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Slow Windows response time

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Post #1
I'm not sure what's happening lately. My computer isn't slow normally, but lately it seems that the response timing is. Shutting down a memory intensive program (normally on-line games) results in about 5-20s of computer slow down as it's closing (which wasn't the case a few months ago). Also, when I hit Win-R to open the run menu and type a program name I wish to run (or a directory path) it takes roughly 1 second per letter while typing. My computer acts as if explorer.exe is bogged down with something although Task Manager shows CPU levels in the green as far as percentages. Lately when I reboot, I notice an error on start-up telling me explorer cant find the filename to run and the filename it's looking for is a bunch of letters and numbers. Malware Bytes comes up clean (with latest version) and Avast! shows no signs of a virus. Part of me wants to think this is a memory issue, but windows verifies all 2gig of my RAM and hasn't reported any memory writing/reading errors. Thanks in advance for any help. -Rappy
Post #2
Lets take a look at some things and then do some diagnostics on your hardware.
Download Autoruns from the link in my signature below:
1: Extract the Autoruns Zip file contents to a folder.
2: Double-click the "Autoruns.exe".
3: Click on the "Everything" tab
4: Remove any entries that mention "File Not Found" by right-clicking the entry and select Delete.
5: Go to File then to Export As or Save in some versions.
6: Save AutoRuns.txt file to known location like your Desktop.
7: Attach to your next reply.





Download and install Free Everest Home Edition
Open it.
1: In left pane expand Computer folder.
2: Click once on Summary
3: In upper menu, go Report
4: And then to Quick Report-Summary
5: Save it in text file, and paste it in your next post.
Click the + by computer, click on Sensor. Get a screenshot and post it so I can check your temps and voltages…

DO NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING UNDER THE LINE THAT SAYS "DEBUG- PCI"
Post #3
Thanks for the quick response.

Attached file and pasted data to follow…

——–[ EVEREST Home Edition © 2003-2005 Lavalys, Inc. ]————————————————————

Version EVEREST v2.20.405
Homepage http://www.lavalys.com/
Report Type Quick Report
Computer RAPPY (Tim's Computer)
Generator Timothy
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 (WinXP Retail)
Date 2010-08-13
Time 22:26


——–[ Summary ]—————————————————————————————————–

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
DirectX 4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
Computer Name RAPPY (Tim's Computer)
User Name Timothy

Motherboard:
CPU Type Unknown, 2200 MHz (6 x 367)
Motherboard Name Unknown
Motherboard Chipset Unknown
System Memory 2029 MB
BIOS Type Intel (11/21/08)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port RIM Virtual Serial Port v2 (COM5)
Communication Port RIM Virtual Serial Port v2 (COM6)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter GeForce 8500 GT (512 MB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT (512 MB)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (L860802442B0)
Monitor Plug and Play Monitor [NoDB] (943CM3BY05769)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter IDT Audio1
Audio Adapter IDT Audio2
Audio Adapter Logitech USB Headset
Audio Adapter Virtual Cable 1

Storage:
IDE Controller Intel® ICH8 2 port Serial ATA Storage Controller - 2825
IDE Controller Intel® ICH8 4 port Serial ATA Storage Controller - 2820
IDE Controller Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
Disk Drive ST3500320AS (465 GB, IDE)
Disk Drive HDS725050KLA360 (500 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Disk Drive ST31000528AS (931 GB, IDE)
Optical Drive TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S203N
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 99998 MB (15007 MB free)
D: (NTFS) 188002 MB (40039 MB free)
E: (NTFS) 188928 MB (26338 MB free)
G: (NTFS) 476937 MB (342022 MB free)
Total Size 931.5 GB (413.5 GB free)

Input:
Keyboard HID Keyboard Device
Keyboard Saitek Cyborg Keyboard (HID)
Mouse HID-compliant mouse
Mouse Logitech HID-compliant G3/MX518 Optical Mouse

Network:
Network Adapter Intel® 82566DC Gigabit Network Connection (192.168.2.2)

Peripherals:
Printer \\LOGAN\Canon iP1800 series
Printer Adobe PDF
Printer Auto Microsoft XPS Document Writer on DEACON
Printer Auto Microsoft XPS Document Writer on JC
Printer Microsoft XPS Document Writer
Printer Quicken PDF Printer
Printer SnagIt 9
Printer WebEx Document Loader
USB1 Controller Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2830 [NoDB]
USB1 Controller Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2831 [NoDB]
USB1 Controller Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2832 [NoDB]
USB1 Controller Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2834 [NoDB]
USB1 Controller Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2835 [NoDB]
USB2 Controller Intel® ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 2836 [NoDB]
USB2 Controller Intel® ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 283A [NoDB]
USB Device Logitech QuickCam IM
USB Device Logitech USB G3 (MX518) Optical Mouse
USB Device Saitek Cyborg Keyboard (USB)
USB Device Saitek Cyborg Keyboard (USB)
USB Device USB Audio Device
USB Device USB Audio Device
USB Device USB Composite Device
USB Device USB Composite Device
USB Device USB Composite Device

The file in question I mentioned earlier was not listed in the autoruns.exe's report. (At least not that I noticed)

-Rappy

Attachments:

Post #4 last edited
OK first thing i see is your main drive is getting very close to the 15% free limit for your MFT to start having issues. Once that happens then you may run into slowness and the system eventually becoming unusable. You might think about removing unwanted or un- needed programs from your system.
What I would suggest is Uninstalling All Programs you don't need or don't want anymore through Add/Remove Programs

Do this by going to
Start and then to Control Panel
Click Add/Remove Programs
Carefully choose the program(s) you don't need
Click on each Program then click Change/Remove and Follow the Uninstall Instructions

You may be prompted to Restart your computer.
Restart once you have all the programs you don't need uninstalled.
Be careful not to remove anything needed by your computer, some of which you may be unfamiliar with the name,

The next issue you need to be aware of is to Backup your Data Files.
For this I would suggest using a External Hard Drive Enclosure. This will allow you to keep your Important Data safe and Separated from the main system in case of problems.
The cost for this kind of Backup System has come down a lot. I would suggest a 500 Gig capacity for your needs.
Since you will only be Backing Up Data Files Only this should be sufficient to do that for you. Follow the next two links to see examples of the price you will be looking at.
  • HERE
    HERE
    [/list
    I suggest going to Microsofts Backup Tutorial and follow the steps to do a Backup to a External Drive and also it will guide you on how to do a Scheduled Backup even at night.

    Another way you can do a Backup is by using DVD’s. This method is just as effective and can be done using the same steps as above.
    Please let me know if I can answer any further questions you may have as I am always happy to assist.


    The second issue is the autoruns.

    Open Autoruns, click on "Logon" tab, and UN-check:

    + "NvCplDaemon"
    + "SunJavaUpdateSched"
    + "Messenger (Yahoo!)"
    + "msnmsgr"
    + "FlashPlayerUpdate"




    When done restart computer and then:



    Download TFC by OldTimer to your desktop
    • Please double-click TFC.exe to run it. (Note: If you are running on Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator).
    • It will close all programs when run, so make sure you have saved all your work before you begin.
    • Click the Start button to begin the process. Depending on how often you clean temp files, execution time should be anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or two. Let it run uninterrupted to completion.
    • Once it's finished it should reboot your machine. If it does not, please manually reboot the machine yourself to ensure a complete clean.


    Download Auslogics Defrag from the link in my signature below. Auslogics Defrag in my opinion is better because:
    It does a more comprehensive job at Defragging
    It will actually show you what it is doing
    At the end of working it will show you how much speed you picked up
    You can view a online log of the files that Auslogics defragged
Post #6
Sorry it was almost 2 in the morning and I needed a couple of hours of rest. How is the system running now is the important question.
Post #7
I am still getting slow downs (to a crawl) when some programs are shut down. It seems that load times on some programs are still increased from what I remember in the past. I use ventrilo exclusively when I am on my computer and notice the slow down when I get massive 'vent lag' while trying to talk while opening/closing programs or switching focus from one program to another. -Rappy
Post #8
Let's make sure all drives are using DMA mode

Click the Start and then Right click My Computer
Select Manage and In the Computer Management window, select Device Manager
In the right pane, click to expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers
The click on the + sign next to your Hard drive controllers on both the Primary Controller and Secondary Controller
Right click on the drive and select Properties
Click the Advanced Settings tab
In the Transfer Mode box open the drop down menu and select DMA if available
Redo the steps to check each of the Controllers
Click OK and exit all windows
Reboot to make sure all settings take affect. Reply back with your results

Go to
Start and then to Run
Type in Chkdsk /r Note the space between k and /
Click Enter …It will probably ask if you want to do this on the next reboot…click Y
If the window doesn't shutdown on its own then reboot the system manually. On reboot the system will start the chkdsk operation
This one will take longer then chkdsk /f

Note… there are 5 stages…
It may appear to hang at a certain percent for a hour or more or even back up and go over the same area…this is normal…
DO NOT SHUT YOUR COMPUTER DOWN WHILE CHKDSK IS RUNNING OR YOU CAN HAVE SEVERE PROBLEMS
This can take several hours to complete.
When completed it will boot the system back into windows.

Let me know if this fixes the problem
Post #9 last edited
One of the drives was set to something other than DMA if available and was running in a different mode. That has been changed. Chkdsk /r came up clean. After a few days of 'burning in'… yes, the problem still exists. P.S. Sorry for the late response. It's been a hectic week. -Rappy
Post #10
Go Start and then to Run ("Start Search" in Vista),
Type in: sfc /scannow
Click OK (Enter in Vista).
Have Windows CD/DVD handy.
If System File Checker (sfc) finds any errors, it may ask you for the CD/DVD.
If sfc does not find any errors in Windows XP, it will simply quit, without any message.
In Vista you will receive the following message: "Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations".

For Vista users ONLY: Navigate to C:\Windows\Logs\CBS folder. You'll see CBS.log file.
Usually, it's pretty big file, so upload it to Flyupload, and post download link.


If you don't have Windows CD….
This applies mostly to Windows XP, since Vista rarely requires use of its DVD while running "sfc"
Note This method will not necessarily work as well, as when using Windows CD, because not always ALL system files are backed up on your hard drive. Also, backed up files may be corrupted as well.

Go Start and then Run
type in regedit and click OK


Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

You will see various entries Values on the right hand side.

The one we want is called: SourcePath

It probably has an entry pointing to your CD-ROM drive, usually D and that is why it is asking for the XP CD.
All we need to do is change it to: C:
Now, double click the SourcePatch setting and a new box will pop up.
Change the drive letter from your CD drive to your root drive, usually C:
Close Registry Editor.

Now restart your computer and try sfc /scannow again!


Thanks to Broni for the instructions
Post #11
*sigh* System File Checker came up empty. At least, it didn't give me any errors/warnings during or after the run. Still experiencing the slow-downs. -Rappy
Post #12
Check the DMA setting for the drive again, see if it's reverted. XP will force PIO mode if the drive is generating a lot of errors.

For repeated DMA errors. Windows XP will turn off DMA mode for a device after encountering certain errors during data transfer operations. If more that six DMA transfer timeouts occur, Windows will turn off DMA and use only PIO mode on that device.

In this case, the user cannot turn on DMA for this device. The only option for the user who wants to enable DMA mode is to uninstall and reinstall the device.

Windows XP downgrades the Ultra DMA transfer mode after receiving more than six CRC errors. Whenever possible, the operating system will step down one UDMA mode at a time (from UDMA mode 4 to UDMA mode 3, and so on).

If the mini-IDE driver for the device does not support stepping down transfer modes, or if the device is running UDMA mode 0, Windows XP will step down to PIO mode after encountering six or more CRC errors. In this case, a system reboot should restore the original DMA mode settings.

All CRC and timeout errors are logged in the system event log. These types of errors could be caused by improper mounting or improper cabling (for example, 40-pin instead of 80-pin cable). Or such errors could indicate imminent hardware failure, for example, in a hard drive or chipset.


Above from here: DMA Mode for ATA/ATAPI Devices in Windows XP
Post #13
I have three Primary IDE Channels listed in Device Manager. One is running in UDMA 5, one is N/A and the third is PIO Only (which is set for DMA if available).

The third is the one I changed and it has in fact reverted. So… what now?

-Rappy
Post #14
Three Primary IDE channels? What is connected to the 3rd one you say reverted to PIO? If it's your optical drives then not much you can do about it. If it's your hard drive then that says the drive is having problems.
Post #15
The third I mentioned is actually the second in the list. I am assuming the N/A is the CD/DVD ROM drive. The programs causing the slowdowns are mainly on D:, which should be on the primary IDE which I would assume is the first on the list which is UDMA 5. I have a 1gig G: that is just storage that I would assume is the second in the list… which is hardly active unless I am reviewing my back-ups/storage. If there's a way to find out which controller is for which drive, that would help. -Rappy

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