pages open on my laptop don't have the same effect.

Sometimes on the PC I'll get a Flash Plugin Container crash message, but not always. I've uninstalled and re-installed Flash Player and Shockwave but the problem persists.

So what's going on?
He's a simpleton. 200 years ago they wouldn't have let him milk a cow.

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JQW
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Re: PC Performance

Postby JQW » 25 Feb 2015, 14:54

It's most likely Flash that's the culprit, and as re-installation hasn't resolved the issue then I suspect that it's a corruption of the Flash's cache files.

In the past I've fixed faults like this by deleting the whole Flash cache directory, but that was on other operating systems which stored the cache in different places.

Flash now has a Control Panel applet that has an option for emptying the cache - whether it deletes absolutely everything isn't clear, but you could give it a go.
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. - Bertrand Russell

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The Dríver
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Re: PC Performance

Postby The Dríver » 25 Feb 2015, 15:48

Cheers, Paul.

Is that a case of right-clicking on a Flash object to get there? Part of the Settings?
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JQW
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Re: PC Performance

Postby JQW » 25 Feb 2015, 16:39

Yes, it appears under the Global Settings sub menu.
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. - Bertrand Russell

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The Dríver
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Re: PC Performance

Postby The Dríver » 26 Feb 2015, 08:43

Thanks, Paul. I've given that a go. Certainly seems to have improved browser load speeds.

Maybe it's just time to get a new PC...
He's a simpleton. 200 years ago they wouldn't have let him milk a cow.

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JQW
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Re: PC Performance

Postby JQW » 26 Feb 2015, 15:04

It's just the mess that is Flash. Thankfully many sites are now switching to HTML5 for video streaming, including YouTube.
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. - Bertrand Russell

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The Dríver
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Re: PC Performance

Postby The Dríver » 27 Feb 2015, 12:56

I know. I wonder how long it'll be until it can be ditched altogether?
He's a simpleton. 200 years ago they wouldn't have let him milk a cow.


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