[Matt.F]

For some reason my computer has started to run extremely slowly recently. It started kind of abruptly a couple of weeks back. I uninstalled a bunch of programs thinking maybe it was just kind of clogged up, but it didn't help. I then ran checkdisk and defragmented and no dice. I decided it had been a while since I had formatted the drive, so I did that. When I was trying to re-install Windows, my computer kept taking about 10 minutes to boot up. It would just sit on a blank screen or sit on the Microsoft Windows XP screen with the scrolling bar or something like that. A few times it got stuck on the BIOS loading right before the end of the progress bar. It would sit there for a few seconds and then tell me that it couldn't recognize a hard drive or something to that effect (I forgot the exact message). It said I could press any key to retry or F2 to open the BIOS. It did this a few times in a row and finally booted up. I finally got Windows re-installed and my computer is still taking at least 5 minutes to boot up, although sometimes it will boot up in about 1. I'm having trouble with slowdowns as well. It will take it a couple of minutes to open a program or will randomly freeze up for a few seconds when I'm typing in Word. I recently downloaded an installer for a program and when I try to open it, it just sits on the hourglass icon for about 15 minutes and then nothing happens.

All of that is an explanation of what has been going on. I'm thinking my hard drive may be going bad (given the error message I got), but I could be totally wrong of course. Any thoughts or ideas?

[Advertisements]

Hi Matt.F...

Please post me a HiJackThis log so I can take a look at what you have running on the machine.

wannabe1

[wannabe1]

Hi Matt.F...

Please post me a HiJackThis log so I can take a look at what you have running on the machine.

wannabe1

[Matt.F]

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 8:25:24 AM, on 12/15/2005
Platform: Windows XP SP2 (WinNT 5.01.2600)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP2 (6.00.2900.2180)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\System32\smss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
C:\Program Files\Dell\Bluetooth Software\bin\btwdins.exe
C:\Program Files\ewido\security suite\ewidoctrl.exe
C:\WINDOWS\runservice.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\System32\wltrysvc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\bcmwltry.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\BCMSMMSG.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\WLTRAY.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware\gcasServ.exe
C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe
C:\Program Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware\gcasDtServ.exe
C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\wuauclt.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\MOZILL~1\FIREFOX.EXE
C:\Documents and Settings\Matt\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

O2 - BHO: AcroIEHlprObj Class - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATIPTA] "C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI Control Panel\atiptaxx.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [BCMSMMSG] BCMSMMSG.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Dell Wireless Manager UI] C:\WINDOWS\System32\WLTRAY
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Zone Labs Client] C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [gcasServ] "C:\Program Files\Microsoft AntiSpyware\gcasServ.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [iTunesHelper] "C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunesHelper.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [QuickTime Task] "C:\Program Files\QuickTime\qttask.exe" -atboottime
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SpybotSD TeaTimer] C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\TeaTimer.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~3\Office10\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Windows Messenger - {FB5F1910-F110-11d2-BB9E-00C04F795683} - C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe
O16 - DPF: {17492023-C23A-453E-A040-C7C580BBF700} (Windows Genuine Advantage Validation Tool) - http://go.microsoft....k/?linkid=39204
O16 - DPF: {6E32070A-766D-4EE6-879C-DC1FA91D2FC3} (MUWebControl Class) - http://update.micros...b?1134249349421
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\System32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVGFRE~1\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: Bluetooth Service (btwdins) - WIDCOMM Inc. - C:\Program Files\Dell\Bluetooth Software\bin\btwdins.exe
O23 - Service: ewido security suite control - ewido networks - C:\Program Files\ewido\security suite\ewidoctrl.exe
O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exe
O23 - Service: iPodService - Apple Computer, Inc. - C:\Program Files\iPod\bin\iPodService.exe
O23 - Service: LicCtrl Service (LicCtrlService) - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\runservice.exe
O23 - Service: TrueVector Internet Monitor (vsmon) - Zone Labs, LLC - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
O23 - Service: WLTRYSVC - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\System32\wltrysvc.exe

[wannabe1]

Hello Matt.F...

Ok...the software issue I suspected is not present in the log so let's move on to hardware. Right click on "My Computer" and choose "Properties". Click on the "Hardware" tab and then on the "Device Manager" button. In the list of devices, are any of them marked with a yellow ? or ! ? Please list any marked devices here for me.

Download Everest Home Edition, install it, run it using the "Report" icon (on the toolbar), choose "All Pages" and then "HTML". Attach a log to this thread. This will give me your system information, listing of devices, and driver versions.

wannabe1

[Matt.F]

No devices with a yellow ? or ! listed. Here's the EVEREST report.

Well...the EVEREST report isn't wanting to attach. It's saying:

The total filespace required to upload all the attached files is greater than your per post or global limit. Please reduce the number of attachments or the size of the attachments.

The thing says I have 2mb of global space left and the report is only 269k...

[wannabe1]

Ok...run Everest again, but instead of choosing the HTML option, generate the report as Plain Text and try to attach it for me.

wannabe1

[Matt.F]

Same thing with the text file...hmm.

[wannabe1]

Copy and paste it to the post...I'll copy it for reference and you can edit it out of the post. The reason for this measure is because there may be a small amount of personal info in the log...we want to keep that private.

wannabe1

[Matt.F]

EVEREST log post #1 edited out...

Edited by Matt.F, 15 December 2005 - 01:23 PM.

[Matt.F]

EVEREST log post #2 edited out...

Edited by Matt.F, 15 December 2005 - 01:24 PM.

[Matt.F]

EVEREST log post #3 edited out...

Edited by Matt.F, 15 December 2005 - 01:24 PM.

[wannabe1]

Got it! You may edit it out of the post...

wannabe1

[Matt.F]

EVEREST log post #4 edited out...

Edited by Matt.F, 15 December 2005 - 01:24 PM.

[wannabe1]

Got it all....Edit away!

[wannabe1]

So far I'm seeing a couple of things we need to look at.

The CPU is running pretty hot (63*C)...This may or may not be causing the lag, but it should be addressed. Cleaning the CPU cooler with compressed air will help and a laptop cooler would control the temperature even further.

Then, your video acceleration is a little high...14% overclocked. Let's turn that down a bit. Right click on the Desktop and choose "Properties"...click on the "Settings" tab and then on the "Advanced" button. Click the "Troubleshoot" tab and move the "Hardware Acceleration" slider one mark lower (to the left). Click "Apply" then "Ok" twice to exit Display Properties.

Reboot your machine and see if it is less balky.

wannabe1