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Windows xp runs slower than usual
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Original Message
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Name: fliptek
Date: March 6, 2007 at 02:12:56 Pacific
Subject: Windows xp runs slower than usualOS: Windows xpCPU/Ram: P4 1.8ghz 256 mb ram |
Comment: my windows xp machine started acting up on me... it seems to run slower than it usually
does. the mouse pointer skips frames every now and then, the whole machine seems
to slow down at random intervals and any audio or video media i play skips like no
tomorrow. i did a virus scan thinking that maybe it was a virus that was slowing down my computer
but the antivirus found nothing (i used avg). so i thought that maybe it was time
to reinstall windows and i did. after the installation i proceeded to install service
pack 2 and the usual programs i use. after a while the computer starts slowing down
again so i reinstalled windows again and installed the programs one at a time checking
if it was one of them that caused my comp to slow down... i didn't seem to find anything
wrong with them. i have a 1.8 p4 with 256 mb ram and i just use my pc for surfing, watching videos,
listening to music, downloading stuff and maybe a little word processing here and
there. i use the same setup to do the same thing ever since i bought this so i know
the specs are more than adequate to do stuff i do with it. if anybody can help me pinpoint what's wrong i'd appreciate it. if you need any
more details just ask! wala ako maisip kaya i2 nalang muna...
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Response Number 2
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Reply: (edit)Check your hard drive.
See the latter part of response 1 in this:
http://www.computing.net/windows95/... If you don't have a floppy drive, you can get a CD image diagnostic utility from most hard drive manufacturer's web sites, but obviously you would need to make a burned CD, preferably a CD-R for best compatibilty, on another computer. Whenever you load Windows from scratch, you must load the drivers for your mboard after Setup has finished, particularly all the main chipset drivers, so that Windows has the proper information about your motherboard, including it's hard drive controllers.
If you didn't load those drivers, your drives may not be running at the speed they are capable of on your mboard, and that could certainly cause your skipping video problems.
The necessary main chipset drivers are on the CD that came with the mboard, or can usually be downloaded from the web site of the maker of the mboard in the downloads for your model, or in some cases the mboard web site does not have the main chipset drivers and you must get them from the maker of the chipset's web site.
Since you probably have an Intel chipset, you should load the INF Update utility (all the main chipset drivers), and the Intel Application Accelerator if available for your chipset. Make sure your drives are set to the DMA modes they are capable of on your mboard. If any are running in PIO mode, try re-setting them to a higher mode.
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devic... If any were in PIO mode and will not go into a higher mode, Windows has detected data transfer problems and has forced the drive into PIO mode by means of Registry settings.
I could tell you how to remove the settings that force the drive to use PIO mode, but if the problem that caused the data transfer problems has not been fixed, Windows will force the drive into PIO mode again in a short time. Data transfer errors can be caused by a drive that is failing, or by using the wrong type of data cable, or by a poor data cable connection or a damaged data cable.
Any hard drive capable of UDMA 66 or greater must be connected to a 80 wire data cable. Most CD and DVD drives other than recent ones can use a 40 wire data cable if there is no hard drive on the same data cable that is capable of UDMA 66 or greater, but some recent DVD drives must use an 80 wire data cable because they are capable of UDMA 66.
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Response Number 3
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Name: fliptek
Date: March 7, 2007 at 03:12:21 Pacific
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Reply: (edit)I guess you where right! upon further deduction it seems that only the data accessed from my 2nd hard disk where the ones acting up! If you can go into detail about how I can check the hard disk I'd appreciate it. I'd at least like to back up all my important stuff to dvd's if worse comes to worst.. but if there's a way to fix it that'd be nice! The hdd is a 200gb seagate if that's of any help. Nice assumption you got going there Tubesandwires!
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Response Number 4
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Reply: (edit)"...go to the website of the manufacturer of the hard drive and download a diagnostic utility download, execute the download to have it make a floppy or 2 floppy set, boot your computer with the bootable floppy (the only one or the first one) and run the diagnostic(s) on your hard drive - usually there are two, a quick and a longer one - run both.
If the hard drive itself fails the tests (errors in the data organization on the drive can be fixed) you will need to get yourself another hard drive.
If the hard drive itself passes the tests(errors in the data organization on the drive can be fixed), there is something else wrong with your computer " (something wrong with the Windows installation) For a Seagate drive the utility is called SeaTools for Dos.
If you don't have a floppy drive, you can get a CD image version there, but obviously you would need to make a burned CD, preferably a CD-R for best compatibilty, on another computer if necessary. We have had recent reports that some people haven't been able to get the current versions of SeaTools on the web site to work on their system. In my case, the slightly older version I have won't work on one of my computers - it loads but it freezes eventually.
If that's the case for you, if your other hard drive is a different brand, try downloading that brand's diagnostic utility - e.g. the Maxtor utility is also available on the Seagate web site (Seagate now owns and supports Maxtor) and is called Powermax.
Or you could search for a slightly older version of SeaTools for Dos on the web.
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