system resources

Hey all, I have a dell Inspiron 9400 laptop, but it has been doing a strange thing this past year. When I leave my computer on for around 10 hours with cable internet on, it starts to run very sluggish...and when I try to activate any application it will come up with an error message stating that there are not enough system resources to fulfill the task. Does anyone know what this error means, and what I can do to fix it?

I have reformatted my hard drive once, but it started doing it again after a month when I had to put symantec anti-virus on my comp. I think it may be the anti virus software my uni makes me use for their internet. but my roomate doesnt get this error and he has the exact same comp as me. Has anyone had experience with this "Insufficient system resources to fulfill the task" error message? Any input would be helpful, thanks

what OS are you running?

also, is there any specific application that's running when this happens?

Next time it starts getting sluggish, do a ctrl-alt-delete and check up on what processes are running. I bet you you're running something leaky that's eating your memory over time. Sort by memory usage to identify the hog. There's a good chance it's your web browser, if it's been open for a long time.

Also, is your hard drive almost completely full?

Try doing a spyware check. Ad-Aware, Spybot... Those are usually what leak RAM. Are you on Vista or XP?

Im using xp pro edition. and I did test for certain applications, obviously msn messenger will do it, but even when I have no apps running it still does this, it just takes longer. and I do use spysweeper and symantec (seperatly) to check for viruses and spyware....

I guess I should mention though, even when I have no apps running I am hooked up to cable internet, will this still make my comp come up with that error if it is left on hooked up to the cable with no browser up?

Most spyware runs independent of the browser. Do Ctrl+Alt+Del and look at your processes. There is a tab for RAM usage somewhere. Take a screenshot, then leave your computer for ten minutes and compare the resources. If the computer was just sitting there then the amount of RAM used by the processes shouldn't have changes significantly. If something jumped way up, google the name of it and I'm sure you will find other cases of the same bot infecting other people's computer, plus the solution for it.

How much RAM do you have, exactly? Because if you're under 1GB nowadays, you can expect to be sluggish no matter what you do in XP. But yeah, my money's on a memory leak. Could be spyware, but you said the problem worsens if you leave it on over night.
Also, make sure you have a firewall, not just antivirus. I recommend Comodo.

thanks for reply's guys,

tsen I thought antivirus programs provided firewalls but I guess not, I will have to set one up.

ninja, how do I take a screen shot?

Press Print Screen then open MS Paint and Paste.

Most antivirus programs don't. At least, the good ones don't. Norton and McAffee have firewall components that may or may not be installed/active, but trust me, you don't want either of those programs anywhere near your computer--they're worse than the viruses they protect against.

thanks ninja

tsen, yeah I know all about Norton.... we got norton on our old comp and it sucked hard, it made our comp so slow. We switched to Kaspersky. but my uni requires symantec, and it makes me feel like its bogging down my comp, but oh well I guess...

Yeah, my uni gave out McAffee free and "required" it's use, but usually that doesn't mean much--just as long as you have decent virus protection, they didn't care. In fact, they didn't care if you had no virus protection, but if you got hacked/exploited, they'd have to shut off your internet access, with a $20-50 fee attached. I used Linux while I was up there, though, so I never had to deal with it much.
I've never used Kapersky myself, but I haven't heard much bad about it (though, not much good either).

hey guys, sorry I left you guys hanging for so long school just took me completely away from anything tech, I finally figured out it was my messenger. I guess if I leave that on it just destroys my comp. so now I always sign out when Im not near the comp. thanks again!!

Why not get a new messenger? Trillian, GAIM and Miranda IM support all the IM protocols and are free.

do they support webcam, voice and file transfer for free? The main reason I use messenger is for my LDR...so those are essential for me

Yup. Google them for more info, I know they have the features, but I've never used them and can't give you any feedback. Also, GAIM (now called Pidgin) has pretty sketchy file-transfers, so you may want to opt for Trillian or Miranda.

ok, cool. thanks! my computer problems should be at an end...until something new comes along!