Steps before, during and after formating drive C:

[Guest]

Hi all, I have very basic knowledge. My PC is about 3-4 years old and become
extremely slow. My Internet Security gave me that many warnings that almost
every keystroke would result in a warning. I could not back up to disk. took
my PC to computer place to format Hard disk but they would not save my files
and things for me. So they ended up convincing me that the best solution
would be to install another internal Hard drive and called it D: and that
became the drive that automaticaly comes up. I had to reinstall all my
programs and devices. BUT, it is still very slow.
I want to take everything out of c: and put it into D: (I have done some of
it) and than format c:. Not sure how to do it all so I dont loose important
stuff. I have Windows XP Home SP2 installed in both drives. Please HELP, I
AM DESPERATE. Where do I find the info I need?

 

[Malke]

Hi all, I have very basic knowledge. My PC is about 3-4 years old and become
extremely slow. My Internet Security gave me that many warnings that almost
every keystroke would result in a warning. I could not back up to disk. took
my PC to computer place to format Hard disk but they would not save my files
and things for me. So they ended up convincing me that the best solution
would be to install another internal Hard drive and called it D: and that
became the drive that automaticaly comes up. I had to reinstall all my
programs and devices. BUT, it is still very slow.
I want to take everything out of c: and put it into D: (I have done some of
it) and than format c:. Not sure how to do it all so I dont loose important
stuff. I have Windows XP Home SP2 installed in both drives. Please HELP, I
AM DESPERATE. Where do I find the info I need?

If you are working from a new install of XP on the new D: drive and the
machine is still slow, something isn't right. Unfortunately I can't tell
you what is wrong without seeing the machine. It could be hardware or
software, there is no way to know from your post. Probably the best
thing for you to do is find a different computer repair shop. Get
recommendations from friends, colleagues, etc. It is completely possible
to back up your data and when the shop people said they wouldn't do it
you should have taken the machine elsewhere.

Very generally, I would probably back up your data using Knoppix (a
Linux distro that runs from CD) and then do hardware and software
troubleshooting. Since you say you have "very basic knowledge", these
steps are going to be pretty complex for you. I've put the general
information below so you can make the choice as to what to do yourself.

*****
A. Data recovery:

1. Pull the drive and slave it in a computer running a working install
of XP. Depending on the target drive's characteristics, you may need a
drive adapter; i.e., laptop-to-IDE or a SATA controller card, etc. A
usb/firewire external drive enclosure works very well, too. Use the
working Windows Explorer to copy the data to the rescue system's hard
drive and then burn the data to cd or dvd.

2. Often XP will not boot with a slaved drive that has a damaged file
system. In that case, boot the target computer with either a Bart's PE
or a Linux live cd such as Knoppix and retrieve the data that way. Here
is general information on using Knoppix for this:

You will need a computer with two cd drives, one of which is a cd/dvd-rw
OR a usb thumb drive with enough capacity to hold your data OR an
external usb/firewire hard drive formatted FAT32 (not NTFS). To get
Knoppix, you need a computer with a fast Internet connection and
third-party burning software. Download the Knoppix .iso and create your
bootable cd. Then boot with it and it will be able to see the Windows
files. If you are using the usb thumb drive or the external hard drive,
right-click on its icon (on the Desktop) to get its properties and
uncheck the box that says "Read Only". Then click on it to open it. Note
that the default mouse action in the window manager used by Knoppix
(KDE) is a single click to open instead of the traditional MS Windows'
double-click. Otherwise, use the K3b burning program to burn the files
to cd/dvd-r's.

http://www.knoppix.net
http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/ - Bart's PE Builder

B. Hardware troubleshooting -
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Hardware_Tshoot

C. Software troubleshooting always starts with determining if a computer
is virus/malware-infected:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
*****

Malke

 

[Guest]

Thank you so much for your time, patience and info Malke. I have TrendMicro
PcCillin2007 installed and run full scans and updates all the time. Have
consulted their support section and followed their instructions to find and
clean any possible bad things in my PC but that has not helped. It does not
find any virus. I am not even sure if the problem is software or hardware
related. I do defrag my computer regularly and run the Windows OneCare Live
scan very often to help keep my PC in order but I still get a lot of my
programs freeze up on me. When I start my computer it can take up to 15
minutes (sometimes longer) for the starting up process to complete. So I
think it could even be caused by the way I have programs set up, I just do
not know. I will follow your advice to get all my files on to an alternate
storage place and try to troubleshoot before I attempt anything else. If I
can not perform the troubleshooting myself with the help of your kind advice,
I will then find another repair shop to see if they can help me. The one I
went to did not want to be responsible for any loss to my files, fair enough!
Somethings sound a bit too complicated for me.

I will come back here and post the results of the computing adventure I am
about to get into.

Thank you so much for your kind reply.


Cheers,
InfoHungry

 

[Malke]

Thank you so much for your time, patience and info Malke. I have TrendMicro
PcCillin2007 installed and run full scans and updates all the time. Have
consulted their support section and followed their instructions to find and
clean any possible bad things in my PC but that has not helped. It does not
find any virus. I am not even sure if the problem is software or hardware
related. I do defrag my computer regularly and run the Windows OneCare Live
scan very often to help keep my PC in order but I still get a lot of my
programs freeze up on me. When I start my computer it can take up to 15
minutes (sometimes longer) for the starting up process to complete. So I
think it could even be caused by the way I have programs set up, I just do
not know. I will follow your advice to get all my files on to an alternate
storage place and try to troubleshoot before I attempt anything else. If I
can not perform the troubleshooting myself with the help of your kind advice,
I will then find another repair shop to see if they can help me. The one I
went to did not want to be responsible for any loss to my files, fair enough!
Somethings sound a bit too complicated for me.

I will come back here and post the results of the computing adventure I am
about to get into.

OK, pcCillin can definitely slow your computer to a crawl. I really
dislike their consumer-level antivirus. The first thing I would do is
uninstall pcCillin. Replace it with a far less invasive/bloated program
like Avast (free) or even F-Prot (which is what I run on my XP boxen).

If that doesn't completely cure the issue, then do clean-boot
troubleshooting per:

Clean boot in Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353
Clean-boot advanced troubleshooting in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434
How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

It is not necessary to defrag more than possibly once a quarter or every
6 months unless you routinely work with very large files such as when
you do video editing, photoshop, etc. As for any registry cleaner such
as what comes with OneCare - stay away from that! Registry cleaners are
unhealthy for your computer.

On the hardware side, make sure the hard drive(s) are not running in PIO
mode. See MVP Hans-Georg Michna's site and fix for that:
http://winhlp.com/?q=node/10

After you've done some of the above, please do come back with results
and more questions.


Malke

 

[Paul Randall]

If you have the expertise to remove and install hard drives, and change the
jumper settings on hard drives, and install WXP, and view your BIOS
settings, I would suggest the following.

1. Make a list of things that seem to work slowly. Try to find things that
are included in a basic WXP install, things that will be available on a
minimal WXP installation. Like the built-in games.

2. Go into BIOS and verify that your hard drives are either both on the same
controller (as primary and secondary), or are both primaries on the two
controllers, with CD as secondary on one of them (or both, if you have to
CD/DVD drives). If you change things, test your system and see if things
have improved.

3. If that is OK, then set up a minimal system, with one hard drive that you
can erase completely (you have saved whatever you need from it) as primary
on one controller, one CD as primary on the other controller, and other
non-essential stuff unplugged/removed from the computer such as USB &
network stuff & PCI cards. To see what your 'clean system speed' is, all
you need is hard drive, CD player, video, keyboard, and mouse. Take out any
other hardware. Make sure you are disconnected from the internet, both wifi
and hardwired. Install WXP, but no security or any other stuff and see how
it runs, using the list you set up in step 1.

4. If the system is as slow as ever, I don't know what you should do.
If it is faster than before, then you have to figure out how to troubleshoot
the problem. Others here may be able to help you.

-Paul Randall

 

[Guest]

Hello again Malke, hope you are doing well.

I am struggling to back up on to cd/dvds because I am not sure of exactly
which files I need to save for later apart from say my photos and movies and
letters I have written. Not sure about how to pick all the files needed for
programs that I have downloaded from the internet but would like to keep
using. and I am also not sure about what to save on to disk in what concerns
the actual computer running and operation (for recovery if necessary).

I have all the cds that came with my PC such as windows, driver
instalation, motherboard, internal modem, keyboard and mouse, plus printer,
webcam ect. I have two dvd burners installed and I have the software for one
of them, not sure about the other one which came with the pc. I have the
installation disk for my internet broadband modem. so I got stuck here with
the "BACKING UP".

- I have visited the http://winhlp.com/?q=node/10 and ran the program on
both drives. Start up speed seems to have improved 80%.

Nero Info tool says that the configuration Is: Primary IDE Channel with a
Master - DMA off, Slave DMA on, Secondary IDE channel with a Master DMA on,
Autorun on, Slave DMA on, autorun on, and SiS OCI to USB Enhanced Host
controller(+ my all in one printer scanner copier's name) with no referrence
to DMA.
Prim IDE
Master : WDC WD800BB-00JHC0
DMA OFF
Slave ST3120022A
DMA on
Sec IDE
Master - _NEC DVD_RW ND-1300A
DMA on
Autorun on
Slave - HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10N
DMA on
Autorun on
SIS PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller
HP PSC 2355 USB Device
I am using the K3b program you sugested for burning on to disc. Found quite
easy to use. Thank you.
I have turned off my PCCillin but did not yet uninstall. will do. was more
worried about saving everything to disc and reading about the
troubleshoothing. I am not sure I understand how to get and use a boot disc
and its purpose. Need to do a course on basic computer use I think.
so please do add your comments on this reply. Thank you.

InfoHungry

 

[Guest]

Thank you for your suggestions Paul.
ultimately what you described is exactly what I am trying to achieve but
unfortunately I do not have the expertise to acomplish those tasks. I stuggle
with a lot of the 'basics'. I am pretty good at following step-by-step
instructions though and usualy search endlessly for help topics and get
things done but often encounter other difficulties to deal with in the
process so I spend an enormous amount of time to get something done. I learn
from it all only it is the hard and time consuming way. My device manager
says that everything is good. ??????? So am still making sure I do get on
to disk EVERYTHING that is needed.
Thank you. IH