WinXP Home stalling on CD/DVD, DSL modem, PDA cradle

[besfirst]

I am helping someone who said her Palm stopped synching. It is a less than year old HP system with WinXP Home. I have made sure her windows updates are ok and she is running PANDA antivirus/Firewall. Mid-December Panda picked up a virus that I finished cleaning off. That had left a winlogin cannot be found message which I eventually removed successfully by running the stingers with the System Restore off. I noticed the problem as I worked with the virus issues but not they appear to be resolved and this persists.

Symptoms:

1) When starting from cold and restarts the system takes 3-5 minutes to get the DSL router/modem on line. Easrthlink DSL Connection is in the startup menu. I have cleaned out almost everything else. Made sure that Panda and MSN Messenger are loading after the DSL. Same symptoom if I discconect and use the desktop icon to reconnect the connection. Green lights are flashing on the modem the whole time "looking".
2) She asked me to install a program because she said it wouldn't work (PrintMaster) and when I inserted it in the DVD/CD it spun and brought up the "instal" and when I clicked it took 5 minutes before it started installing. WHen it did it ran normal spped that would be expected for a new PC..without stalling, lickety split did all 3 disks
3)Last full Hotsynch of Palm was Dec 15 and was fine with log showing every day. Now shows connection not made with handheld to PC. Switching USB ports to one that works with printer and every thing PALM site showed for trouble shooting doesn't help. Even replaced the cradle with a new one. I have a hunch it is the same stall symptom with this and Hotsynch just times out before 5 minutes when it would work like the modem and the CD.

Help!!!!!

 

[besfirst]

Oh yes, and when I went to do a disk cleanup it stalled after doing 3%. I didn't let it go for 4 minutes I just hit cancel. The cancel and thing like that react very quickly, not in a laggy manner.

I'm stumped.

 

[bcastner]

This might help.

1. Repair your Winsock service:

http://members.shaw.ca/techcd/VB_Projects/WinsockFix.zip

The WinsockFix program will ask for one reboot. Check your settings under TCP/IP properties, and then manually reboot again and test.

2. Watch out for this issue:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819017

My own version of this is to not change USB ports with the same device. They are not the same thing as far as the operating system is concerned.

3. Make sure you are current on your USB drivers. These do not automaticly flow through Windows Update:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en;822603

 

[besfirst]

I have been making of list of things to go and try from reading the other posts which include the one you mention about the WIA, checking the verisign, the indexing service,and a fairly long process of removing the Spybot.gen (which is the virus that appears to halfway gotten through PANDA, and the list of shredder-spybot, and the winsock fix.

I will check the USB drivers. It appears that the Palm stopped syunching just after I downloaded a WinXP update (time seems about right) so I will make sure all that was correct.

However, I do not understand your comment about not changing USB ports. Please explain. I was using that to rule out the actual USB being bad so printed (HP printer) then switched the prionter to the USB plug that the cradle was in and it also printed. Then I swithced the printer back to where it was. DId the op system get confused by that? Redardless, the new cradle didn't work which is why I am leaning to it "timing out" like some of the other symptoms because the Hotsynch won't just hang there for more than aobut 2 minutes.

Anyway. I am going with the new amunition and truly appreciate the input. I hope I won't be back....we will see.

 

[bcastner]

XP creates a specific device driver/location pairing by USB port.

Plugging in the device into a different USB port each time is not recommended.

There are hotfixes to handle the most egregious issues, but pluging into the same port each time is strongly recommended as a personal choice (I strongly recommend the same with PCMCIA devices):

Why?:

Ignore the Hotfix:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;810090

An MS KB that is closer to the issue of swappinbg:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;816843

Closer still:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;816843

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819017

Until SP2 arrives, this does help (Note: not part if Windows Update, you need to do this yourself):

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en;822603

My advice: Update the drivers. And then Mark the USB port, and plug the same device into the same port every time. You may have to use Control Panel, System, Device Manager, and uninstall the USB root hubs, one at a time if more than one, and reboot to rediscover each. But start with updated and clean drivers. Updated and clean device installs with frequent reboots.

Bill Castner

 

[besfirst]

Unfortunately, none of these things worked. There were a few relatively harmless things found (what I would expect since I can't make the disk clean work) but cleaning them made no change to the symptoms.

Is there anything else to try before using the HP restore to new and wiping out everything (with the possibility that isn't even going to solve the problem?)

I appreciate any help.