A hardware problem?

I have a Celeron 700mhz, GeForce 2 400MX with 32mb, 128mb ram, and a very old 6.4 GB hard drive, the Sound Blaster card is just as old.

My computer has become extremely slow with time, and in it's current state, even 2d games are slowing down (like Starcraft).
For a long while I thought it was a software problem (that was before I saw how even Starcraft lags), so my computer was formatted and I installed everything anew, to have a clean systm with none of the maulfunctions Windows tends to collect with time. I do not have any viruses or spyware, and following that format I've come to the conclusion that it must be a hardware problem, since there's no way the slowing down can be caused by currupted system files anymore.
The questions is- which hardware part is it?
I've checked a few sites for info but I'm still not sure.
My biggest suspect is the hard drive, since it's really old.
It doesn't make weird noices when working, but I've noticed that sometimes I get picture files that lost their info (they're empty). Also, while the boot doesn't take an eternity, when I right click it takes the menu a moment to appear, sometimes..
Does this sounds like a Hard Drive going to fail soon?
If not what else?

 

Out of curiosity did you ever open up the case to clean everything inside? Heat can play its own game when it comes to parts failing.

 

The interior wasn't dusty at all since it was cleaned not to long ago, but to make sure I also cleaned the CPU cooling fan, which made things a bit smoother, but didn't really solve the problem.

 

I agree with omegamerc,
Heat might be your problem. I had a friend with the same processor you have. The case had no fans at all and the cpu fan only ran at like 1300rpm. I put a faster fan on the cpu, and add two case fans in the back, and guess what? No more lag.

I hope this helps,



cooked

 

Well if I could get my hands on a faster fan I'll try it, but it doesn't explain why my computer used to run fast (on 2 years ago standarts that is); I played Aliens Vs. Predator with no lag, and I had a heavier OS back then, Windows ME (now it's 98SE).. So what caused this deterioration?

 

There might be a hardware issue but i am not sure. Did you make sure to check to see if you have the latest drivers for everything. I had just reinstalled windows on my computer and had the second latest video driver. All my games were lagging somewhat. I just found the latest driver and everything worked ok.

If none of that is a factor here is my theory. When you buy a brand new computer it "Brand New" Everything will work to its best. Just like a car. Now its two years later. All the components have been working continously and might not be up to speed like they where when they were new. For example: if you have a car for two years, its not going to run like it did when you first bought it. Over time parts decreese in performance. However, there should not be a significant decrees unless you really mistreat it. At this point you perform matience to get the parts back where they should be. In your case i would suggest adding some case fans. You can get a few on ebay for a couple of bucks. Its worth a try, if it works then your set. If not well try something else, and at least you will prolong your computer by keeping it cooler. This needs a little work but i hope it gets the point accross.

I have an 6yo P233. I used to run starcraft fine with it. Now even after i blew everything out and reinstalled windows 98, i cant handle the game.

Now that computer is 6 years old, yours is only 2. So there might be some type of problem there.

Some one here should think of something!

Just a little something form the back of my head.



cooked

 

The specs paper from the store says 6.4 GB UDMA

I must mention that althought the celeron, ram and GeForce are like 2 years old, the hard drive is about 6-7 years old- hence my suspicion.