1excop36
Topic Starter
Hello;
As I slowly get the Inspiron 8100 that I inherited from my daughter running and updated, I've discovered a slight "glich" which I first thought involved playing DVD movies. The audio is fine but every so often the video hesitates or freezes for less that a second that returns to normal. After awhile, it becomes quite annoying. This shows up in every media player I tried. It also shows up in screensavers. Per someone's suggestion on LapTopVideo2Go's forum, I deleted AquaReal 3D screensaver, which I had installed for giggles and as a means to relax by watching the fishies swim (okay, I'm a bit off) but that made no difference. I was using nVidia driver version 9.1.3.1 dated 6/5/06 (from LaptopVideo2Go) but per another suggestion (same forum), rolled it back to version 4.4.6.8 06/17/2003 with no change in the problem. No one has answered my call for help on Dell and nVidia's forums.
I plan on using this computer for a portable DVD player, surfing the Web, email, word processor, playing a few games such as CSI and Law and Order and not too much more than that. Here's the low down on the hardware and software involved: System- Inspiron 8100, PIII 1.0 Ghz, 512 RAM (just boosted from 256), new Toshiba 60GB Hard Drive, fresh install of Windows XP Home which is all up to date, DVD ROM Player - Toshiba SD-C2502, Firmware version 1D23 12/26/02; Graphics card - nVidia GeForce2 Go 32Mb, BIOS 3.11.01.44B4; DMA is on and set for UDMA; primary DVD Software - Cyberlink PowerDVD 7 Deluxe (recently installed as an update from the version 5 that came with a new DVD-RW drive I got for my Dimension 8200).
I've been told I'm too heavy on some of the security and utilities I have (I'm a little paranoid after some varient of the Klez worm slipped by Norton Security and some type of Trojan attached to a persistant adware called "NSIS Media" which slipped past SpySweeper and AdAware SE about 3 weeks ago). I have the following security programs: avast! Home Edition; Zone Alarm Firewall (free version), SpySweeper (real time scanning mode) and for backup/double check I'm trying to decide on either AdAware SE or Spybot but have both in the manual mode. I have the following primary utility programs (some on the trial basis): Ashampoo Powerup XP Platinum, Registry Mechanic, Startup Inspector, Diskeeper and CCleaner. The Trend utility is for the Trend 424UB WiFi USB adapter I recently bought on eBay. For somereason, if I let Windows manage it, the connection to my Linksys WRT54G router kept breaking. Using the Trend Utility, I've not had one broken connection and better reception signal strength and quality wise. Adhering to one of Murphy's adages, "If it works, don't mess with it". I have Stardock Bootskin, again for amusement (nothing like Top Secret CIA boot screen to stop someone from looking over one's shoulder 
).
I rely on Thunderbird for email and almost exclusively on Firefox for my web browser.
With the eception of the video stuttering problem, the system seems to be running far better now than in the days following the cleanup of the bugs I mentioned. I'd still like to fine tune it but am working from a moderate computer skill set. I probably know just enough to really mess things up.
Here is a copy of my HJT log header (hopefully ididn't post too much).
Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 3:04:59 AM, on 8/24/2006
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\csrss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\DkService.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\imapi.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\tcpsvcs.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeper.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeperUI.exe
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\Program Files\DELL\AccessDirect\dadapp.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\PuXpMan2.exe
C:\Program Files\TRENDnet\TRENDnet TEW-424UB\TRENDnet.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SSU.EXE
Any solutions, advice or direction will be most appreciated. 
Gerry
).
I rely on Thunderbird for email and almost exclusively on Firefox for my web browser.
With the eception of the video stuttering problem, the system seems to be running far better now than in the days following the cleanup of the bugs I mentioned. I'd still like to fine tune it but am working from a moderate computer skill set. I probably know just enough to really mess things up.
Here is a copy of my HJT log header (hopefully ididn't post too much).
Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 3:04:59 AM, on 8/24/2006
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\csrss.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\winlogon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\services.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\lsass.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe
C:\WINDOWS\Explorer.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\system32\spoolsv.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\aswUpdSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
C:\Program Files\Diskeeper Corporation\Diskeeper\DkService.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\imapi.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\nvsvc32.exe
C:\WINDOWS\System32\tcpsvcs.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeper.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashMaiSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashWebSv.exe
C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SpySweeperUI.exe
C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\zlclient.exe
C:\Program Files\DELL\AccessDirect\dadapp.exe
C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\Avast4\ashDisp.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\PuXpMan2.exe
C:\Program Files\TRENDnet\TRENDnet TEW-424UB\TRENDnet.exe
C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SSU.EXE
Any solutions, advice or direction will be most appreciated.
Gerry
) then turned them on, one by one. Naturally it was the very last one I activated that caused the video skipping. The answer is….ZoneAlarm Firewall. Just to be sure it wasn't something else, I tried the Windows Firewall and it did not cause the video ZoneAlarm did
I knew it was going to be something simple. As Homer Simpson would say, "D'oh!" I should have thought about trying this sooner.
I'll leave it to you more knowledgeable computer wizards to figure out why. I had trouble with ZoneAlarm's firewall on my Dimension about a year ago; the problem then was that it gobbled up all available memory and slowed the whole system to nearly a complete halt (once uninstalled, the system ran fine). Fortunately it's the freeware version and unless soneone knows of some setting changes that might correct this, tomorrow it's adios ZoneAlarm (BTW, I am running Windows Firewall).
My brain is a bit fried, but IIRC. PowerDVD has a setting to disable the screensaver while a movie is running.
I appreciate the advice, though it seems like everyone I've dealt with on this has their own take on programs.
Gerry