computer problem

I have a problem every time i fill out an HTML form on the web (including the one I am using to post this). The problem is that when I type in a form box I have to wait up to 30 seconds for the text to appear. After the first thing I type appears I can type normally. There is also a “lag” after I click on a form button. The button stays depressed for a long time and then will finally function. I reinstalled windows (and reformatted the drive) and I am still having the problem. I have had this computer a long time and this never happened before. I have also used many computers and have never seen this problem before. I also have a problem when I open Outlook Express. after I click on the icon the compouter doesn’t do anything (no HD activity) and the program launches about 30 seconds later. BTW I use IE 5. All of my other programs work normally.

How old of a computer? If you’re running an early Pentium or (God help you) a 486, you may just not have enough Oomph.

Do you know how much RAM you have? Of course, these are just preliminary guesses. I know you said that IE5 and Outlook Express are the only problems. Still, I’d start there. Your older computer just may not be compatible.

I have an AMD 333 with 64 MB ram. IE 5 used and OE USED to work fine. I havent made any hardaware or software changes that I can think of, well I did install office 2000.

Hmmm…P(OK, Athlon)333, 64MB RAM…You’ve definitely got enough to run those apps. AND, Office 2K just loves IE5, so there should be no incompatibility problems there.

You’ve reformatted, and reinstalled (from backup or from disk?). This one’s a poser. We need more opinions. Or, God may just hate you

Maybe my computer is just getting revenge for all the times I’ve called it a POS and worse :smiley:

This problem is often caused by:

1: Apps that don’t properly release memory when they terminate. This pulls the entire system performance down to a crawl in many cases. Are you starting and closing another program (perhaps email or web related) before you hop into your browser? Does this slowdown always occur even if you start fresh and only run your browser without having started or closed any other apps?

2: When you stack up too many background tasks like virus checkers, system monitor apps etc etc etc. Nortons is esp. notorious for this. Use Windows built in system information applet’s system config utility to knock background tasks down to only those absolutely necessary and see if performance improves.

3: Malfunctioning RAM memory or lack of memory. How much memory do you have? Minimum 32 megs for win95/98 and 64+ megs for reasonably good browser performance recommended.
A fresh install as previously suggested would probably
also be a very good idea. Windows tends to get bogged up over time with junk drivers and non-essential background stuff installing itself automatically. A system cleanout from time to time is useful.

thanks,
I think you are right about the RAM thing. I don’t really have that much stuff running in the background though. A lot less than it would have if I use the Compaq CD to install windows. They put an enormous amount of useless background crap on their computers.

Noticed if the disk activity light is on during the delay? Maybe its still completing some caching task, and the disk is having a problem, causing a lot of retries.

I have heard of similar problems in IE when AutoComplete is enabled. Try to disable it by:
[ul]
[li]Select from the menu bar: “Tools” -> “Internet Options”[/li][li]Click the “Content” tab[/li][li]Click the “AutoComplete” button[/li][li]Deselect the Check Boxes and click “OK”[/li][/ul]
This might help

You could get Netscape too, its free. I use both IE & Netscape…that way if one misbehaves, I use the other one.

I disabled autocomplete and the problem seems to be gone
thanks