HELP - Computer Gurus

Ricardo

I have a Dell desktop, dual core something, Windows Vista, 3 GB memory (originally 2, added 2 some time ago but can only use 3 I think because it's the 32 bit system). I have two hard drives (added a second where I basically store music).

Maybe a month ago it started getting way too slow. Randomly froze, programs not responding (just with a couple of explorer sessions). If I looked in the task manager I could not see anything consuming resources.

It got really bad this week so I decided to reinstall Windows. Got rid of Dell's D drive (recovery or something like that), and formatted drive C for a clean start.

It did not help. First off, the installation took over 5 hours. And now the computer is still veeeeeeeeery slow, and nothing appears consuming resources in task manager.

I am ready to go the sledge hammer route. What can I try?????

Thanks.

quadzilla

If the install took 5 hours, I'm going to guess that the two most likely problems are bad ram or a bad drive and/or motherboard controller. Might even be a bad drive.

Dell should have included some diagnostics software, or you can download it from their site.

If you can get that, try swapping out the new ram, the old ram, etc. And you can get software to test hard drives free on the net. You can also get mem testing software free.

Start there and let us know.

EndersShadow

Did you check to ensure you installed all the available Windows Updates? You might be missing some that will help speed things up. Also to go MSCONFIG and uncheck the startup items you dont need running to begin with. I see lots of folks w/ Ipod stuff, Quicktime, Java, AOL, ect.

Turning that stuff off can speed things up as well.

Also check the bios to make sure its registering the right amount of RAM as well as the speed of it. You may need to manually set it yourself.

Personally I moved to Windows 7 and never looked back.

Toolfan66

I just bought a new Dell Laptop Friday, This is my first laptop so I'm not sure about the power supply in them. But when the computer I have in the basement started getting real slow I put in a better power supply cleaned the drives and all has been good since..

bobman1235

If you know how, you might want ot just take a peek at the BIOS settings and make sure everything looks right in there. Your CPU clock speed or memory speed or something might have been cranked down for some reason which would account for the slowness.

Obviously it's nothing with Windows itself if even the install (which obviously doesn't have "startup items" or need "Windows updates") was slow, so it HAS to be hardware or BIOS settings.

If everything in the BIOS looks normal I would do as quadzilla suggested - try taking out one stick of RAM at a time to see if one of them is bad, and run drive diagnostics.

Ricardo

This is not about too much garbage or stuff in the start up menu. I wiped/formatted the hard drive, so the computer only has windows in it.
I will try removing new/old RAM and see if that helps.

Thanks guys, keep them coming.


Edit: Bob, I could not find anything wrong/weird in the BIOS.

engtaz

On memory and all cards, take them out then put them back. Make sure the CPU cooler is clean. Blow it clean with compressed air in needed. Also, if you got some malware then try fdisk then format, just formatting will not get rid of all the problems sometimes.

AudioGenics

Ricardo wrote: »

I have a Dell desktop, dual core something, Windows Vista, 3 GB memory (originally 2, added 2 some time ago but can only use 3 I think because it's the 32 bit system). .....

What model Dell desktop do you have ?
Dell includes a component list with the packaging.

What memory make and type did you add ?
( go back to original/factory known configuration for diagnosing the problem )
What programs do you have loaded ?
What programs do you have actually running ?
( use Task Manager to see CPU utilization Performance, Processes, Applications
Networking,,,,)

etc...

polkatese

Ricardo, just for comparison, I have a Dell Dimension 8400 (2004) Pentium 4, with 4 GB with 4 GB RAM. I installed WIN7 about a year ago, on 24 hours/day, and it still kicking ****. Have you tried rebooting to a DOS bootstrap only without Windows? If it didn't give you any error message at all, I wonder why the super slow.

bigaudiofanatic

Few things to try. When we used dell computers to run Windows server 2000 on them with the hot swappable drives, they were very slow until we installed the proper drivers from dell. Than they got better.

Some may look at me weird but malware could of infected your motherboard IT IS POSSIBLE.

The memory could of been bad as said above but from what you are saying you might want to reset the bios "google it"

The last thing you could try is upgrading to 7 but that is a big chunk of money you could use towards a new computer.

Final thought: Look at your HD jumpers if your not using sata they could be improperly configured even though it has been fine for you these past years.

If that does not work I would say the hammer method than go buy something like a sony or IBM lenovo.

MacLeod

A Windows 7 OEM copy is going for $85 right now on Newegg.

First thing take out the 2 GB of RAM you installed. Could have a bad stick. See if this helps.

If not, a crapped out hard drive is my 2nd suspect. That 5 hour install just aint right. You said you added 2 hard drives, can you take out the HD that came with the Dell and install the OS on one of your newer HD's?

ESavinon

Buy a refurb business computer.

Ricardo

Got it. Had never happened to me, but I guess there's always a first time. It's the hard drive. Tested memory and that was ok, so I installed windows in the second HD and it was done in minutes. Out to Microcenter now.

Thanks all for your help!

Toolfan66

Microcenter ROCKS!!!

To bad there wasen't a store like that for audio!!!

AudioGenics

what HD manufacturers and model ?

bobman1235

Lasareath wrote: »

Get An SSD!!!!!

For "casual" computer users, SSDs are just not worth the money, certainly from an "amount of storage per GB" standpoint.

Decent article here :
http://lifehacker.com/5616023/are-solid+state-drives-worth-the-money

Ricardo

Got back. While I was at it, I grabbed a Windows 7 family pack upgrade, which is already installed.

The bad HD is a WD 250 GB WD2500JS. I got a WD 500 GB "Caviar Blue" :rolleyes:

My second drive is a 1 TB so I really don't need more.

Now how the heck do I get rid of the windows files/folders that are in the 1TB drive???? I installed there just to test, but now I have everything in my new drive.

Thanks again everyone for help/ideas.

AudioGenics

does this help ?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/888023

How to remove a second installation of a Windows operating system from a partition

not quite from the second HDD.

Ricardo

No, it does not help (thanks for trying).

I can't delete the folders, or most of the files on them. I get a message saying I need permission from Trustedinstaller, whatever that is.

AudioGenics

google Trustedinstaller.exe

lots of stuff on it

Ricardo

I googled trustedinstaller and found the solution here:

http://helpdeskgeek.com/windows-7/windows-7-how-to-delete-files-protected-by-trustedinstaller/

Thanks again!!

Ricardo

Actually, that did not work. Changed ownership and added the right permissions, but then the message says I need permission from myself. Oh well. Not that important. Will try later.

AudioGenics

see you did not need any help ...

you found the defective drive &
solve the cleanup issue yourself.

you just needed to be enabled !

megasat16

I just saw this thread. You got it all taken care of. It's the hard drive with bad sectors or failing spindle motor. Somehow, the hard drive crashed during a power outage (not many happened these days) or partially failed spindle motor from a bad batch. The drive is unable to be formatted fully or can't spin at the correct speed so reading and writing data takes a long time (multiple attempts to write or extract the data from the right position).

If it's still under warranty, you should send the drive in to Dell for a replacement.

You can delete most windows files from the 1TB drive. If they are hidden system files, you need to un-hide them first. But some windows system files is not allowed to be deleted coz they are locked by Windows. You need to boot up from Linux Based Bootable CD and browse to the files on the 1TB disc to delete the old windows directory.

MacLeod

Yep, glad to see I was right again.......er I mean I was glad to have been of help.

:biggrin:

Lost

Lasareath wrote: »

Ricardo. Everyone has given you really good suggestions.

The only thing I would add is if you find out it's the hard then buy yourself some new technology and speed that machine up.

You have two routes:

1). Western Digital Raptor, 10,000 rpm (Around 30% faster than what you have now)
2). Solid State drive. This will be the MIT upgrade of your PC!, the slowest thing in your computer is the hard drive. It is the only thing that is mechanical. A Solid State Drive is around 5 to 6 times the speed of 7200rpm hard drive.

This is a good website to read: http://www.fastestssd.com/

As with anything else the faster the more money you will spend.


Sal

What Lasareath said:) I would go with a new raptor, they are awesome drives!!

renowilliams

bobman1235 wrote: »

For "casual" computer users, SSDs are just not worth the money, certainly from an "amount of storage per GB" standpoint.

Decent article here :
http://lifehacker.com/5616023/are-solid+state-drives-worth-the-money

I completely agree with what your saying,but that being said I have two X-25M intel ssd drives in a raid and the performance is nice. My hard drive read rates are over 500 M/sec. There are even faster ssd's out there now.

I do a lot with my computer and use the capabilities, most users would not benefit from the cash outlay.

ryanjoachim

Personally, I think the price of a "budget" SSD (think 40 or 60GB) is worth it for anyone going "I need an upgrade...".

90% of the time, upgrading to an SSD will increase the performance way above what new RAM or a CPU will do.

Granted they're not that affordable right now, but they're still a good idea. IMO of course.

bobman1235

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Personally, I think the price of a "budget" SSD (think 40 or 60GB) is worth it for anyone going "I need an upgrade...".

90% of the time, upgrading to an SSD will increase the performance way above what new RAM or a CPU will do.

Granted they're not that affordable right now, but they're still a good idea. IMO of course.

Again, it depends on what you think "performance" means. Some everyday things like launching apps and starting Windows will be noticably faster for nearly everyone. But if you have a slower machine that won't stream video cleanly or something, upgrading to an SSD won't make a drop of difference, whereas memory or a new CPU will.

ryanjoachim

bobman1235 wrote: »

Again, it depends on what you think "performance" means. Some everyday things like launching apps and starting Windows will be noticably faster for nearly everyone. But if you have a slower machine that won't stream video cleanly or something, upgrading to an SSD won't make a drop of difference, whereas memory or a new CPU will.

Very true.

Ricardo

I dunno. I paid $50ish for a 500GB drive. I don't think that can get me a lot of storage space in a SSD.