Windows XP, IBM NetVista and erratic mouse

[Tarken]

Hi,

At work I have just been given an IBM NetVista 6350-53U, P4 2Ghz, with
1Gb of memory. It is installed with MS-Windows XP. Its primary use is
as a Java development workstation. Normally I have Eclipse, Mozilla,
iTunes, Trillin and and Windows Explorer running. The problem is that
when ever the is a slight CPU spike the cursor slows down or jumps
around. Also sometimes iTunes will stutter, but this is less frequent
than the mouse issue.

My last computer was a no-brand P3 800Mhz with 512Mb of memory,
running Windows 2000. It is running the same batch of programs as the
new computer. It was slow in comparison, but I never experienced this
sort of erratic behaviour with the mouse cursor, or iTunes sound break
up. It is using the exact same Logitech optical USB mouse as I am
using with the IBM (I just switched it over).

I have no idea whether this issue is MS-WIndows XP related or IBM
NetVista related. I downloaded and installed the latest mouse driver
from Logitech, but that doesn't seem to have helped things.

Does anyone have any suggestions? My support staff thinks its my issue
- their way of saying they don't want to deal with the problem :-/

regards

Tarken

 

[R. McCarty]

Your problem is the "Image" that IBM places on the computer.

Core images are usually not tweaked or in some cases have the
correct drivers. Usually, there are a number of applications on
the computer that aren't necessary.

Unfortunately, there is no single process to get the maximum
performance back. It involves removing applications, setting up
drivers, BIOS settings and things like removing services that
aren't required.

I have some personal experience with IBM images and I can
"Imagine" what you are faced with. What you have is a top line
piece of hardware with a "Junked" up image placed on it.

The first thing to do is go to Control Panel Add/Remove prgms
and start uninstalling things you don't need or use.

 

[Tarken]

From what I understand the computer does not have the default IBM
'image'. This one was created from a ghost the IT department created
for these machines.

I have already managed to have the default NVidea Vanta (16Mb memory)
video card switched for the NVideo Riva TNT2 Model64 (32Mb memory)
video card, which I was using in my old PC. No change.

I seriously feel something is up with the multitasking model in XP.
Is it really the same as Windows 2000? Someone suggested that maybe
the mouse might be using software interupts as opposed to hardware
interupts? I really don't have enough experience to confirm whether
this is the case here? How could I tell.

regards

Tarken

 

[R. McCarty]

Is the mouse connected through the PS/2 or USB ports ?

I would check and see if the motherboard chipset drivers
have been installed. ( Intel' latest.). You can determine the
hardware in your system with a downloadable program
called Belarc Advisor. This problems sounds like system
level drivers are not correct, which the Intel Chipset driver
should resolve.

 

[Tarken]

The mouse is USB based, connected via the USB port. I downloaded
Belarc Advisor and ran it. It told me that my BUS Adapters are:

Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2442
Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2444

I searched the Intel site and it indicated that there were
no updates for 82801BA. Doing a search for "USB Controller"
give me a result:

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/Product_Filter.asp?ProductID=816

which I downloaded and ran. I rebooted the machine and have
gone back to work. Problem hasn't disappeared. Interestingly
enough one program was consuming near 100% CPU, but I suffered no
mouse problems, leading me to believe this might be I/O related.

Just in case, I haved sitched off as many 'special effects' in
MS-Windows, including fading, shadows and have even switched to the
Classic look for windows. I have switched off indexing in Windows
Explorer.

Another collegue who got the same computer and install seems to
be having the same issues, so our help desk now is starting to
look at the problem a bit.

BTW Thanks for the help you have provide thus far.

Tarken

Is the mouse connected through the PS/2 or USB ports ?

I would check and see if the motherboard chipset drivers
have been installed. ( Intel' latest.). You can determine the
hardware in your system with a downloadable program
called Belarc Advisor. This problems sounds like system
level drivers are not correct, which the Intel Chipset driver
should resolve.

<snip>

 

[Tarken]

The mouse is USB based, connected via the USB port. I downloaded
Belarc Advisor and ran it. It told me that my BUS Adapters are:

Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2442
Intel(r) 82801BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller - 2444

I searched the Intel site and it indicated that there were
no updates for 82801BA. Doing a search for "USB Controller"
give me a result:

http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/Product_Filter.asp?ProductID=816

which I downloaded and ran. I rebooted the machine and have
gone back to work. Problem hasn't disappeared. Interestingly
enough one program was consuming near 100% CPU, but I suffered no
mouse problems, leading me to believe this might be I/O related.

Just in case, I haved sitched off as many 'special effects' in
MS-Windows, including fading, shadows and have even switched to the
Classic look for windows. I have switched off indexing in Windows
Explorer.

Another collegue who got the same computer and install seems to
be having the same issues, so our help desk now is starting to
look at the problem a bit.

BTW Thanks for the help you have provide thus far.

Tarken

Is the mouse connected through the PS/2 or USB ports ?

I would check and see if the motherboard chipset drivers
have been installed. ( Intel' latest.). You can determine the
hardware in your system with a downloadable program
called Belarc Advisor. This problems sounds like system
level drivers are not correct, which the Intel Chipset driver
should resolve.

<snip>