[Oniketsoku]

This is my old topic:
http://www.geekstogo...62#entry1095262

Nothing has changed.
Still running slower than I've ever ran a computer before.
Games laugh at me when I try to launch them now

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It is possible that your system has gone to PIO Mode. (Programmed Input/Output)
XP should run in DMA. (Direct Memory Access)

To check, open the Device Manager.

Once there, expand the entry called IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Double click the entry for "Primary IDE channel, and open the Advanced settings tab. Use the drop-down menu box to select 'DMA if available' for both boxes. The top section shoud be "Auto Detection" for both. Do the same for the "Secondary channel."

This is the most comprehensive page about it I have found, and contains a .vbs script if your system is 'stuck' and will not allow changes: http://winhlp.com/node/10

[1101doc]

It is possible that your system has gone to PIO Mode. (Programmed Input/Output)
XP should run in DMA. (Direct Memory Access)

To check, open the Device Manager.

Once there, expand the entry called IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
Double click the entry for "Primary IDE channel, and open the Advanced settings tab. Use the drop-down menu box to select 'DMA if available' for both boxes. The top section shoud be "Auto Detection" for both. Do the same for the "Secondary channel."

This is the most comprehensive page about it I have found, and contains a .vbs script if your system is 'stuck' and will not allow changes: http://winhlp.com/node/10

[Oniketsoku]

Currently:

Device 0
Device Type: Auto detection (grayed out)
Transfer Mode: DMA if available
Current transfer mode: Ultra DMA Mode 6(grayed out)

Device 1
Device Type: Auto detection(not gray)
Transfer Mode: DMA if available
Current transfer mode: Not applicable (grayed)

[Oniketsoku]

If we have no leads...
Then, on a side note I might be having some overheating problems with my PC.
Just a gut suspicion if anyone wants to look into it.

[1101doc]

OK. DMA/PIO always worth a look. Seems like yours is alright.

For temps, try Speed Fan: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php
Download link: http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php
(Click 'SpeedFan 4.33' under the download section)

Also widely used is Motherboard Monitor: http://www.majorgeek...oad.php?det=311

Both utilities will depend on sensors already present in your machine. Some computers (especially laptops) often do not have sensors that the utilities can detect.

For a terrific stand-alone (no install) information utility, try SIW:
http://www.gtopala.c...w-download.html
Its left-hand panel will offer an entry for "Sensors," so you can see what you have.

Basic system maintenance calls for cleaning, defrag,checkdisk, and 'scannow.'

For cleaning, I like ATF: http://www.atribune....tent/view/19/2/
(Stand alone-no install)

Defrag- JkDefrag: http://www.kessels.com/JkDefrag/ Also stand-alone.
Download and un-zip. All that is needed is JkDefrag.exe. I suggest that you move it to an internal directory folder and put a shortcut on the desktop because it creates a logfile. It overwrites the log each time, so there is only one, but still... Ugly as sin, and as effective as it is ugly.
Works on very full drives and defrags everything but the page file.

Checkdisk is run from "My Computer." Right click the entry for your local disk (C:\) and open Properties. Select the Tools tab and press the button that says "Check Now." Place a check mark in both little boxes and then click Start. Windows will explain that it can't be done right now, but do you want to schedule it for the next boot? YES! Reboot.

This will take some time, so do it when you are ready to wait 15min to half an hour. When done, Windows will boot normally.

"Scannow" is a Windows self-check. All necessary files will be examined, and if any are missing it will ask for you to insert the XP CD. Do so when requested, and tell Windows to "Retry" as often as it asks until the process is complete. This means that for this one you need to be present the whole time.

No matter what the situation, these procedures will help. Will it be magic?
Maybe not, but eliminating these factors will help us focus in on the system's issues.

I also suggest that you take a look at my Vox: http://doc1101.vox.com/
I'm sure that much will be familiar, but I've included web addresses of useful tools and informational sites that help users gain control of their systems. The 'links' are not 'live,' so copy and paste the URLs to your browser address bar to access the referenced pages.

I will be very interested to hear about your progress.

[Oniketsoku]

Thanks for all the info. I'm commencing the downloading and running of all of these asap. I'll let you know how they all go in an hour or so


edit:
Also, how do I run Scannow?

Edited by Oniketsoku, 25 November 2007 - 07:15 PM.

[1101doc]

Sounds good.

[Oniketsoku]

Might be a bit longer, sorry - JkDefrag is approaching 72% only just now.

[1101doc]

Take the time you need.

[Oniketsoku]

The Defrag took quite a while but it finished.
It looked like it accomplished a bit with that visual screen.
Don't know though.


10 Raw Read Error Rate 100 0 Very good
10 Throughput Performance 100 0 Very good
3 Spin Up Time 113 3 176 176 Normal
10 Start/Stop Count 100 1049 Very good
10 Reallocated Sector Count 100 1 Very good
10 Seek Error Rate 100 0 Very good
10 Seek Time Performance 100 0 Very good
1 Power On Hours Count 99 11439 Normal
10 Spin Retry Count 100 0 Very good
10 Power Cycle Count 100 1034 Very good
1 Power Off Retract Count 99 1526 Normal
1 Load Cycle Count 99 1526 Normal
10 Reallocated Event Count 100 1 Very good
10 Current Pending Sector 100 1 Very good
10 Offline Uncorrectable Sector Count 100 0 Very good
10 Ultra DMA CRC Error Rate 200 0 Very good

Your hard disk is a HDS728080PLAT20 with firmware PF2OA21B.
The average temperature for this hard disk is 37C (MIN=27C MAX=46C) and yours is 45C.


NOTE : your hard disk has 1 pending sectors. Those are sectors that couldn't be properly read and that the hard disk logic is waiting for a write operation to try to remap to a spare sector (if available). According to the Reallocated Sector Count attribute, your hard disk seems to have available spare sectors. A simple disk surface scan won't be enough to force the remap operation. You need a read/write surface scan to remap the sector. The best option should be a tool that knows about what should be read from that sector so that it has some option to apply the best fix to the missing data.

The overall fitness for this drive is 97%.
The overall performance for this drive is 97%.

That's what SpeedFan told me when it "Performed an in-depth online analysis of this hard disk." under the S.M.A.R.T.
tab.



This is what I got under the Info tab when I "Read Info:"
Scanning SMBus at $0500...
Decoding DIMM #0
Memory type is DDR
Module Rows : 2
Levels : 2.5V
Parity : NO PARITY
Refresh Rate : 7.8us
Total Size : 512MB
Decoding DIMM #1
Memory type is DDR
Module Rows : 2
Levels : 2.5V
Parity : NO PARITY
Refresh Rate : 7.8us
Total Size : 1024MB

And this is what's under the Reading's tab:

Win9x:NO 64Bit:NO GiveIO:YES SpeedFan:YES
I/O properly initialized
Linked ISA BUS at $0290
Linked VIA VT8237 SMBUS at $0500
Scanning ISA BUS at $0290...
IT8712F found on ISA at $290
SuperIO Chip=IT8705F
Scanning VIA SMBus at $0500...
SMART Enabled for drive 0
Found HDS728080PLAT20 (82.3GB)
Found ACPI temperature (33.0C)
End of detection

"Temp1" is flucuating between a flame icon and a red up arrow. (49-50)
Temp 2 and 3 are randomly rising from the 5-15 to up to 60-70 one second and back down low the next.

And Fan1 is at 2766 RPM.

I'll now run CheckDisk.

[Oniketsoku]

Huh..
I just ran CheckDisk and it finished scanning in like 5 seconds and proceeded to go to the normal startup screen.

[1101doc]

49-50 is a little high, but not remarkable. I would think that the spiking temps are the CPU readings. They would fluctuate, but if overall not high, quite acceptable.

Odd about Checkdisk. I would try again, but this time from a Run box. Type cmd

Once the black command box opens type chkdsk c: /f /r
(Remember to observe the spaces) Then press the Enter key.

See this article: http://www.updatexp....-xp-chkdsk.html

Here's a reference for 'scannow'
http://www.updatexp....cannow-sfc.html

[Oniketsoku]

I left Scannow to run overnight and nothing was on the screen when I woke up, so nothing must have been wrong or something was automatically fixed.

I'm leaving for school now; I'll be leaving Checkdisk to be running and will tell you the results if there are any to read when I get back.

[Oniketsoku]

Okay, both of those scans are done though I was not at the computer for the end result of either.

Everything still seems to be quite slow, though.

[1101doc]

Well good. That all means that your hard drive is OK and Windows has all of its files in the right places. Without knowing that for sure, we could have just been banging our heads.

Next, let's take a look at what is going on the the background. Perhaps there are processes running that are using resources that could better be applied to other things. Sometimes I find that there is an update process checking all the time when it really only needs to happen once a week or so.

Two things will really help with this.

Process Explorer is what Taskmanager hopes to be after it grows up and gets its PhD. I have a good explanation of how to set it up here:
http://www.5starsupp...5533;entry37551
I have included a link to the download page. It is freeware.

Process Explorer will really let us see what is going on, but we will need WinPatrol to effectively control it. WinPatrol is also freeware.

WinPatrol acts as a 'watchdog' for your system, always giving you a choice about significant changes. It is also the most user friendly startup control program that I have found.

After you get both applications, please take a 'screenshot' of Process Explorer and the 'Startup' list of WinPatrol and upload them to Senduit: http://www.senduit.com/ Then please include the links to those pictures in your next post.

Once you have installed WinPatrol, just right click the small dog in your Notification Area and select "Startup Info.." Please show the whole list there, OK?

If you need a quick little 'screenshot' program, try Fastone Capture:
http://www.divshare....oad/1448754-6ce

We'll take a close look at what is going on in the background of your system, and trim down the stuff that is slowing things down.

I wish I had magic for you, but usually it's just taking things step by step that gets results. Really, we just got a good start on it. You're doing a great job so far--just hang in there.