NIce WinXP Home Boots-Up VERY SLO-O-WLY and Paints Screen Slowly with Banding

[Bernard R Buchta]

Greetings,
SYMPTOM: Computer running WinXP Home Boots-Up VERY SLO-O-WLY.

Went to a friend's home to check out her PC because it was running very slowly.
Her PC is a nice Dell Dimension 2350 desktop with a 1.7 GHz Intel chip, 25 GIG hard drive (17 GIG Free), 128 MEG of RAM, and running WinXP Home Edition 2002 with SP # 1 installed.
The machine was taking 2½ to 3 minutes to boot up. It goes online using a 56K baud modem to her ISP, Earthlink, running Earthlink 2003 Total Access software.
Machine was using Norton's AntiVirus with an up-to-date subscription.
Besides booting up very slowly, it "takes forever" to "refresh the screen" whenever a graphic is being "painted" to it.. Example: When we open Outlook Express and the OE6 Splash Screen appears, this little IE 6 splash screen paints oh-so-very-slowly, line-by-line, from the top to the bottom of the splash screen image (banding).

Here's what I did in her machine:
I neutralized the Norton AV Program; both in the Norton's Set-Up preferences, and in the "run msconfig" Startup Tab. Downloaded and installed AVG6 AntiVirus program. We then updated AVG's virus signatures and ran AVG6.
AVG6's virus scan reported the machine was "clean" and found NO VIRI.

Next, we installed and ran Ad-Aware and SpyBot, Search & Destroy. Both programs only found "a couple Tracking Cookies" i.e. nothing major to speak of at all. These programs reported no major Spyware infestations of any type.
Ran CWShredder. Found nothing.

Somewhere in the above testing (Spybot??) I saw an indication that MS-Blast may be affecting her machine. However; it wasn't "rebooting every 60 seconds". When I asked her if she had ever been to the Microsoft Update site, she said, "What's that?"
I applied the WinXP 32-bit fix (patch) for MS-Blast from the Microsoft site..
Then we went to the Windows Update site and checked her system. We applied all Critical Updates and Drivers. http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
Upon Reboot, nothing changed. The machine still exhibited all the same, sorry symptoms.

Next I TURNED-OFF WinXP Indexing Service.
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#Indexing_Service
As far as I can tell, the machine is CLEAN. No viri, no spyware, no malware.

Nonetheless, the machine still takes 2½ minutes to boot-up and it still "paints graphics" very, very slowly.
Any ideas as what to do next to speed up the boot-up process, or help "paint the screen graphics" more quickly, are sincerely appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Bernie in Troy

 

[Rick]

Hello Bernie,
I have a Dell Demension 2400 which which runs at 2.2 Ghz and came with
128mb of ram. I found that it booted a little slow also so I added another
256 mb of ram and that solved my problem. I also run Norton Antivirus and I
have not messed with any of the processes that load at start up. Definately
add more ram!

 

[Wislu Plethora]

-----Original Message-----
Greetings,
SYMPTOM: Computer running WinXP Home Boots-Up VERY SLO-O- WLY.

Went to a friend's home to check out her PC because it was running very slowly.
Her PC is a nice Dell Dimension 2350 desktop with a 1.7

GHz Intel chip, 25 GIG hard drive (17 GIG Free), 128 MEG
of RAM, and running WinXP Home Edition 2002 with SP # 1
installed.

The machine was taking 2½ to 3 minutes to boot up. It

goes online using a 56K baud modem to her ISP, Earthlink,
running Earthlink 2003 Total Access software.

Machine was using Norton's AntiVirus with an up-to-date subscription.
Besides booting up very slowly, it "takes forever"

to "refresh the screen" whenever a graphic is
being "painted" to it.. Example: When we open Outlook
Express and the OE6 Splash Screen appears, this little IE
6 splash screen paints oh-so-very-slowly, line-by-line,
from the top to the bottom of the splash screen image
(banding).

Here's what I did in her machine:
I neutralized the Norton AV Program; both in the Norton's

Set-Up preferences, and in the "run msconfig" Startup
Tab. Downloaded and installed AVG6 AntiVirus program. We
then updated AVG's virus signatures and ran AVG6.

AVG6's virus scan reported the machine was "clean" and found NO VIRI.

Next, we installed and ran Ad-Aware and SpyBot, Search &

Destroy. Both programs only found "a couple Tracking
Cookies" i.e. nothing major to speak of at all. These
programs reported no major Spyware infestations of any
type.

Ran CWShredder. Found nothing.

Somewhere in the above testing (Spybot??) I saw an

indication that MS-Blast may be affecting her machine.
However; it wasn't "rebooting every 60 seconds". When I
asked her if she had ever been to the Microsoft Update
site, she said, "What's that?"

I applied the WinXP 32-bit fix (patch) for MS-Blast from the Microsoft site..
Then we went to the Windows Update site and checked her

system. We applied all Critical Updates and Drivers.
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp

Upon Reboot, nothing changed. The machine still

exhibited all the same, sorry symptoms.

Next I TURNED-OFF WinXP Indexing Service.
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#Indexing_Se rvice
As far as I can tell, the machine is CLEAN. No viri, no spyware, no malware.

Nonetheless, the machine still takes 2½ minutes to boot-

up and it still "paints graphics" very, very slowly.

Any ideas as what to do next to speed up the boot-up

process, or help "paint the screen graphics" more quickly,
are sincerely appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Bernie in Troy

Your problem doesn't interest me, but I would like to know
why you randomly put phrases "in quotes."

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

Greetings,
SYMPTOM: Computer running WinXP Home Boots-Up VERY SLO-O-WLY.

Went to a friend's home to check out her PC because it was running
very slowly.
Her PC is a nice Dell Dimension 2350 desktop with a 1.7 GHz Intel
chip, 25 GIG hard drive (17 GIG Free), 128 MEG of RAM, and running
WinXP Home Edition 2002 with SP # 1 installed.
The machine was taking 2½ to 3 minutes to boot up. It goes online
using a 56K baud modem to her ISP, Earthlink, running Earthlink 2003
Total Access software.
Machine was using Norton's AntiVirus with an up-to-date subscription.
Besides booting up very slowly, it "takes forever" to "refresh the
screen" whenever a graphic is being "painted" to it.. Example: When
we open Outlook Express and the OE6 Splash Screen appears, this
little IE 6 splash screen paints oh-so-very-slowly, line-by-line,
from the top to the bottom of the splash screen image (banding).

Here's what I did in her machine:
I neutralized the Norton AV Program; both in the Norton's Set-Up
preferences, and in the "run msconfig" Startup Tab. Downloaded and
installed AVG6 AntiVirus program. We then updated AVG's virus
signatures and ran AVG6.
AVG6's virus scan reported the machine was "clean" and found NO VIRI.

Next, we installed and ran Ad-Aware and SpyBot, Search & Destroy.
Both programs only found "a couple Tracking Cookies" i.e. nothing
major to speak of at all. These programs reported no major Spyware
infestations of any type.
Ran CWShredder. Found nothing.

Somewhere in the above testing (Spybot??) I saw an indication that
MS-Blast may be affecting her machine. However; it wasn't "rebooting
every 60 seconds". When I asked her if she had ever been to the
Microsoft Update site, she said, "What's that?"
I applied the WinXP 32-bit fix (patch) for MS-Blast from the
Microsoft site..
Then we went to the Windows Update site and checked her system. We
applied all Critical Updates and Drivers.
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
Upon Reboot, nothing changed. The machine still exhibited all the
same, sorry symptoms.

Next I TURNED-OFF WinXP Indexing Service.
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#Indexing_Service
As far as I can tell, the machine is CLEAN. No viri, no spyware, no
malware.

Nonetheless, the machine still takes 2½ minutes to boot-up and it
still "paints graphics" very, very slowly.
Any ideas as what to do next to speed up the boot-up process, or help
"paint the screen graphics" more quickly, are sincerely appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Bernie in Troy

I agree with Rick that the main problem is not enough RAM.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

 

[Bernard R Buchta]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I sincerely appreciate them.
After reading your responses, I browsed the Symantec blaster page:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.blaster.worm.removal.tool.html
Half-way down the page, it reads:
------------------------------------------
(QUOTE System Restore option in Windows XP
Users of Windows XP should temporarily turn off System Restore. Windows XP uses this feature, which is enabled by default, to restore the files on your computer in case they become damaged. If a virus, worm, or Trojan infects a computer, System Restore may back up the virus, worm, or Trojan on the computer.

Windows prevents outside programs, including antivirus programs, from modifying System Restore. Therefore, antivirus programs or tools cannot remove threats in the System Restore folder. As a result, System Restore has the potential of restoring an infected file on your computer, even after you have cleaned the infected files from all the other locations.

Also, in some cases, online scanners may detect a threat in the System Restore folder even though you scanned your computer with an antivirus program and did not find any infected files.

For instructions on how to turn off System Restore, read your Windows documentation, or the article "How to turn off or turn on Windows XP System Restore" (END QUOTE)
--------------------------------------------
Armed with your input and the Symantec info, this afternoon I returned to her machine and did the following:
1. I turned off her System Restore. Rebooted.
2. I rebooted in Safe Mode with Admin Rights.
3. I again ran the WinXP 32-bit fix (patch) for MS-Blast from the Microsoft site.
The install Wizard reported the patch was successful.
4. Rebooted to Windows.
5. Turned ON System Restore.
6. Rebooted. Then went online to check her mail. While online, received the PopUP window that advised to close all windows / programs as the machine was going to rebooted in 60 seconds . . . and the clock was "counting down." I closed Outlook Express and all open folders. Sure enough, when the countdown clock hit zero, the machine rebooted.
7. After rebooting and spending a little time on the Desktop (without going online), this LSA Shell window http://members.fortunecity.com/buchta/Internet101/files/LSA-Shell.gif opened.

8. I didn't know what LSA-Shell window, so I left my friend's home so I could do some serious GOOGLING with my broadband access and list of Favorites/Bookmarks.
Two-thirds down this page "btap" writes a "fix" for LSA-Shell.
http://www.computercops.biz/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=164875
Apparently LSA-Shell is the Sasser virus.

I can't get back to my friend's machine for a couple days.
I'll execute the above "btap" suggested fix.
I'll post the results of that session in a couple days.

Thanks again for all your valuable input.

Bernie in Troy.
======================

Greetings,
SYMPTOM: Computer running WinXP Home Boots-Up VERY SLO-O-WLY.

Went to a friend's home to check out her PC because it was running
very slowly.
Her PC is a nice Dell Dimension 2350 desktop with a 1.7 GHz Intel
chip, 25 GIG hard drive (17 GIG Free), 128 MEG of RAM, and running
WinXP Home Edition 2002 with SP # 1 installed.
The machine was taking 2½ to 3 minutes to boot up. It goes online
using a 56K baud modem to her ISP, Earthlink, running Earthlink 2003
Total Access software.
Machine was using Norton's AntiVirus with an up-to-date subscription.
Besides booting up very slowly, it "takes forever" to "refresh the
screen" whenever a graphic is being "painted" to it.. Example: When
we open Outlook Express and the OE6 Splash Screen appears, this
little IE 6 splash screen paints oh-so-very-slowly, line-by-line,
from the top to the bottom of the splash screen image (banding).

Here's what I did in her machine:
I neutralized the Norton AV Program; both in the Norton's Set-Up
preferences, and in the "run msconfig" Startup Tab. Downloaded and
installed AVG6 AntiVirus program. We then updated AVG's virus
signatures and ran AVG6.
AVG6's virus scan reported the machine was "clean" and found NO VIRI.

Next, we installed and ran Ad-Aware and SpyBot, Search & Destroy.
Both programs only found "a couple Tracking Cookies" i.e. nothing
major to speak of at all. These programs reported no major Spyware
infestations of any type.
Ran CWShredder. Found nothing.

Somewhere in the above testing (Spybot??) I saw an indication that
MS-Blast may be affecting her machine. However; it wasn't "rebooting
every 60 seconds". When I asked her if she had ever been to the
Microsoft Update site, she said, "What's that?"
I applied the WinXP 32-bit fix (patch) for MS-Blast from the
Microsoft site..
Then we went to the Windows Update site and checked her system. We
applied all Critical Updates and Drivers.
http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/default.asp
Upon Reboot, nothing changed. The machine still exhibited all the
same, sorry symptoms.

Next I TURNED-OFF WinXP Indexing Service.
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#Indexing_Service
As far as I can tell, the machine is CLEAN. No viri, no spyware, no
malware.

Nonetheless, the machine still takes 2½ minutes to boot-up and it
still "paints graphics" very, very slowly.
Any ideas as what to do next to speed up the boot-up process, or help
"paint the screen graphics" more quickly, are sincerely appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Bernie in Troy

I agree with Rick that the main problem is not enough RAM.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email
http://www.fjsmjs.com
Protect your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/