PC is slow due to broken hardware component, but which is it ?

[TheAwake]

Greetings everyone,

once again I dont know what to do but try to find an answer on these boards. I hope you can help me with this one:

So a week ago I sat at my pc in the evening and suddenly it froze (i had a firewall and anti virus scanner running so I hardly doubt it was a virus). I switched of the power and booted. Windows xp was loading but right before the login screen it just rebooted. It did that even in safe mode. I tried doing a xp repair install from the xp cd but it didnt give me that option. By using another pc I found out that the harddrive got corrupted (got quite a few crc errors). So I rescued as much data as I could and then installed windows xp (sp2) on my remaining harddrive.

Now, windows was terribly slow:
I can not watch a youtube video or listen to a mp3 without the sound and picture stuttering.
Unpacking a 700mb rar file needs about 10 minutes.
Copying a 700mb file from my external hd (usb2.0) to my desktop takes around 15 minutes.
Ive then formatted the harddrive and reinstalled windows but it keept acting like that. I installed a virus and firewall software right after windows both times which leads me to the conclusion that it must be a hardware issue, especially since the harddrive also took physical damage.

Any idea what might cause this? Maybe my RAM? How can I test the key components responsible? During boot, my pc says it got the 512mb ram its supposed to have. I have no problem re-buying the part that got broken, I just need to find out which one it is.

Oh and an interesting sidenote, I can play quake 3 on full details with a good framrate but the bots just stand around and do nothing except when they get to see me...?!

Can anyone who has an idea post it up here? Im more than thankful for directions of any kind.

Thank you in advance!

 

[TScrappy]

It's hard to determine what is the exact cause but if you are working on a fresh install I would start like this:

Take one stick of RAM out and try again.
Take the other other out place the first back in.
Replace the video card
Replace the system board

If I were a betting man I would guess the video card.

 

[electronicsfreak]

Give this a try

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815158065

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[cdogg]

TScrappy,
I'd take that bet!

Something is likely wrong within the OS. It was just installed fresh on the secondary hard drive, but you have to make sure it has DMA enabled. Go into Device Manager and look for the Primary IDE controller. Go into properties and check it there under "Advanced Settings".

Also make sure you have installed the chipset drivers for your motherboard, as well as all the up-to-date drivers for everything else.

Don't start replacing hardware until you have at least tried another "clean" install of Windows making sure you don't miss any drivers.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[TScrappy]

cdogg - I would hope that the all the latest driver sets were installed as part of the windows re-installation process, but if the drivers were not installed it would explain much.

 

[cdogg]

TScrappy,
That's true. You would expect that to be done. However, even when you're careful, sometimes Windows doesn't correctly assign a DMA mode to the hard drive which causes everything to run slow.

The point is to at least "double-check" your OS using a "clean" installation if needed before you run out and throw money at the problem...

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[TScrappy]

Ive then formatted the harddrive and reinstalled windows but it keept acting like that. I installed a virus and firewall software right after windows both times which leads me to the conclusion that it must be a hardware issue, especially since the harddrive also took physical damage."

"The point is to at least "double-check" your OS using a "clean" installation if needed before you run out and throw money at the problem... "

Double-check..yes. But i think a "clean" install starts with a format of the hard drive.

 

[TheAwake]

Hello,

I just wanted to say that my trouble are solved now. Yes I had installed the drivers of my motherboard and everything else, and yes I installed windows on a totally clean and formatted drive. A few days ago I turned my pc off and exchanged the dvd burner with an old cd drive and when I booted suddenly everything ran smooth. I have no idea what happened (I put the dvd burner back in but it still works fine) but Im so thankful it did. Thanks for all your tips! This is really a great forum.

 

[cdogg]

Double-check..yes. But i think a "clean" install starts with a format of the hard drive.

Yes, it was obvious, but you've misunderstood me. I mentioned this in my first post:
"[blue]Don't start replacing hardware until you have at least tried another "clean" install of Windows[/blue]

Key word: another

Like I said, the point is to be completely sure you don't have a Windows problem before you start buying new hardware. Good thing he didn't here! Reseating the DVD burner on the IDE channel may have kicked the DMA settings into the right gear. DMA settings are usually a problem with the OS. I thought it might have something to do with that!

TheAwake, glad you got it resolved!

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[UTechnical]

The Awake

How is your current hard drive connected to the system? If it's IDE and on the same cable as a DVD/CD drive or a flaky hard drive that will crater performance.