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| Thread ID: 102724 | 2009-08-30 04:09:00 | Ongoing 'puter woes | R.M. (561) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 805345 | 2009-08-30 04:09:00 | Last week I replaced my HDD and reinstalled an Acronis image of C Drive. All seemed initially well, with one or two minor problems which seemed to sort themselves out. My OS is Windows XP Pro. Now the puter takes for ages booting up (2m39sec on the Windows XP splash page alone). Last night I scanned with Spybot, with Spyware Terminator, CCleaner and posted a HyjackThis log for Speedy to puruse (he did, and I followed his advice). I also change the Firewall from Comodo to the Sunbelt one recommended by Wainui. As the machine boots (I can get into BIOS, don't think I can get into Safe Mode) I get a worrying message: Identifying DMI Pool Data ...(not sure what is there) ..ase Install Xpress Recovery from Gigabyte CD title. Press any key to continue. (It is a Gigabyte MB). Now, if I turn the machine off at this stage and start the reboot again, it will eventually boot up, again taking a long time. Everything works - but slowly. I read something on the Net about resetting CMOS jumpers - that's outside of my expertise, I'm afraid. :badpc: Would anyone like to comment? :) |
R.M. (561) | ||
| 805346 | 2009-08-30 05:25:00 | So you can't reset the CMOS yourself? Can you get a local tech to do it then? |
Blam (54) | ||
| 805347 | 2009-08-30 05:25:00 | Being a gigabyte board, you have to "juggle" the F8 key to get into safe mode. it takes a bit of timing, but let the first gigabyte boot screen run through, the moment it disappears, then hit F8 - that should jump you into the options - load safe mode. BUT if you can get in normally, even though slower, then once loaded, start/run type in msconfig <Enter> look at the start up tab, work through and disable any programs you dont need to run, Eg: Adobe, messenger, Itunes, Quicktime etc. Reboot. Esp have a look for Comodo - sometimes it leaves entries even if it has been uninstalled. If no faster, run Ccleaner, do a defrag - give it a general clean out. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 805348 | 2009-08-30 07:21:00 | Is the hard drive brand new or second hand? If it is second hand I would boot into recovery console using your Windows XP CD and run CHKDSK /r, to check your hard drive for errors and fix them. Computers that go slow all the time like you describe can be caused by failing hard drives. If you get a large number of errors, or the problem comes back after a while, your hard drive is probably about to fail entirely and you should back up your data and be prepared to get a new one. There are of course several other possibilities but try this as it is reasonably easy. You could also look at doing a fresh installation from a CD rather than using an image. Edit: Another thought: If it is an IDE hard drive, have you set the jumpers (Slave/Master) correctly. Setting these wrong can make windows take a VERY long time to start and sometimes not at all. |
ryanjames.powell (13554) | ||
| 805349 | 2009-08-30 07:38:00 | Thanks for the words of advice! However, while it may seem logical to you guys, I'm not totally sure of which programs I need. Webshots is to do with my screensaver, some of the others I know I don't need such as Sightspeed (in fact I should get rid of that). So - I guess I'm asking which are the 'have to have' ones. :) |
R.M. (561) | ||
| 805350 | 2009-08-30 08:06:00 | Wainui - I CAN get into Safe Mode - have to admit I was belting away at the wrong key... :o I'll work my way through the other cleanup suggestions, but it occurs to me that 'Himself' has used the 'puter this week, and while he has an NZCE in electonics & computer technology, he doesn't have a clue (or wants to) about using them. Not that I'm saying anything.... :( Ryan - it is a new replacement under warranty HDD. And yes it is IDE - checked the jumpers pretty carefully, although you never know. It all WAS working reasonably well on about Monday this week. And yes, I did think about starting from scratch again, but the last (and my first) install took me about 3 days of working fairly full time at it - so I was trying to 'short cut' - perhaps I made the wrong decision. :groan: |
R.M. (561) | ||
| 805351 | 2009-08-30 09:52:00 | Wainui - I CAN get into Safe Mode - have to admit I was belting away at the wrong key... :p Dont ya just hate it when that happens, does't matter, we all do things like that sometimes. Regarding the startup - Not to many that will slow it down. But these can go-- From Pic 1 Realsched DVD43 Quickcam stxmenumgr -- This is part of Seagate FreeAgent -turn off if not using. WHAT is Communications_H... ???? cant see as the description is hidden - disable if not needed. Second Pic; CS4Servicemanager --- its part of adobe auto updater cftmon - not required googletoolbar sitespeed PCsuite -- part of Nokia phone - not needed on startup spyder3utility - WHATS THAT belong to - looking, its a system HOG Bridge -??? Whats it bridging, something to do with adobe by the looks ??? Watch -- Watching what ??? |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 805352 | 2009-08-30 10:16:00 | Add to above -- If its still slow while running, press CTRL+ALT+DEl to bring up the task manager, look at the CPU Usage along the bottom of the open window - go to the processes Tab, under CPU listing - look to see whats hogging the CPU. IF its still not showing - you can try this: Double click My Computer. # In the My Computer window, right-click the hard drive and click Properties. # In the Properties box, click the Tools tab. # Click the "Check Now" button. # In the Check Disk dialog box, select both boxes, Automatically fix system errors and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start. (even though its a new drive, it still could be faulty) It will more than likely say it cant run, select yes to run at next start up - restart - go and make a cuppa, have dinner or what ever - could take a while, but let it run through. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 805353 | 2009-08-30 19:32:00 | When I went to bed last night, I took the MB manual with me (now how exciting is that!) - I wonder now if it might be the MB drivers that need reinstalling? I'll give it a go - probably tonight. And your other suggestions too. :) Bridge - yes that is part of Photoshop. Spyder - that's the screen calibration - very necessary in my world! |
R.M. (561) | ||
| 805354 | 2009-08-30 21:21:00 | Spyder - that's the screen calibration - very necessary in my world! Other than that one then - none of them. And where's your antivirus?!! AV and firewall should be resident. Everything else is unnecessary. |
pctek (84) | ||
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