Laptop suddenly stopped / Very slow (apps)

Hi all,

I hope someone can help. I have a Dell Vostro 1000 laptop running XP home which has been great for just over a year.

A couple of days ago, I fired it up as normal to do some work which was on a USB stick. I used the laptop normally and popped the stick in but, it seems at that point, it went really slowly - taking minutes to open an app. Windows would report the app was "Not responding" but it seems that it was, just
really really slowly!

I have run AVG free ver 8 anti virus and it reports no issues. I have also had a look at the event viewer and that reports various apps waiting for 30 seconds and then timing out.

I'm not sure whether it's a software issue like malware or a hardware issue that windows is attempting to "talk" to and not suceeding. Typically, whilst the app that is open is running really slowly, windows itself appears fine. The mouse works ok and, most of the time, I can open another app ok. This app will usually then freeze or work exceptionally slowly once it has finished loading.

Apologies if I have posted this in the wrong forum area.

Thanks for your help.

Lee

 

I had a similar experience, with a usb stick, and I tried the usb stick with Vista, and it found that the stik had a couple of corrupted files on it, and to my surprise Vista fixed it.
If you have a freind with Vista, try it on their computer.
At least its one thing that could be causing it.
It sometimes happened on a usb stick/flash drive that was reported to be able to run faster- but the laptop had not got a usb2 port.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I took the stick to my other PC, a desktop on XP Home, and got the files okay.

Since then though, the laptop has been unuseable so it must be something on the Laptop I'm guessing.

Any other suggestions would be greatfully received.

Many thanks,
Lee

 

If you can still get into windows
Click Start,
right click my computer
Click Manage
Then click disk management
Then right click on the disc (C) and click properties
Then click tools
Then click on check now
Then tick both boxes
Click o.k
Restart, and let windows check file, and disc for errors
Come back if you need more help, usually someone here will do their best to help you

C

 

Thanks for that.

Unfortunately, although I can set the check boxes, when I hit the restart button, the laptop starts to close down but fails to complete the task. Eventually, it goes into hibernation. Pressing the power button resumes windows "normally" - the disk check doesn't happen.

Incidently, I tried a different new USB stick and it didn't work. The LED on the stick didn't flicker into life apart from a brief flash upon insertion.

My next step was to disable all to do with the USB controllers etc. in the lapto via the device manager to see if that helps.

Regards,
Lee

 

It seems possible that the usb port(s) are not working properly, I would suggest that you uninstal, and reinstal the usb drivers, to see if that will correct it.
You can go to power control, and turn off hibernation, while it tries to correct any file damage, to see if it will run then.
Alternatively, you can try
Start, run
type in sfc /scannow, (note the space after sfc )and let windows look , and repair any damaged protected files- a little box will pop up, and it can take some time, you will sometimes, even, often see a retry box come up- keep clicking it, until it finishes.putting your XP disc in, and

 

I ran sfc /scannow and it found an issue which it copied off the XP disc okay. It then completed and didn't report anything.
The problem still persists though...

I attempted to uninstall the USB controllers and root hubs but with no luck. The first couple uninstalled okay but then the laptop froze up (but only in the Computer Management app - windows itself appeared to be running still). I restarted the laptop and windows found new hardware an installed the drivers for the devices I had just uninstalled so I am back to square one!

My next thought was to remove all my docs off the laptop, make a note of the apps that I haave installed over the last 18 months, format the HDD and re-install XP.
Unless there is something I am missing?

Many thanks,
Lee

 

Now, the last idea, would be good right now, except, before you try to format it
Download memtest86 , and the drsc checker from majorgeeks, This is the disc checker
http://www.majorgeeks.com/DiskCheckup_d3464.html
that I use for laptops, as I would like you to
1/ Run the haed drive test, as faults can be caused by a failing hard drive
2/run memtest - several scans to test your memory.

 

Sorry the other link memtest
http://majorgeeks.com/Memtest86_d1247.html

 

Thanks for the links.

It passed the HDD check - all results were well within parameters.
It's currently hammering through the Memtest - all good so far...

Regards,
Lee

 

You can run the memtest for quite a long time- but, if you are happy, all passes, after an hour, then save your docs, and try to remember what you added, ,or, check it after each additional program, to see if one of them caused the problem.
Sometimes just re-installing the operating system will make it run better.
When you have re-installed, if all goes well, then download autopatcher to get some updates,quicker, before normal updating- again a download from majorgeeks start with the May 2007 full version.

 

When you are happy that your memory is o.k (at least an hours testing)
Then save your data, and format, and re-install
http://majorgeeks.com/AutoPatcher_XP_Full_d4901.html
It will give most updates up to may 2007 , plus a lot more-

 

Gt to go now, good luck

 

Thanks very much for the assistance.

I left memtest running overnight - it passed fine.

I will install XP - I'm guessing that a format and start again is the best way forward rather than install over the top?

Thanks for the good luck - I have a feeling I'll need it!

Lee

 

Yes, formatting and re-installing is best, as long as you have saved your data.
It will clean out any driver issues as well, so everything is fresh.
I always feel that using the repair option is only really useful, if you are unable to save data, as it does not always find everything

 

Thanks.

Well, all formatted and Windows reinstalled. Just installed Opera (browser) and AVG anti virus. All good.

Installed Office 2003 back on it and all was okay until I run Outlook to set it up. Typing was really s l o w and it's now doing the freeze thing again and the app is reporting Not responding

Seems there maybe a hardware issue.

Is there a piece of sw that can check out my Laptop hardware for issues?

 

When re-installing, you will not have .net updates- unless you installed some from autopatcher.
Quite a few programs seem to need the .net updates to work- I have not had this problem crop up, but I don't use Outlook.
Perhaps running autopatcher several times, will get any any missed updates, then rtry again.

 

You have run memtest, and dusc checker, but there are several software checkers,I will have a look, and see what I can recommend, and come back to you.

 

Thanks Baklogic - I really appreciate the help

 

Everest will let you know what you have, or, might need
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181
Motherboard monitor is also a good tool.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Motherboard_Monitor_d311.html
Cpu test- I won't recommend using on your laptop, stresses the cpu a bit.
Advance windows care - I use the proffesional version of this when I get lazy, but it is a good tool to keep you running after all is setup.- It has a backup , in case you delete anything that you should not, but it does much more, and it will update to the latest free version, too- covers more than you think on first glance- But use carefully- don't just tick to remove everything
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5927

 

Just a point- the .net updates are up somewhere around .net 3.5, and you may not need them, but I would recommend up to .net 2, as I have seen that a few programs need this to work properly.
Autopatcher does not do all its updates in one go, andonly loads what it thinks you need- It also has little tweaks, in the last part, that will help speed up many pc/laptops.