Help! My Dell is extremely slow now!

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB hard
drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always been
a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
slowdown when using it.

Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which found no
viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow. I've also
downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
Windows Service Pack 2 yet.

I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or when
switching between multiple programs.

Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the Windows
boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs in
WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.

The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem would be
less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB capacity.
Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up half
of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the time the
drive got half full.

My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently, so
could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a hard
drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have nearly half
of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.

I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space, but I'd
like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.

Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now. During that
time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few times at
most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last night, but
the computer is still sluggish.

Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Terry Summers wrote:

>My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB hard
>drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always been
>a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
>slowdown when using it.
>
>Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which found no
>viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow. I've also
>downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
>Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
>
>I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or when
>switching between multiple programs.
>
>Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the Windows
>boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs in
>WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
>
>The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem would be
>less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB capacity.
>Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up half
>of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the time the
>drive got half full.
>
>My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently, so
>could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a hard
>drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have nearly half
>of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
>
>I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space, but I'd
>like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
>
>Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now. During that
>time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few times at
>most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last night, but
>the computer is still sluggish.
>
>Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
>
>
>
>
Check the transfer mode of the disk. It should be a DMA mode, not PIO.
Preferrably DMA mode 5.

In the device manager, open the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers (click the +
sign).
Right click the Primary IDE Channel and choose Properties.
Under the Advanced Settings tab, see what the transfer mode is for Device 0.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Terry Summers wrote:
>
> My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB hard
> drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always been
> a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
> slowdown when using it.
>
> <snip>

Just out of curiosity, did the slowdown occur after installing
a specific program?

Notan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I just fixed the slow-down problem in my Dell 4300 PC. The PC has a
built-in USB-1 and a USB-2 adapter card. They used to be able to
co-exist with each other. But problem started when I added quite a few
more USB device into the mix. I got sticky mouse, sticky keyboard,
everything is slow. I finally get around with this problem by
disabling the USB-1 and adding a USB-2 hub.

You may want to see what was the last device or program that you added
to your PC right before you started having this system slow down
problem. Or you can try restore the system settings back to the point
before the system show down occurred.

Jay Chan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

You didn't mention scandisk and defrag being done. I would suggest you run
those.

--

Joe Cilinceon


"Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
news:84GdnfAi-bkUArDfRVn-gw@comcast.com...
> My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB hard
> drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always
> been
> a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
> slowdown when using it.
>
> Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which found
> no
> viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow. I've
> also
> downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
> Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
>
> I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or when
> switching between multiple programs.
>
> Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the Windows
> boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs in
> WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
>
> The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem would
> be
> less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB capacity.
> Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up half
> of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the time the
> drive got half full.
>
> My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently, so
> could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a hard
> drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have nearly
> half
> of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
>
> I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space, but
> I'd
> like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
>
> Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now. During
> that
> time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few times
> at
> most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last night, but
> the computer is still sluggish.
>
> Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote:
>Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB hard

>Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan

I'd also try Microsoft's AntiSpyWare product, though it sounds like
you've done everything I'd think of to rule out mal-ware. Not all
mal-ware is captured by one of the above programs, though, so it's
possible you have something new.

>But I did not install
>Windows Service Pack 2 yet.

SP2 will not make your machine faster, though it may make it more
secure. You want to do this, but not till after you solve your
problem, and not without a good backup.

I'd also look at the Task Manager to see what's using CPU time and
memory (control-alt-delete, Task Manager, Processes, View, Select
Collumns, check CPU Time, OK).

A half-full 120G drive isn't the problem, though as Jerry said I'd
check the transfer mode of the drive. Tom's suggestion to rebuild the
OS would definitely narrow it down to hardware or software, though you
might want to run some diags first to rule out hardware.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
news:84GdnfAi-bkUArDfRVn-gw@comcast.com...
> My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB hard
> drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always
> been
> a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
> slowdown when using it.
>
> Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which found
> no
> viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow. I've
> also
> downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
> Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
>
> I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or when
> switching between multiple programs.
>
> Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the Windows
> boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs in
> WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
>
> The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem would
> be
> less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB capacity.
> Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up half
> of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the time the
> drive got half full.
>
> My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently, so
> could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a hard
> drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have nearly
> half
> of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
>
> I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space, but
> I'd
> like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
>
> Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now. During
> that
> time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few times
> at
> most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last night, but
> the computer is still sluggish.
>
> Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
>
>


Terry,

Your hard drive being 1/2 full isn't a problem, although defragging it could
help.

Honestly, 2 years on a Windows install is pretty good. I wipe mine clean and
reinstall about every 6-9 months, just to clean things up. I'd suggest
that, if you are comfortable with it.

Tom

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

William P.N. Smith wrote:

> "Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote:
>
>>Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB hard
>
>
>>Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan
>
>
> I'd also try Microsoft's AntiSpyWare product, though it sounds like
> you've done everything I'd think of to rule out mal-ware. Not all
> mal-ware is captured by one of the above programs, though, so it's
> possible you have something new.
>
I ran MS's AntiSpyware product for about a week before wiping it, I saw
no advantages over AdAware & Spy-Bot. The only othwe anitspyware
program I ever run (and only when I need to) is called HijackThis!, but
be careful with it because you can mess up your system if you remove the
wrong things (there's web site's deicated to dissecting the output log
of it and they'll help you remove the bad items).

As to McAfee, has been going down hill for years (same with Norton).
You may want to look into one called AVG; they offer an excellent free
version for consumers, but it's mainly targeted at busiunesses.
>
>>But I did not install
>>Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
>
>
> SP2 will not make your machine faster, though it may make it more
> secure. You want to do this, but not till after you solve your
> problem, and not without a good backup.
>
> I'd also look at the Task Manager to see what's using CPU time and
> memory (control-alt-delete, Task Manager, Processes, View, Select
> Collumns, check CPU Time, OK).
>
This is a great suggestion; also pay attention to the CPU Usage column,
and just google the name of any suspicious process.

> A half-full 120G drive isn't the problem, though as Jerry said I'd
> check the transfer mode of the drive. Tom's suggestion to rebuild the
> OS would definitely narrow it down to hardware or software, though you
> might want to run some diags first to rule out hardware.
>
As mentioned, the HDD is likely not the problem (but you ought to defrag
it anyway). A good hardware test would be to download a live Linux cd,
burn it, and boot into it (it creates a virtual drive from your RAM,
your HDD will be untouched, next time you boot to Windows it will be
like nothing ever happened). Almost every distro comes with Mozilla (or
at least Firefox), and I find their performance is nearly identical
between the two OS's. So I suggest loading the programs that have
Windows eqivalents, and see if there's a performance difference. In
fact Linux should be at a disadvantage because it's losing memory to the
RAMdisc, so if Linux seems much faster, due some more hardware tests
(like Memtest86). Just google up Knoppix for the live Linux distro.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

> >Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan
> I'd also try Microsoft's AntiSpyWare product, though it sounds like
> you've done everything I'd think of to rule out mal-ware. Not all
> mal-ware is captured by one of the above programs, though, so it's
> possible you have something new.

I'll add to that - I spent 6 hours trying to lock down someones' machine
at the weekend.

They had a fully up to date Nortons Internet Security and had tried
Adaware / Spybot S&D etc. following initial advice from me.

I spent 3 hours trying to figure out what was going on - reboot after
reboot and entries would be reinstated in the startup after being deleted
in HijackThis! and a reboot.

In desperation I ran Sysclean from Trend (a free one-off "get me out of
trouble" program) - it found TWO - one worm live and active in memory
(which must have been the culprit) and an inactive one on a program on
the HD. Both cleaned up without a hitch.

I also got to see Pest Patrol in action, and its the only commercial app
among the list of apps I recommend for spyware control - it found around
50 entries associated with iMesh which had previously been eradicated.

I`ve got some info on spyware control online here (all except Pest Patrol
are free)

http://www.coreutilities.co.uk

Direct links to Sysclean are at the bottom of the page of the 2nd link.

--
Please add "[newsgroup]" in the subject of any personal replies via email
--- My new email address has "ngspamtrap" & @btinternet.com in it ;-) ---

 

[dogface]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Backout all the latest MS updates you loaded! I downloaded a batch and one
of them caused major problems like you're seeing. When I did a system
restore to before the MS updates, the system was back to normal.

Out of curiousity are you doing anything with network or shared drives?

"Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
news:84GdnfAi-bkUArDfRVn-gw@comcast.com...
> My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB hard
> drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always
been
> a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
> slowdown when using it.
>
> Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which found
no
> viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow. I've
also
> downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
> Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
>
> I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or when
> switching between multiple programs.
>
> Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the Windows
> boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs in
> WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
>
> The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem would
be
> less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB capacity.
> Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up half
> of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the time the
> drive got half full.
>
> My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently, so
> could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a hard
> drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have nearly
half
> of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
>
> I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space, but
I'd
> like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
>
> Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now. During
that
> time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few times
at
> most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last night, but
> the computer is still sluggish.
>
> Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Jerry Park" <NoReply@No.Spam> wrote in message
news:8ZhXd.12181$5T6.2080@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
> Terry Summers wrote:
>
> >My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB
hard
> >drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always
been
> >a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
> >slowdown when using it.
> >
> >Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which found
no
> >viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow. I've
also
> >downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
> >Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
> >
> >I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or when
> >switching between multiple programs.
> >
> >Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the Windows
> >boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs in
> >WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
> >
> >The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem would
be
> >less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB capacity.
> >Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up
half
> >of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the time
the
> >drive got half full.
> >
> >My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently, so
> >could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a hard
> >drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have nearly
half
> >of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
> >
> >I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space, but
I'd
> >like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
> >
> >Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now. During
that
> >time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few times
at
> >most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last night,
but
> >the computer is still sluggish.
> >
> >Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> Check the transfer mode of the disk. It should be a DMA mode, not PIO.
> Preferrably DMA mode 5.
>
> In the device manager, open the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers (click the +
> sign).
> Right click the Primary IDE Channel and choose Properties.
> Under the Advanced Settings tab, see what the transfer mode is for Device
0.

I checked this, and my transfer mode is PIO. Should I really change this?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
news:Ieednd70YZ2487PfRVn-iQ@comcast.com...
>
> "Jerry Park" <NoReply@No.Spam> wrote in message
> news:8ZhXd.12181$5T6.2080@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
>> Terry Summers wrote:
>>
>> >My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB
> hard
>> >drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always
> been
>> >a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
>> >slowdown when using it.
>> >
>> >Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which
>> >found
> no
>> >viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow. I've
> also
>> >downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
>> >Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
>> >
>> >I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or when
>> >switching between multiple programs.
>> >
>> >Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the
>> >Windows
>> >boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs in
>> >WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
>> >
>> >The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem
>> >would
> be
>> >less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB
>> >capacity.
>> >Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up
> half
>> >of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the time
> the
>> >drive got half full.
>> >
>> >My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently, so
>> >could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a hard
>> >drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have nearly
> half
>> >of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
>> >
>> >I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space, but
> I'd
>> >like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
>> >
>> >Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now. During
> that
>> >time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few times
> at
>> >most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last night,
> but
>> >the computer is still sluggish.
>> >
>> >Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> Check the transfer mode of the disk. It should be a DMA mode, not PIO.
>> Preferrably DMA mode 5.
>>
>> In the device manager, open the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers (click the +
>> sign).
>> Right click the Primary IDE Channel and choose Properties.
>> Under the Advanced Settings tab, see what the transfer mode is for Device
> 0.
>
> I checked this, and my transfer mode is PIO. Should I really change this?
>
>


Absolutely. Once you enable DMA, you'll be prompted to reboot to activate
the change..


Stew

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Notan" <notan@ddress.com> wrote in message
news:422DB529.1C044CFD@ddress.com...
> Terry Summers wrote:
> >
> > My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB
hard
> > drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always
been
> > a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
> > slowdown when using it.
> >
> > <snip>
>
> Just out of curiosity, did the slowdown occur after installing
> a specific program?
>
> Notan

No, I don't think I've installed any programs lately.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Dogface" <DogFace@doghouse.com> wrote in message
news:RvsXd.42540$Ov7.30332@fe06.lga...
> Backout all the latest MS updates you loaded! I downloaded a batch and
one
> of them caused major problems like you're seeing. When I did a system
> restore to before the MS updates, the system was back to normal.
>
> Out of curiousity are you doing anything with network or shared drives?
>

I may have to do a system restore.

But nope, I'm not doing anything with networks or shared drives.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"S.Lewis" <stew1960@cover.bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:3uuXd.13123$6g7.4624@bignews1.bellsouth.net...
>
> "Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
> news:Ieednd70YZ2487PfRVn-iQ@comcast.com...
> >
> > "Jerry Park" <NoReply@No.Spam> wrote in message
> > news:8ZhXd.12181$5T6.2080@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
> >> Terry Summers wrote:
> >>
> >> >My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB
> > hard
> >> >drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's
always
> > been
> >> >a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
> >> >slowdown when using it.
> >> >
> >> >Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which
> >> >found
> > no
> >> >viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow. I've
> > also
> >> >downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
> >> >Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
> >> >
> >> >I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or when
> >> >switching between multiple programs.
> >> >
> >> >Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the
> >> >Windows
> >> >boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs in
> >> >WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
> >> >
> >> >The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem
> >> >would
> > be
> >> >less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB
> >> >capacity.
> >> >Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up
> > half
> >> >of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the time
> > the
> >> >drive got half full.
> >> >
> >> >My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently,
so
> >> >could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a
hard
> >> >drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have
nearly
> > half
> >> >of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
> >> >
> >> >I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space,
but
> > I'd
> >> >like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
> >> >
> >> >Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now.
During
> > that
> >> >time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few
times
> > at
> >> >most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last night,
> > but
> >> >the computer is still sluggish.
> >> >
> >> >Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> Check the transfer mode of the disk. It should be a DMA mode, not PIO.
> >> Preferrably DMA mode 5.
> >>
> >> In the device manager, open the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers (click the +
> >> sign).
> >> Right click the Primary IDE Channel and choose Properties.
> >> Under the Advanced Settings tab, see what the transfer mode is for
Device
> > 0.
> >
> > I checked this, and my transfer mode is PIO. Should I really change
this?
> >
> >
>
>
> Absolutely. Once you enable DMA, you'll be prompted to reboot to activate
> the change..
>
>
> Stew
>
>

Ok, I'm a bit confused. Under Device 0, I have the following:

Transfer Mode: DMA if available

Current Transfer Mode: PIO Mode

Do I need to change the Current Transfer Mode to PIO? If so, how do I
change this? It's not letting me edit the Current Transfer Mode field.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Changing to DMA will probably fix your problem.

Brian


>
> I checked this, and my transfer mode is PIO. Should I really change this?
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Yes, change it. The 120GB drive is capable of doing faster DMA transfers. PIO
is slow as a slug. Well, maybe only slow as a turtle... Ben Myers

On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 22:31:53 -0500, "Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote:

>
>"Jerry Park" <NoReply@No.Spam> wrote in message
>news:8ZhXd.12181$5T6.2080@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
>> Terry Summers wrote:
>>
>> >My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB
>hard
>> >drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's always
>been
>> >a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
>> >slowdown when using it.
>> >
>> >Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which found
>no
>> >viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow. I've
>also
>> >downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
>> >Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
>> >
>> >I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or when
>> >switching between multiple programs.
>> >
>> >Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the Windows
>> >boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs in
>> >WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
>> >
>> >The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem would
>be
>> >less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB capacity.
>> >Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up
>half
>> >of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the time
>the
>> >drive got half full.
>> >
>> >My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently, so
>> >could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a hard
>> >drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have nearly
>half
>> >of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
>> >
>> >I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space, but
>I'd
>> >like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
>> >
>> >Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now. During
>that
>> >time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few times
>at
>> >most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last night,
>but
>> >the computer is still sluggish.
>> >
>> >Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> Check the transfer mode of the disk. It should be a DMA mode, not PIO.
>> Preferrably DMA mode 5.
>>
>> In the device manager, open the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers (click the +
>> sign).
>> Right click the Primary IDE Channel and choose Properties.
>> Under the Advanced Settings tab, see what the transfer mode is for Device
>0.
>
>I checked this, and my transfer mode is PIO. Should I really change this?
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I also have a 4550. I have tried the device manager and IDE board and no
advanced tab shows also I can not find anywhere that it says DMA or PIO
mode. There is only one user so I am the administrator. Any suggestions? I
looked at all drives ad Primary and secondary controller properties. I am
running WindowsXP SP2 with all of the latest updates.



"Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
news:z6ednbeNGchbGrPfRVn-gQ@comcast.com...
>
> "S.Lewis" <stew1960@cover.bellsouth.net> wrote in message
> news:3uuXd.13123$6g7.4624@bignews1.bellsouth.net...
>>
>> "Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
>> news:Ieednd70YZ2487PfRVn-iQ@comcast.com...
>> >
>> > "Jerry Park" <NoReply@No.Spam> wrote in message
>> > news:8ZhXd.12181$5T6.2080@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
>> >> Terry Summers wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120 GB
>> > hard
>> >> >drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's
> always
>> > been
>> >> >a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a noticable
>> >> >slowdown when using it.
>> >> >
>> >> >Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which
>> >> >found
>> > no
>> >> >viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow.
>> >> >I've
>> > also
>> >> >downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not install
>> >> >Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
>> >> >
>> >> >I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or
>> >> >when
>> >> >switching between multiple programs.
>> >> >
>> >> >Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the
>> >> >Windows
>> >> >boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs
>> >> >in
>> >> >WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
>> >> >
>> >> >The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem
>> >> >would
>> > be
>> >> >less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB
>> >> >capacity.
>> >> >Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled up
>> > half
>> >> >of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the
>> >> >time
>> > the
>> >> >drive got half full.
>> >> >
>> >> >My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly recently,
> so
>> >> >could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a
> hard
>> >> >drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have
> nearly
>> > half
>> >> >of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
>> >> >
>> >> >I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space,
> but
>> > I'd
>> >> >like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
>> >> >
>> >> >Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now.
> During
>> > that
>> >> >time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few
> times
>> > at
>> >> >most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last
>> >> >night,
>> > but
>> >> >the computer is still sluggish.
>> >> >
>> >> >Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> Check the transfer mode of the disk. It should be a DMA mode, not PIO.
>> >> Preferrably DMA mode 5.
>> >>
>> >> In the device manager, open the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers (click the +
>> >> sign).
>> >> Right click the Primary IDE Channel and choose Properties.
>> >> Under the Advanced Settings tab, see what the transfer mode is for
> Device
>> > 0.
>> >
>> > I checked this, and my transfer mode is PIO. Should I really change
> this?
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>> Absolutely. Once you enable DMA, you'll be prompted to reboot to activate
>> the change..
>>
>>
>> Stew
>>
>>
>
> Ok, I'm a bit confused. Under Device 0, I have the following:
>
> Transfer Mode: DMA if available
>
> Current Transfer Mode: PIO Mode
>
> Do I need to change the Current Transfer Mode to PIO? If so, how do I
> change this? It's not letting me edit the Current Transfer Mode field.
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
news:z6ednbeNGchbGrPfRVn-gQ@comcast.com...
>
><snip>>
>
> Ok, I'm a bit confused. Under Device 0, I have the following:
>
> Transfer Mode: DMA if available
>
> Current Transfer Mode: PIO Mode
>
> Do I need to change the Current Transfer Mode to PIO? If so, how do I
> change this? It's not letting me edit the Current Transfer Mode field.
>
>
>

Go into the BIOS. I would bet that the drive is listed as OFF rather than
AUTO. Press the spacebar until it doesn't say OFF, save and reboot and you
should be in DMA mode.

Tom

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Jeff B" <JBlank@warwick.net> wrote:
>I also have a 4550. I have tried the device manager and IDE board and no
>advanced tab shows also I can not find anywhere that it says DMA or PIO
>mode.

What tabs do you have on the Primary IDE Channel properties in device
manager? If you don't have an advanced tab, you may need a driver
update...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I rechecked the driver-for both the Intel 82801DB ulta ATA Controller and
primarch cahnnel the driver is Intel 10/1/2002 2.3.0.2160. I reinstalled the
chipset drivers from Dell and they left it with the same Driver. I also
rechecked the BIOS both drives are listed as Auto.

The tabs for both are General Driver Details and Resources. I tried to
update the Driver thru the Driver tab whereby it searches Microsoft but no
newer driver was found.

<William P.N. Smith> wrote in message
news:c72u2159to84vd0i10jqihliutejk3i66n@4ax.com...
> "Jeff B" <JBlank@warwick.net> wrote:
>>I also have a 4550. I have tried the device manager and IDE board and no
>>advanced tab shows also I can not find anywhere that it says DMA or PIO
>>mode.
>
> What tabs do you have on the Primary IDE Channel properties in device
> manager? If you don't have an advanced tab, you may need a driver
> update...
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Additional note I have the Intel Application Accelerator installed this may
have something to do with this issue. It shows some information but shows
support for both PIO and DMA. I wonder if its autoselecting the item for me.


"Jeff B" <JBlank@warwick.net> wrote in message
news:422f35ec$1@news1.warwick.net...
>I rechecked the driver-for both the Intel 82801DB ulta ATA Controller and
>primarch cahnnel the driver is Intel 10/1/2002 2.3.0.2160. I reinstalled
>the chipset drivers from Dell and they left it with the same Driver. I also
>rechecked the BIOS both drives are listed as Auto.
>
> The tabs for both are General Driver Details and Resources. I tried to
> update the Driver thru the Driver tab whereby it searches Microsoft but no
> newer driver was found.
>
> <William P.N. Smith> wrote in message
> news:c72u2159to84vd0i10jqihliutejk3i66n@4ax.com...
>> "Jeff B" <JBlank@warwick.net> wrote:
>>>I also have a 4550. I have tried the device manager and IDE board and no
>>>advanced tab shows also I can not find anywhere that it says DMA or PIO
>>>mode.
>>
>> What tabs do you have on the Primary IDE Channel properties in device
>> manager? If you don't have an advanced tab, you may need a driver
>> update...
>>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I found it. In the accelerator window is information about the current
transfer mode-UDMA-5 in my case for both drives.


"Jeff B" <JBlank@warwick.net> wrote in message
news:422f35ec$1@news1.warwick.net...
>I rechecked the driver-for both the Intel 82801DB ulta ATA Controller and
>primarch cahnnel the driver is Intel 10/1/2002 2.3.0.2160. I reinstalled
>the chipset drivers from Dell and they left it with the same Driver. I also
>rechecked the BIOS both drives are listed as Auto.
>
> The tabs for both are General Driver Details and Resources. I tried to
> update the Driver thru the Driver tab whereby it searches Microsoft but no
> newer driver was found.
>
> <William P.N. Smith> wrote in message
> news:c72u2159to84vd0i10jqihliutejk3i66n@4ax.com...
>> "Jeff B" <JBlank@warwick.net> wrote:
>>>I also have a 4550. I have tried the device manager and IDE board and no
>>>advanced tab shows also I can not find anywhere that it says DMA or PIO
>>>mode.
>>
>> What tabs do you have on the Primary IDE Channel properties in device
>> manager? If you don't have an advanced tab, you may need a driver
>> update...
>>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Did you try my suggestion of ensuring the drives are not OFF in the BIOS?
They'll work, but in PIO mode, if they are.

Tom
"Jeff B" <JBlank@warwick.net> wrote in message
news:422ef4c1$1@news1.warwick.net...
>I also have a 4550. I have tried the device manager and IDE board and no
>advanced tab shows also I can not find anywhere that it says DMA or PIO
>mode. There is only one user so I am the administrator. Any suggestions? I
>looked at all drives ad Primary and secondary controller properties. I am
>running WindowsXP SP2 with all of the latest updates.
>
>
>
> "Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
> news:z6ednbeNGchbGrPfRVn-gQ@comcast.com...
>>
>> "S.Lewis" <stew1960@cover.bellsouth.net> wrote in message
>> news:3uuXd.13123$6g7.4624@bignews1.bellsouth.net...
>>>
>>> "Terry Summers" <tsum@tsummer.net> wrote in message
>>> news:Ieednd70YZ2487PfRVn-iQ@comcast.com...
>>> >
>>> > "Jerry Park" <NoReply@No.Spam> wrote in message
>>> > news:8ZhXd.12181$5T6.2080@bignews4.bellsouth.net...
>>> >> Terry Summers wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> >My system is a Dell 4550 2.66 Pentium IV with a 1 GB RAM and a 120
>>> >> >GB
>>> > hard
>>> >> >drive, running XP Home. It's a little over 2 years old, and it's
>> always
>>> > been
>>> >> >a very speedy machine for me, but lately I've encountered a
>>> >> >noticable
>>> >> >slowdown when using it.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >Even after running AdAware, Spyboy S&D, and McAfee VirusScan (which
>>> >> >found
>>> > no
>>> >> >viruses), all with the latest updates, the machine is still slow.
>>> >> >I've
>>> > also
>>> >> >downloaded the latest Windows critical updates. But I did not
>>> >> >install
>>> >> >Windows Service Pack 2 yet.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >I mainly notice the slowdown when trying to open new programs, or
>>> >> >when
>>> >> >switching between multiple programs.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >Booting up the machine also now takes longer than normal. And the
>>> >> >Windows
>>> >> >boot up theme music now skips, and sounds garbled at boot up. Songs
>>> >> >in
>>> >> >WinAmp and movies in Windows Media Player now skip as well.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >The only thing that I can think of that may be causing this problem
>>> >> >would
>>> > be
>>> >> >less free hard drive space. My 120 GB HD seems to have a 111 GB
>>> >> >capacity.
>>> >> >Right now, 56.2 GB is used, and 55.4 GB is free. I've never filled
>>> >> >up
>>> > half
>>> >> >of this drive before, and the problems seemed to start around the
>>> >> >time
>>> > the
>>> >> >drive got half full.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >My hard drive has only gotten past the 50% full mark fairly
>>> >> >recently,
>> so
>>> >> >could this be the problem? I've noticed on other machines that as a
>> hard
>>> >> >drive gets more and more full, slowdowns occur. Yet I still have
>> nearly
>>> > half
>>> >> >of it free, so I'm not sure why things are slowing down now.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >I'll delete a bunch of programs if necessary, to free up more space,
>> but
>>> > I'd
>>> >> >like to know beforehand if this will solve the problem or not.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >Also, this computer has been used for a little over 2 years now.
>> During
>>> > that
>>> >> >time, the hard drive hadn't been defragged regularly - maybe a few
>> times
>>> > at
>>> >> >most. But I since defragged it over the weekend, and again last
>>> >> >night,
>>> > but
>>> >> >the computer is still sluggish.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >Any help would be appreciated as to what's causing these slowdowns.
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> >
>>> >> Check the transfer mode of the disk. It should be a DMA mode, not
>>> >> PIO.
>>> >> Preferrably DMA mode 5.
>>> >>
>>> >> In the device manager, open the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers (click the
>>> >> +
>>> >> sign).
>>> >> Right click the Primary IDE Channel and choose Properties.
>>> >> Under the Advanced Settings tab, see what the transfer mode is for
>> Device
>>> > 0.
>>> >
>>> > I checked this, and my transfer mode is PIO. Should I really change
>> this?
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>> Absolutely. Once you enable DMA, you'll be prompted to reboot to
>>> activate
>>> the change..
>>>
>>>
>>> Stew
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Ok, I'm a bit confused. Under Device 0, I have the following:
>>
>> Transfer Mode: DMA if available
>>
>> Current Transfer Mode: PIO Mode
>>
>> Do I need to change the Current Transfer Mode to PIO? If so, how do I
>> change this? It's not letting me edit the Current Transfer Mode field.
>>
>>
>>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

"Jeff B" <JBlank@warwick.net> wrote:
>I rechecked the driver-for both the Intel 82801DB ulta ATA Controller and
>primarch cahnnel the driver is Intel 10/1/2002 2.3.0.2160.

I've got a 82801DBM with MicroSoft drivers (5.1.2600.1106), maybe you
need to lose the IAA and load the M$ drivers?

Try running HDTune from http://hdtune.com/ and see what kinds of
transfer rates you get, and what your active mode is...