Bluetooth problems

I have been on a misson updating the drivers in this laptop. I have subscribed to DriverMax for 30days to get the right drivers done right but the Bluetooth didn't work right. Did the 2 types of Bluetooth but now both don't work! When I click on a hardware to connect it (speakers, headphones, phone, new laptop, etc) I get a message box that says "Bluetooth is not ready". I get same message on both bluetooths. I assume it means something went wrong with the driver installation but will doing a roll back fix it or do I have to reinstall? The 2 types of Bluetooth are:- (according to the Device Manager) Bluetooth RFCOMM from Toshiba (it has a green computer chip looking icon & the other one is Bluetooth USB Controller-5 from Toshiba which has the standard blue & white Bluetooth icon. I hunted around on the Toshiba website but didn't find anything (that I could understand). I'm reluctant to do a rollback because I tried a few times to install the drivers thinking they hadn't installed properly. So it may just be rolling back to the same driver again. I was wondering if a reinstall would be better. But where do I go to get them? I've been trying to fix this problem for a week & don't want to do a system restore because there has been a lot of water under the bridge on this PC in the last week & I might loose important stuff. I haven't done a back up or image while these drivers weren't working. Will the rollback go back just one driver or will it go way back to last good working configuration? PC specs:- Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 3 (Version = 5.1.2600) - Type = NTWorkstation Internet Explorer (Version = 8.0.6001.18702) Locale: 00000409 | Country: United States | Language: ENU | Date Format: M/d/yyyy 2.00 Gb Total Physical Memory | 1.03 Gb Available Physical Memory | 51.52% Memory free 4.85 Gb Paging File | 3.99 Gb Available in Paging File | 82.31% Paging File free Paging file location(s): C:\pagefile.sys 3069 3072 [binary data] %SystemDrive% = C: | %SystemRoot% = C:\WINDOWS | %ProgramFiles% = C:\Program Files Drive C: | 149.05 Gb Total Space | 84.91 Gb Free Space | 56.97% Space Free | Partition Type: NTFS

Hi ClissaT. You've learned the first rule of updating drivers (the hard way). Don't do it, unless there is something broken. Rarely ever will installing a newer driver give you any benefit whatsoever unless it is to fix a specific bug or performance issue. However, a program like DriverMax would love for you to believe differently. First and foremost - back up your stuff. My goodness. If its important, back it up. NOW! There's no excuse whatsoever if you lose it. Then do a system restore prior to messing around with this DriverMax thingy and all should be back to normal. EDIT: On a side note, if you want updated drivers it would be best to download those directly from the manufacturer of your computer. They are usually quite easily found under the support & downloads section of their website based on the model # of your computer.

Hahaha thanks for that apploeddity! Well I have been getting some from Toshiba(my PC m'fer) & yesterday I did end up going there for the bluetooth. My heart was in my mouth though because it wanted to uninstall all BT first so I made a restore point just in case. I now have BT again but it is different although some of my devices have paired to it. I haven't tried to pair the new & old PCs yet. My old PC wouldn't let my new PC see it which is why I wanted to update the driver in the old PC incase that was the problem. Anyway I'll leave it at that I think regarding the BT. I really should update other drivers because things aren't working as they should anymore on old PC or are extremely slow. Fixing it's slowness is the main reason for updating all the drivers having already cleaned out malware. Many are almost 10yo being 2002 -4.

Hi Clissa. Glad you got your bluetooth working. But, I must caution you against updating drivers. With the exception of some extremely rare occurrences I have never updated drivers to make a computer run faster, and I do this every day. You are much more likely to realize performance enhancements by ensuring you have enough available RAM (at least 1GB for XP, and 2GB for Vista/7) and uninstall redundant and un-needed programs such as updaters, toolbars, driver updaters, tuneup tools, multiple anti-virus/security programs and especially any programs that run all the time. Finally, disabling some un-needed services and startup items should do wonders as well as a good thorough defrag using a program like Defraggler will probably squeeze a bit more out of it. Take care.

Finally, disabling some un-needed services and startup items should do wonders as well as a good thorough defrag using a program like Defraggler will probably squeeze a bit more out of it.

Take care.

That is exactly the thing that brought me to this forum to begin with.

I was disabling start up processes that seemed unnecessary under the assumption it was just as easy to enable them again if they turned out to be necessary.

Well it didn't turn out that way & I disabled important things & had trouble for a while.

There are 90 (aprox) proceses that all want their share on start up & a heap of things that seem to demand to update on start up. It's all driving me mad. There are still things not running correctly probably because I disabled the wrong things.

I have a software called AVG Tune-up which has been helpful since it gives a little description of the process which often has a name that bares no resemblence to it's function. However it can't tell me whether I should or not disable a certain thing to test if it is required for start up or not.

So it's been trial & error & I have stopped disabling processes because it all became too hard. I decided to update drivers instead to see if that would help more.

I am in the process of unburdening this old PC of a very heavy user since I got my new PC to do the job of this gut sucking software (Adobe Premiere Elements & Photoshop as well as the necessary Quicktime & Apple softwares it requires to run properly)

When those are all gone along with the accompanying photo album & video folders there will be lots more space & perhaps many less processes.

With 6years of accumulated carp** it's no wonder it's a bit slow. lol

I'm sure we can help you tune things up.

First, you'll need to re-enable as many services and startup items as you can and reboot. Were you using msconfig? Just put it back into normal startup for now.

The real tune up I can provide start with a PCPitStop test so we can get some details about your computer and what is slowing it down:

How to run PCPitStop's Overdrive tests:

• Please click here to go to the PCPitStop Overdrive sign-up page: Signup at PCPitStop (You need to use Internet Explorer with this test so that an ActiveX control can be installed.)
• Click "Create a free account"
• Enter in your relevant information on the sign-up page. You must sign-up in order to have your results recorded so that we can take a look at them here.
• After signing up you'll see the "Registration Complete" page, and you can click "Test Your System Now" to return to the test page.
• Login with your newly created e-mail address and password on the left hand side.
• Follow the directions to "Scan this system now." An activeX control will need to be installed. It is safe, and you should allow it to be installed.
• Once the tests have been run, you will see an "Almost there" page requesting further information about your computer and your experience with PCPitStop, just scroll down to the bottom and click "GO."
• A test results page will display, and I need the link to that page.
• Look in the address bar of your browser. It will look like 'http://www.pcpitstop.com/betapit/…' Please copy and paste that here to the forum.
  
  Note: PCPitStop may recommend that you use certain utilities to fix problems on your computer. At WhatTheTech, the help we provide is free. We do not endorse or recommend the use of any products PCPitStop may suggest. Instead, we prefer to help you with each issue manually without using possible pay to use programs.

If these instructions aren't accurate please let me know…

Lastly, I'd like a current list of services and startup items on your computer:

How to use CodeStuff Starter to view services and startup items:

• Please download and install CodeStuff Starter
• Run Starter by finding it on your start menu after it is installed.
• When the program opens, you will see three tabs on the main screen (Startup, Processes, Services)
• Please click the Startup tab and make sure that All Sections is selected on the left hand side under the sections view pane.
• Once the Startup tab and all sections is selected, please click the File menu and choose Save as HTML.
• Please save the file to your desktop and call it startup.html.
• Now, please click the Services tab.
• Once the Services tab is open, please click the File menu and choose Save as HTML.
• Please save the file to your desktop and call it services.html.
• Now that both files have been saved to your desktop, close CodeStuff Starter.
• Locate the startup.html and services.html files on your desktop. Hold the CTRL key and click each one to highlight them both. Right-click one and "Send To" a compressed zip file. A new .zip file will be created. Please attach the .zip file to your next reply.

If these instructions aren't accurate please let me know…

Appleoddity all went well for the PC Pitstop. I was amazed at the comprehensive amount of info. I read a lot of it but will need to go back & read again a few times to get the benefit, then of sourse to act on it plu what you recommend as well. Here is the link:-

http://pcpitstop.com/betapit/sec.asp?conid=24676624


HOWEVER regarding the CodeStuff Starter, that didn't go well at all.

First time I downloaded it I clicked 'run'(rather than 'save') then a zip file turned up on my desktop & I clicked open but the dialogue box kept cycling to open & never got past it to actually open the zip. Then it started flashing rapidly & if I clicked on another IE page that would flash rapidly instead. I closed all then since it hadn't installed I deleted the zip file & emptied it from the trash also.

I went back to the Code Stuff Starter page to make sure I had downloaded the correct thing & tried again. This time it started flashing straight away & I couldn't click on the dialogue window at all. I closed everything again & since it wasn't actually on my desktop I did a hard shut down until the desktop was gone without saving then released the power button to let windows shut down properly. I gave it a few minutes then rebooted & sat to watch to make sure there were no errors.

I have never seen that problem before & other than my AVG firewall getting in the way I couldn't think why IE should be reacting to it like that.

What do you think Appleoddity?

Clissa. Stop everything you are doing, backup your data NOW, do not pass Go, and do not collect $200. I would say it is highly likely the hard drive on this laptop is failing, and if you truly have important stuff on it, it may already be damaged. This drive is clearly running in PIO mode, and the primary reason for that to happen is due to bad sectors or failure. PIO mode is the primary reason your computer is running like carp**. Many of the symptoms you describe lead me to believe they are all related. Again, if you do not back up your important data immediately you are out of your mind. I will not provide any more instructions until you tell me you have gotten your important data backed up or that you are going to willfully neglect it. Interstingly, there is also a problem with the system RAM on this machine. PCPitStop reports 4GB. Your initial post reports only 2GB. I also see other strange numbers regarding your RAM in the PCPitStop info. Clearly you have upgraded this memory at some point and likely it is either bad, not compatible, too large, unsupported, etc.

Thanks for that Appleoddity. I already am aware that the hard drive is thinking of shutting down because it has previously given indications it is not well. Some software I have on here (it might be CrucialScan or similar) tells me it is almost at 600,000 cycles at which point the clock runs out …do I have that right? My son is an extrememly busy & over worked IT specialist & was to fix all this for me but his company won't give him time off to come home, so other than the odd few mintues snatched online now & then I dare not ask for more help from him. But he did warn me the hard drive was about to run out of time but he would reprogram it because it's health check was fine a few weeks ago(he tested it online last time we talked) I do want to keep this PC going as long as possible mostly as my online machine while the new on does the video editing work & stays offline as much as possible to protect it the best way. Anyway my son has set this PC up to image & I *think* I can do it by myself now so I will set it to do that tonight. It gets done every 8wks or so. His fav is Gentoo. He wants to put both PCs on a Ubanto or Linux platform but that involves me learning a bunch of new stuff & at my age I'm loosing the capacity to learn new stuff fast enough. lol I'll report when the image is done. Usually takes a few hours.

Respectfully, I'm sure your son is an excellent IT technician, but I'm afraid some information may have gotten lost in the "translation." I too am in the IT business - for many years. Hard drives don't have a "clock" that can be reset. It is quite possible your hard drive is running in a reduced PIO mode due to physical damage to the hard drive which is not something that can be "reset." The physical damage is permanent, and will usually get worse. Or, it may be running in PIO mode for other reasons - but in almost all cases its because the hard drive has had some form of significant trouble reading/writing data. The reduced PIO mode will significantly impact the overall performance of your computer to the point that it will run like a snail and there is almost no comparison that can be made to it running in its proper mode - because it is like living on two different planets. It IS why your computer is running so poorly. Again, with all due respect, Gentoo is a form of Linux which is an operating system - not a specific piece of software such as a drive imager, or cloner, or backup program. Ubuntu is another form of Linux - an operating system. Either one is likely so complicated and cumbersome that I would be very cautious to trust a backup that you "think" has happened. Earlier you mentioned you had important data you didn't want to lose. It is simply irresponsible on my part to not make this a big issue until I am confident your data is safe. Ultimately, I suggest that you discontinue use of this computer (leave it off) until you can make contact with your son who can talk you through step by step backing up your important data. At that point, there are many tests that can be run to indicate if the hard drive is failing or needs to be replaced - some better than others. There isn't an "online" test for hard drive trouble - a full, in-depth physical scan of the hard drive for trouble will require direct access to the hard drive and usually requires booting from a CD diagnostic utility, or rebooting your system into a very limited mode. Nobody would be able to actually perform, and monitor that remotely. I'd be happy to talk you through performing additional diagnostics on the hard drive, but all of them stress the drive and increase the chances of it failing permanently thus losing ALL of your data. Either the data is important, or it is not - but that is your decision. Any further use of the system with such a high probability of significant hard drive trouble just further jeopardizes the data. Looking at your PCPitStop scan I see you probably have a Seagate external hard drive, and you additionally have the Memeo backup software installed that comes with it. This product is a limited, yet simple product for backing up your data that can even work in real time. It runs in Windows and it is mostly automatic and should be something you can look at and feel fairly confident it actually backed your data up. I suggest you possibly start there. For extra protection, you might create an additional folder on the external hard drive and simply drag and drop your most sensitive data onto the drive. While doing this you may even begin to experience the extent of physical problems with the hard drive with lock ups, and or failures to read/copy files. Once you are confident your data is backed up and on another hard drive, only then is it wise to do any further testing. Possibly this is all for nothing, and the drive is fine and can easily be put back into DMA mode, but more likely the drive has some significant issues that need to be addressed if not completely replaced. I've seen drives continue to drop into PIO mode every couple of months, even when they completely pass diagnostic tests. It simply isn't the last and final word. But, I can say with certainty you are wasting your time trying to "tune" your computer up without addressing this issue. Take care

Appleoddity I have done the image but I'm confused with your explanation of what the gentoo boot disc actually does. Since I know for sure that the image it creates can be used to 'restore' the whole contents of a PC to a new hard drive, I think of it as a total image of the PC. Anyway I also have various back-ups on various other drives & yes I do have the 2Tb Seagate expansion drive with the Memeo back-up software & I will do both the things you mentioned:- back up using the Memeo & drag the contents of "My Documents" across to that drive. Since this old PC only has USB2 it will take ages obviously but I can set them to go at night. Unfortunately I want to keep the new PC 'clean' so I only access my email & general websites on this old PC so I will have to keep using it but I am always concious of the potential HD problems. I would like to know more about PIO & DMA. (I don't know what they stand for or I have forgotten) When I got the AVG TuneUP suite this time last year the first scan told me the hard drive was running in PIO mode & should the software change it to DMA mode. I contacted an AVG technician but never got an answer I understood & was happy with so I never did anything about it other than to tell my son. He asked for the CrucialScan results & those from & another software which I can't remember now & compared results. All seemed to be within specs. His advice was to do more back-ups & images until he got here to help me buy a new PC etc. But he never got here so I am working alone. cheers & thanks for you efforts & concerns to date Appleoddity. :-)

I am glad to hear your response. I feel much more confident you will have your important data backed up in case there is a failure.

Once those back ups complete, you can do a hard drive diagnostic on your Western Digital hard drive.

Read here: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.as…d=3&lang=en

Download and run the software. Use the "Extended Test" and be patient while it runs. Make sure your laptop is plugged into AC power.

When finished, view the results. You will receive a pass or fail, and we are interested in any bad sectors.

It is important to note that for simplicity I have provided you a link to the "windows" version of this drive diagnostic which means it will be able to detect problems, but will most likely be unable to correct any issues such as locking out bad sectors. It may also take an extremely long time due to the PIO mode of the drive.

If you fill confident, you may also use the bootable CD version. It appears you already know how to boot from a CD and that is good. You would have to create the bootable diagnostic CD (which would definitely be the best option) to really test and lock out bad sectors.

You can download the bootable CD version from here: http://support.wdc.com/product/download.as…=30&lang=en

Note, you will be downloading an .ISO file which is called a "disc image." You will have to burn that disc image to a CD and boot from it. You don't just create a CD and burn the file onto the CD, you actually burn the disc from the image file. Programs you have on your computer that can probably do the job are Nero, Sonic RecordNow, and CDBurnerXP. Again, you will use the Extended Test and make a note of any diagnostic information provided in the end especially concerning bad sectors of failure codes.

This latter method (using the boot CD) is the best method, and much preferred if you can get it all figured out. it will also be much faster.

Once you get the drive scanned, and hopefully it passes without any bad sectors, we can put the system back into DMA mode.

Please post back with as detailed of information as you can regarding the results of your scan. Thanks.

Extra Note: If you get to a point on your hard drive test where bad sectors begin to rack up (more than a dozen or two), it is time to turn your computer off or cancel the test because the drive is failing and will need to be replaced.

Hello. How did you come along with your tests?

Sorry Appleoddity, life has got in the way of computer repairs! I have done the Memeo back up which took about 22hrs all up. But it will now auto sync every time I plug that expansion drive into the PC. That means all the start menu files are on that drive but not all the programs as best I understand it although I didn't have a look through them. Tomorrow I hope to get to the stress tests.

Appleoddity I tried again to download those 2 tests you wanted me to do ie "hard drive diagnostic on your Western Digital hard drive" & "Code Stuff Starter" using the links you provided but once again when I clicked on the download button the temp file window began flashing wildly & I had to do a hard shut down with each of those links. Since I haven't lost any data or have any currupt data I feel confident it's not a hard drive problem. Also I have downloaded other software & been to many other websites this last week without problems. So I'm at a loss to know what might be causing such a conflict with the IE pages. In anycase I would like to explore other things which might be slowing my PC down like this newish indexing thing that MS seems to have automatically installed some time back. It never stops unless I set it to snooze, but it starts up again every time the PC starts up. There might be other info being stored permanently like the MS Reporting System Error Services. Are those things really necessary? Then there is something I heard about where WMP stores all it's played history. That's not necessary. One of the issues might be that AVG is in permanent scan mode & scans everything on startup which itself will slow it all down a lot. Also it might be scanning for rootkits all the time to because if I disconnect from the net, the hard drive activity slows down after about 10mins. I don't seem to be able to stop certain activities in AVG. Could AVG be continually cleaning out the Index thing meaning it has to constantly rebuild?Could that be why Indexing always seems to be working? The hard drive works constantly when indexing is on & seems to suck up the resources. Do I really need this index thing? What real purpose does it serve if I was well able to do without it before about a year ago when the hard drive trouble started? Those are the sorts of things I have been thinking about that might be drawing resources. Also that AVG seems to be the first thing to start up once Windows is launched. I think it should start when the internet connects. There's no need to be scanning everything all the time. Also now I have Memeo making a backup of everything that was changed during the previous session & getting it queued ready to download to the expansion drive. That has slowed down start-up by about an extra 10mins also making total start-up time stretched to almost 30mins. Is there another Process diagnostic tool I can download?