[dan1987]

a few weeks ago my secondary hdd started making a ticking/clinking sound. while it does this the hard drive is not recognised. when it is not doing it i can get all the info i need from it no problem. well when i heard this the first time i got all the files off and wondered what to do. then recently during start up there comes up an ERROR. it says: Sec Slave HDD ERROR. im like...ok then it gives the option for setup and what not. the computer was not starting up yesterday and i could here the clinking inside the box so i open it up and its the harddrive. i disconnect it cuz i was just getting sick of the sound and the problems. now the Error message come up all the time. i am wondering if there is a way to make it so the computer is not looking for the drive anymore. im not sure how to uninstall it. any help would be great!
-thankyou so much

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Sounds like your drive is dying. It may be worth trying a new cable but chances are it's the drive itself.

You should be able to prevent the system from seeing the drive by going into the bios & disabling it. (eg disable secondary master if thats what the drive is configured as)
If this doesn't work or causes the system to hang at boot up, then physically disconnect the IDE cable & power cable from the drive. If the drive is the only device on that cable, then remove the cable completely from the system.

[Samm]

Sounds like your drive is dying. It may be worth trying a new cable but chances are it's the drive itself.

You should be able to prevent the system from seeing the drive by going into the bios & disabling it. (eg disable secondary master if thats what the drive is configured as)
If this doesn't work or causes the system to hang at boot up, then physically disconnect the IDE cable & power cable from the drive. If the drive is the only device on that cable, then remove the cable completely from the system.

[dan1987]

it seems to have worked. it does take a few min to start up now. the part with the bar moving...any ideas as to speed up the start up?

[Samm]

Several things can slow down Windows start up :

1. lots of third party programs loading - some things need (or should be allowed) to load at start up. Eg anti-virus software etc. But a lot of stuff that loads at start doesn't really need to - these can be prevented from loading until you actually require them

2. Anti-virus / maintenance scans. If your AV software runs a virus scan on every boot up, this will obviously slow things down. Its up to you whether or not you want it to run this check every time. (personally, I don't bother). Same applies to some maintence programs that run checks every time - this is also unnecessary

3. Badly fragmented hard drive or lack of hard drive free space

4. Problematic drivers or devices loading


To resolve number (1), go to the Run command & type msconfig
Look in the 'startup' tab of msconfig to see a list of programs & utilities that are being loaded at startup.
Msconfig will safely allow you to temporarily disable any of these items & re-enable again if needed.

I suggest you either try doing this (if you know what all the entries mean) or tell me whats listed there & I'll recommend ones that could be disabled.

[dan1987]

i will look through those and get back to you on to see what you recomment i should disable. i do have a problem with start up, the error box says this:

SiSUSBrg.exe- unable to locate component

This application had failed to start because SiS_Lib.dll was not run. Re-installing the application may fix this problem

i had it posted and received some info but just didnt have the knowledge to fix. i didnt want to bother everyone too much. i reinstalled one driver and then my internet didnt work so i am hesitant to try and reinstall all the other drivers like the admin suggested.

[dan1987]

SiSUSBrg, pptd40nt, nvcpl, NvCpl, htpatch,LVComS,(one thats blank),qttask, ADVCHK, ccApp, SNDMon, mmtask, realsched,jusched, dumprep 0 -u, ctfmon, WCESCOMM, WkDetect, Adobe Gamma Loader, Adobe Reader Speed Launch, Microsoft Office, Reboot, Screen Saver Control. those are the ones that are checked on. there are 10 more that are not checked. how can you tell if those are needed?

[Samm]

sisusbrg.exe is the SIS USB patch - it fixes a bug that occurs with SIS usb controllers & winXP. It runs as a process in windows & should be left to run in order to ensure your usb functions correctly. However, in your case, it obviously isn't working anyway.
You could try going to link below - scroll down page til you find 'sis usb registry patch' & download it. When run, it should reinstall the patch & hopefully fix the problem.
http://www.usbman.co...nxpusbguide.htm

If you're worried about installing it, you could always create a restore point so you can roll back after if it doesn't work.

pptd40nt is part of your paperport scanner software. If you only use the scanner now & then, you could disable this one. The scanner should still work without it, it probably just won't autodetect the lid being lifted etc.

htpatch is another sis component, so leave this as it is.

nvcpl - this is a tricky one! nvcpl is basically a library file req'd by the Nvidia graphics card. However, it can also be spyware. (I think the difference is nvcpl.dll is OK (nvidia) but nvcpl.exe is spyware.
You may want to run an anti-spyware utility over it or maybe consult the malware forum on this subject.

LVCOMS is associated with logitech quick cam. Again, if you don't use the camera much, you could disable this also.

qttask sounds like a quicktime file to me. I would disable this one for sure.

ADVCHK is part of nortons AV. So if you want antivirus protection - don't use nortons, its crap!. Sorry, what i mean to say of course is - leave this file enabled so lovely nortons can do its thing (eg balls sh*t up)

CCAPP - nortons again

SNDMON - nortons again I'm afraid

MMTASK - multimedia support - leave this in

REALSCH - realplayer update thingy, disable this. You can always update it manually

JUSCHED - part of Java (updater). leave this in

dumprep - dump reporting tool - can be disabled

ctfmon - part of MS office - language bar etc. Can be disabled normally, unless disabling causes a problem of course

WCESCOMM - used for synchronising hand held PCs. Disable unless you have a handheld pc

wkdetect - ms works updater. disable & update manually if required

adobe gamma - calibrates monitor colour settings - disable unless you have problem using adobe products etc

adobe speed launcher - disable unless you use adobe acrobat a lot

MS Office - probably the fast find utility - disable

reboot - dos thing, leave in

screen saver control - self explainatory. leave in if you use screen savers, otherwise disable

Hope this helps

[dan1987]

well it only seems to make it take longer to start up. which makes no sense.

[dan1987]

what virus control do you reccomend that has the same internet security as norton. ie pop up blockers mainly.

[Samm]

well it only seems to make it take longer to start up. which makes no sense.

Since you did what, exactly?

[gerryf]

Saam rules too, good job fellas!

[dan1987]

since i followed your directions for the system config. what is the best way to make a restore point?

[Samm]

First make sure system restore is enabled : C/P ->system->system restore. This will tell you which partitions restore is enabled on

To create a restore point :
Go to programs->accessories->system tools->system restore
Follow instructions on screen.

[Samm]

Forgot to add, you could also create a bootlog, this might give you a better idea of why it takes so long to boot up. Easiest way to do this in XP, is use a bootlog analyser. The link below is for a XP boot analyser (demo) if you want to try that.

http://www.greatis.c...xp/download.htm

[Samm]

Sorry, just remembered the reason you originally started this thread - what is the status of your secondary hard drive now?
Is it still connected but disabled in bios or physically disconnected or what?