Skype slowing pc?

Craftyscholar

I'm very 'non-techie' so apologise for sketchy description.
For the last week my pc has been running really slowly, taking ages to download web pages etc.
First thought was that I had got something nasty in the system. Then I realised that the one thing that had changed was installing Skype.
I uninstalled it this morning and things seem to have returned to normal.
So can someone tell me does having Skype installed use up a lot of the system even when it is not being used?

JasX

Skype doesn't use much by modern standards but does take 'some' processing power and 'some' network bandwidth.

how good is your internet connection and how old is your PC?

daedana

Skype is a great piece of software. Even though I have to start it manually(automatic starting is a pain in the !!! in the end), I think it's a really good device for what it is supposed to do. And to answer to your question, it should not use nearly any(really small amount) of your processing power when not in use.

You can and should check the activity on your computer to get to know what software is causing your PC to slow down. Hope this helps.

macman

OP, are you saying that your PC is running slower, full stop, or just that your internet connection is running slower? Two different things.
When using Skype, (especially if you use the video function) then yes it will occupy a fair chunk of your bandwidth, so your browser would seem slower. But with Skype just running it the background but not actually connected, it should use hardly any resources at all.
What is your line speed like?
https://www.speedtest.net.

Craftyscholar

JasX wrote: »

Skype doesn't use much by modern standards but does take 'some' processing power and 'some' network bandwidth.

how good is your internet connection and how old is your PC?

My PC is a Dell Inspiron 2650 (not sure how old)
Started using it as main pc as it had more power than my original pc.

Craftyscholar

daedana wrote: »

And to answer to your question, it should not use nearly any(really small amount) of your processing power when not in use.

That was what I thought. I was quite surprised that removing it made such a difference.

daedana wrote: »

You can and should check the activity on your computer to get to know what software is causing your PC to slow down. Hope this helps.

Is there an easy way to check what is running?

kerry54

Craftyscholar wrote: »

My PC is a Dell Inspiron 2650 (not sure how old)
Started using it as main pc as it had more power than my original pc.

Skype will not make the PC slow as it is light software.

INT1

I find that my laptop bluetooth mouse runs slow when I have a few programmes starting on start up.
The mouse cursor jumps about, it never used to to this and only jumps when I am using the bluetooth mouse and not the thumbpad.
I put it down to skype and the other programmes that load up like limewire and u torrent.

msun

You can check how many processes are running by right-clicking the task bar - select "Task Manager" and the processes tab. Aim for the total number of processes to be not more than 20 for XP and 40 for Vista or Windows 7 for best performance.

Skype can be optimised to use less memory by not installing the SkypePM (plug-in manager) option which is installed by default. You would need to uninstall Skype and then re-install it but taking the options and un-ticking the feature.

The trouble may be that if, for instance, you run Vista with only 1GB of memory, you will be close to the limit and loading extra application such as Skype may tip the balance where the disk is used as virtual memory - lots of disk activity would be seen/heard with much slowing down of PC performance.

Cheers from Mike

Craftyscholar

msun wrote: »

You can check how many processes are running by right-clicking the task bar - select "Task Manager" and the processes tab. Aim for the total number of processes to be not more than 20 for XP and 40 for Vista or Windows 7 for best performance.

Skype can be optimised to use less memory by not installing the SkypePM (plug-in manager) option which is installed by default. You would need to uninstall Skype and then re-install it but taking the options and un-ticking the feature.

The trouble may be that if, for instance, you run Vista with only 1GB of memory, you will be close to the limit and loading extra application such as Skype may tip the balance where the disk is used as virtual memory - lots of disk activity would be seen/heard with much slowing down of PC performance.

Cheers from Mike

Thanks Mike
Processes running (XP) = 60 :eek:
But how do I cut them back? I don't even understand what they mean.

msun

60 processes is far too excessive - PC tuning to reduce this is a lengthy process but with patience and perseverance this can be done - have a look at some tips on my YouTube channel here - Best PC Practice 2 may be most relevant - hope it helps..

Cheers from Mike