Big Network Problems!!! 1

[LeBodge]

Hi All,

I'm in big trouble here, I've just replaced 4 old PC's with brand new Pentium 4's, copied the complete HDD from the old to the new, replaced the network card from old to new, Windows 2000 updated itself with the drivers it wanted and everything seemed to run fine.

Hour later, found that the four I replaced are much much slower over the network when using the Opera accounting software than the old 800Mhz ones!!!! A simple search for a customer on the old PC's is instant but on the new ones takes about 15 seconds.

Any ideas anyone, PLEASE, client is having a fit!!

LeBodge

 

[pbxman]

Not familiar with that software. Is it designed for Windows 2000? 32-bit software? 16-bit? does it run in NTVDM? Is there a server storing the database, or is it local? When you said you copied the entire HDD..did you install the software, or just copy it over? pbxman
Systems Administrator

Please let Tek-Tips members know their posts were helpful.

 

[tecknic]

Verify your network setting on the work station.
if all new Worksttion gives you the same problem it is for sure located on your new station.

if you ping the server do you get many time out?
verify the speed of you network cars. it sounds like collision to me.
-you could monitor the hub/switch port and see what is happening on that level.
-try to change the Nic with another one and see.

 

[LeBodge]

Hi,

Opera is a 32 bit accounts package and all the PC's are running it with data stored on the server, so yes it does run on Windows 2000 OK. The old HDD was cloned to the new HDD and then windows updated it's drivers, so it is just a copy of ALL the data.

LeBodge.

 

[pbxman]

Any devices having trouble in device manager? Cloning is not a good idea for systems that arent 100% identical. You probably arent using correct drivers for he new PC's motherboard, chipset, IDE controller, and other hardware. That needs to be updates and eliminated as well as testing network connectivity and protocols.
Start there. Technic is on the right track. The problem is on the new PC's and im betting its because of the cloning. pbxman
Systems Administrator

Please let Tek-Tips members know their posts were helpful.

 

[LeBodge]

pxbman,

There are no conflicts in device manager and I do see what you're getting at but the first time I booted windows on the new PC, it updated all it's drivers, it changed the IDE to "SIS IDE Controller" which is correct and it changed the network card to "3c905c TX" which is also correct, and various other drivers, all correctly. So could these not be right?

LeBodge.

 

[pbxman]

If there are no conflicts, you're lucky. But that also means they're not the *right* drivers for the devices. Some may be old, not optimized, or general drivers. The IDE controller drivers make a big difference, but you need to look at network settings and protocols now. Go into network properties and remove or verify your protocols and settings. It has got to be a driver issue somewhere, or a SID problem on the new machines. Check the event log on the PC's as well as on the server they loginto for errors on what may be going on.
What model PC's are they? pbxman
Systems Administrator

Please let Tek-Tips members know their posts were helpful.

 

[tecknic]

sound ok so far. Tell me when you Opera Accounting soft is slowing. is it the only apps that is slow or is it the whole machine? If it's only the app. try to ping and see if you get response from the server Opera tries to communicate with. if it pings right (good time response) it means that probably opera has a specific setting hardcoded within it that could give you conflict. this setting might need to be changed.

 

[LeBodge]

Thanks for all the advice, I'll try it all out tomorrow as I'm now going to the pub to drown myself in Smirnoff - WHAT A DAY!!!

LeBodge.

 

[pbxman]

Good rule of thumb for the future:

New PC = all new installation of software & Operating System.
Try to do that as often as possible, and never image a HDD from one machine and put it in a different PC unless you use sysprep and the proper utilities to change SID's and config, etc.

Good luck - leave a few working brain cells for the work ahead tomorrow! pbxman
Systems Administrator

Please let Tek-Tips members know their posts were helpful.

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I agree totally with pbxman. CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[B4K9]

You might want to delete the accounts for these machines from the server and readd them to the the domain. Even thought the name is exactly the same and it looks identical to the setting of the machine you replaced, the server can still know it's a different machine through the SID and MAC address.

 

[LeBodge]

Hi all,

Well...... I've tried everything suggested and still it's slow so it's reinstall time =(

I wasn't the one who orginally set all the workstations up so there are alot of apps with user files, settings, preferences etc which all need to be put on the clean pc, anyone know the easiest (or least painfull) way of restoring all these?

LeBodge.

 

[TobyA]

I think you're just going to have to bite the bullet and start from scratch. Did the PCs come with a driver CD? If so, get the OS on with all the correct drivers and then install each app one by one.

That way you can test them all as you go so you'll be able to see which app (if any) causes problems.

You only need to do it once - Then you can Ghost the completed PC and blast the image onto the others.

Hope this is helpful.

Toby

 

[LeBodge]

Toby,

All the four workstations are different so I can't even ghost them

Just a thought, what would be the effect of installing an app on the new one from scratch, backup up the old app's from the old PC and do a restore on the new PC????

LeBodge.

 

[pbxman]

That would probably take longer than just reinstalling them. The reason is you wont get the necessary registry entries for the programs, or you will overwrite ALL of the registry on the new PC's with the one's from the old PC if you backup system state. Thats not going to help, only hurt you. Sorry chief :\ pbxman
Systems Administrator

Please let Tek-Tips members know their posts were helpful.

 

[tecknic]

I still would like to know if it is the only app that is slow or if it is the whole pc. I don't know you application but sometime, some applications have a specific id. by ghosting your pc you app have the same id which could cause problem. when the server receive an request and try to answer it it doesn't know to who it should answer because he got 5 workstation with the same id. ex: Oracle Excursion.

Still before re-do you pc it would have been interesting to know what causes that slow down! Formating a pc is always a workaround but you don't learn much from it.

regards,

nic

 

[LeBodge]

Yes it does appear that Opera is the only slow app but then again it is the ONLY one that has to access data stored on the server alot of the time - everything else works just fine.

I am not really confident that I can put back everything from the old one or even if they have all the software, hence the idea to clone the HDD's (which alas seemed to work) - if I could just figure out why opera's search time goes from instant to 15 seconds.

Also theres the security settings, their roaming profiles and everything else from the W2K server point of view to put back on, I'm really just a coded hacker not a network pro - but I can read and learn fast!!!

LeBodge

 

[pbxman]

yeah, but his process of imaging a HDD and putting that onto 4 different machines was the #1 mistake he should learn from.
I agree though if it is just the Opera app that is slow, and the other apps work great - he may be able to stick with what he's got already. We won't be of much use to him though - he'd be on his own with that app..i've never even heard of it!

LeBodge, can you backup just the OPERA app on one pc and then uninstall it, reinstall it, and see if it still is slow? pbxman
Systems Administrator

Please let Tek-Tips members know their posts were helpful.

 

[tecknic]

That would be the next step. backup Opera. make a backup of the regitry too. uninstall and reinstall and see how it's doing. if the application goes fine you could compare the registry keys. in any case if it works you will know what to do with your other pcs.

nic