Slow XP - motherboard drivers acting up I think

[daviddschool]

I had a power outage that caused a drive die - it was a backup drive
and it seemed my other two drives - one for XP and one for Win7 were
working fine. But today, after trying to run ACRONIS backup on the
drives, my XP started to work incredibly slow - after rebooting, it
takes about 10 minutes to start up, it takes a while to run any
programs etc. I tried to reinstall the mobo drivers and that seems to
speed it up when I am installing the drivers (it asks me to reboot and
I say NO). My computer seemed to run better at this point, but when I
reboot, it runs slow again. I can't even use ACRONIS because it
doesn't seem to work while my computer is acting this way. Any ideas?
Also, XP does not recognize my other drive any more, although my WIN 7
drive does work upon dual boot and when in WIN7 I can see the other
drive, but when in XP, the WIN7 drive does not appear. Strange huh?

 

[daviddschool]

Ok, I have more time to explain.
Two hard drives :
1) XP - 500gig
2) WIN 7 - 1T
3) 500 SATA storage.

After a power outage, the 500 SATA storage died. Had a few issues
rebooting after the outage, but finally discovered the 500 SATA
storage was dead. Booted to XP and to Win 7 - both worked.
After the issue, I wanted to back up both drives - using ACRONIS I
started to back up my XP - the program ran ok at first, telling me it
would take 37 minutes. After about 10 minutes of this, it jumped to
51 minutes and then it stopped progressing at all. I shut the program
down and rebooted. Upon rebooted, XP took 10 minutes to start up.
All the programs took 2 minutes to load and use. It was a labourious
process.
I then thought it might be the MOBO drivers. I loaded my MOBO CD and
ran the drivers. I did not restart upon loading the drivers. The
computer started to speed up and work better. I thought the problem
was solved - I rebooted and again the problem persisted.
Also the WIN 7 drive is not recognized by the XP computer.
I rebooted again and ran WIN7 this time. Runs fine.
Rebooted again and ran XP - XP is slow and takes forever to load.
Not sure what the issue is. I was thinking of removing the HD
controller or something, but I am at a loss of what to do- any ideas?

 

[Mark Adams]

"daviddschool" wrote:

> Ok, I have more time to explain.
> Two hard drives :
> 1) XP - 500gig
> 2) WIN 7 - 1T
> 3) 500 SATA storage.
>
> After a power outage, the 500 SATA storage died. Had a few issues
> rebooting after the outage, but finally discovered the 500 SATA
> storage was dead. Booted to XP and to Win 7 - both worked.
> After the issue, I wanted to back up both drives - using ACRONIS I
> started to back up my XP - the program ran ok at first, telling me it
> would take 37 minutes. After about 10 minutes of this, it jumped to
> 51 minutes and then it stopped progressing at all. I shut the program
> down and rebooted. Upon rebooted, XP took 10 minutes to start up.
> All the programs took 2 minutes to load and use. It was a labourious
> process.
> I then thought it might be the MOBO drivers. I loaded my MOBO CD and
> ran the drivers. I did not restart upon loading the drivers. The
> computer started to speed up and work better. I thought the problem
> was solved - I rebooted and again the problem persisted.
> Also the WIN 7 drive is not recognized by the XP computer.
> I rebooted again and ran WIN7 this time. Runs fine.
> Rebooted again and ran XP - XP is slow and takes forever to load.
> Not sure what the issue is. I was thinking of removing the HD
> controller or something, but I am at a loss of what to do- any ideas?
>
>

Still could be hardware. Download the hard drive diagnostic tools from the
website of the maker of your hard drive, and run the test on the XP drive.
You might have to remove the Win 7 drive from the system. If the drive checks
out OK, boot the XP drive and open the System Configuration Utility and
perform a clean boot:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353

Does the machine run better under clean boot? If so, check the boxes in the
Startup tab one at a time and reboot until you find an application that is
slowing the boot process. Google if you don't know what the application is.

 

[Mark Adams]

"daviddschool" wrote:

> Ok, I have more time to explain.
> Two hard drives :
> 1) XP - 500gig
> 2) WIN 7 - 1T
> 3) 500 SATA storage.
>
> After a power outage, the 500 SATA storage died. Had a few issues
> rebooting after the outage, but finally discovered the 500 SATA
> storage was dead. Booted to XP and to Win 7 - both worked.
> After the issue, I wanted to back up both drives - using ACRONIS I
> started to back up my XP - the program ran ok at first, telling me it
> would take 37 minutes. After about 10 minutes of this, it jumped to
> 51 minutes and then it stopped progressing at all. I shut the program
> down and rebooted. Upon rebooted, XP took 10 minutes to start up.
> All the programs took 2 minutes to load and use. It was a labourious
> process.
> I then thought it might be the MOBO drivers. I loaded my MOBO CD and
> ran the drivers. I did not restart upon loading the drivers. The
> computer started to speed up and work better. I thought the problem
> was solved - I rebooted and again the problem persisted.
> Also the WIN 7 drive is not recognized by the XP computer.
> I rebooted again and ran WIN7 this time. Runs fine.
> Rebooted again and ran XP - XP is slow and takes forever to load.
> Not sure what the issue is. I was thinking of removing the HD
> controller or something, but I am at a loss of what to do- any ideas?
>
>

I just reread your original post; the XP install cannot see the Win 7 drive?
Start XP, go into Disk Management. Can you see the drive here? Does the Win 7
drive have a drive letter assigned? If not, assign it one. You should now be
able to see the drive.

 

[daviddschool]

> I just reread your original post; the XP install cannot see the Win 7 drive?
> Start XP, go into Disk Management. Can you see the drive here? Does the Win 7
> drive have a drive letter assigned? If not, assign it one. You should now be
> able to see the drive.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I have already tried going into DISK management when in XP - and no it
doesn't see the WIN 7 drive. BUT when I am in Win7, I can see the XP
drive. Win 7 boots great and I can use and see the XP drive.
I have also run a third party diagnostic on both drives and they come
up ok. As for the drive manuf. diag. I couldn't find one for my WD
500 gig drive - the serial/letters did not match up.

 

[smlunatick]

On Apr 20, 41 pm, daviddschool <daviddsch...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > I just reread your original post; the XP install cannot see the Win 7 drive?
> > Start XP, go into Disk Management. Can you see the drive here? Does theWin 7
> > drive have a drive letter assigned? If not, assign it one. You should now be
> > able to see the drive.- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> I have already tried going into DISK management when in XP - and no it
> doesn't see the WIN 7 drive.  BUT when I am in Win7, I can see the XP
> drive.  Win 7 boots great and I can use and see the XP drive.
> I have also run a third party diagnostic on both drives and they come
> up ok.  As for the drive manuf. diag. I couldn't find one for my WD
> 500 gig drive - the serial/letters did not match up.

Locate the drive manufacturer's original diagnostic tools. I had a
third party tool reject my Hitachi 1TB hard drive but the Hitachi tool
pass it.

 

[daviddschool]

> Locate the drive manufacturer's original diagnostic tools.  I had a
> third party tool reject my Hitachi 1TB hard drive but the Hitachi tool
> pass it.

Found the diagnostic tool and ran it. No issues with the drive. I am
using Win7 right now, no problems. I can see and access the XP drive,
no problems - I have just copied and deleted files on that drive from
the WIN7 computer.

 

[Mark Adams]

"daviddschool" wrote:

>
> > Locate the drive manufacturer's original diagnostic tools. I had a
> > third party tool reject my Hitachi 1TB hard drive but the Hitachi tool
> > pass it.
>
> Found the diagnostic tool and ran it. No issues with the drive. I am
> using Win7 right now, no problems. I can see and access the XP drive,
> no problems - I have just copied and deleted files on that drive from
> the WIN7 computer.
> .
>

Check to see if the XP drive is operating in PIO mode. Open Device Manager
and expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers entry. Right click the Primary IDE
Channel entry and click properties. Click the Advanced Settings tab; is the
drive running in PIO instead of DMA? If so, follow these procedures to reset
to DMA:

http://www.michna.com/kb/WxDMA.htm

 

[daviddschool]

> Check to see if the XP drive is operating in PIO mode. Open Device Manager
> and expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers entry. Right click the Primary IDE
> Channel entry and click properties. Click the Advanced Settings tab; is the
> drive running in PIO instead of DMA? If so, follow these procedures to reset
> to DMA:
>
> http://www.michna.com/kb/WxDMA.htm

Will do thanks. Also, in SAFE MODE, xp recognizes the WIN7 drive, but
does not in regular mode..

 

[daviddschool]

> >http://www.michna.com/kb/WxDMA.htm
>
> Will do thanks.  Also, in SAFE MODE, xp recognizes the WIN7 drive, but
> does not in regular mode..

Ok it boots better, but takes forever to load in window's start up
files, like the audio etc - not sure why. It still "FEELS" like
something is not right. Nothing out of the ordinary in the START UP
area, but the START button takes about 1 minutes to load even after
the desktop is already showing. I went to check the Primary Drive IDE
and found it was CURRENT TRANSFER MODE : ULTRA DMA MODE 6 - and
regular transfer mode is DMA if available...

 

[daviddschool]

> Ok it boots better, but takes forever to load in window's start up
> files, like the audio etc - not sure why.  It still "FEELS" like
> something is not right.  Nothing out of the ordinary in the START UP
> area, but the START button takes about 1 minutes to load even after
> the desktop is already showing.  I went to check the Primary Drive IDE
> and found it was CURRENT TRANSFER MODE :  ULTRA DMA MODE 6 - and
> regular transfer mode is DMA if available...

Also, I tried the RESETING program again after reboot and it found ATA
channel to reset again - the same ones as before. Not sure why.
Another thing is bothering me - after running the EXTENDED diagnostic
utility, it shows my drive is OK and nothing is wrong, but when I
boot, I do hear some whirling and ticking noises that don't sound
right. This really sucks...

 

[Bob I]

daviddschool wrote:

>>Ok it boots better, but takes forever to load in window's start up
>>files, like the audio etc - not sure why. It still "FEELS" like
>>something is not right. Nothing out of the ordinary in the START UP
>>area, but the START button takes about 1 minutes to load even after
>>the desktop is already showing. I went to check the Primary Drive IDE
>>and found it was CURRENT TRANSFER MODE : ULTRA DMA MODE 6 - and
>>regular transfer mode is DMA if available...
>
>
> Also, I tried the RESETING program again after reboot and it found ATA
> channel to reset again - the same ones as before. Not sure why.
> Another thing is bothering me - after running the EXTENDED diagnostic
> utility, it shows my drive is OK and nothing is wrong, but when I
> boot, I do hear some whirling and ticking noises that don't sound
> right. This really sucks...

What is the BOOT sequence in the BIOS set to? Maybe the HD isn't first?

 

[Mark Adams]

"daviddschool" wrote:

> > Ok it boots better, but takes forever to load in window's start up
> > files, like the audio etc - not sure why. It still "FEELS" like
> > something is not right. Nothing out of the ordinary in the START UP
> > area, but the START button takes about 1 minutes to load even after
> > the desktop is already showing. I went to check the Primary Drive IDE
> > and found it was CURRENT TRANSFER MODE : ULTRA DMA MODE 6 - and
> > regular transfer mode is DMA if available...
>
> Also, I tried the RESETING program again after reboot and it found ATA
> channel to reset again - the same ones as before. Not sure why.
> Another thing is bothering me - after running the EXTENDED diagnostic
> utility, it shows my drive is OK and nothing is wrong, but when I
> boot, I do hear some whirling and ticking noises that don't sound
> right. This really sucks...
> .
>

Whirling and ticking noises doesn't inspire confidence in that drive. When
you tried the Acronis imaging, did you install Acronis to the drive and
attempt the image from within Windows, or did you boot from the Acronis disk
and attempt the image that way?

 

[daviddschool]

> Whirling and ticking noises doesn't inspire confidence in that drive. When
> you tried the Acronis imaging, did you install Acronis to the drive and
> attempt the image from within Windows, or did you boot from the Acronis disk
> and attempt the image that way?

Well, I managed to use ACRONIS from the XP drive and back it up. I
then transferred the BACKUP info to an external drive. I did the same
for WIN7 (from inside XP) and backed that up as well and transferred
it to an external drive.
Ok, so I am now trying to determine :
a) which of the two drives has the issue (maybe both)
b) whether the mobo has been affected by the power surge
c) whether the real issue is the power supply.

At this point, I can boot XP, but it whirs and clicks on boot up.
Sometimes it doesn't boot, sometimes it does. But at least I have it
backed up. Would a power supply cause it to whir and click? If so, I
need to eliminate some of the above possibilities and see if I can
come up with a solution to this issue.
I really don't know where to begin with this - any suggestions?

 

[Mark Adams]

"daviddschool" wrote:

>
> > Whirling and ticking noises doesn't inspire confidence in that drive. When
> > you tried the Acronis imaging, did you install Acronis to the drive and
> > attempt the image from within Windows, or did you boot from the Acronis disk
> > and attempt the image that way?
>
> Well, I managed to use ACRONIS from the XP drive and back it up. I
> then transferred the BACKUP info to an external drive. I did the same
> for WIN7 (from inside XP) and backed that up as well and transferred
> it to an external drive.
> Ok, so I am now trying to determine :
> a) which of the two drives has the issue (maybe both)

You said the Win 7 install works fine. That drive is probably OK.




> b) whether the mobo has been affected by the power surge

Remove the XP drive from the system. Boot Win 7. Does the machine run OK?
Now move the SATA cable to the SATA port that the XP drive was connected to.
Boot Win 7. If it runs poorly, I would start to suspect the mobo. If it runs
fine, we're back to the XP drive.




> c) whether the real issue is the power supply.

At this point I don't think so. If the machine runs well in Win 7 with both
hard drives connected, the power supply is probably doing it's job.




>
> At this point, I can boot XP, but it whirs and clicks on boot up.
> Sometimes it doesn't boot, sometimes it does. But at least I have it
> backed up. Would a power supply cause it to whir and click? If so, I
> need to eliminate some of the above possibilities and see if I can
> come up with a solution to this issue.
> I really don't know where to begin with this - any suggestions?
> .
>

You may have to bite the bullet and buy another hard drive for the XP
install. Use the Acronis boot disk to restore the image of the old drive to
it. If it works well, you're done. If the restore process fails, use the
Acronis disk to clone the old drive to the new one. If the cloning fails, be
prepaired to reinstall XP, your applications, and data to the new drive. If
the cloning works well, you're done. If either (or both) the image restore or
the cloning leaves you with a functioning but crippled XP install, I would
opt for a clean install. Once you have XP running and your apps and data
restored, reformat the old drive. You decide what you want to do with the
questionable old drive.