[havredave]

Hopefully Combofix works in normal mode, but just in case it doesn't work, I'd like you to try running Combofix from safe mode. If you need help rebooting into safe mode, read below:

Reboot your computer into safe mode. If you need help doing that, read below; otherwise skip to the next step:

• As it's starting up, you should notice a splash screen with machine information, or possibly a logo (such as a Dell logo).
• When that splash screen vanishes, immediately start tapping the F8 key on your keyboard. Twice per second or so is plenty. Some machines get rather cranky if you start tapping F8 during the splash screen, and some don't. Yours may vary.
• After a few moments, the machine should show you a list of possible boot options. If it doesn't, wait for the machine to boot, then restart it and try again.
• One of the possible boot options is "Safe Mode". Please select that option by using the up/down arrow keys on your keyboard, and press Enter when it's highlighted.
• There are multiple Safe Mode entries; please select "Safe Mode", not the others.

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the light was just on constantly, i will try again when i get home

[hoopdub2]

the light was just on constantly, i will try again when i get home

[havredave]

Just for the record, if the hard drive activity light is on (not the power light), don't hard-off the machine. That's a quick and easy way to corrupt the data on your drive. It's best to wait until its done doing what it has to do, even if it takes an hour or two. Rarely there's no other way, but that's pretty rare.

Combofix does do quite a bit behind the scenes with no outward indication that it's working; but it is. I don't think I've ever had a scan take longer than 45 minutes on the worst machine, but it's possible.

In the meantime, I have another idea that might be slowing the machine down that I'll work up instructions for so you can test it. I'll try to get that to you within a few hours.

[havredave]

Are you still with us?

[hoopdub2]

combo fix does not work, ive tried a few times now, 3 hours one time, i got so p$$d off i threw the laptop, the laptop is running quick enough for me to use now ive installed the ram, im going to get all of my fiels off and bin it. thanks for your help though, much appreciated

[havredave]

You're quite welcome. If at some point you want to toy around with the next steps I had in mind, let me know. Otherwise, good luck in the future.

I'll ask my reviewer to go ahead and close this thread; PM a mod if you would like it re-opened!

[hoopdub2]

if you had things lined up and you would like to run them, im more than happy to do so

[havredave]

In that case, I'll rescind my request to close the thread. Let me gather back up, and I'll post shortly.

[havredave]

Please download  resetdma.zip   1.21KB   89 downloads

Extract its contents to your desktop. There is one file therein, called "resetdma.vbs".

I'd like you to run this file, and let me know if, after rebooting the machine, it helps your speed issue.

[hoopdub2]

ok great, im home at 5.30 i will do it then

[havredave]

Sounds good. I have another potential step lined up after this one as well, if it doesn't do enough.

If you would, please pay close attention to your hard drive activity light (if you have one) during times that performance seems obnoxiously slow. I'm curious to know if it's staying on pretty solid, or not. That would indicate that we're on the right track, and it's hard drive performance (or over-use by something) causing the degradation.

It's also possible that your processor is being over-taxed, and we'll head in that direction if the current ideas don't help enough.

Strange that I find such things so fun..

[hoopdub2]

done that, does not seem much quicker, if atall, the hd light is on almost constantly, does flicker from time to time

[havredave]

Ok, that gives me a direction. If you let the laptop sit without doing anything for quite a while, does the hard drive light eventually quit staying lit? If so, how long after a fresh reboot does it take to do that?

I'm awaiting feedback for my next idea to try, and we can give that a go as soon as it's OKd.

[havredave]

This instruction is going to be just a tiny bit vague, as I don't have enough information to be really clear for you. If it poses any difficulty, please let me know, and I can dig for further information to make a more clear fix for you.

You have a product called StarForce installed, which is used as a copy protection measure in some software, particularly games. You may or may not have the game still installed, but apparently there were performance issues with some versions of StarForce, specifically with disk drive access.

There are instructions at this link describing how to update and uninstall the StarForce software. I'd like you to try updating (you'll notice instructions for two version levels) first, then removing if you get no relief. It's possible that removal could keep a game from running properly, but reinstalling the game should rectify it should that happen.

Keep in mind that a reboot will probably be required after updating or removing the driver to reload/unload it. If it doesn't ask you to, reboot anyway.

After these steps, please let me know if the hard drive activity is still staying high, and whether or not it helped the situation. I'm at the end of my current idea list, but not at the end of what we can try; it'll just take me a little longer to come up with more.

[hoopdub2]

well, that actually seems to have helped a lot, hd was at idle only about a minute after reboot!!!