a few computer problems

Hi, I have a few problems that have been bugging me for a long time. The first and most important, is that recently, all of a sudden when I have music playing in iTunes, whenever I do anything else on the computer, the music skips, sometimes really bad. It has never used to do this at all, just recently. I have limited computer knowledge, I know that I have a Pentium 4 processor 2.8ghz, 512mb of ram (it says 384mb in the system properties, and a 40gb harddrive (of which 19.8gb are used). Doesn't ram have a large effect on how fast your computer processes things? I have about 1700 (6.9gb) songs, I'm not sure if this would matter either. It was a very expensive computer so I would assume that it would be able to handle what I have. When I start up windows, two things happen. (It also takes longer than it should to load up) A screen pops up about 5 times that says Windows Installer, but doesnt say anything else. It just blinks a couple of times and then goes away. Also after a while a screen pops up that says "HP digital imaging monitor (CUE) has encountered a problem and needs to close" I would like to fix these problems, and possibly see about speeding up the windows load time. Sorry for being so long, I just thought I'd give you as much info as possible from what I know. Please let me know what you think. Thanks for your help!

The HP utility may have to be reinstalled.

Use Windows Installer Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

Then reinstall the HP product.

If it's been a while, then clean out your Junk files (temps and cookies)
Then reboot into SAFE Mode and run your Defragger.

Best Regards

dough gave you the probably the best answer you can get.

Once the defragmenting process is done get back to us to help you further, or hear about your success.

You also might want to check out this:
http://www.cleancomputerhelp.com/
That provides alot of freeware to help keep your computer nice and clean

Best wishes, Mike

heymikeyz1603- To add just a little… Have you tried playing your music with another media player. Does it do the same there as well..? Have you tried uninstaling the player your using and re-installing it..? Another thing to look for/at is your paging file, check it to make sure that is around 1 1/2 to 2 x the total amount of ram you have installed. As far as your startup's go, you need to make sure and keep your startup clean and free of applications running that your not using. THAT will help TREMENDOUSLY with startup issues.. lagging issues… and overall will be the most noticeable adjustment you can make as far as performance. To do this, click on start, then run, and type msconfig and press enter. I am assuming your running XP ..? (your specs that you list show you have more than enough capabilities to handle just about anything thrown your way) If you are indeed running XP, then under the "startup" tab in msconfig… click to "disable all".. then click apply… then ok, then you will be asked to reboot and do so. Upon rebooting, you will receive a pop up telling you thet your using microsofts configuration utility…etc.etc. Put a check in the box at the bottom of that window to not show this again and then click ok. The main thing to remember here is that your not uninstalling…. or deleting.. anything. Just keeping it from starting with windows. Every icon in your system tray is constantly sending and recieving information… taking up valuable resources.. if your not using the application… then you dont need it running. If you decide afterwards that you would rather go back to the way it was… simply go back to msconfig… and enable what you prefer to run at startup. That, along with the previous posters suggestions… should put you on the right track.

Hi heymikeyz1603,

And Hi Crow. In an earlier PM to me about your post here, you indicated that it's hard to get everybody to agree to what is the best practice with cleaning up and running a clean machine. Right you are.

Crow, you recommend:

If you are indeed running XP, then under the "startup" tab in msconfig… click to "disable all".. then click apply… then ok, then you will be asked to reboot and do so.

I can "mostly" agree with your recommendation as quoted above, but HeyMikeyz1603 indicates that ("I have limited computer knowledge") So I would tend to be more conservative/(on the safe side)

So……..Heymikeyz1603,
Leave your AntiVirus and Firewall running active in MSCONFIG - StartUp(tab)
All other items are user preference, and most if not all can be turned off with no harm and will recover quite a bit of system resources for you, as Crow has indicated.

Heymikeyz1603……….You also ask:

Doesn't ram have a large effect on how fast your computer processes things?

Sure does.
You report 512mb physically installed with 384mbRAM available. That means that your "onboard video accelleration" is using 128mb of system RAM, leaving only 384mb available for Windows, processes, and any applications you may want to run. Since Windows XP demands about 384mb all by itself, there's nothing left for applications.

That's where Crow's recommendation about Paging File comes in handy. XP will manage Paging File/Swap Disk for you, but it tends to get scattered all over your Hard Drive. Using Crow's recommendation insures that you have a discrete location/amount set aside to assist when you temporarily need additional operating space.

What does Paging/Swap File do? When an application (Word, Media Player, IE, Mozilla, etc.) gets activated, there are a number of files that the application may use in certain circumstances, but don't need to always be loaded on the RAM Chip. So those files get placed into Paging, where they can be more rapidly available when/if the application needs to call them to RAM. Swap File is actually a way for the operating system to use Hard Drive space in a way that "mimics" RAM, to increase RAM resources in those instances where it might be needed. Of course, Hard Drives are "way" slower than RAM chips, so "swapped applications" will run alot slower than if they were run in RAM.

That's why dedicated "gamers" buy as much RAM as their machine can handle. (up to 2gigs or 4 gigs) That way, their entire gaming experience is lightning fast.

Most browsing, email, and office applications don't demand extraordinary speed, so Paging/Swap File works just fine. However, after you make the changes recommended by Crow above (disable most of your StartUp items) the next best thing you can do for smooth uninterupted listening enjoyment would be to install more RAM. I like to recommend 1gig.

I have the same experience as you do with my machine which is old and slow. CPU runs 600mhz with 784mb RAM. I can listen to music all day long while doing my "office" type activities. But if I'm also browsing or downloading, I'll experience a lag when a newly browsed page is loading or when a download starts. The lag is usually just at the very beginning of a download or just when browsing to a new page. Once the download is underway, or the page is mostly loaded, my music is just fine again.

Hope this helps. There are a lot of opinions out there. (and BTW, Crow is the acknowledged leader and authoritative resource in this Forum. I check in with him frequently for advice.)
Learning about and experimenting with your own machine is the best way to figure out how to get it running the way you want it.

Your mileage may vary.
Doug