[kelltech]

I just completed malware removal (http://www.geekstogo...ed-t212584.html) and everything is looking ok as far as reports go. However, this started a week ago and my computer is getting increasingly slower. A reboot takes 15-20 minutes and after that it takes about 5 minutes to start Firefox. I haven't even attempted to try and start much else. I'm trying to run chkdsk and it's still at 0% after an hour.

I have cleaned out old files and unused programs and not a whole lot looks like it's trying to run when windows starts. I am stuck!

My computer is an Acer Aspire 5100 running XP media edition and has 2gb RAM and a 2ghz AMD processor. Thank you for any help!

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go here...post # 6 follow the instructions at that link/post



these instructions are for a desktop...but the same applies to laptops...


Check to see if your computer is running in PIO mode.

open Device manager... double click on the IDE/Atapi controllers ...double click on the primary controller ... click on the Advanced settings tab and check to see what the drive is set to.... the drive should be UDMA Mode 5 or 6.

Windows XP downgrades the Ultra DMA transfer mode after receiving more than six CRC errors. When possible, the operating system will step down one UDMA mode at a time ...
If the mini-IDE driver for the device does not support stepping down transfer modes, or if the device is running UDMA mode 0, Windows XP will step down to PIO mode after encountering six or more CRC errors.

All timeout errors are logged in the system event log. These types of errors could be caused by improper cabling ...or a bad cable...you need a 40-pin 80 wire cable....NOTE: THIS IS FOR TOWERS ONLY
if you continue getting such errors it ....would indicate imminent hard drive failure..
BACKUP EVERYTHING YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT NOW

To try fixing it...

Open Device Manager....Double-click IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers to display the list of controllers

Right-click the icon for the channel to which the hard drive is connected...usually the primary... select Properties... and then click the Advanced Settings tab.

In the Current Transfer Mode drop-down box, select DMA if Available if the current setting is "PIO Only."
If the drop-down box already shows "DMA if Available" but the current transfer mode is PIO... then you must toggle the settings....

Change the selection from "DMA if available" to PIO only, and click OK.

Then repeat the steps above to change the selection to DMA if Available....
reboot...

Edited by happyrock, 29 September 2008 - 07:42 AM.

[happyrock]

go here...post # 6 follow the instructions at that link/post



these instructions are for a desktop...but the same applies to laptops...


Check to see if your computer is running in PIO mode.

open Device manager... double click on the IDE/Atapi controllers ...double click on the primary controller ... click on the Advanced settings tab and check to see what the drive is set to.... the drive should be UDMA Mode 5 or 6.

Windows XP downgrades the Ultra DMA transfer mode after receiving more than six CRC errors. When possible, the operating system will step down one UDMA mode at a time ...
If the mini-IDE driver for the device does not support stepping down transfer modes, or if the device is running UDMA mode 0, Windows XP will step down to PIO mode after encountering six or more CRC errors.

All timeout errors are logged in the system event log. These types of errors could be caused by improper cabling ...or a bad cable...you need a 40-pin 80 wire cable....NOTE: THIS IS FOR TOWERS ONLY
if you continue getting such errors it ....would indicate imminent hard drive failure..
BACKUP EVERYTHING YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT NOW

To try fixing it...

Open Device Manager....Double-click IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers to display the list of controllers

Right-click the icon for the channel to which the hard drive is connected...usually the primary... select Properties... and then click the Advanced Settings tab.

In the Current Transfer Mode drop-down box, select DMA if Available if the current setting is "PIO Only."
If the drop-down box already shows "DMA if Available" but the current transfer mode is PIO... then you must toggle the settings....

Change the selection from "DMA if available" to PIO only, and click OK.

Then repeat the steps above to change the selection to DMA if Available....
reboot...

Edited by happyrock, 29 September 2008 - 07:42 AM.

[kelltech]

Thanks for the help. It is running in PIO, I tried several times to switch back to DMA and it will not do it, even after a restart. If I cannot switch out of PIO is it a pretty sure sign the drive is dying? Here is the HDTune screen shot:

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Edited by kelltech, 29 September 2008 - 03:27 PM.

[kelltech]

And here is the Bench screenshot:

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[happyrock]

you can look in your bios and make sure its set to DMA 5 OR 6...
try tapping the delete key about once per second as soon as you power up the computer...
no joy
go here to see how to get into the the bios for your particular make/model...
you will have to dig around in the bios to find the setting

Edited by happyrock, 29 September 2008 - 04:39 PM.

[kelltech]

Ok, I'll head into bios. It will take a while, lol about 20 minutes to be exact! How do those screenshots look to you?

Edit: Acer didn't see fit to allow me to change that in my BIOS. Funny thing is in the BIOS the hdd s/n and name are fuzzed out. Weird!

Edited by kelltech, 29 September 2008 - 05:10 PM.

[happyrock]

those benchmarks show the hard drive transfer speed about glacier slow...

Chkdsk is a utility designed to check the integrity of the data on a computer's hard disk drive as well as find and fix errors which could corrupt such data.

Running chkdsk on your Windows XP or 2000 system can repair minor Windows problems

There are several different methods that can be used to run chkdsk
start with this one.....

1. Click the Start button then... Run
2. In the Run window's Open box... type in ... cmd
3. Click OK and an MS-DOS-style black screen will appear in a new window
4. Run chkdsk by typing one of the the following commands where the cursor is blinking...
chkdsk /r and then press ...ENTER...

typing chkdsk c... /f /r will both fix errors and recover lost data. Running chkdsk with both the /f and /r options can often take a considerable amount of time depending upon the size of your hard drive and the amount of data stored on it

OR
chkdsk c: /f and then press ...ENTER...

Typing chkdsk c: /f will only fix errors that are encountered but its much faster


5. With either command, a message will appear that says...chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? <y/n>"
6. Type y (for "yes") and then press ...ENTER...
7. A message will appear that will say...This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts
8. Type exit and then press ...ENTER...
9. Reboot the computer as you normally would and chkdsk will automatically begin running after your reboot... While chkdsk is running you will see a light blue window with a dark blue band at the top and bottom. Chkdsk will display the specific stage it is checking as well as the percentage of completion of the stage.
You cannot do anything else on your computer while chkdsk is running. When chkdsk is finished, it will automatically reboot your computer....
NOTE
THERE ARE 5 STAGES...
it may even back up at times and go over the same part again...let it run even if it "sticks" at a percentage of completion and appears to hang...DO NOT TURN OFF THE COMPUTER while chkdsk is running or you will have problems...this can take a long time on huge hard drives

Edited by happyrock, 03 October 2008 - 05:40 PM.

[kelltech]

Oh yes, I ran chkdsk last week sometime. After 24 hours it wasn't done. I finally handed the laptop over to a friend who owns a pc repair company. The alternative was dropping it from a Los Angeles freeway overpass!

Edited by kelltech, 03 October 2008 - 08:53 PM.

[happyrock]

sounds like you have a hard drive funeral to attend...