Resource issue

[hornetster]

I seem to be having a real issue with resources on my PC. Running 13.1 x64, up-to-date with the patching, seemingly working ok, EXCEPT I have a real resource issue.
listen to music all the time on my PC, but when I start almost anything, the music skips, the mouse skips etc. eg starting chrome, music very noticeably misses bits,etc. Can't use Virtualbox, as the Host AND the guest, are both unusable, not just when it starts, but while ever it is running...
Have an Intel i5, with 4GB ram, 1TB drive and a 1.5TB drive, blue-ray disk. Have checked memory and that seems to test OK. How do I check harddrives etc...?
Thanks.

[gogalthorp]

May be a configuration problem hard to tell without more info. but to check the HD use smartctl

type man smartctl for options


One thing you might try is create a test user log in as that user and see if thee is still a problem.