• Most new users don't bother reading our rules. Here's the one that is ignored almost immediately upon signup: DO NOT ASK FOR FANEDIT LINKS PUBLICLY. First, read the FAQ. Seriously. What you want is there. You can also send a message to the editor. If that doesn't work THEN post in the Trade & Request forum. Anywhere else and it will be deleted and an infraction will be issued.
  • If this is your first time here please read our FAQ and Rules pages. They have some useful information that will get us all off on the right foot, especially our Own the Source rule. If you do not understand any of these rules send a private message to one of our staff for further details.
  • Please read our Rules & Guidelines

    Vote now in wave 1 of the FEOTM Reboot!

Really Weird PC Issue

nOmArch

nOmArch

Well-known member
Donor
Faneditor
Messages
4,651
Reaction score
3
Trophy Points
48
I've got a really odd problem with a PC that I'm beginning to struggle with and I was hoping that some of the other IT Supp. peeps could give me their thoughts.

PC

HP Intel P4 2.4Ghz with XP Pro
768MB RAM (originally was 384)
GEforce 5200 (originally onboard graphics)
40GB WD HDD

And it's running like an absolute snail which is where I hit a problem.

I've upped the Ram
I've replaced the Video Card
Checked the throughput on the HDD and error checked
Defragged HDD(which it needed badly)
Defragged Registry
Full antivirus/spyware/malware scan which came up clean
Turned off unnecessary services
Checked all the system files
Run a RAM check
Checked event viewer (no problems)
Run Ccleaner

And it's still running like a dog, it's quite a bit quicker but nothing like it should be. Only thing left is to reinstall the OS, I'm beginning to think that the registry might have been messed with to purposely slow it down as when I check the system resources System Idle is running about 90-99% most of the time but the responsiveness is still terrible.

Only thing I've haven't done, as I don't have the PC back until tomorrow is boot into a live environment to see whether it's still slow.

So, any thoughts as I'm not completely convinced that a reinstall will make any difference and I've basically run out of ideas.
 
There's only so much one can do if you haven't re-installed the OS in a while. In my experience no amount of defragging, system cleaning, turning off services and programs, etc. can get an OS speeding along if it hasn't been re-installed in a couple of years. That is probably your best bet.
 
768GB RAM? thought xp pro could only handle 4GB.
 
ROFL at accidental typos.
 
thunderclap said:
There's only so much one can do if you haven't re-installed the OS in a while. In my experience no amount of defragging, system cleaning, turning off services and programs, etc. can get an OS speeding along if it hasn't been re-installed in a couple of years. That is probably your best bet.
Click to expand...

Same here and exactly my thoughts, still the system idle thing is bothering me as Windows thinks it's running fine. which I haven't come across before, usually when a machine is dragging it's heels the system idle percentage is one of the first things to head south.
 
nOmArch said:
ROFL at accidental typos.
Click to expand...


monty-python-my-brain-hurts-4001113.jpg
 
That looks rather familiar...

cimg00281248299.jpg
gumby.jpg
 
Yes im your stalker ;-)
 
Oh god I'm gonna have to extend the cellar!

Again.
 
Just some thoughts:

more RAM installed on older PCs/mobos, especially in the "windows" world, doesn't always mean "faster" - see below ...

do you know what the max RAM your mobo can handle? Some older mobos could only handle a pre-set max

also, is all your RAM the same type and matched in sets? older mobos freeek out with unmatched/unset RAM

DEFINITELY agree with the OS re-install ...a clean install of WinXP is a very, very good idea (especially if you have installed/uninstalled a bunch of different software since your last clean install. No matter how robust a reg cleaner is, it never can get it all

what SP of Pro are you running? Updated it lately?

***** What type of malware/anti-virus/spyware/rootkit/bot software are you running?

NONE of it (regardless of the company's PR, can detect it all, some are better than others) **** There are a bunch of good free scanners that you may want to try before you rule out malware. I routinely use 3 different programs to scan my computer ... not all at once ...and not all 3 runnning in the background ... but as manual scanners ...

A sudden "slow-down" of a PC (purely based on your opening post) usually means bot/rootkit etc?

That's my quick "two cents worth" .... :)
 
Another thing to check is what is the RPM of your HDD? 5400 or 7200? If it's 5400 that could be partly to blame, though a sudden slow down is unlikely. It would just, in general, be slower.

How are you defragmenting? If just in Windows there are a slew of files not being defragged because they're currently running. You need a defragger that will reboot and do it from the command prompt.
 
thunderclap said:
How are you defragmenting? If just in Windows there are a slew of files not being defragged because they're currently running. You need a defragger that will reboot and do it from the command prompt.
Click to expand...

Very, very true. Although Win7's built-in defragger is the best MS has ever made, a defragger at pre-windows boot is always the best.

Which brings to mind another thought: defragging the HD is good, but you need a program that will also defrag the mft, pagefile and page.sys files
 
UnknwnFactor said:
Just some thoughts:

more RAM installed on older PCs/mobos, especially in the "windows" world, doesn't always mean "faster" - see below ...

do you know what the max RAM your mobo can handle? Some older mobos could only handle a pre-set max

also, is all your RAM the same type and matched in sets? older mobos freeek out with unmatched/unset RAM
Click to expand...

It's all good

DEFINITELY agree with the OS re-install ...a clean install of WinXP is a very, very good idea (especially if you have installed/uninstalled a bunch of different software since your last clean install. No matter how robust a reg cleaner is, it never can get it all

what SP of Pro are you running? Updated it lately?

***** What type of malware/anti-virus/spyware/rootkit/bot software are you running?

NONE of it (regardless of the company's PR, can detect it all, some are better than others) **** There are a bunch of good free scanners that you may want to try before you rule out malware. I routinely use 3 different programs to scan my computer ... not all at once ...and not all 3 runnning in the background ... but as manual scanners ...

A sudden "slow-down" of a PC (purely based on your opening post) usually means bot/rootkit etc?

That's my quick "two cents worth" .... :)
Click to expand...

Malwarebytes, unhackme, AVG, NOD32, Spyware S&D, Sophos Anti-Rootkit, RootkitRevealer.

All clean.


Reinstall it is. at least I haven't overlooked anything :)
 
Awesome.

Smart use of of scanner, for sure.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

:)
 
Guess I'm far too used to my Quad's as I spoke to the customer today and they are very happy with the pc now and don't want a reinstall as it's apparently running so much better it's like a new machine. there word's not mine.

Ahh well so much for being conscientious.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom