XP PRO, SP 3, MS Updates all installed. 1.96 Gb of RAM. 3.20Ghz
It takes the system forever to boot up, the user finally logs in and it take forever before she can open up a program, (no matter what program it is: IE 8, AutoCAD, Explorer, MSCONFIG etc)
What I have done:
1) Installed and ran the following Scans:
Malwarebytes, Glary Utilites, Spybot Search and Destroy, Ad-Aware. some Malware, Spyware and Adware were found and removed.
2) Ran Trend Micro Anti Virus program and not viruses were found.
3) Ran SCANDISK, it took several hours (step 4 of 5 took over 6 1/2 hours to complete, it was still running when I left the office and I don't know how long step 5 took) and when I returned the next day the logon screen was up.
4) Defrag the hard drive - 2 times - both times it took forever.
5) went into MSCONFIG and unchecked all the startup programs and booted the system and still it is taking the system forever to boot up and login and do anything on the system.
6) Hard drive has over 95 GB of free space so space is not an issue
7) deleted the Temporary Internet Files.
8) checked Device Manager for conflicts and there are none.
What else can I do to check this system out before I format and install everything back on to the system. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in Advance!
Robin
PS. I updated all of the scan software in normal mode than ran the scans in SAFEMODE.
P.S.S I just went into Event Logs and tried to pull up the System Event log and it came back saying "The event log file is corrupt". hmmmm
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Question
0
Votes
What else can be causing an XP Pro system to be slow?
Updated - 31st Jan 2011
Answers (11)
0
Votes
Test the HDD with it's makers Utility
Not sure which HDD you have here but you need to test it with it's Makers Testing Utility to confirm correct operation. You can get the correct Utility from here but you will need to know who made the HDD
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
Then if the HDD is OK run chkdsk /r and see if that achieves anything.
Finally Defrag, Defrag, Defrag and Defrag yet again
Just running Defrag once isn't enough with a heavily fragmented HDD and the Defrag Utility that comes with Windows isn't good enough either try one of the third party Defragers like
Ultra Defrag
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ultradefrag/files/
Smart Defrag
http://download.cnet.com/Smart-Defrag/3000-2094_4-10759533.html
Auslogic Defrag
http://download.cnet.com/Auslogics-Disk-Defrag/3000-2094_4-10567503.html
and run them several times. With very badly fragmented HDD I've had to in the past run these utilities up to 12 times then switch to another when the first has done as much as it can.
After you have run several instances of a Defrag Utility it sort of stops doing any more so you need to try another which works slightly differently and then when that has done as much as it can return to the first and see if that makes any more difference.
Col
http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287
Then if the HDD is OK run chkdsk /r and see if that achieves anything.
Finally Defrag, Defrag, Defrag and Defrag yet again
Just running Defrag once isn't enough with a heavily fragmented HDD and the Defrag Utility that comes with Windows isn't good enough either try one of the third party Defragers like
Ultra Defrag
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ultradefrag/files/
Smart Defrag
http://download.cnet.com/Smart-Defrag/3000-2094_4-10759533.html
Auslogic Defrag
http://download.cnet.com/Auslogics-Disk-Defrag/3000-2094_4-10567503.html
and run them several times. With very badly fragmented HDD I've had to in the past run these utilities up to 12 times then switch to another when the first has done as much as it can.
After you have run several instances of a Defrag Utility it sort of stops doing any more so you need to try another which works slightly differently and then when that has done as much as it can return to the first and see if that makes any more difference.
Col
Updated - 31st Jan 2011
0
Votes
And clear the event logs.
Corrupt or overly large logs could be an issue.
Also, take a look at your system properties. Is the amount of RAM shown the amount you expect?
Also, take a look at your system properties. Is the amount of RAM shown the amount you expect?
31st Jan 2011
0
Votes
Will try your suggestions.
I will post back (hopefully) today (Tuesday).
Thanks for your suggestions.
Thanks for your suggestions.
1st Feb 2011
0
Votes
Remote possibility
It could be the controller on the drive itself.
I just finished working on one that took 10 hours to scan 32000 files with Malwarebytes. 14 hours for a chkdsk /r.
Imaged the drive and watched the drive to drive copy go from UDMA 5 through the steppings to a PIO rate.
After the image, the new drive (copy of original) flew.
I just finished working on one that took 10 hours to scan 32000 files with Malwarebytes. 14 hours for a chkdsk /r.
Imaged the drive and watched the drive to drive copy go from UDMA 5 through the steppings to a PIO rate.
After the image, the new drive (copy of original) flew.
1st Feb 2011
0
Votes
still running the SeaTools
the Long Generic test has been going on for over 18 hours but it is still going--1% at a time.
2nd Feb 2011
Replies
Now for the good news
If the test shows a Fail you should pull the HDD out of the Computer and fit to another and retest. If it still fails it's the HDD at fault but if it passes the second test it's the M'Board, Power Supply or Data Lead at fault.
However saying that 18 hours is way too long for a Seatools DOS Test, I've never had one run more than an hour at longest on a fully functioning drive.
Of course with failing drives this is possible.
Col
If the test shows a Fail you should pull the HDD out of the Computer and fit to another and retest. If it still fails it's the HDD at fault but if it passes the second test it's the M'Board, Power Supply or Data Lead at fault.
However saying that 18 hours is way too long for a Seatools DOS Test, I've never had one run more than an hour at longest on a fully functioning drive.
Of course with failing drives this is possible.
Col
OH Smeg
2nd Feb 2011
0
Votes
Registry Errors / GPO's
On our network here at work, pcs that take forever to login are usually having a networking issue ie: Group Policies are having trouble installing or removing software (Check your event viewer). Which leads me to my next tidbit of advice, Cleaning the registry with a decent cleaner. I suggest ccleaner it's a free download, and does a good job, and after running it on 100's of machines not 1 time have I had to restore the registry. (Still make a backup of the registry - good practice) Or it could just be a crap hard drive :-]
Updated - 2nd Feb 2011
0
Votes
answer
as mentioned before, "CCleaner", does the job with cleaning the registry.
- When jou installed CCleaner, go to the tab "Cleaner".
- Check every option under "System" except the last 3
- Check every option under "Advanced" except the 2nd and the last one.
- Go for the button Analyze, and after that run cleaner.
go to the tab "registry" and scan for issues.
after all this.
Run an drefrag tool like mentioned above.
reboot your computer
When this doesn't work i always test the memory.
suc6
- When jou installed CCleaner, go to the tab "Cleaner".
- Check every option under "System" except the last 3
- Check every option under "Advanced" except the 2nd and the last one.
- Go for the button Analyze, and after that run cleaner.
go to the tab "registry" and scan for issues.
after all this.
Run an drefrag tool like mentioned above.
reboot your computer
When this doesn't work i always test the memory.
suc6
3rd Feb 2011
0
Votes
Similar issue
I had a similar issue before. I thought it was the network so I changed the cable, had a network sniffer (diagnostic tool) to see if it detected any issues, and nothing was wrong, yet the computer was still slow. Then it hit me. There was an external usb device attached to the computer that slowed it down. Once I unplugged it from the pc, it ran speedily. Try disconnecting any usb devices and see if this resolves the problem.
Updated - 3rd Feb 2011
0
Votes
Computer had died. LOL
I ran the SeaTools from Seagate and passed all the tests. Ran the Dell Diagnostics program and it hung up on me, i had to unplugged the system and when i tried to turn it on it would not. Dell is sending out a technican to replace the motherboard, memory and power supply and possibly the hard drive. will see how the system runs after all is replaced.
Thanks for your suggestions. I will post back with the outcome.
Thanks for your suggestions. I will post back with the outcome.
3rd Feb 2011
0
Votes
New HDD ?
Sorry 'bout your "loss"...
The problem will probably be solved once the Dell tech's finished, but just to know (and maybe help someone else) :
Did you per chance put in a new HDD and clone the system on it ?
Because I did that not long ago, on a XP sp3 system, using a new 800 GB Western Digital HDD.
The computer then took ages to do anything, and I noticed lots of disk access, for not apparent reason.
After a quick investigation, I learned that XP does not natively cope with these new HDD (large cache, 64MB and all), and you'll have to fix the disk format (or format it properly before for e clean install)
WD for instance provides a free tool on their website.
It solved the problem.
The problem will probably be solved once the Dell tech's finished, but just to know (and maybe help someone else) :
Did you per chance put in a new HDD and clone the system on it ?
Because I did that not long ago, on a XP sp3 system, using a new 800 GB Western Digital HDD.
The computer then took ages to do anything, and I noticed lots of disk access, for not apparent reason.
After a quick investigation, I learned that XP does not natively cope with these new HDD (large cache, 64MB and all), and you'll have to fix the disk format (or format it properly before for e clean install)
WD for instance provides a free tool on their website.
It solved the problem.
7th Feb 2011
Replies
it's not the size of the Cache that causes the problem you're describing
the cache size could be 2GB and it wouldn't cause the problem
WD drives with 64MB cache have what they call Advanced Format
which is 4KB sectors emulating 8 x 512Byte sectors which when formatted at offset 63 causes all sorts of problems due to the drive having to perform electronic gymnastics to do I/O
the cache size could be 2GB and it wouldn't cause the problem
WD drives with 64MB cache have what they call Advanced Format
which is 4KB sectors emulating 8 x 512Byte sectors which when formatted at offset 63 causes all sorts of problems due to the drive having to perform electronic gymnastics to do I/O
Who Am I Really
7th Feb 2011
0
Votes
Right
That's it.
I don't know why I formulated it this way, it didn't make any sense, since I was clearly talking about "formating"...
My memory must have associated the incriminated model's 64MB cache with the symptoms.
Thanks for correcting me.
I don't know why I formulated it this way, it didn't make any sense, since I was clearly talking about "formating"...
My memory must have associated the incriminated model's 64MB cache with the symptoms.
Thanks for correcting me.
10th Feb 2011
