computer slow unless running for 1.5 hrs - confused

sumwar

So my computer is 3 years old and I try to clean it by blowing on it but that just doesn't seem to be enough. There is visible dust that is stuck on the video card and motherboard and the power supply fans have dust on them that can't be blown away with my breathe. So I probably answered my own question but does anyone know why my computer would be slow for the first 1.5 hrs. After that it is fine.

I have 2.8 ghz duo core intel and hd 4850 graphics card and 4 gb of ddr2 ram and I can play games after 1.5 hrs of the computer running but before then it is suicide. I am trying to play Diablo 3 beta now but it freezes all the time. I can play it later today and I will but I am so confused. Why would a computer take 1.5 hrs of running to stop being so slow?

JHunz

Are you using antivirus software? Norton or something doing a scan every time you boot would pretty much explain it.

Pariel

Try reformatting.

Ego

Anti-virus or automated work at boot sounds like the culprit (if you're using something like Norton as JHunz mentioned, replace it with microsoft security essentials, or Avira if you have some objection to MS stuff.) If nothing like that seems to be happening, you might want to give ccleaner a try (http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner). It's a handy program in general for clearing out temporary junk.

sumwar

I'm not using anti virus. Whats weird is if I restart my computer after it has been on for 1.5 hrs it is totally fine. As long as I don't shut the computer off for too long it will be fine after 1.5 hrs.

edit: I will try that website Ego.

sumwar

I can't reformat because I didn't get the windows disk. I'm gonna build my next computer so I'll have all the CD's then. But for now I'm looking into cleaning my hard drive so to speak.

Does anyone have any tips on how to "clean" a hard drive without actually reformatting. In the computer build thread people said a 3 year old computer should be slow and can be fixed with reformatting but I can't do that as I said before.

Any general tips for speeding up a 3 year old machine?

Pariel

What metric are you using to say that it's going faster after an hour and a half?

You can use some defragmenter. I use DeFraggler. Not sure how much improvement you'll actually see, since I don't know what's on your hard drive.

sumwar

If I try to play D3 beta or any game that isn't 10 years old like Diablo 2(super low requirements) it lags like crazy. After about 1.5 hours it is almost completely fine, not much lag in D3 beta after it has been on for 1.5 hours. Skyrim is another example where its super slow before around 1.5 hours and after, completely fine.

sumwar

WOW CCleaner was the trick. No more 1.5 hour slowdown haha. D3 beta ran fine right early in the morning. Oh my god that was awesome, I'm considering not buying a new computer for D3 since my computer is so much faster now.

Synthesis

MSE has some overlap with CCleaner--you may want to get it or some other antivirus client (MSE is pretty much the best free small-footprint AV client out there) to avoid this in the future.