Extreme Intermittent keyboard problem - need expert help

[thomasjbs]

This is *very* strange.

Periodically, (5 minutes, then 2 hours later for 20 minutes, then
every 4 days, then for 2 hours,...) a user gets some kind of
performance problem. Keystrokes are not consistent and/or mouseclicks
are not consistent (as if system is very , very, busy) - also as if
wireless keyboard and mouse batteries are very low - swapped out
wireless with hardwire USB keyboard and hardwire USB mouse for 2 weeks
- problem continued.

CPU Utilization is Idle (of course), network utilization is low,
available memory is 300-400 megs available.

Put System on UPS, problem continued. Began to re-install system on
new Hard Drive (to keep original contents safe) - problem continued
with No user applications loaded (Dell Notebook M1210) after fresh
install.

Passes Dell Hardware diagnostics; Passes Memtestx86 memory test (55
passes).

Checked for Spyware from 4 AV engines (McAfee, Symantec, Trend Micro,
SpySweeper).

Anyone know what component might be bottle-necking here? I'm out of
ideas.

Anyone know how to check performance and load of PC bus?

 

[Gerry]

Does pagefile usage rise and fall at an acceptable level or steadily
rise?

You may find it helpful to know exactly how much of your pagefile is
being used. Use page file monitor to observe what is the peak usage.
Start it to run immediately after start-up and look at the log at the
end of the session.The log is Pagefile log.txt. If you right click on
the file in Windows Explorer and select Send to, Desktop (Create
Shortcut). The same applies to XP_PageFileMon.exe.

A small utility to monitor pagefile usage:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

Note programs using undo features particularly those associated with
graphics and photo editing require large amounts of memory so if you
use this type of programme check these first observing how the page
usage increases when they start and whether the usage decreases when
you close the programme.

Is Adobe Acrobat Reader used?

Have you compared incident times to Scheduled Tasks?

What programmes are typically running at any one time?

Is the computer left on 24/7?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[thomasjbs]

>>> Does pagefile usage rise and fall at an acceptable level or steadily rise?

Hmmm.. Haven't checked that. I'm having the user check that now, however the XP_PageFileMon only allows a limit of 60 second intervals between popups. I don't know how to keep it running to log it other than have the user manually run it periodically.

>>> Is Adobe Acrobat Reader used?
Periodically

>>> Have you compared incident times to Scheduled Tasks?
No custom Scheduled Tasks. Checked for Scheduled AV Scans, but it happens when no scan is running.

>>>What programmes are typically running at any one time?
Very few applications
Outlook, Word, Picasa (picasa is rare) - very common with Outlook only.

>>> Is the computer left on 24/7?
No. It hibernates every night, but reboots are common too. (every other day or so)

 

[thomasjbs]

Does pagefile usage rise and fall at an acceptable level or steadily
rise?

You may find it helpful to know exactly how much of your pagefile is
being used. Use page file monitor to observe what is the peak usage.
Start it to run immediately after start-up and look at the log at the
end of the session.The log is Pagefile log.txt. If you right click on
the file in Windows Explorer and select Send to, Desktop (Create
Shortcut). The same applies to XP_PageFileMon.exe.

A small utility to monitor pagefile usage:http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

Note programs using undo features particularly those associated with
graphics and photo editing require large amounts of memory so if you
use this type of programme check these first observing how the page
usage increases when they start and whether the usage decreases when
you close the programme.

Is Adobe Acrobat Reader used?

Have you compared incident times to Scheduled Tasks?

What programmes are typically running at any one time?

Is the computer left on 24/7?

--

No high utilization apps are used on this notebook - user is a slow
typer that mainly uses it for email and occasional documents. - very
low utilization

Adobe Reader is used - but not noticeable when the issue occurs.

No custom scheduled tasks. Occasional Virus scanners, but not always
when the problem occurs.

Outlook, Excel and Word. Small excel documents - not big
spreadsheets.

Here's the log for one day of Pagefilemonitor:


8/10/2007 3:11:55 PM
Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 12 MB
Session Peak Usage: 60 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

8/10/2007 1:24:22 PM
Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 12 MB
Session Peak Usage: 60 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

8/10/2007 12:21:20 PM
Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 12 MB
Session Peak Usage: 60 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

8/10/2007 12:21:17 PM
Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 12 MB
Session Peak Usage: 60 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

8/10/2007 12:21:07 PM
Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 12 MB
Session Peak Usage: 60 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

8/10/2007 8:44:11 AM
Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 36 MB
Session Peak Usage: 36 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

8/10/2007 8:43:13 AM
Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 32 MB
Session Peak Usage: 32 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

8/10/2007 8:43:04 AM
Pagefile Physical Location: C:\pagefile.sys
Current Pagefile Usage: 29 MB
Session Peak Usage: 29 MB
Current Pagefile Size: 1536 MB

 

[Gerry]

Thomas

No problems indicated by any of the replies.

One aspect of your references to keyboards puzzles me. The Model you
mention does not seem to have a conventional keyboard. Please see
picture in link below:
http://www.dell.com/html/global/topics/gaming/en/emea/uk/dhs/systems-notebook.html

Can we look at the Event Viewer Logs please?

Please post copies of all Error and Warning Reports appearing in the
System and Application logs in Event Viewer for the last boot. No
Information Reports or Duplicates please. Indicate which also appear in
a previous boot.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Control Panel,
Administrative Tools, and Event Viewer. When researching the meaning
of the error, information regarding Event ID, Source and Description
are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308427/en-us

Part of the Description of the error will include a link, which you
should double click for further information. You can copy using copy
and paste. Often the link will, however, say there is no further
information.
http://go.microsoft.com/fw.link/events.asp
(Please note the hyperlink above is for illustration purposes only)

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Click the button and close Event
Viewer.Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. Make sure this is the first paste after exiting from
Event Viewer.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~