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Thread ID: 79420	2007-05-19 11:36:00	Windows 2000 slowdown	Boothienz (12290)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
551205	2007-05-21 02:39:00	Sorry to misinterpret your intentions..I will not be so quick to heat up in the future...but the happy face would have made it easier to see as humorous	SurferJoe46 (51)
551206	2007-05-21 02:42:00	Can you give me a breakdown of all the HDDs you've used so far..this strangely sounds like a voltage sucker somewhere..by that I mean that something, and perhaps a few things are pulling your voltages down.	SurferJoe46 (51)
551207	2007-05-21 21:55:00	Can you give me a breakdown of all the HDDs you've used so far..this strangely sounds like a voltage sucker somewhere..by that I mean that something, and perhaps a few things are pulling your voltages down. Started with 40gig Seagate U series. Couldn't get this recognised unless set up with a 2gig drive I happened to have lying around. This originally had Win98 on it, and I had it as master and would select W2K from boot menu. When W2K went astray I assumed the 40g drive was shonky, and so I got a 20gig (of the same type) which I installed as Win2K. I copied my data files from the 40, formatted it and copied back. The 20g ran fine as primary master with 40g as slave. Installed SP4 and IE6,AVG, Comodo Firewall and a few utilities. Went to Windows update and scan showed 50 updates, which I downloaded via AutoUpdater. After these installed, the update icon stayed in the system tray. I clicked to instal and it installed Microsoft Data Access Components, only for the icon to return. The same procedure would re-occur. Then I remembered I had been through this on the 40g instal, and solved it by installing MDAC2.8 (ex Microsoft). A couple of days later when I booted my slowdown problems appeared. I uninstalled all of the updates to no avail. Figuring it must be that model of drive at fault, I started again with the 13g Seagate Medallist. Installed W2K on formatted drive, SP4, IE6, motherboard drivers (graphics, ethernet, audio) Went to update site to do custom manual download. I ran out of time, so didn't start. But I noticed the AutoUpdater had updates ready - Windows Installer3.1 (which you need to get updates from new site) and BITS (something to do with HTTP). Turned PC off for night, came back next day - turned PC off 17minutes, incomplete boot. Noticed that update icon was not in tray. Reboot in "last Known Good Configuration" - no change. Boots in Safe Mode OK, but what to do when I get there?! The boot sequence gets as far as loading the taskbar icons (1min 45sec), then system crawls. Hard drive activity becomes sporadic and in short bursts. Currently, I can boot from the 2gig with W2K Sp1 in normal time. I can access all 4 drives if they are hooked up. I can run setups which are stored on drives with faulty system. I have chkdsked them (all OK), virus scanned (OK). The drives themselves run fine. I can view pictures on them etc. I can swap from 2gig to either 20 or 13 with same results every time. I have removed drives and just tried the 20 or 13 on its own, and they don't work. It's not the drives, the PC can run stabley for hours on the 2g, it's hard to blame updates because the fault appeared at different stages. I am stumped! Please feel free to give up, mate - I will probably have to!	Boothienz (12290)
551208	2007-05-21 22:00:00	Sorry to misinterpret your intentions..I will not be so quick to heat up in the future...but the happy face would have made it easier to see as humorous That's OK. As I said, it's easy for misundersatndings to occur. BTW Thanks for the hours of research. When you logon to see what replies you have, you really have no idea what effort somebody may have put in. The answers may have just come off the top the head, or like you, somebody may have been doing some serious thinking, just trying to help out. I've done the same for people on Amiga mailing lists I frequent. Sometimes you find that after many hours research the problem has already been solved.	Boothienz (12290)
551209	2007-05-21 23:16:00	That's OK . As I said, it's easy for misundersatndings to occur . BTW Thanks for the hours of research . When you logon to see what replies you have, you really have no idea what effort somebody may have put in . The answers may have just come off the top the head, or like you, somebody may have been doing some serious thinking, just trying to help out . I've done the same for people on Amiga mailing lists I frequent . Sometimes you find that after many hours research the problem has already been solved . I still think this might be voltage related . Hopefully not a hipshot . . . but a well-thought out and theoretical evaluation . It's too strange that different HDDS could all be at fault . It's also too strange that you have installed and updated and that they might be the culprit either . I still feel it's a voltage problem and it might just be a PSU problem . Some PSUs have ICs in them for stability and that too might be at fault . I hint to the ability to run after a while, once you get thru the boot sequence (boot time is pretty demanding on the PSU) but when you push the unit, you get molasses . I'd still start at the rails and test them all with and without peripheral hardware . . and even leave the HDD out too for a test of two . Shoot for higher values instead of minimal or "just about enough" values . You need a little fudge area for surges and spikes in use and demands of the hardware . You posted values that appeared to be on the shady side of acceptable to me . . . and I don't think this is a "Brand" problem . . . . maybe a pre-total failure level . BTW: we have a small entourage of technos in town . . . . . some of them are very sharp and almost all of them agreed with and even offered the suggestion of a voltage supply problem before I even mentioned it . I won't charge you for the Starbuck's and Twinkies I had to use to attract their attention .	SurferJoe46 (51)
551210	2007-05-22 00:40:00	This is my first visit, so like to say Hi for all the guys I'm totally agreed with Graham L about W2k since I got a test box - an old Compaq DeskPro with 200 MHz & 80 MB RAM & 2.4 HDD. (1.2 for Linux & 1.2 for W2K. It is pretty fast for the configuration & less time to boot even with AV installed. (Have to mention that I have disabled some unnecessary services) I had the same complaint from 2 of my friends about their PCs. Finally I found out the cause was the dusty RAM module. Since U are saying your 2 Gig is working well that may not be the problem here. I also like to here about the process eating your RAM as jinja thom mentioned because Boot process can be slowed down due to many reasons but if the lag exists even after logon there should be something really wrong. By the way all the hardware is properly installed?	dundi (12292)
551211	2007-05-22 02:59:00	You can't really test a PSU with a multimeter (especially a digital MM) . It will either "work" or not, because the meter won't see voltage dips which might cause problems . Any current surges in the 12V caused by disks starting shouldn't bother the 5V and lower rails, anyway . If any voltage does drop below the 5% or 10% limits should cause a restart, because Power Good should go false and cause a hard reset on the CPU . You should see that happening . . . with flickering keyboard LEDs and the full POST . Repeated restarts could cause long boot times . ;) I'd have a look at that bootlog file . It might give a hint .	Graham L (2)
551212	2007-05-22 03:21:00	You can't really test a PSU with a multimeter (especially a digital MM) . It will either "work" or not, because the meter won't see voltage dips which might cause problems . Any current surges in the 12V caused by disks starting shouldn't bother the 5V and lower rails, anyway . If any voltage does drop below the 5% or 10% limits should cause a restart, because Power Good should go false and cause a hard reset on the CPU . You should see that happening . . . with flickering keyboard LEDs and the full POST . Repeated restarts could cause long boot times . ;) I'd have a look at that bootlog file . It might give a hint . Thanks for the replies which have come in today . I'm not going to get a shot at the PC for another day, but I will follow up on all suggestions . I'll check that bootfile . I did go through the Event Viewer once, but nothing of help there . I just don't get it that the power supply is OK when I run the 2gig (and the others until the system went awry) and the fault stays embedded in the operating system when whatever goes wrong happens . BTW The fault always appears at boot time, after the system has run fine on previous occasion . Also, we're not really talking about long boot times in the normal sense that things can get slowed down by too much startup stuff etc . The boot goes fine until the taskbar is loaded, then it's as if the processor kicks back to about 1% . Eventually (45+minutes) the desktop might be complete . From there everything takes ages - ten seconds or so for popup message when hovering over button, couple of minutes to open window, twenty to open program, day and half to run System Mechanic scan! Thanks for sticking with me guys . Please keep an eye on the thread in the next day or so . I will probably also start a clean instal on one drive, and see how far I get .	Boothienz (12290)
551213	2007-05-22 03:53:00	The slowdown you are describing sounds like what happened to my Win2K system when I put many entries (a few thousand) into the Hosts file. The computer slowed right down next boot and took about 10 minutes to open programs etc. Took me about 2 hours to open Task Manager and remove the entries from Hosts. Probably not your problem though.	zqwerty (97)
551214	2007-05-22 05:22:00	You can't really test a PSU with a multimeter (especially a digital MM) . It will either "work" or not, because the meter won't see voltage dips which might cause problems . Any current surges in the 12V caused by disks starting shouldn't bother the 5V and lower rails, anyway . If any voltage does drop below the 5% or 10% limits should cause a restart, because Power Good should go false and cause a hard reset on the CPU . You should see that happening . . . with flickering keyboard LEDs and the full POST . Repeated restarts could cause long boot times . ;) I'd have a look at that bootlog file . It might give a hint . Sometimes I forget that the DVM/VAC meter I have (a plotting and graphing unit with waveform displays and cycle counter . . . etc), is not something everyone has . Sorry for the assumption, but I consider my meter to be very basic after all the years of specialty stuff for the automotive computers and systems . You're right, Graham of course and I made a big mistake by my assumption . . . However this problem works out . . . be assured that I will follow it with great interest . . . this is a real quandary . . . that'll prolly be something very simple . :blush: Hmmm . . . 240/120vac? Nah! :rolleyes: .	SurferJoe46 (51)
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