Computer Lag and Possible Corruption

D

DanMattia

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jun 22, 2005
Messages
354
Hello,

I recently bought a new gaming rig for myself and moved the "family" PC upstairs. I deleted all my files off of it, as well as a few programs and my user account. Now, the PC runs slow with a bit of lag and Safe Mode doesn't start (it freezes unless "enter" is pressed rapidly), ScanDisk freezes at 72% (the recommended ScanDisk when a PC is turned off without using the start menu), and Defragmenter stops Analyzing at 1%. The machine never did this before moving it, and it's extremely annoying, according to my family.

The specs are: (keep in mind I don't know many brand names for this machine)
Asus P4B533
Intel 2.4ghz
1gb RAM
Nvidia GeForce FX5600 256mb
Maxtor 80gb HDD master
Maxtor 40gb HDD slave
XP SP1

I was wondering if locating Defragmenter's and Scandisk's files on my PC (XP SP2) and copying them over to the family PC would help? I think the files are corrupted on the family PC, which is causing the system lag. Would this idea work?

Also, could deleting my user account off the machine have caused this problem, as well?

Any help is greatly appreciated, as my father wants to take the computer to a shop to get it fixed, rather than me doing it for free.

Thanks.
 
My vote is to do what the pros would do. That is, reformat and reinstall.
 
Well, my dad was hoping for something that wouldn't mean reformatting. That is an option that I gave him, but he would rather try out other options first.
 
Hello Dan,

U've probably tried it, but since ur not able to get into safe mode, why dont you clear start up items and then run a disk cleanup and try to run the defragmenter? It does seem as if your drive maybe fragmented as you have deleted lots of files from it. Bfore going the reformat way, you cud try out a third party defragger as well.
 
Well, I tried that idea, sirius, and regardless whether I clear out starting programs or use disk cleanup, Defrag still freezes when analyzing at 1%. However, disk drive space displayed changes a bit; it said I had 37% free, then I restarted after it froze, and it said I had 45% free. Could be an issue.

I'll try a third party defragger, too. Any suggestions?
 
If dad doesnt want to do a reformat then he's got nothing to lose by atleast trying a repair
 
I seriously doubt this will really have any effect but you might try running chkdsk just to make sure there aren't any corrupted files. If there are you could then run chkdsk /f to fix them. If you run it with the /f option it will most likely tell you that it can't be run while windows is running and it will then ask you if you would like to run it at your next startup. Just say yes to that and the next time you start it up it will run.

I've had similar problems as you before but a clue for me was that everytime I started the pc up it would try to do a chkdsk saying something was wrong with some of my files.

Also, you might want to run memtest86+ for a few hours just to make sure the memory is ok. Maybe something in the memory is messed up.
 
So in reading the original post I was thinking ME or 98, then the OP says it's XP/SP1. Um, since when does scandisk run when you shut off without powering down?

That's fishy.

As far as copying the SP2 files over to it, don't do that. I can't say for sure but it probably won't even work and if it does, that's not where your problem lies.

When a drive is THAT fragged out... it takes A LONG time to run. How long have you let it sit? Skip the analyze mode and go right for the true defrag. Let it sit overnight.

Remove things from startup: start button/run/msconfig

Go to the Startup tab at the top. Don't mess with too much other stuff in there unless you know what you're doing.

You said you deleted your profile. Does that mean you created a new one? Or deleted a bunch of programs, deleted your profile, then kept using a profile that was already there? Because if that's the case it could be related to some missing programs the profile you're using now is looking for, not finding, not giving an error, but just being really slow. To be on the safe side create a new account and log in under that and after trying all of these things should speed your or ANY PC up when performed.

I call it an "oil change". If none of the things already suggested in this thread work, then maybe their perception of the "family pc" is now skewed based on the performance of your new gaming PC. At that point nothing works better than a freshly laid OS. What's the scare if all the files are backed up already?
 
hulksterjoe said:
If dad doesnt want to do a reformat then he's got nothing to lose by atleast trying a repair
Click to expand...

Except money. I'd rather not let him use that money if I can do something myself.

Paithar said:
I seriously doubt this will really have any effect but you might try running chkdsk just to make sure there aren't any corrupted files. If there are you could then run chkdsk /f to fix them. If you run it with the /f option it will most likely tell you that it can't be run while windows is running and it will then ask you if you would like to run it at your next startup. Just say yes to that and the next time you start it up it will run.

I've had similar problems as you before but a clue for me was that everytime I started the pc up it would try to do a chkdsk saying something was wrong with some of my files.

Also, you might want to run memtest86+ for a few hours just to make sure the memory is ok. Maybe something in the memory is messed up.
Click to expand...

Well, the thing is, ChkDsk runs automatically whenever I restart and freezes at 71%. So I have to skip it everytime.

How do you run memtest?

Grimmda said:
So in reading the original post I was thinking ME or 98, then the OP says it's XP/SP1. Um, since when does scandisk run when you shut off without powering down?
Click to expand...

My apologies. ChkDsk. it runs whenever the PC is powered down by pressing the power button, not shutting down the normal way.

Grimmda said:
When a drive is THAT fragged out... it takes A LONG time to run. How long have you let it sit? Skip the analyze mode and go right for the true defrag. Let it sit overnight.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by sit? The program, or the PC? When I run defrag, I click "defragment" and it analyzes before defragging. Anyway around that?

I did go into msconfig and shut off unneeded programs, but even then it didn't work.

Grimmda said:
You said you deleted your profile. Does that mean you created a new one? Or deleted a bunch of programs, deleted your profile, then kept using a profile that was already there? Because if that's the case it could be related to some missing programs the profile you're using now is looking for, not finding, not giving an error, but just being really slow. To be on the safe side create a new account and log in under that and after trying all of these things should speed your or ANY PC up when performed.
Click to expand...

I deleted my account on the computer, and left my dad's, brother's, and mom's. My dad's is the main admin account, but I was also admin as well. I uninstalled programs such as AIM, games, my multimedia programs, etc., that weren't used by others.

Grimmda said:
If none of the things already suggested in this thread work, then maybe their perception of the "family pc" is now skewed based on the performance of your new gaming PC.
Click to expand...

Oh, no. My dad said it's been running sluggy, so I checked and it indeed has. Since I moved it, Defrag/ChkDsk/etc. have not been working. The "working" light of the computer is also always blinking rapidly and loud working noises can be heard from inside.

Virus scans and malware scans were run and there were no viruses. All adware, etc. was cleared, as well, with no relief.
 
DanMattia said:
Except money. I'd rather not let him use that money if I can do something myself.
Click to expand...

Not what I meant.. If you think xp is corrupted instead of reformating and reloading you have the option to do a repair install....boot from the cd and follow the instructions. basically it'll load over itself but keep the profiles and data intact..

just an option..

personally I'd backup-- wipe and reload
 
Ah, interesting. I'll try that option if it comes down to it, as I'd rather do that than reformat. My dad's not too fond on reformatting but realises it's an option that's the most sound right now.
 
Why would reformating cost anything? That would imply you take it somewhere and have them reload it. I promise it's going to be easier for you to dink around reloading XP on it yourself then trouble shooting it at this point.
 
Oh, he wants to take it to a professional repair place rather than letting me do it. I told him I'd come here and see what I could do to try and save him money, but if I go and tell him reformatting's his only option, he'll be deadset on taking it somewhere and ending up paying money for something I could do.

I'm going to go and try some of the other options first, then reformat if it comes down to it. Thanks for all your help, everyone.
 
Surprised no one posted this but have you ran spyware checks? If not i suggest downloading Ad-aware Spybot and Microsofts spyware programs and running them. Also if there is no Antivirus Download AVG update it and run it. Some spyware programs are polymorphic and like to move around alot this may be causing the scandisk to freeze if there is files being moved while the scan is running is not gonna like it.
 
Yes, I've run both Adaware and Spybot S&D, as well as AVG Antivirus. PC also uses ZoneAlarm as a firewall. All spyware has been removed, and no viruses were detected. I'm going to run them all again in case something was missed, however.
 
DanMattia said:
Yes, I've run both Adaware and Spybot S&D, as well as AVG Antivirus. PC also uses ZoneAlarm as a firewall. All spyware has been removed, and no viruses were detected. I'm going to run them all again in case something was missed, however.
Click to expand...

remember to run them in safe mode
 
DanMattia said:
Oh, he wants to take it to a professional repair place rather than letting me do it. I told him I'd come here and see what I could do to try and save him money, but if I go and tell him reformatting's his only option, he'll be deadset on taking it somewhere and ending up paying money for something I could do.

I'm going to go and try some of the other options first, then reformat if it comes down to it. Thanks for all your help, everyone.
Click to expand...

Ah, if I had $60 for every dad like yours I've encountered, oh, wait, I do. A rareity, but I've encountered it before when working on peoples computers with my friends business, some parents just don't listen to their kids, even when they're right.

With what you've described, I'd consider it a lost cause. I'd ask for the program discs for what he wanted installed and what he would want backed up (i'd of course check to make sure there wasn't anything he forgot to mention, like quicken files), then reinstall Windows.
 
Yeah, I'm going to issue him his ultimatium tonight:

"Dad, I've asked a bunch of experts what they think, and they all say the same: reformat. So back up all your files and I'll reformat for you."

Gotta finesse up what I say otherwise he'll ignore me. :eek:
 
As for running memtest86+ go to here. There should be complete instructions there to download and run it.

As for chkdsk I'd still try the chkdsk /f thing just to see if it fixes anything. I actually had a hard drive slowly going bad when I finally decided to run this and it allowed me to do a lot of things including a full defrag which was one of things that kept hanging before.
 
Another thing to try before you format is check to see if the Hard drive is failing. I cant count the number of times, I have had a hard drive go bad from transporting it from one place to another (usually with older computer at work). A good way to do this would be to download The Ultimate Boot cd http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/. and run the test for your type of hard drive. This also have Memtest on the cd.


Good luck
 
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