[renditions`]

Can't Figure out what the problem is here but every time I start up my computer it takes a while for it to get pass the Windows Loading Screen (the one with the blue bar scrolling at the bottom). After that I log in and it takes another minute or 2 for it to go from the login screen to the desktop screen, when it does go through that audio thing that it plays while the desktop load is really really choppy, also when I make circles on my desktop with my cursor it lags.

I've scanned my comp with AVG, Adaware, Check HijackThis, Cleaned up with CCCleaner and nothing.

Help is Heavily needed.


Thanks in Advance

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renditions,

I'm quite familiar with the problems you've describe - especially the "choppy" audio bit. It sounds like you're running Windows XP in ACPI Mode with the ACPI HAL Kernel - and you're sound, video, USB, etc devices are all sharing the same IRQ channel - which is clogging up your PC - making everything sluggish because all of the devices are trying to talk to the CPU through the same Interrupt channel. In understandable terms - Windows XP has been installed in an advanced mode on a PC that isn't truly capable of handling it.

Most new PC's have ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) features that allow the operating system to automatically configure the imbedded devices to share interrupts and manage power aspects of the system. Older PCs requires that you manually configured each devices interrupts and the power management was crude and limited. Depending on what type of PC you have - Windows XP installs a different HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) to allow XP to properly interface with the PC's unique hardware. It sounds like your installation of Windows is running the ACPI HAL on a PC that's NOT truely ACPI compliant - therefore XP is attempting to make your PC's devices (video, sound, etc.) all communicate on the same channel - which is causing it to be slow and "choppy". You likely need XP installed with the "Standard PC" HAL - which allows you to configure your devices IRQ's in the BIOS instead of allowing XP to control their assignments. To find out which HAL is installed - right-click on "My Computer", left click on "Properties", the left click on the "Hardware" tab, the click on "Device Manager". Click on the + sign next to computer - and tell me what is says. This will indicate which HAL is installed on this PC.

There may be a cure - but I'll first need to know more information about the make/model of your PC. Did you (or someone else) install XP on this PC yourself or did it come pre-installed from the manufacturer?

Please reply with the make/model and BIOS version (seen when you first power-up the PC BEFORE windows starts to load) as well as the type of Computer in the Device Manager (see above) - and I might be able to help.

- John

[John Hook]

renditions,

I'm quite familiar with the problems you've describe - especially the "choppy" audio bit. It sounds like you're running Windows XP in ACPI Mode with the ACPI HAL Kernel - and you're sound, video, USB, etc devices are all sharing the same IRQ channel - which is clogging up your PC - making everything sluggish because all of the devices are trying to talk to the CPU through the same Interrupt channel. In understandable terms - Windows XP has been installed in an advanced mode on a PC that isn't truly capable of handling it.

Most new PC's have ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) features that allow the operating system to automatically configure the imbedded devices to share interrupts and manage power aspects of the system. Older PCs requires that you manually configured each devices interrupts and the power management was crude and limited. Depending on what type of PC you have - Windows XP installs a different HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) to allow XP to properly interface with the PC's unique hardware. It sounds like your installation of Windows is running the ACPI HAL on a PC that's NOT truely ACPI compliant - therefore XP is attempting to make your PC's devices (video, sound, etc.) all communicate on the same channel - which is causing it to be slow and "choppy". You likely need XP installed with the "Standard PC" HAL - which allows you to configure your devices IRQ's in the BIOS instead of allowing XP to control their assignments. To find out which HAL is installed - right-click on "My Computer", left click on "Properties", the left click on the "Hardware" tab, the click on "Device Manager". Click on the + sign next to computer - and tell me what is says. This will indicate which HAL is installed on this PC.

There may be a cure - but I'll first need to know more information about the make/model of your PC. Did you (or someone else) install XP on this PC yourself or did it come pre-installed from the manufacturer?

Please reply with the make/model and BIOS version (seen when you first power-up the PC BEFORE windows starts to load) as well as the type of Computer in the Device Manager (see above) - and I might be able to help.

- John

[renditions`]

this happen before and i just unplugged my comp for 15mins and plugged it back in and it started working fine. when i do that now it doesn't work at all. any ways heres the info you were looking for.


ACPI Multiprocessor PC

My Friend Built the Comp for me with parts i bought and i installed the OS myself.

as far as BIOS versions go is there a way i can find out without restarting? cause it would take a while for my to log back on.

Edited by renditions`, 30 March 2008 - 04:54 AM.

[renditions`]

just restarted. Phoenix AwardBIOS v6.00PG

[John Hook]

renditions,

The fact that you unplugged it and it behaved differently tells me that there may be some power settings in the BIOS that are not right. You can configure the power settings in the BIOS setup to do different things when the PC physically loses power.

It would be helpful to know the make/model of that motherboard your friend built your PC with - as well as the processor type & speed and the amount of RAM installed. Also, when you first power it up - it should tell you the BIOS type and version (Award or Phoenix, etc.). Does the motherboard have built in sound hardware or did your friend plug in a soundcard into one of the PC's PCI slots? What type of video hardware does the PC have? Integrated on the motherboard or a separate card plugged into a PCI or dedicated AGP slot?

I ask all of this stuff because I too build my own PC's from scratch - with high-end components. I've been through the SAME problems you're having and knowing what hardware you have will help me determine why you system is being slow and "flaky". There are LOTS of BIOS settings that can be tweaked to rectify these problems - as well as potential changes to the Windows device manager configuration. Knowing all of this stuff would help be better assist you in resolving your issues.

- John

[renditions`]

Phoenix AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Intel Pentium 4 3.00Ghz
1GB RAM
Nvida Geforce 6800GT 128MB (AGP)
On-Board Sound Card
DFI LanParty 875P-T

anything else? =)

thx for ur help

[John Hook]

renditions`

Thanks for the info - give me some time to look into the specifics of your hardware. This way I can better track down what might be going wrong with your XP/Hardware setup.

You ARE running XP SP2 - Correct?

One more thing - when you power up your PC - BEFORE windows starts to boot - press the key to go into the Phoenix/Award BIOS setup
screen (might be F1, Del, F2, F10 - depends on BIOS). Go in there and write-down all of the settings. Don't change any settings - just
let me know what they are. There are at least 4-5 pages with a variety of settings - but I know to know what they are as some of them
may need to be changed.

- John

[renditions`]

yes windows xp home edition sp2

so u want me to write down everything?

[John Hook]

renditions,

Yeah - I know it will be tedious to document all of that - but I need to know what settings your friend configured in the BIOS setup to try and figure out why Windows XP is running so sluggish. The "choppy" sound tells me that another device is sharing an interrupt with the sound hardware. When Windows is running the ACPI HAL - it steers most of the devices to the same IRQ (Interrupt). The interrupt is how these devices tell the CPU that they need CPU time. When you've got a sound card, LAN card, USB Controller and other devices all requesting the CPU's attention at the same time - it causes things to run slow and "choppy". Newer motherboards seem to handle this OK because they have more CPU and memory bus bandwidth - but some older boards, while they support ACPI - don't juggle all these devices very well - so things run slow and "choppy". In this case - you end up having to reconfigure Windows XP as a "Standard PC" - then assign the approriate IRQ's to each device so their not "fighting" each other for the CPU's attention.

The drivers installed for each device under XP can play a big part in this too. Sometimes, you need to find the right driver that works right in a "Standard PC" setup versus an "ACPI PC setup". It's all very complicated and convoluded.

How technical was your friend who built your PC? Did he install XP or did you? I ask because it would be helpful to understand what was initially done.

Also - has this PC ALWAYS had the slow/choppy audio problem - or is this something that just started happening?

Sorry if I'm repeating questions that I've already asked. I've been up since early yesterday morning - I'm sleep deprived and need to crash here soon!

I know that I can help you with this - I just need some more details about your hardware/software configuration.

- John

[renditions`]

thats a ton of writing. give me some time ill put it up in a few.

Edited by renditions`, 30 March 2008 - 06:02 AM.

[renditions`]

he installed a bootleg windows xp pro. after a while i installed a legit copy of windows xp home.

[John Hook]

renditions

You CAN set everything in the BIOS to the defaults and if that fixes your problems - that's a GOOD Thing! However, I suspect that we'll need to make some custom changes to the BIOS in order to fix the issues you're having with your PC's performance. Read the post I just sent and this should make more sense. If you can find a link to the manual for your motherboard online - send me that link - then I can look through the BIOS screens and figure out what needs to be changed. This would save you the trouble of having to manually write down all of the existing settings.

- John

[renditions`]

Also - has this PC ALWAYS had the slow/choppy audio problem - or is this something that just started happening?

this is the 2nd time this had happened. i found out yesterday that it was happening again.

[renditions`]

I so hope this helps *Crosses Fingers* heres a link to the bios setup http://www.buildeasy.../bios_setup.htm

[John Hook]

renditions

I have all the information I need - but I'll need sometime to lookup the details of your hardware, BIOS, etc.

I've experience this choppy audio problem a few times. Once on my own PC because the ACPI HAL was forcing the sound card to share the same interrupt with another device in the system. With ACPI enabled in the BIOS and the ACPI HAL installed - Windows takes control of assigning the interrupt channels to the devices - and generally places them all on IRQ 9. For my Audigy 2 Sound Card, this caused MAJOR problems as it was fighting the other devices for CPU time. There was also a driver issue involved in that problem.

The second time I saw this problem was on a Gateway laptop with imbedded audio and an AMD processor. Errors on the DVD-R drive were causing Windows to switch the hard drive from UDMA (fast access) to PIO mode (much slower). When this happened - the machine took FOREVER too boot and the audio was choppy.

Is it just that your audio is choppy -or- is the entire system running VERY SLOW? If this is the case there is a registry patch that will fix the problem. See:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817472

How about this - go to this microsoft page and try implementing this solution - if it fixes your problem - let me know. If it fails to fix your problem, post back and all explore the possibility of switching your installation of XP to the "Standard PC" HAL.

- John