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domino815 · Jul 31, 2008, 06:55 AM

I have Media Center on my computer, hooked up through our DISH satelllite so I can watch TV while I am on the computer. I think I need to update something because about every 45 to 60 seconds, the whole computer including Media Center freezes up for about 5 seconds.
I have tried to figure out before what needs to be updated and where to go to do it. If someone could answer this, it would be greatly appreciated. I am running Windows XP, Gateway desktop about 2 yrs old.

Scleros · Aug 2, 2008, 04:00 AM

I'm not that familiar with Media Center, if you can hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE, and choose Task Manager, or otherwise bring up a list of processes, look for something consuming a high percentage of CPU (ignore System Idle Process). Also during the freeze times is the hard drive running and generating a solid activity light (if you have one)?

chuckhole · Aug 6, 2008, 07:37 AM

Sleros has good advice. Always refer to the Task Manager.

Media Center can be a video resource hog. If your video card does not have at least 128mb of RAM on it and it does not SHARE memory with the motherboard, then it can get pushed to its limits. Shared memory in particular is not good for this use.

XP Media Center has a higher hardware requirement than just XP. You can test this by reducing the video resolution. Try reducing your color quality down one notch. For example from 32-bit down to 16-bit video. This will greatly reduce the burden on your video memory and let you know that a video upgrade may be in order.

I am not yet a fan of Windows Vista but I will definitely say that Vista's Media Center is quite nice if your computer has the horsepower. Ours is being output to a widescreen HD LCD and it is impressive. Add the wireless mouse and keyboard and a LazyBoy... WOW...

ScottGem · Aug 6, 2008, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by chuckhole

Vista's Media Center is quite nice if your computer has the horsepower. Ours is being output to a widescreen HD LCD and it is impressive. Add the wireless mouse and keyboard and a LazyBoy.......WOW........

And where do you put the mouse in a Lazy Boy? I know they often have wide arms, but not that wide.

chuckhole · Aug 6, 2008, 08:36 AM

Originally Posted by ScottGem

And where do you put the mouse in a Lazy Boy? I know they often have wide arms, but not that wide.

Ahhhh... Gyro Mouse. No surface required... The gyro detects the mouse movement.

ScottGem · Aug 6, 2008, 08:45 AM

Originally Posted by chuckhole

Ahhhh.....Gyro Mouse. No surface required.........The gyro detects the mouse movement.

I've always felt that wireless keyboards should have either a trackball, touchpad or joystick built in. Otherwise its hard use such a keyboard on a lap from a sofa or easy chair.

domino815 · Aug 6, 2008, 08:55 AM

Originally Posted by Scleros

I'm not that familiar with Media Center, if you can hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE, and choose Task Manager, or otherwise bring up a list of processes, look for something consuming a high percentage of CPU (ignore System Idle Process). Also during the freeze times is the hard drive running and generating a solid activity light (if you have one)?

I didn't find anything that was using a high percentage of CPU except System Idle Process.
During the freeze, there is no solid activity light - it is yellow and it blinks very fast and then very bright for a second or so. Then it unfreezes and goes on. Thanks

domino815 · Aug 6, 2008, 09:02 AM

Media Center can be a video resource hog. If your video card does not have at least 128mb of RAM on it and it does not SHARE memory with the motherboard, then it can get pushed to its limits. Shared memory in particular is not good for this use.

What I was able to find was AMDAthlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4200+
1 CPU(s), 2 cores(s), 2 logical processor(s) 1920 MB of RAM

I am not sure where to find how much RAM my video card has. Any advice on how
to locate that? Thanks so much. =)

ScottGem · Aug 6, 2008, 09:18 AM

Should be in the paperwork that came with the PC. You can also try checking out your model on line.

chuckhole · Aug 6, 2008, 10:39 AM

You said 1920MB RAM? You likely have 2048MB (2GB) installed and the remainder is being used by your video card.

One way to tell is to open the Task Manager and select the Performance tab. Look at the physical memory. Divide this number by 1024. The result should be really close to the amount of RAM you have installed in the computer. If it is not, then the remainder is being used as shared memory for your video card. This will be a significant number depending on what you are doing. My laptop is currently using a little more than 11MB for basic operations.

The amount of shared memory will increase as the load on the video increases. By not having dedicated memory to the video, part of your system resources are taken to allocate memory to the video and the pathway to this memory sharing is not as fast as dedicated memory. Also, decent to high end graphics accelerators will have their own processor dedicated to video operations. Having this option installed when you purchase a new computer will drive the cost up but often no more than $50 $100.