non-torrent related computer help

[netyuppie]

i'm having a really strange problem with my computer. about a week back it started acting strange. i was playing a fairly resource-hog of a game and listening to MP3s via foobar in the background. have done this with the same game for years with no problems. all of a sudden the music started skipping and the game was running very slow. rebooted after that and it was taking a lot longer to boot than normal. everything before the windows splash screen loads about thye same speed, but the windows screen takes about 3 minutes to finish. once windows is actually running, it takes another 2 or 3 minutes for all the tray icons to load (i dont have that many - maybe 8 or 9 loading). never had any troubles like this before with the machine. i keep pretty good care of my computer and am fairly experienced in maintanence/diagnostics.

i first thought it was a problem with my processor, so i checked it out. ran sisoftware sandra and it reported my v-core (i beleive? admit i dont know much what this is. power going to CPU?) was above rated maximum. i found out how to changed it & did so. problem remains.

a friend of mine thought it deffinatly sounded like a failing HD, and as skepitcal as i was (only running 1 HD, not even 6 months old), i set out to work on that next. first ran spinrite (never used it before - it took about 18 hours to completly scan a 300gb drive, this normal?) and it reported nothing wrong. next i ran chkdsk (took about 24 hours!) and it fixed some bad sectors relating to restore points. i then defraged (use diskeeper), which also reported the MFT was 84% full, so i expanded it.

safe to say (i hope) its not the hard drive. next thought was bad memory. i ran a program that measures used/free RAM for awhile, and with 1gb of RAM, right when windows starts already about 45% of that is used. when doing something like playing a game it shows less that 1% free. are these normal %'s? never really payed attention when it was running fine. RAM all checks out (so i think) besides one warning in sandra reading "large memory sizes should be made of registered/buffered memory)". not sure what to make of this.

anyone still with me? any ideas? im really stumped. it will still boot up and run, but everything takes at least 3x as long as it should. its just slow and i have no idea why. all temps are well within safe limits. have AVG and NOD32 running and full scan. virus free. have checked for spyware with 3 or 4 programs as well. all that was found was non critical. i'm gonna run a CPU test tonight and see if it has anything to say.

[walter2]

sounds like these some programs that you need to turn completely off that youre not using, you know, the ones that start when you boot up that you dont even know that are running.

and you should get a mac :D

[TheMamba]

I've run into problems like this with games as well. I doubt that foobar running in the background had anything to do with it since you were doing fine with that set up for so long.

A few things I've had to fix in the past:

Video Card - I was getting "Blue Screen of Death" with this one, so it's probably not the source of your problems, just keep it in the back of your mind.

Heat
Bad/Failing Hardrive

Let's talk about heat.

There's a program called Motherboard Monitor that I've always used:

http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

Assuming that your motherboard supports this program and its abilities, when you install and run MBM, you'll be able to see what your temperatures are for various things - CPU, Motherboard, etc. Back when I was having problems, after installing this I found out that I had some serious heat issues. Your motherboard and CPU manufacturer should have optimal heat ranges listed on their respective websites, so check against those.

What I ended up having to do was totally replace my CPU cooler fan with a high-performance model. Not expensive - think it was around $50 - but if you've never worked on the hardware of computers before...it could be a little nerve wracking. I got my CPU cooler from these guys: http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/7264/coolerblowerfan5iu.jpg

Along with that, I cleaned the hell out of my case with a "can of air" and installed a few more case fans to intake and exhaust air from the case itself.

So...download MBM (if your mobo is on their list), run it, and check the temps vs. the manufacturer's suggestions. Buy yourself a can of air and clean the hell out of your case. Cheapest and easiest solution. Then, go from there.

The extra case fans will never hurt you and they are cheap.

The CPU cooler...Most original CPU fans are OK for normal everday use. Games up the ante on all the computer's resources. If you're still having heat problems, I'd look into getting one of these. There are a TON of them out there so do some research on them first. I can point you in the right direction of some good websites if you need to go this route.

[TheMamba]

Oh shit...just saw that your temps are in a good range...so to heck with my last post. :lol

[TheMamba]

safe to say (i hope) its not the hard drive. next thought was bad memory. i ran a program that measures used/free RAM for awhile, and with 1gb of RAM, right when windows starts already about 45% of that is used. when doing something like playing a game it shows less that 1% free. are these normal %'s? never really payed attention when it was running fine.

How big is your swap file?

[netyuppie]

yea like i said all temps are well within limits. keep my case clean with canned air usually every other week (got a dog that sheds like crazy) and 3 running case fans.
the problem tho isnt so much that it only acts up when i'm playing the game with foobar. the entire machine is running rediculously slow now. it just started with the music skipping while playing a game.
thought it may have something to do with the video card too for a little. i'm getting a weird screen of boxes of different colors when i boot between the windows splash screen and the desktop for about 3 seconds. but i cant imagine the rest of the problems i'm having with everything acting so slow being caused by that.
not sure about the swap file? mind telling me how to check quick? do you know what the buffered/registered memory message i'm getting is refering too?
thanks for the help.

edit - just did some searching. my swap file (paging file?) is 1536mb.

[saltman]

My guess would be bad RAM or a failing hard drive.

[netyuppie]

going to try swapping RAM out in a little bit (2x 512mb). how else could i test for a failing HD? i thought what i did was pretty adequate.

[netyuppie]

well i swapped each stick of RAM out, trying 1, then the other, then both...no difference. safe to assume its not related to the RAM?
what else is there to do? i have spare hard drives i can try to install XP on later and see if that runs fine. but i really doubt its the hard drive.
CPU? i ran a CPU stability test for 11 hours and it reported nothing wrong. it says for perfect results to run it for 24 hours tho, maybe i will try again later.
motherboard doesnt have onboard video, cant bypass the video card.
thanks in advance for any suggestions. i'm out of ideas.

[TheMamba]

Have you changed anything in the last couple of days? Any new hardware, software, etc?

Paging file = swap file. Looks like your size is OK.

If you've got a spare hard drive and some spare time I'd try a fresh install on one of those and see what that gets you.

There's a Windows XP Tweak Guide that I've always tried to use when I reinstall XP: http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html Some of the tweaks in it are not really tweaks but it's a good read none the less. Lotta good information in there to implement...once we get your problem solved.

Another thing that occurred to me is that you could have a failing power supply. Had that happen to me once. Was getting all sorts of weird behavior like you're getting so I ordered a new one and replaced it. That was purely a shot in the dark...

"large memory sizes should be made of registered/buffered memory)". I did a quick search on google and it looks like this is no big deal.
http://www.computing.net/gaming/wwwboard/forum/4136.html

Unfortunately, you're probably on a witch hunt. Since we've ruled out heat and probably RAM, try the hard drive swap and see what that gets you. When you're on the witch hunt, always do the cheapest/easiest fixes first so you don't waste money...too bad you're in Chicago because I have a ton of spare parts in my office that we could swap in and out of your machine to help narrow it down. :(

[joemc]

hi, a slowing down of comps is a lot of the time to do with spy/malware. you dont mention that you have done an antivirus check or anything like that, if you havent i would give that a go, there are plenty of free virus/worm etc chekers out there. another thing to look for is when you have evrything going go into task manager, processes and see what is hogging your cpu, like someone said it could be a program you dont need and it can easily be stopped.

joe

[Five]

all I can say is check which progs are starting when you startup... it seems you have everything else carefully considered so far as I can see.

[netyuppie]

sorry if i didnt mention but i've run 3 different anti spyware apps and 2 different anti viruses. everything is clean. i've also cleaned up the programs that run when windows starts by about 1/2. didnt make a difference.
anyone want to take a look at this? running processes with only firefox open and rest appears to be running in the background.
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/7944/process0zf.jpg
what i know is safe/fine are anything with razer, ati, googledesktop, CTS, ramsaver, AVG, nod32, DkService (i think is diskeeper service).
i've selected in red everything i'm not 100% sure what it is. i just woke up and am out the door in a second, but i can google some of them once i get back in. if anyone sees something that deffinatley shouldnt be there let me know. it looks like a hell of a lot of other stuff running tho. why so many svchost? i know svchost just controls/runs from any dll's. can also mean a virus working behind it.
major headache :( thanks again for all the help folks.

[TheMamba]

I'll check it out vs. mine when I get home tonight.

[netyuppie]

okay, went through each process and found out what it is. new cleaned up process list below. only thing i see that really bothers me is marked, the svchost using so much memory.
http://img506.imageshack.us/img506/9482/svc3vn.jpg
been reading up about it online and basically it controls anything relating to dll's that are currently being used, that is why there are so many active. however, i dont think its normal to use so much memory for one process. also have heard that if its using more than explorer, as it is in my case, its most likely a virus of some sort. i did have 1 trojan months back on this machine but i thought NOD32 took care of it.
completly out of ideas now.

[Five]

I asked grace to look at this, she is thinking about it and will post here (or tell me what to post).

the svchost seems normal to me, here is a screencap on my comp from a minute ago...

[netyuppie]

:thumbsup puts my mind to rest about the svchost at least. thanks five - look forward to whatever grace comes up with.

[grace]

Hi,

Process Explorer (http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/processexplorer.html) will give you a better idea of what your processes are than the taskmanager (i.e. it will tell you which services each instance of svchost is running.) You are most likely running some unneccesary windows services, windows does this by default. Disabling some of them (using the tweak Guide TheMamba posted) will make your computer run faster; but this doesn't seem to be the source of your problem -- these services would have already been running when your compter was acting normally.

I do have a suspicion that your problem is hardware related, in which case i won't be of much help. But just to make sure on the software end maybey you could post a Hijack This log and a start up list. Thes sometimes show things that are hiding from windows. Here (http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/) is a link with the programs and an explanation of how to use them.

[netyuppie]

somehow i completely missed this post mamba. sorry.
Have you changed anything in the last couple of days? Any new hardware, software, etc?

Paging file = swap file. Looks like your size is OK.

If you've got a spare hard drive and some spare time I'd try a fresh install on one of those and see what that gets you.

There's a Windows XP Tweak Guide that I've always tried to use when I reinstall XP: http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html Some of the tweaks in it are not really tweaks but it's a good read none the less. Lotta good information in there to implement...once we get your problem solved.

Another thing that occurred to me is that you could have a failing power supply. Had that happen to me once. Was getting all sorts of weird behavior like you're getting so I ordered a new one and replaced it. That was purely a shot in the dark...

"large memory sizes should be made of registered/buffered memory)". I did a quick search on google and it looks like this is no big deal.
http://www.computing.net/gaming/wwwboard/forum/4136.html

Unfortunately, you're probably on a witch hunt. Since we've ruled out heat and probably RAM, try the hard drive swap and see what that gets you. When you're on the witch hunt, always do the cheapest/easiest fixes first so you don't waste money...too bad you're in Chicago because I have a ton of spare parts in my office that we could swap in and out of your machine to help narrow it down. :(
no new hardware, no new software. tried a restore point over a week before problems started and no luck too. guessing its hardware.
i will try a fresh XP install on a spare drive later tonight or tommorow.
i've always had bad luck with power supplys, have had at least 2 go bad within the last year or so. and they were antec too, no cheapy brand. i suppose after the hard drive swap i could try that. i dont have another working one laying around but they arent too expensive.
haha, let me overnight my machine to you and you can go at it :D i've got spare hard drives but thats about it.

grace-
thanks. i was using something similar to process explorer but this is much more informative. i'll take a look at that tweak guide and see what i can cancel. working on the HJT log now.

[netyuppie]

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 4:43:03 PM, on 6/12/2006
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:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MsMpEng.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgamsvr.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgupsvc.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgemc.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTsvcCDA.exe
C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\DkService.exe
C:\Program Files\Eset\nod32krn.exe
C:\Program Files\Eset\nod32kui.exe
C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Program Files\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktop.exe
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\Program Files\Razer\razerhid.exe
C:\Program Files\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktopIndex.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgcc.exe
C:\Program Files\WinTools\RAM Saver Pro\ramsaverpro.exe
C:\Program Files\Razer\razertra.exe
C:\Program Files\Razer\razerofa.exe
C:\Program Files\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktopCrawl.exe
C:\Program Files\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktopMail.exe
C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\me\Desktop\New Folder (4)\procexp.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\me\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://gmail.com/
O2 - BHO: HelperObject Class - {00C6482D-C502-44C8-8409-FCE54AD9C208} - C:\Program Files\TechSmith\SnagIt 8\SnagItBHO.dll
O2 - BHO: Ipswitch.WsftpBrowserHelper - {601ED020-FB6C-11D3-87D8-0050DA59922B} - C:\Program Files\Ipswitch\WS_FTP Pro\wsbho2k0.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\ssv.dll
O3 - Toolbar: SnagIt - {8FF5E183-ABDE-46EB-B09E-D2AAB95CABE3} - C:\Program Files\TechSmith\SnagIt 8\SnagItIEAddin.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nod32kui] "C:\Program Files\Eset\nod32kui.exe" /WAITSERVICE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [DiskeeperSystray] "C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\DkIcon.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroFilterCheck] C:\WINDOWS\system32\NeroCheck.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CTSysVol] C:\Program Files\Creative\SBAudigy2ZS\Surround Mixer\CTSysVol.exe /r
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ATICCC] "C:\Program Files\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\cli.exe" runtime -Delay
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Google Desktop Search] "C:\Program Files\Google\Google Desktop Search\GoogleDesktop.exe" /startup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Zone Labs Client] C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [razer] C:\Program Files\Razer\razerhid.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Windows Defender] "C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe" -hide
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [AVG7_CC] C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgcc.exe /STARTUP
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [RAMSaverPro] C:\Program Files\WinTools\RAM Saver Pro\ramsaverpro.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xport to Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Sun Java Console - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.5.0_06\bin\ssv.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\OFFICE11\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: AIM - {AC9E2541-2814-11d5-BC6D-00B0D0A1DE45} - C:\Program Files\AIM\aim.exe
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.com/fwlink/?linkid=39204
O17 - HKLM\System\CCS\Services\Tcpip\..\{3A4739AE-7A41-4529-A6A5-C3F4156803ED}: NameServer = 192.168.0.1
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - "C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\msgrapp.dll" (file missing)
O20 - AppInit_DLLs: wbsys.dll C:\PROGRA~1\Google\GOOGLE~1\GOEC62~1.DLL
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WBSrv - C:\PROGRA~1\Stardock\OBJECT~1\WINDOW~1\wbsrv.dll
O20 - Winlogon Notify: WgaLogon - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\WgaLogon.dll
O23 - Service: Adobe LM Service - Adobe Systems - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe Systems Shared\Service\Adobelmsvc.exe
O23 - Service: Ati HotKey Poller - ATI Technologies Inc. - C:\WINDOWS\system32\Ati2evxx.exe
O23 - Service: ATI Smart - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ati2sgag.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Alert Manager Server (Avg7Alrt) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgamsvr.exe
O23 - Service: AVG7 Update Service (Avg7UpdSvc) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgupsvc.exe
O23 - Service: AVG E-mail Scanner (AVGEMS) - GRISOFT, s.r.o. - C:\PROGRA~1\Grisoft\AVG7\avgemc.exe
O23 - Service: Creative Service for CDROM Access - Creative Technology Ltd - C:\WINDOWS\system32\CTsvcCDA.exe
O23 - Service: Diskeeper - Diskeeper Corporation - C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\DkService.exe
O23 - Service: HDD Information Service (HDDSvc) - AltrixSoft (http://www.altrixsoft.com/) - C:\WINDOWS\system32\HDDSvc.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: NOD32 Kernel Service (NOD32krn) - Eset - C:\Program Files\Eset\nod32krn.exe
O23 - Service: NVIDIA Display Driver Service (NVSvc) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
O23 - Service: Sandra Data Service (SandraDataSrv) - SiSoftware - C:\Program Files\SiSoftware\SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2007\Win32\RpcDataSrv.exe
O23 - Service: Sandra Service (SandraTheSrv) - SiSoftware - C:\Program Files\SiSoftware\SiSoftware Sandra Lite 2007\RpcSandraSrv.exe
O23 - Service: TrueVector Internet Monitor (vsmon) - Zone Labs, LLC - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe

[netyuppie]

first time using startuplist. no idea what is the important data or if it all is. cant attach the text file cause its too big and cant copy it cause its too damn long.
email perhaps?

[grace]

netyuppie, as far as i can tell the hijackThis log is ok.

I don't think think that the startup list is going to show anything either. My bet is on a hardware problem. I'd try the fresh install on your spare drive.

[netyuppie]

thanks grace. heading out to dinner now - will try a fresh install once i get back in. fingers crossed.

[netyuppie]

well, installed XP on a new hard drive. machine ran normal. whatever it is, failing drive or unkown virus or something. just gonna reformat the drive and start over i guess. kinda worst care scenario but whatcha gonna do.
accidentally deleted a partition on my external while testing - lost 250gb of music. ohh well.
thanks for the help folks.

[mgleason007]

I would recommend against running two antivirus apps at the same time after you finish your reinstall.

[netyuppie]

i didnt run both real time before this started. i used NOD32 real time and ran AVG weekly.
quick question - looking at replacing the drive. 8MB vs 16MB cache - how much will i miss the extra 8MB? bestbuy has 8MB 250 WD Caviers on sale for 90 bucks. newegg has the same with 16MB cache for the same price. its been over a week and i'm anxious to get my machine up and running again, and it would be so much easier to just run to bestbuy and get the 8MB cache, as fast as newegg is. my current drive is 8MB so i wouldnt be missing anything, but in the long run how much of an advantage will the 16MB cache offer?

[netyuppie]

nevermind. just gonna wait a few more days and go with the 16MB cache. :thumbsup

[netyuppie]

interesting. this poped up today while i wasnt even using the computer.
http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/2476/virus0pk.jpg
2 points of interest here. first time i've seen this warning. take a look at the address of the file. this is the general area (system volume information/_restore) that was shown as bad sectors fixed in chkdsk a few days ago. also, comment shows it is taking place in svchost. this is of particular interest as that file is always showing so much memory usage. was around 22,000K before, and i just checked it after NOD32 alert, its now showing about 10,000K at most.
good news or bad news? :hmm:

[starman714]

I'm no wiz but I think it's good news...it looks like it means you didn't turn "system restore" off on all drives when you ran a scan and so a virus lived on in system restore because ant-virus progs cannot access that, Windows doesn't let them....
That might be it, anyway....right click on "My Computer" icon open "properties" > system restore tab and uncheck system restore on all drives > apply, then run a scan again...

[netyuppie]

I'm no wiz but I think it's good news...it looks like it means you didn't turn "system restore" off on all drives when you ran a scan and so a virus lived on in system restore because ant-virus progs cannot access that, Windows doesn't let them....
That might be it, anyway....right click on "My Computer" icon open "properties" > system restore tab and uncheck system restore on all drives > apply, then run a scan again...
sounds like a plan, will reply once its complete. thanks sm :clap:

[starman714]

actually, the check box says "turn off sys restore on all drives"...same difference...hope it works :thumbsup

[netyuppie]

turned off system restore and ran a full virus scan, nothing found. :hmm:
whats next? :lol

[TheMamba]

interesting. this poped up today while i wasnt even using the computer.

2 points of interest here. first time i've seen this warning. take a look at the address of the file. this is the general area (system volume information/_restore) that was shown as bad sectors fixed in chkdsk a few days ago. also, comment shows it is taking place in svchost. this is of particular interest as that file is always showing so much memory usage. was around 22,000K before, and i just checked it after NOD32 alert, its now showing about 10,000K at most.
good news or bad news? :hmm:

I think this only popped up because you fixed that sector - i.e. the file was "altered." Weird that it took awhile to see that it got altered though. I wouldn't worry about this one.

[TheMamba]

i didnt run both real time before this started. i used NOD32 real time and ran AVG weekly.
quick question - looking at replacing the drive. 8MB vs 16MB cache - how much will i miss the extra 8MB? bestbuy has 8MB 250 WD Caviers on sale for 90 bucks. newegg has the same with 16MB cache for the same price. its been over a week and i'm anxious to get my machine up and running again, and it would be so much easier to just run to bestbuy and get the 8MB cache, as fast as newegg is. my current drive is 8MB so i wouldnt be missing anything, but in the long run how much of an advantage will the 16MB cache offer?

Glad we narrowed it down to the hard drive. At least it's relatively cheap to replace. Download and read through that tweak guide that I posted as it will walk you through the exact process of reinstalling windows - what should be installed in what order - to avoid any conflict later on down the road. What I mean is that there should be a general list of what drivers to install in what order so as to avoid driver conflicts.

As for 8 mb vs. 16 mb...it doesn't really matter. Well, it does but it doesn't for most people. I think that the 16 mb is the newest version but since you already ordered it and are content to wait, that's cool. WD is the way to go IMO...I would have gotten a Raptor drive, but that's just me. :D

[netyuppie]

yea, glad it was the hard drive and not the processor. will read the tweak guide, got plenty of time as newegg probably wont ship till monday. thought i took pretty good care of my machine but i'm gonna make some changes, as this past week has been pretty annoying.
i've always gone WD, this drive was too. will see if its completly gone once my new drive arrives. will reformat this one and see if i can't use it as a non-system drive. whats the highest capacity raptor out there now? few years ago i had 2x 74gb Raptors in a RAID1 array as my system drive. liked that but was having problems getting the RAID to work with my new MB. actually still have them...might try setting that back up and use the 2 drives i just ordered as storage. choices, choices!
thanks for the help folks. for anyone still interested for future reference, i will post back once i try to reformat this drive and see if it works any better.

[starman714]

turned off system restore and ran a full virus scan, nothing found. :hmm:
whats next? :lol


damn...I was hoping my only possible clue as to what's going on was the right one... :lol
glad you got off inexpensively, anyway, though... :thumbsup

[netyuppie]

its cool, was glad to try anything. at this point tho, after trying so many things and having so many folks stumped, i'm almost glad to reformat, and get rid of if need be, the drive. problem like this can't be good and i'd hate to keep taking chances with it, as it has all of my ~175gb of commercial music on it. not losing that over some 90 buck hard drive! :lol

[TheMamba]

whats the highest capacity raptor out there now?

Dunno for sure, haven't checked since I got my Raptor drive about 9 months ago or so. Mine is the 74 GB model. I use the Raptor drive as my system (C:) drive - windows and all the programs, games, etc. run off it. Then I use a 150 GB Caviar drive, partitioned into two drives, for my storage. Figure I don't need the speed to just store shows!

[netyuppie]

Dunno for sure, haven't checked since I got my Raptor drive about 9 months ago or so. Mine is the 74 GB model. I use the Raptor drive as my system (C:) drive - windows and all the programs, games, etc. run off it. Then I use a 150 GB Caviar drive, partitioned into two drives, for my storage. Figure I don't need the speed to just store shows!
yea thats what i did before, thinking of doing that again if i can get the RAID controller on my MB working. i got all day to mess around with it :)

[netyuppie]

anyone know of any ways around using a floppy with the RAID drivers on it? this machine doesnt have a floppy drive :D would a CD work?

[saltman]

catching back on here late. you should run a checkdisk on the hard disk to see if it has bad sectors. right click on the drive in the my computer. go properties. go tools. use error checking tool. will require a reboot and a lot of time to go through the scandisk deal. It will tell you if you have bad sectors.

The idea of a failing power supply is another good idea. Perhaps your system has begun to be too much for it. Do you have atleast 375 watts preferrably 425. There are places that give you values that each devices uses. You can then total them up to size your power supply.

[saltman]

anyone know of any ways around using a floppy with the RAID drivers on it? this machine doesnt have a floppy drive :D would a CD work?yes a cd will work... you need to set your boot sequence accordingly in your bios

[netyuppie]

i ran cheskdisk a few days ago and think i posted the results here. came up with some bad sectors & fixed them - they were all relating to system .../volume information/_restore
have a 480watt antec power supply. unless it has just gone bad, i know the wattage isnt an issue.
about the CD tho - i mean during the windows installation on a new drive, not booting from CD. it says "press f6(i beleive) if you need in install a second-party RAID controller" or something similar. this is while XP is loading and i'm thinking reading from the XP disc. it automatically checks for a floppy and i dont know if it gives you any other choice.

thanks to whoevers idea it was to read this tweak guide. much more informational than i had expected. actually reading it word for word, even parts not at all relating to my current situation. :thumbsup tons of great information.

[netyuppie]

alright so just tried and there is no way, least that i can find, to use a CD instead of a floppy for RAID drivers. fucking rediculous that i have to use 20 year old technology to install XP. dont have a floppy drive in any of my home PC's cause aside from this i cant think of 1 other situation where i would need it. guess im heading out to buy a cheap ass floppy drive! :mad:

[diggrd]

some BIOS have the option to "Force FDD" under USB config, not sure if that might work

[netyuppie]

no such option on mine :(

[texizjtexiz]

anyone know of any ways around using a floppy with the RAID drivers on it? this machine doesnt have a floppy drive :D would a CD work?

yes: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?act=ST&f=89&t=51140

worked great for my newest rig.

edit: this is for NV-Raid only really, but more than likely you can use nLite to make a quick n dirty Windows install w/SP 2 integrated and also include your RAID drivers.

[netyuppie]

yes: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?act=ST&f=89&t=51140

worked great for my newest rig.

edit: this is for NV-Raid only really, but more than likely you can use nLite to make a quick n dirty Windows install w/SP 2 integrated and also include your RAID drivers.
thanks a lot for that.
looking through the forums quickly i found a post with my same mobo
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=75855
but they are using 64-bit windows. i suppose i could give it a try. i've never used nlite and the instructions look a bit over my head, but its worth a shot huh?
thanks again, will give it a try later

[TheMamba]

about the CD tho - i mean during the windows installation on a new drive, not booting from CD. it says "press f6(i beleive) if you need in install a second-party RAID controller" or something similar. this is while XP is loading and i'm thinking reading from the XP disc. it automatically checks for a floppy and i dont know if it gives you any other choice.

Shoot...can't remember how I did this. I think my floppy was still working at that point so I used that. I think. I'll do some searching around and see if I can find a way around the floppy. It amazed me that XP had to go this seperate route and that it wasn't inherently in the XP install disc...


thanks to whoevers idea it was to read this tweak guide. much more informational than i had expected. actually reading it word for word, even parts not at all relating to my current situation. :thumbsup tons of great information.

No problem. There's a lot of good stuff in there. I recommend everyone read it!

[saltman]

I'll look into this further tonight.... but I know my Promise FastraK RAID card installed with a little mini CD. So it is possible with yours. I can't remember the boot sequence at the moment.

[netyuppie]

only problem with trying to use a CD to install raid drivers BEFORE windows is installed is windows setup only searches for a floppy, and setup is running straight from the CD, so i dont think you can even switch CD's.
i might just forget about it, cause i wasn't going to put the 2 new drives i ordered in an array, was only trying to put my 2 old raptors to use as a system drive. but even idle before windows is even installed on those thing they run fucking hot! i dont remember them running so hot. :nono:

[netyuppie]

anyone good with nlite? i found this guide
http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/view/web/36/
showing how to slipstream your RAID drivers into the windows install, but the directions are fucking confusing! i'm looking at the same files they say to, and none of the lines are the same...
this is a nightmare :disbelief my new hard drives came today but still cant use em.