Computer is constantly skipping...?!...Help Please!

Hey Everyone

I seem to have a bit of a problem with my PC. Recently my PC has started to skip... yes skip. Every 3 mins, about, my PC just skips (like a cd with a scratch) and its really annoying me.
For example.. I am watching a YouTube video, and every 3 mins (like clockwork) the video will skip, or if im playing a PC game, the game will skip every 3 mins, or if im listening to music, the music will skip... yes, every 3 mins. You guys get the point.
I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem, or if someone has any ideas on how to fix it?

I know this might be a hard question to answer, but any help is appreciated.

 

I haven't ever heard of this happening, but do you have a lot of processes running at startup?

Have you run your anti-virus software or checked for malware/spyware laely?

 

Maybe the hard drive going bad? Too many processes? I had a similar problem which was every time I loaded anything to even switching an internet page I would have my music playback skip. This fixed itself so I have no idea how to fix it. You may want to try Windows XP in safemode with networking and try to load a youtube video that skips and see if it skips in safemode.

 

I have 32 processes that start on boot up... is this a lot?
I was thinking of getting a faster processor, but then i thought, why waste the money, if it wont fix the problem.
I run Norton Internet Security and AVG Anti-Virus, and they both say im clean.

I'll try booting it in safe mode, and let you guys know what the out come is.

 

No, 32 processes is not a lot. You could try turning of the NIS, when you are playing the games or music, just as a check, but I have my doubts that that is the problem.

 

OK i rebooted in safe mode, played some video... same problem. I also did a virus scan in safe mode, im still clean. This doesn't seem to be a software problem, it seems to be a hardware problem.. but i could be wrong. I didn't do any hardware related stuff when the problem started, thats the odd thing.
Here are some of my specs. if it helps in any way...

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3500+ (2.2 GHz)
RAM - 2 GB
OS. - Windows XP Pro. Service Pack 2
Hard drive - 160 GB
Sound Card - Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE
Video Card - ATI Radeon X850 XT PE.

 

your specs are really good so idk why it would be doing this. If you want, try to partition the HDD using GParted Live (you dont lose any data) and install XP Again. If it still does this then its hardware. If it doesnt then its your XP installation. What is your CPU Useage when watching a video?

 

My CPU usage is about 42 - 50% when watching a video.

Is partitioning my HDD hard? And can i get rid of the partition, if it messes something up?

 

partitioning is easy with G parted Live. It is a GUI interface where you drag and resize partitions. And if you want to undo the partition just use the G parted Live CD and merge the 2 partitions together (and delete the new one u created)
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=115843&package_id=173828

 

I dont want to do the partition right this second. Im not 100% comfortable with that whole concept yet (i downloaded the program just in case).
But i do have a question... I use a program called Process Explorer, and this tells me things such as; CPU usage, and Memory Usage ect.. In the CPU Usage graph, there is a constant stream of interrupts that take up 22 - 36% of my CPU when im doing nothing. Interrupts are hardware related am i right? Should the level of interrupts be that high?

 

no, that is software related and your CPU idling should not be at that. It should be at 0-5%. Go into task manager (CTRL-ALT-DEL) and go to the processes tab. Click on CPU and sort it from greatest to least. There should be a system Idle processes with the CPU in the 90s. Is there any thing else with a CPU above 0-1? As for the partitioning, you could just buy a new hard drive, they are relatively cheap now.

 

There is the system idle, and there are ones that flicker from 2- 4 but i dont think thats a big deal.
And good idea for the hard drive.

 

Humm, so Idling the CPU is like 22-36% yet System Idle is the only one that is an actual hog in the CPU Useage. Actually this doesnt matter because it was skipping in safe mode too where there are no extra processes running.
Look here http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.aspx?Category=15&name=Hard-Drives for hard drives. This is a good and cheap site (I buy all my parts from here) Remember to buy the right interface hard drive, SATA or ATA (PATA)

Also note that if you buy something that says OEM, it does NOT include the mounting screws, instruction manuals or wires. Basically it just the hard drive shipped in a secure box.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, i think i am going to go that route, and buy the new hard drive. I think i might get an external one, i know its slower, but i like the portability of it. Or one of those internal/ external ones, that connect with SATA, or USB.

 

I don't think that you can use the external for your OS.

 

Yea, I've tried. You can't.

 

I see, well then i guess im going internal lol. Do you guys know if one brand is better then another?

 

I prefer Seagate, but I think that any of the major brands are good.

 

Segate is the only HD with a 5 year warranty but I have noticed that Western Digital is faster in seek times and write/read times by looking at their specs.

 

Thanks guys, ill look into a drive and let you know.