Is it bad for your computer to normally have 10-20 windows open simultaneously? Normally as in say 1-10 hours every day? Or is it harmless?





Is it bad for your computer to normally have 10-20 windows open simultaneously? Normally as in say 1-10 hours every day? Or is it harmless?








Thank you! Right now my computer is being kinda weird with having multiple windows open, but it's not slow and it's never done anything like it before so I asume it'll pass.![]()



You didn't open the windows? What are they? Black boxes?





I can still open as many windows as I want, but it's not letting me click through them as effortlessly as I usually can. I can normally go from one to the other instantly, now it's sort of pausing and I'll click on one but the cursor is still on another one... I'm having a few problems scrolling down using that wheel between the two-mouse buttons. It seems to be cursor problems. I just switched to a different mouse too because the last one got fucked up with my screen.![]()



Alas 95% of computer problems can be fixed by restarting the computer.
What programs are these 10-20 windows?
You can try windows task manager(in ctrl-alt-del) or statbar to see if the cpu or memory are busy or full.
http://www.statbar.nl/





Just normal websites. Usually Wikipedia. I read it for hours almost every day. I have no life.
I acutally restarted it not that long ago because I kept thinking that Kodak wasn't opening, even though it was and I just wasn't looking in the right spot.![]()
Ah well. It's not being too annoying. But when you're on your computer as much as I am you notice everything. Except when Kodak is opening up.![]()
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If it's really an issue you can try a different internet browser. opera or firefox. Some people claim have 10-20 firefox windows running for days eats up their memory.
I assume you're using tabs instead of new windows.





Well, mostly windows. But a lot of times I'll have both, multiple windows and some of them having multiple tabs opened up. I multi-task a lot. It's normal for me to have 9-13 windows open at once.





I usually have 3 or 4 at a time.But if things start to get slow I check the task manager to see whats going on,then just close a couple down if needed.Or as said sometimes do a restart to clean it back up if needed.





Shit. I have 6 windows open now and it's being funky about opening up 3 more. Task mgr isn't even opening.
Okay, it opened. CPU usage is still around 2-7%
Whatever. I've had this comuter for over three years. I hope he's not going on me.![]()
^ Know how much RAM you have?
If you have inadequate RAM, you could be swapping to disk, which makes it feel slower.
Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
I commonly have a lot of applications and Windows open, skype, IM, chat, browser windows, a game running, Outlook, iTunes, VMWare, TV in a Windows, Remote logged into my work computer, and more, all at the same time, no slow downs. It's really no problem other then it may require more computer resources. Adding more RAM can help a lot here.





A few months ago I was having problems and someone thought it was RAM-related so they taught me how to check it, and I had only used up around 25% of my hard drive. If that's what RAM is....![]()
Nope, RAM (Random Access Memory) is not the same thing as hard drive space.
^ No, RAM is memory, not disk space.
Right click on My Computer
Left click on Properties
In the bottom of the General tab, it will tell you how much RAM you have in MB or GB.
Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.
William F. Buckley, Jr.





504 MB is what I think mine reads...



Sounds like you could use more RAM if your windows/computer gets slow.
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"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." -Herm Albright
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud." -Sophocles
"A stripper takes off her clothes; she does not have to take off her dignity."
-One of Indie's Girlfriends
504 is possible. If so, well it's the bare minimum XP needs to run fair. Many of us have 2x, or 4x (some even have more) and it makes a huge difference, but whether or not you can add more, depends on your computer.





Damn it. It's still speedy, but it's not even letting me open new windows now. It'll pause like it's going to, but a new window never appears. I don't even know what kind of computer I have lol. Thanks guys.![]()
RAM for a computer is like fitness for people - more never hurts! First, check if your computer will support more - are you using a laptop (sounds like you might have shared video memory)?
Other possible remedies:
Have you tried defragmenting your hardrive? It doesn't sound like this is your problem, but fragmentation issues can cause slower computer performance.
Virus scan? That's always a possibility when issues suddenly 'pop up' - check the date of your virus definitions file, and update if possible.
Keeping multiple windows open for a while CAN (but not always) lead to memory leaks, which will also cause the same conditions. Does the problem go away after a reboot? If so, this is most likely your concern. If/when you get task manager open, you can check the utilization of your paging file and total memory (performance tab). If the bottom bar (PF) is high, memory is definitely an issue.



If it's not letting you open new windows, more RAM would certainly help your cause.
Modeling photos, bio, & lots more at
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort." -Herm Albright
"Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud." -Sophocles
"A stripper takes off her clothes; she does not have to take off her dignity."
-One of Indie's Girlfriends





Ah! Now my screen is all messed up!





The font on everything keeps changing and sometimes overlapping. Avatars are disappearing as I scroll.
Now everything starts to disappear and drag and run to the point where the screen looks like streaks. But if I run my mouse over the things that have disappeared they become visible again. The only way I can stop the streaking is to click away from the window I have open and then click back to this, then it's readable again.
Fragments of a program I closed out a few hours ago are still visible on my screen.



What internet browser are you using?
Internet explorer, firefox, or opera.
People would guess you might have viruses or spyware on your computer.
If it happens again after restart, since you mentioned it earlier make sure your ram/memory isn't running out. Either with ctrl-alt-del task manager or the program mentioned earlier.
If it is spyware try a program like spybot to check.
Try a different internet browser like opera which may use less memory if you want 20 windows open. Depending on what type of ram/memory you need and if there are empty slots on your computer you could double or triple your ram for as low as $35-$50. Are you sure you need 20 windows open though?
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