Urgent! Ok what happened? Computer takes 5 min to boot?

[.AlleymaN]

I know you ruled out hardware but sometimes the hard drive loses its DirectMemoryAccess capabilities. This makes all data go thru the CPU making it agonizingly slow. Can you check it in system properties here:

[CyberKewl]

Sian - ever thought of using system restore to restore to a point before all this happened? Go to Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. You can also restore from a much earlier date if you have set your system restore settings / size to a decent amount. Good luck.

[fingers.t.beaver]

Have you checked your error logs, under admin tools for any apps hanging or anything also check any unusual process's these can be good indicators of virus's at play.

[sianlee]

First of all, Yes I have done a system restore before. But I dont want to do it again for two reasons. 1: Last time I done it I lost all my configuration settings and contact lists. I dont know why. 2: I have done several virus and spyware scans and removed alot of things. Using kaspersky I fixed over 100 errors in the hard drive. So if I did a system restore they would all just come back.

Secondly, I went to my device managers tab, the SAME picture you got. However it said Transfer mode: DMA if Avaliable. Current Transfer mode: PIO (or something like that. What does that mean??? :s

Here is a screen shot of the error logs.... in administrative tools. it was around the 2nd of janurary (I think) that this happened. I was just thinking when my assignment was due in. So yea... around then. And it says errors.... :s Is there anyway to fix this? And can anyone fill me in on how this whole thing works? Thanks so much!

[redeemed]

Try running chkdsk again and if all else fails backup files and do a repair installation (coz you don't want to so a fresh install).

[sianlee]

chkdsk? and wont a repair installation just wipe everything on here? I have got so much stuff on here that I dont want to have to back up (it'll take ages) just to reinstall :s :(

[Night Prowler]

chkdsk? and wont a repair installation just wipe everything on here? I have got so much stuff on here that I dont want to have to back up (it'll take ages) just to reinstall :s :(

You will need to update the system after a repair, but all your programs and settings will be intact.

[.AlleymaN]

OK PIO is bad, its what is slowing ur system, follow instructions here and you should hopefully get back on track. It has happened to me too. I hope you're good with the registry. If not, just back up the registry.

[sianlee]

OK PIO is bad, its what is slowing ur system, follow instructions here and you should hopefully get back on track. It has happened to me too. I hope you're good with the registry. If not, just back up the registry.

Ok I dont know anything about the registery, how do I back it up. And are you SURE this is going to fix the problem? because I dont wanna do it incase it stuffs it up more. By the way this article said CD-ROM / DVD-ROM...... this is my main hard drive though, not the CD rom drive? Urgh I dunno :s What do I do, follow the instructions??

[Guest Jeremy of Many]

Start > Run > "msconfig" (without quotations) > Uncheck "Load Startup Items". Reboot.

You need more space freed up than 1GB. What is the capacity of your HDD? Please visit my blog entry here.

Either that or you reformat but backup your personal files to CD/DVD/flash drive/external drive/online storage.

For future reference, I suggest you use a 3rd party defragmenter software such as Diskeeper or PerfectDisk. The links in my blog entry provided will help you decide which is better for you, you're in for some reading but it good knowledge.

Also, use a good registry cleaner. I'm in favor of jv16 PowerTools as it packs a lot of useful features into a very affordable (or free if you bother to submit a useful bug report or suggestion to the developers) that you commonly find in other products that charge more and do not provide free licenses to worthy beta testers. I've stuck with this product for years and watched it evolve from a buggy harmful product into one of the most impressive programs in the field of system maintenance. That's loyalty. CCleaner and RegSeeker contain a freeware registry cleaner as well.

For anti-virus I recommend: Kaspersky, NOD32, AntiVir or Avast. First two being payware and latter two being freeware. You can find all the information you'll ever need here and its affliated sites. The comparisons provided there are honest and unbiased unlike many others which are in favor of one product or another.

For anti-spyware I recommend Ad-Aware, Spybot, CWShredder, Windows Defender, SpywareBlaster as well as visiting this forum (hosted by a friend of mine, Tarun whom I suspect many here have heard of). He deals primarily with freeware anti-malware solutions. Great posts, info and guides.

Regarding your screenshot with Event ID 51, more info about this specific error can be found here. I'd bookmark that main page for future reference when you're troubleshooting a problem based on the Event ID.

For future reference, an ultimate solution is to use Acronis True Image, image your HDD and store the image on a seperate partition, drive, CD/DVD, external storage and use the Rescue Media BootCD to restore your HDD to a fully working state when necessary.

Cheers,

Jeremy

[sianlee]

Thanks for all those tips jeremy, but do you think that the above (of going to that website to change something in the registery) will fix my problem? .... and how do you back up the registry?

[redeemed]

You will need to update the system after a repair, but all your programs and settings will be intact.

True. If you have any updates for windows xp, sp2 etc, you'll have to reinstall them but all your programs and data will not be erased.

[Guest Jeremy of Many]

Sianlee, why don't you do some reading and take action whether than sitting around while continuing to ask questions. Others and myself have provided you with a boatload of information, you need to do some work yourself. With most problems like this, one simple thing rarely fixes everything. You need to:

-Reboot without start-up entries

-Clean your registry

-Clean your system with CCleaner

-Defragment (including your page file)

And see how things are at that point.

No one can help you if you aren't willing to help yourself. I spent a good 20 minutes typing that up for you. What can you do in 20 minutes?

[sianlee]

I wont be repairing the system thorugh that way, if the registry one works then thats what i'll do. But I really dont wanna risk losing stuff (I dont have an external harddrive as yet to back everything up) .... and if I were to pack it up through disk, well that wouldnt work either. Because for some reason when I play a disk (music) it skips. That happened before the computer stuffed up. So im guessing then something would go wrong with my cd drive if I constantly burned something to cd.

Sianlee, why don't you do some reading and take action whether than sitting around while continuing to ask questions. Others and myself have provided you with a boatload of information, you need to do some work yourself. With most problems like this, one simple thing rarely fixes everything. You need to:

-Reboot without start-up entries

-Clean your registry

-Clean your system with CCleaner

-Defragment (including your page file)

And see how things are at that point.

No one can help you if you aren't willing to help yourself. I spent a good 20 minutes typing that up for you. What can you do in 20 minutes?

Jeremy, I was still doing that registry one first before I continued on with your tips. I have kaspersky anti-virus, and ad-adware, I have used them. So now im getting the registry cleaner. Meanwhile, im looking up the terms that you've posted and bookedmarked them in favourites so I can look up other event id's to try and piece it together. I have been doing work myself but unfortunatly im not a computer genius like alot of you people :( Im still trying to learn it all, and it's just given me a massive headache.

Thanks for all your help then anyways, sorry to annoy everyone

[studio57lie]

yeah i agree with the RAM possible death. actually this weekend im like WTF why does it take so long for Media Player and turns out one of my 256 died. so i just popped in a spare and that did seem to be the trick! good luck though, this is very annoying, I know!

[.AlleymaN]

So the registry thing didnt work?

[Denis W. Veteran]

That screenshot has a big load of error 51s and a few error 9s. Definitely not a good sign.

Those either mean one of the following:

- Hard drive's a goner. There's nothing you can do about it other than quickly burn all your important data to CD/DVD, throwing it on a USB hard drive, sending it over a LAN network to another computer, whatever. You already mentioned something is wrong with with your CD drive, so try and use Windows XP's networking wizard to establish a connection between your laptop and (hopefully) a desktop computer, get an ethernet cable, link them together, and copy over files. Try not to run CHKDSK or your data may be gone forever. Send your laptop in for a replacement HD if you're still under warranty, assuming it lasts more than a year.

- Bad chipset. My case was that when I last had these errors. (See this thread.)

- Bad RAM, as previously suggested.

[sianlee]

So the registry thing didnt work?

I havent tried it.... cause i dont know how to back up the registry, and because it talks about how it fixes the cd rom drive.... not C drive. So im unsure if it will work or not, I dont wanna do more damage to my computer

I guess the only thing left is to save it all. my desktop computer and laptop are connected to a router for broadband, do you think I could be able to send data that way? Or do I need an actual hub? :(

[Guest Jeremy of Many]

I guess the only thing left is to save it all. my desktop computer and laptop are connected to a router for broadband, do you think I could be able to send data that way? Or do I need an actual hub? :(

Run the Network Setup Wizard on both PCs and make sure they both have the same Workgroup name. Reboot both afterwards and you will be able to put all your files in a new folder (or just right click on the directories they are in now > Sharing and Security > Share this folder. Click OK. Then go to the other system and open My Network Places and browse to the workgroup under Microsoft Client Networks and you will see a listing of those shared folders. Simply drag and drop them onto that system's desktop or wherever you see fit.

1. Run N.S.W. on both PCs, reboot.

2. Share the folders.

3. Go to other system and browse to those shares.

4. Drag and drop.

[sianlee]

thankyou, i will do that tomororw. (its 9:30 pm here now... so i dont really have the energy for it after fighting with this puter all day)

[Deciever]

If I were you I'd run EVERYTHING Jeremy has told you to run(in safe mode). I don't care that you have ad-aware, system mechanic(I don't like this program) and kaspersky. At work I run everything Jeremy has mentioned and plenty more when it is called for on every PC that goes through our place.

I never even backup the registry anymore *gasps*. These programs likely hood of screwing something up is pretty much zilch. It is more likely that something you removed will try and screw something up on the way out. But as long as you're prepared to fix it then your fine and if you can't then running a Repair is Safe to do and fixes things a lot of times and last resort is to reload windows. You either clean it thoroughly or you don't and you're gonna have to suck it up if something else goes wrong and fix that too. Sorry that's life.

Also System Restore does not always restore all settings but you can try running it and if no luck then go back to todays date. I have never had any luck with it till very recently lol maybe microsoft finally issued an update to make it work like it is suposed to. It still gets infected like crazy though.

[.AlleymaN]

The registry thing i told you works for *all* drives connected to the PC not just the CDROM (despite of what it says on the site). Getting the data off your hard drive is important but it will take ages if your HD runs in PIO mode. Backing up of registry is a failsafe that is suggested but not (but don't quote me on that :) ) important. I would still try out those instructions and then back up all important data to an external drive.

I know it must be frustrating hearing all these solutions on top the frustration the PC is already giving you. Good luck.

[sianlee]

Thanks for your support. I was going to back up everything before I tried, but I guess that would take too long. I'm a little bit nervous though just incase it goes wrong. :( urgh

[sianlee]

I actually found this in my event viewer:

The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:

AliIde

IntelIde

ViaIde

Do you think this would have caused a slow boot?

[Guest Jeremy of Many]

I actually found this in my event viewer:

The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load:

AliIde

IntelIde

ViaIde

Do you think this would have caused a slow boot?

Finally some results. What are the corresponding Event ID numbers? What brand is your HDD? WD? Maxtor (:angry:)?, Seagate? I'd advise you to download and burn the Ultimate Boot CD, burn it, boot to it and run the appropriate HDD analysis tool. Also, run MemTest v1.70 to test your RAM and make sure that's good.

Back up your files and reinstall your Windows. If the errors persist, reformat. If that doesn't solve it, it's likely a hardware issue which would already be determined by testing your HDD anyway.

Any questions? If not, let us know how all that turns out. Troubleshooting is fun, isn't it? ;)