Very slow, constant HD access

[Guest]

Pentium M 1.73GHz, 2MB RAM, 100GB HD, XP Home SP2

Over the past few weeks, my system performance has really degraded. Bootup
is almost 8 minutes, programs take forever to load, and the HD is being
accessed almost constantly.

Couple examples: when I go to Save a document, the dialog appears but the
folders come in slower while the HD light flickers away. If I create a New
Folder, it takes a couple seconds for the little icon to appear; the blank
box is there but I can't type in it, the HD zooms for about 8-10 seconds and
then I can type a name. Double-clicking to go into a folder, I have 8-10
seconds of HD access before it opens. Clicking to place the cursor in Word,
several seconds of HD access before it happens.

I keep the system clean and malware-free, and use AV/Firewall/Antispyware
software. I have also run Housecall, ActiveScan, AdAware, and the other
recommended programs. All report nothing is found. I have defragged,
deleted temp files, emptied recycle bin, deleted internet cache/temp, pared
down startup, and done all the other recommended actions.

I'm really at a loss. It's not malware, I haven't added any new programs,
and I can't pin the change down to a single event. This isn't much to go on,
I know, but if there are any other tests I can run or if anyone has any
suggestions, I would be very appreciative.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

This can help identify the problem:

"How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316434/en-us

 

[John R Weiss]

Pentium M 1.73GHz, 2MB RAM, 100GB HD, XP Home SP2

Hopefully that's 2 GB RAM, not 2 MB...

Over the past few weeks, my system performance has really degraded. Bootup
is almost 8 minutes, programs take forever to load, and the HD is being
accessed almost constantly.

.. . .

I'm really at a loss. It's not malware, I haven't added any new programs,
and I can't pin the change down to a single event. This isn't much to go on,
I know, but if there are any other tests I can run or if anyone has any
suggestions, I would be very appreciative.

Go to the HD mfgr's web site and download the diagnostics for the HD. It may be
failing.

Try Spinrite from www.grc.com

 

[jmatt]

Over the past few weeks, my system performance has really degraded. Bootup
is almost 8 minutes, programs take forever to load, and the HD is being
accessed almost constantly.

Another option.

Important: Create a specific folder on your hard drive called
HijackThis to keep its backups.
You can do this by going to My Computer (Windows key+e) then double
click on C: then right click and select New then Folder and name it
HijackThis. Download and unzip HijackThis.exe into this folder.
http://www.merijn.org/downloads.html Or, http://tomcoyote.com/hjt/
If possible run HJT in Normal mode ( not Safe ) with all your normal
startup's working.
HijackThis Tutorial - How to Analyse your own log
http://spywarewarrior.com/viewtopic.php?t=3624
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/jrmc137/hjttutorial/tutorial.htm
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial42.html
HijackThis log file analysis ( online )
http://hijackthis.de/index.php?langselect=english
Or,
http://startup.networktechs.com/page-68.html
http://hjt.iamnotageek.com

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

bmuse21 wrote:

The big worry is a failing hard drive, where the slowdown is caused by
retries that expand what should be very fast activities into
mouse-stopping pauses that may be seconds long, with the HD LED lit up
and either no seek noise, or cyclical noise.

Best Windows-based test: www.hdtune.com
- check HD temp, would like to be < 40C
- check SMART detail, esp. pending and reallocated sectors
- do a surface scan

If errors on surface scan, then abort the test and copy off your data!

Another HD-related issue is where the HD's IDE controller has subsided
into PIO mode. By design, Windows will slow down the IDE transfer
mode if there are more than 6 failed accesses; sooner or later this
may go down to PIO, where data is not only transferred more slowly,
but the processor has to do the work - so "at rest" your Task Manager
may show the CPU speding 80% idle, rather than 97%.

This problem may or may not be related to early HD failure; that can
cause those 6+ errors, but sometimes it's not that. Unlike the
failing HD scenario, the HD LED flutters normally, with normal seek
noises, and the mouse pointer does not "stick".

Then there's the effect of software, which is usually milder than
this; malware, underfootware of various kinds, the impact of bad
default settings such as massive IE cache allocations, etc. MSConfig
is a good starting point there.

Finally, you can be slowed down if the system is waiting for some
peripheral, or is being pestered (interrupt triggers) by a peripheral.
Try disconnecting printer, LAN, and suppress all IR and wireless; see
if that makes a difference.

-------------------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

Tip Of The Day:
To disable the 'Tip of the Day' feature...