Could over heating cause video jerkiness?

[hotrod4x5]

This is a completely new problem, that just started.  

For about a week now, I cannot stream hulu videos, youtube videos or any videos, all I get is the sound and a jerky picture.  Also, when I type, sometimes the words do not appear for a few seconds, then all the letters pop in at once that I just typed.  Also, when dragging windows, sometimes they do not move, or they move after I have dragged and let go of the mouse button, a few seconds later.  Also sometimes when I click on an open program to bring it to the front, it doesn't always respond immediately, sometimes taking 10 seconds or more to become the active window.

I was seeing CPU usage at 100% even when I wasn't doing anything.  (not counting the system idle process)

I thought this might be an OS issue, so I just did a full reinstall of Windows XP Home from my Dell recovery disk.   (I like to do this every 12-18 months anyway and I was due)

This did not solve the problem.  I have noticed that the RAM door is very hot when the computer is running for a while, could this be causing my video problems?  

I got an external fan thingy for this laptop, and it keeps the RAM nice and cool.  But I do not think it has solved the problem.  (I just got the fan last night, so I haven't fully tested everything, but I am getting the typing problem right now)

What is going on here?  Do I have a video card problem?  Could it be the Video Ram?  I made sure to install the latest video driver for my ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 from the DELL website, which is 3 years old, but that is the one they said was for my computer.  

I can post a hijack this log if you think that will help.  But as I said, I just reinstalled Windows yesterday.  I also installed Microsoft Essentials as my antivirus.  (could that be a problem??)  Any help is appreciated!

It's a Dell Inspiron 9400 Core 2 Duo T7200 2 GHZ with 2 GB of RAM and 256 mb of VRAM on the ATI card.  Also I have upgrade the hard drive to a 320 GB.

[guestolo]

I can post a hijack this log if you think that will help

Please do, It just gives me a bit more info that may help

[hotrod4x5]

Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.2
Scan saved at 8:45:41 PM, on 12/8/2009
Platform: Windows XP SP3 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP3 (6.00.2900.5512)
Boot mode: Normal

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
c:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Essentials\MsMpEng.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\WLTRYSVC.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\bcmwltry.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\Program Files\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\WLTRAY.exe
C:\Program Files\SigmaTel\C-Major Audio\WDM\stsystra.exe
C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD DX\PDVDDXSrv.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Essentials\msseces.exe
C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe
C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Yahoo!\Messenger\YahooMessenger.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\Rodney ******\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Connection Wizard,ShellNext = http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings,ProxyOverride = *.local
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Broadcom Wireless Manager UI] C:\WINDOWS\system32\WLTRAY.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SigmatelSysTrayApp] %ProgramFiles%\SigmaTel\C-Major Audio\WDM\stsystra.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PDVDDXSrv] "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD DX\PDVDDXSrv.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [MSSE] "c:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Essentials\msseces.exe" -hide
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [googletalk] C:\Program Files\Google\Google Talk\googletalk.exe /autostart
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MSMSGS] "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Messenger (Yahoo!)] "C:\PROGRA~1\Yahoo!\Messenger\YahooMessenger.exe" -quiet
O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-18\..\Run: [DWQueuedReporting] "c:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\DW\dwtrig20.exe" -t (User 'SYSTEM')
O4 - HKUS\.DEFAULT\..\Run: [DWQueuedReporting] "c:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\DW\dwtrig20.exe" -t (User 'Default user')
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @xpsp3res.dll,-20001 - {e2e2dd38-d088-4134-82b7-f2ba38496583} - C:\WINDOWS\Network Diagnostic\xpnetdiag.exe
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {6414512B-B978-451D-A0D8-FCFDF33E833C} (WUWebControl Class) - http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/...b?1260158737656
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: ##Id_String1.6844F930_1628_4223_B5CC_5BB94B879762## (Bonjour Service) - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Bonjour\mDNSResponder.exe
O23 - Service: FLEXnet Licensing Service - Macrovision Europe Ltd. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Macrovision Shared\FLEXnet Publisher\FNPLicensingService.exe
O23 - Service: Dell Wireless WLAN Tray Service (wltrysvc) - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\System32\WLTRYSVC.EXE

--
End of file - 3500 bytes

[hotrod4x5]

I'm being told in another forum that most likely my graphics processor is over heating.  I am going to disassemble my laptop and see if I have a fan problem or clogged airway.  

I will post back my answer.

[hotrod4x5]

I disassembled my laptop and b lew out any dirt that I could find.  I took  out the video card and blew out the heat sink fins and made sure the fan was clean and spinning.  Put it all back together and now it is working good.  So I guess that little bit of dust was keeping the video card cooling system from functioning properly.

[guestolo]

Good work, I take my laptop apart every 2 years, and blow the dust bunnies out
I need to upgrade to another soon, running XP and Ubuntu for most parts, but the thing keeps tinking

Careful, ensure to ground yourself properly, all the rest is superficial
All the best
Happy holidays  http://images.thetechguide.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif\' class=\'bbc_emoticon\' alt=\'\' />

[hotrod4x5]

Figured I would update this, in case others might be searching with the same issue.

The problems came back.  I did more research, and thought about the history of my machine and decided to clean the processor and put new thermal paste for the heat sink.  About a year and a half ago, Dell replaced the motherboard, and when they changed over the processor, they didn't bother to do anything about the paste.

It was all dried out.  I cleaned it, replaced it with some new Arctic Silver #5 and Wow! What a difference.  All I can say is I should have done this from the start.  I have a program that monitors internal temps, and my processor was peaking at 160-170, and now I have shaved 30-40 degrees F off that high!  Unbelievable.