[rshaffer61]

See my last post. It is time for some hands on checking.
Being a laptop will make it harder to check. Can you hear a fan running in the system?
Does it run all the time or does it turn off and then the system slows down?
Have you checked the vents to make sure they are clear of any dust or dirt?
I still believe your issue is with the lack of free space and until that is resolved this slowdown is going to continue.

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A while ago, I had a fan issue with my computer. It was essentially fixed up, and since then I've also had an external fan blowing on it. It's run pretty much well and the same since then. I had to get it taken into a shop to even do this, though, since I really wasn't up to risking opening it up and working it myself.

Long story short, if the fan was the issue, I think this problem would have cropped up back when the fan actually was giving me problems. (That is, unless there's more than one fan inside the computer somewhere.) Still a chance, but I'm not so sure.



As for the free space, I've been around this low on space or with even less for a rather long time. In fact, right now I have more free space than my computer has had in about a year or so. While I do need to free up space, yes, I doubt that it's the source of my current problem. I'm trying to clear out what I can, though.








EDIT: I shut down my computer for a few hours, and when I turned it on, it was back to how it was yesterday with the slowdown, so I guess the greatly slower stuff earlier and the weird Speedfan thing was just an odd fluke due to it crashing.

Well, I deleted a few things and cleared out some space, but not as much as I hoped. There wasn't any major change. May have sped up a little, but the main problem is still there. If you still need me to, I'll try to find some more to clear out. Everest log is below, in case you wanted it to see current space.

I also ran the System File Checker process you mentioned earlier. No errors found, it seems.

I'm not sure what else to try. Running with one memory stick at a time showed it probably isn't the memory; No malware was detected; System File Checker showed that the system files are probably alright. Could it be an error with the processor or motherboard? Something with the BIOS? (Should I try flashing the BIOS? I've had to do it with another computer before, but haven't tried for this one.) Could it be a sign of hard drive failure?








--------[ EVEREST Home Edition © 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer TYLERTHOMAS (Tyler's Computer)
Generator Tyler Thomas
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2010-08-30
Time 05:00


--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name TYLERTHOMAS (Tyler's Computer)
User Name Tyler Thomas

Motherboard:
CPU Type Mobile AMD Turion 64 ML-32, 1790 MHz (9 x 199)
Motherboard Name Hewlett-Packard Presario V5000 (ET828UA#ABA)
Motherboard Chipset ATI Radeon Xpress 200M, AMD Hammer
System Memory 896 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (02/24/06)

Display:
Video Adapter ATI MOBILITY RADEON Xpress 200 Series (128 MB)
Video Adapter ATI MOBILITY RADEON Xpress 200 Series (128 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon Xpress 200M (RS480M)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Generic Television

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter ATI SB400 - AC'97 Audio Controller

Storage:
IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller AAV69ICZ IDE Controller
Disk Drive ST980829A (74 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4084N
Optical Drive LWV X2NO1AV SCSI CdRom Device
SMART Hard Disks Status FAIL

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 68723 MB (8431 MB free)
D: (FAT32) 7570 MB (1021 MB free)
Total Size 76293 MB (9452 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Quick Launch Buttons
Mouse HID-compliant mouse
Mouse Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad

Network:
Network Adapter Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN (192.168.0.102)
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
Modem AC97 Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP

Peripherals:
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
USB1 Controller ATI SB400 - USB Controller
USB1 Controller ATI SB400 - USB Controller
USB2 Controller ATI SB400 - USB 2.0 Controller
USB Device Generic USB Hub
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
Battery Microsoft AC Adapter
Battery Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery

Edited by Tylinos, 30 August 2010 - 04:33 PM.

[Tylinos]

A while ago, I had a fan issue with my computer. It was essentially fixed up, and since then I've also had an external fan blowing on it. It's run pretty much well and the same since then. I had to get it taken into a shop to even do this, though, since I really wasn't up to risking opening it up and working it myself.

Long story short, if the fan was the issue, I think this problem would have cropped up back when the fan actually was giving me problems. (That is, unless there's more than one fan inside the computer somewhere.) Still a chance, but I'm not so sure.



As for the free space, I've been around this low on space or with even less for a rather long time. In fact, right now I have more free space than my computer has had in about a year or so. While I do need to free up space, yes, I doubt that it's the source of my current problem. I'm trying to clear out what I can, though.








EDIT: I shut down my computer for a few hours, and when I turned it on, it was back to how it was yesterday with the slowdown, so I guess the greatly slower stuff earlier and the weird Speedfan thing was just an odd fluke due to it crashing.

Well, I deleted a few things and cleared out some space, but not as much as I hoped. There wasn't any major change. May have sped up a little, but the main problem is still there. If you still need me to, I'll try to find some more to clear out. Everest log is below, in case you wanted it to see current space.

I also ran the System File Checker process you mentioned earlier. No errors found, it seems.

I'm not sure what else to try. Running with one memory stick at a time showed it probably isn't the memory; No malware was detected; System File Checker showed that the system files are probably alright. Could it be an error with the processor or motherboard? Something with the BIOS? (Should I try flashing the BIOS? I've had to do it with another computer before, but haven't tried for this one.) Could it be a sign of hard drive failure?








--------[ EVEREST Home Edition © 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]------------------------------------------------------------

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer TYLERTHOMAS (Tyler's Computer)
Generator Tyler Thomas
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2010-08-30
Time 05:00


--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name TYLERTHOMAS (Tyler's Computer)
User Name Tyler Thomas

Motherboard:
CPU Type Mobile AMD Turion 64 ML-32, 1790 MHz (9 x 199)
Motherboard Name Hewlett-Packard Presario V5000 (ET828UA#ABA)
Motherboard Chipset ATI Radeon Xpress 200M, AMD Hammer
System Memory 896 MB (PC2700 DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Phoenix (02/24/06)

Display:
Video Adapter ATI MOBILITY RADEON Xpress 200 Series (128 MB)
Video Adapter ATI MOBILITY RADEON Xpress 200 Series (128 MB)
3D Accelerator ATI Radeon Xpress 200M (RS480M)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Generic Television

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter ATI SB400 - AC'97 Audio Controller

Storage:
IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
SCSI/RAID Controller AAV69ICZ IDE Controller
Disk Drive ST980829A (74 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-4084N
Optical Drive LWV X2NO1AV SCSI CdRom Device
SMART Hard Disks Status FAIL

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 68723 MB (8431 MB free)
D: (FAT32) 7570 MB (1021 MB free)
Total Size 76293 MB (9452 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Quick Launch Buttons
Mouse HID-compliant mouse
Mouse Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad

Network:
Network Adapter Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN (192.168.0.102)
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC
Modem AC97 Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP

Peripherals:
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
USB1 Controller ATI SB400 - USB Controller
USB1 Controller ATI SB400 - USB Controller
USB2 Controller ATI SB400 - USB 2.0 Controller
USB Device Generic USB Hub
USB Device USB Human Interface Device
Battery Microsoft AC Adapter
Battery Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery

Edited by Tylinos, 30 August 2010 - 04:33 PM.

[Tylinos]

Sorry about the double post, but I haven't had a reply in three days, so I'm not sure if anyone saw the edit I made a few hours after posting. The main problem's still around, with large slowdown when trying to do things. I freed up some space and posted the Everest log in the previous post if it was needed. I also ran System File Checker and found no errors.

Again, I'm not sure what else to try. Running with one memory stick at a time showed it probably isn't the memory; No malware was detected; System File Checker showed that the system files are probably alright. Could it be an error with the processor or motherboard? Something with the BIOS? (Should I try flashing the BIOS? I've had to do it with another computer before, but haven't tried for this one.) Could it be a sign of hard drive failure?

Edited by Tylinos, 01 September 2010 - 01:23 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Your system is showing the same 896 megs of memory.
Is that after taking one stick out or is it you put the memory all back in?
As for a bios upgrade that is not needed unless it specifically is for a known issue. Since the system worked fine before it is highly doubtful that is the issue.
A cpu problem possibly.
Motherboard problem that is also possible.


Since you bring up hd maybe being the issue then do the following.
Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech....ay.cfm?ttid=287
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

Thanks to Broni for the instructions

[Tylinos]

The memory is after putting both back in. I tested with one, tested with the other, and then put both back in after seeing that they both had it run the same as it would with both in anyway.

How would I find out what brand my hard drive is?

[rshaffer61]

Disk Drive ST980829A (74 GB, IDE)

According tot he above you have a Seagate drive. You need to get the SeaTools cd ISO and burn it to a cd using the program included in my previous instructions. Failure to burn it this way will result in the cd not being bootable.

[Tylinos]

In the downloads, there's a choice between two ISO versions and a runnable .exe version. Do I have to use one of the ISO ones (And if so, do I choose text or graphical?), or is the .exe acceptable?

Also, any idea on how long this will run?

Edited by Tylinos, 02 September 2010 - 02:04 PM.

[rshaffer61]

You want the dos version and the length of time it takes will depend on the size of the drive and if there are any problems with the drive.
Normally I would say the test takes less then a hour.

[Tylinos]

I booted from the CD, and it started running, but it needs me to click a button to accept the end user license agreement. Problem is that neither the mouse or any keys will do anything. What do I do?


EDIT: Needed to enable USB devices, it seems. I went to the BIOS setup to try to enable it, but I couldn't find an option for it there. However, it seems my BIOS itself does have an option for testing the hard drive, both a short and long test. Ran the short and it passed. Running the long now.

Edited by Tylinos, 02 September 2010 - 03:01 PM.

[rshaffer61]

Good investigative work.

[Tylinos]

Well, it said it failed the long test. Does that necessarily mean the hard drive is failing? What to do next?

[rshaffer61]

Yep good possibility.
With all the test we have run this would make sense. If the drive is failing it would slow down and maybe even start throwing errors and freezing up.
I would suggest backing up your important data now and then purchasing a replacement drive. You can us several different programs to clone your drive before it gets any worse to the new drive. This will make a exact copy of your drive with no data loss.

Edited by rshaffer61, 02 September 2010 - 06:21 PM.

[Tylinos]

Any suggestions on a good one to use to clone the drive?

[123Runner]

Easeus ToDo backup will do what you want.

The drive at this time is also a very good possibility. I had a drive once that showed no failures, no errors, nothing and it was sooooo slow for access time and boot time.
Diagnostics showed no issues. I replaced the drive and problems went away.

[rshaffer61]

123Runner
Thanks a little slow tonight.