My computer keeps getting very sluggish

Hi,

I've been having problems with my new computer. This is what it has:

- Biostar TFORCE 6100-939 mobo which supports dual channel ddr
- SATA
- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz / 512KB Cache / 1000MHz FSB / Venice / Hyper-Transport / OEM / Socket 939 / Processor
- 2 twin sticks of Kingston 512MB RAM
- 2 twin sticks of 1G RAM
- Corsair 620W PSU
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 SATA 3.0Gb/s 320GB Hard Drive
- Windows XP Pro X64

The computer runs slower than my old PATA computer which was 5 years old. I installed the 4 sticks of RAM in every configuration but it didn't help. I also ran a stress test on the RAM and it was fine, no problems.

This may be of importance. Shortly after I had the pc up and running, I installed a SATA card. I connected 2 SATA ext hdds to it, turned them on and my computer fizzled and died. I had to buy a new PSU and floppy drive. I don't know if anything on the mobo was damaged but the 4 red lights are lit, I don't remember their names, but they show that everything is working.

When I move a large file, about 750M, from my C drive to another folder in my C drive or to an ext hdd, it takes about a minute or more for it to complete. When I copy the same file to another ext hdd for back-up, it takes about 10-15 seconds. Most of my ext hdds are connected using USB 2.0 cables and 3 of them are firewired.

I keep my computer as well-tuned as possible. I defrag once or twice a week, I run Disk Cleanup every day, and I go into Internet Explorer > Tools > Internet Options > Delete > and delete internet history, cookies and temporary internet files.

I've been to the malware forum and it was determined that I don't have a malware problem.

I've been to the software forum and I performed a clean boot. At first, my computer zoomed along at a really nice clip. Slowly but surely, it became very sluggish again. I tried another clean boot but it didn't make any difference the second time around.

I'm wondering now if my mobo or processor is no longer working properly. Is there anything I can do to find out where the problem is?

Denise

 

Go into "Task Manager" and report back as to the processes running, sounds like you have a program "Hogging" CPU time, not usual for MB damage to show up as a slow down, and RAM amount has little bearing on output speed, other than large swap files. You haven't mentioned if you have installed any new programs which could be the problem, you could also download "Everest" or some similar program to monitor your Voltages and Temperatures. Hope that Helps

 

Task Manager shows between 96% to 98% Process Idle Tasks. The temperature is always showed when I boot and reboot. At boot-up, it's 37ºF and when reboot, it's never above 39ºF.

The slowdown started as soon as I started to install files after doing a reformat after my PSU failed and I installed the Corsair. I first downloaded my mobo software, then Windows, the printer driver, Avast, Microsoft Office, Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D, some photo programs such as Kodak and MGI Photo Suite III, WinZip, Nero and other similar common programs. The more programs I added, the slower it got. I installed the SATA card after the reformat and waited a few days before I connected the SATA ext hdds. When I connected one, it wasn't recognized in My Computer. My other one wasn't either. I removed the SATA card and connected the drives using USB 2.0 cables.

So I also don't know if the card was ruined or if the port was ruined.

 

Hi Denise,
I had to look hard, -you seem to have a few 32 bit programs, or, I am talking rubbish, - you have 64 bit XP Pro.

 

Have a lok on this link, scroll down the page, and click on anything you fancy - it should help you find a few tweaks - I have to go, it's that time in U.K (11 p.m)

http://www.tweakxp.com/performance_tweaks.aspx

 

I think that this is more than a few tweaks will fix. It takes about 5 to 7 seconds for a file to start transferring. If I'm running a program, I have to wait about 15 seconds when I click to open another program. They're simple programs, such as running Microsoft Word and MGI Photo Suite. My old computer could run 5 programs at the same time with no time delay and they ran as fast as when they were the only programs running. I think something is seriously wrong, such as the hdd, mobo or CPU. I don't know how to check it out though. I think it could be a combo of the hdd and the mobo too.

 

What I would suggest is that you format your hard drive and install a fresh version of windows on it. Install 1 of your favorite programs and see if the speed is fine or not. If it's not fine than you definitely have a problem.

So if the problem persists after this I would suggest you make sure that the cpu is in direct contact with it's socket. This may require you to physically inspect and lift the processor. But I would go more into details with that if necessary. You may need to apply new thermal compound to the processor. In any case if there is still a problem after the cpu check, I'd have to say you have some bad ram. It could be a mix of different brands or different sizes that are conflicting. In either case you claim you've already tried this. I would leave 1 ram stick of 1gb in if I were you and trying it that way if you haven't already.

 

Denise, here is a small free tool to to test some of your equiptment

http://www.majorgeeks.com/CPU_Stability_Test_d215.html

 

Denise, You had Everest, in the beginning, if you still have it , it will help you see more.
From when you built the computer, you might remember us saying put in one stick of ram, when testing for problems ?
Well superstar is going back to that beginning, but might I suggest, first, you use one first one stick, then one pair of ram (the 1gb sticks).
See if Windows works any better, worse, or, no different in all cases.
Run Memtest 86 3.3
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Memtest86_d1247.html (about 3 passes)
Let us know how it goes

 

For your hard drive testing

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Seagate_SeaTools_for_Windows_and_DOS_d2858.html

 

The programs that I have that are 32-bit versions don't have a 64-bit version. It's either use the 32-bit version or nothing.

I can't remove the hsf. I push the lever down as far as it will go and I wigglee it a little bit but it doesn't release. If I do anything else to the lever, I'm afraid it'll snap because it's made out of plastic. Since I can't get it off, I can't get to the brackets that are holding it on.

My computer has been and will be processing some files for the next day or two. I'll run Everest and the 2 files when it's finished and I'll let you know the results. Thanks for the help

 

Denise, I suggest you leave the cpu alone. use the checking tools, and see if it comes up with any problems.

 

WinMX.exe, is your file sharing program, so I assume this is for your films/music.
ashServe.exe is avast antivirus, and I have found that Avast can cause slow running, and cpu spikes-I suggest that you download a fresh installation to disc, then go offline, then uninstall Avast antivirus, and reinstall a clean version.

 

Hi,

I tried a few things with my pc as recommended: MemTest and SeaTools.

SeaTools wouldn't work because I don't have NET framework 2.0 (I thought I did). The message that I received is attached.

I also tried to run MemTest but I received the message that's attached. When I clicked ok, it went down from 1263Mb to 630Mb. I pressed ok and it started to work.

My computer is running slower with only 1Gb RAM, i.e., web pages open slower and highlighting a sentence/words, but I don't know if it'll run slower when I try to do two things at the same time, i.e., move a file and change a different file's name.

I'll have more to report in my next post.

 

I ran the Everest Report. It basically says that everything is fine. The report is too large to attach. I copied and pasted the info into a NotePad and WordPad but they were still too large to attach. I'm attaching a couple of screenshots of the CPU and Memory portion of the report.

 

I ran the CPU Stability Tests. Unfortunately, I didn't let them run for 12 hours, as recommended. I ran each test for approximately 15 mins, with no crashes or other problems. My computer is on just about constantly. I shut down to give it a rest very rarely. When I ran the CPU Warming Test, I let it run for only 5 minutes because I was concerned that the temp was high enough already since it hadn't been shut down for more than a few minutes in the past month, and I didn't want to overheat the CPU. I didn't want to take the chance that my computer wouldn't shut down if it got overheated . . . you know Damien :eek . . . he takes full advantage of everything negative. I immediately rebooted and saw that it was 37C.

I also checked into the 32-bit programs running in my computer, since you mentioned them . . . it was a good point. The ones that begin with "ash" and aswUpdSv.exe all belong to Avast. I was surprised to see that I have iexplorer 32-bit when I get all the updates automatically. I went to the Midrosoft X64 Forum and this is the response I received when I questioned them about it. It really is a shame that X64 wasn't better thought out before it was introduced to the market.

Other than the 32-bit programs mentioned above, I have Webshots for my wallpaper, I have WinZip, and my file sharing program, both of which are used sporatically. I also have OneTouch (which is backup program built into Maxtor ext hdds), but I've tried it only a couple of times when I first got one and I didn't like it, so it hasn't been used for the past 3 years. I'm leary about removing it in case it causes problems with the hdds.

I downloaded a new Avast file, uninstalled the existing and installing the new one as you recommended. I can't say if there's a difference because it's been installed for a very short time and I have only 1 stick of 1Gb RAM installed.

I'm going to be opening another thread or two about other problems that I'm having. I don't want this thread to reach the 700+ posts that the other one thread did :eek

 

I just finished running the memtests again. The first time, I had only 1 stick of 1Gb RAM installed and I let it go through 3 cycles. The second time, I added the second stick of 1Gb RAM (twin sticks, Crucial) and let it go through 3 cycles. Nothing happened, no crashes, no blips. I've yet to run the memtest a second time, plugging in 608Mb again as directed. Again, as directed, I also turned off every program in my systray and I disconnected from the internet.

I also have to run CPU test again. I let each one run for about 15-20 mins, but I need to let the tests run for a total of 12 hours. I let you know the results of those tests.

Thanks for your help and advice

 

Hi Denise.
You are doing very well.
Memtest said to run two copies- did you try doing that ?
Have you been to microsoft updates for NET framework 2.0, so that you can test your drives ?
One little tweak, I can offer to force Windows to use more of your ram, - Right click My Computer, click properties, click advanced, click perfomance settings, click to adjust for best performance, then, click advanced, set for best performance programs, then click change on the virtual memory setting - paging file size, click custom, then change min to 256, and max to 512, click apply, click o.k, and close all boxes/windows, and restart.
This should help as at the moment your hard drive is sharing too much when ram is needed, and your hard drive is much slower than your ram, and should give you a bit of a boost.

 

It seems that it is only better to have one and a half times the ram installed, if you do not have much ram, but when you have over 2gb, it will use the ram more efficiently by setting this way.

 

I haven't run the second test of MemTest yet. Right now, I'm running the CPU test, which takes 12 hours. It'll be finished by 5:00 am -5 GMT. I'm going to run the test with 2 sticks of RAM tomorrow, not just one. I forgot that it wanted 2 runs and I started the CPU test, and I think I should do them one right after the other. It didn't take long for a 3x run.

Thanks for the tip for changing the RAM useage. I'll change that tomorrow also. With the CPU test running, everything is moving at a snail's pace. I'm also causing the CPU to work a little harder while it's being tested by opening emails, coming here, turning on a few of my ext hdds and updating things, so the CPU is getting a good workout. So far, it's been running for about 3 hours, along with the work and other things I'm doing, and it's held up so far.

One thing I wanted to ask you is about the placement of the RAM sticks. I have slots (from left to right) 1B, 2B, 1A, 2A. I have the two RAM sticks in slots 1B and 2B, because it's the way we read things. I didn't notice that they were in the 1B and 2B slots until a short while ago, when I was reading the manual again. I learn something every time I read either the mobo and/or the hdd manual.

Is it okay to have the RAM sticks in 1B and 2B or should I move them to 1A and 2A?

 

I went to Microsoft to get updates that I need. It scanned my pc but had no updates for me. When I installed NET Framework 2.0 on my old computer, I had a multitude of problems with my video programs, I don't know why. I don't remember if I uninstalled it, but I wanted to, so I'm not sure I want to install 2.0 on this computer.

 

Nothing happened with my computer while running the CPU Stability Test. So that's two things that are ok with my pc.

Is there a hard drive test?

Denise

 

Is there another program that can test my hard drive besides SeaTools? For SeaTools, I need to install NETFramework 2.0 and I don't want to install it.

Denise

 

Depending on which hard drive (manufacturer) you want to check
This page link gives several.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloads8.html

Some free checkers
http://www.majorgeeks.com/DiskCheckup_d3464.html

http://www.majorgeeks.com/HD_Tune_d4130.html

Maxtors hard drive taeter
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Maxtor_Powermax_d1386.html

I have often used Maxtors, and seagates, but the others should be useful, worth a try.

 

Thanks for the links baklogic.

I decided to install NetFramework 2.0 so that I could run Seatools. When I tried to run SeaTools, I received the attached message 1 and I couldn't proceed any further unless I downloaded and installed JIT Debugger.

The last time I downloaded JIT Debugger, it bugged me for every little thing that my computer did. Besides wrecking havoc with my video programs, I couldn't remember that reason that I disliked it.

Attachment 2 is contains the details of the message.

Attchment 3 is the results of drive speed test.

 

I also tried HD Tune. I think that the Benchmark Test might show why my pc slows down so much.

The first dip in the chart is when I opened a folder in my email account.

The second dip occured when I opened MGI Photo Suite.

The third dip occured when I copied a small file from my C drive to my D drive, which is just a partition on the hdd.

The forth dip occured when I double-clicked on a picture on my desktop.


I don't know what to make of the the Health Test.


Denise

 

I also tried DiskCheckUp. The attachments show the results. I had to cut the Device Info report into 2 sections because it was too large for 1 attachment. I don't know what the results mean.

Denise

 

Both programs appear to show similar results, on spin up ,read/write times.
I am unable to say any more about the results, than that the HD Tune shows the usage, blips when using the different programs, so if this is slow, I would tend to look at the programs, and then look around the web for any known bugs, or add-ons that may be causing problems.:boxing
In other posts I have been checking some add-in problems, and apache, adobe, Macfee, Avast, all seem to have litle quirks.Sometimes these add-ins can cause slow down, and it can be worth going to explorer tools add-in's/on's, and disabling all , to see if that helps, but then enabling them , one at a time to see which, or , if the next one is causing the slowdown.
I tend not to use debugging programs, myself, but that is my choice.

 

I don't like debugging programs either so we're in agreement on that point. Yesterday, I disconnect all of my ext hdds in case one was giving my pc a problem, but my pc runs the same.

I'm much better at hardware than software and you know how much I know about hardware, lol. How do I:

Denise

 

To find the add in/on's, go to internet explorer, tools, and the drop down box says manage add on's.Click manage add on's, and you will see what has been added to the explorer toolbar.
You just need to disable them, by clicking on the add on, then choosing to do so down the bottom , where enable/disable will clear to tick, once you have clicked on the add on.
To re-enable them, afterwards, just do the same, but choose enable:dancer

 

I disabled all the add-ons. Do I have to turn them back on? If I can leave them off, I prefer to do so. I haven't noticed that I lost any capabilities.

I'm kind've upset that I couldn't run SeaTools. If any test would help, that was probably the best one.

Do you think that there's a possibility that the hdd is damaged in some way, due to all the things that happened during the build, if you remember them, and I don't know how anyone could forget, lol. I could've built 2 computers with all the extra parts I needed because the originals got ruined. I feel like the Mr. Magoo of computer building, LMAO! Even though it cost me a lot of money to buy new parts, I still think it's funny. My mother should have named me Murphy's Law. Do you think those dips were pretty steep for the action, ie., opening a folder, moving a small file, etc, or just about average?

What kinds of things could ruin the "spin up read/write times" ? Hardware or software?

Sorry if I'm repeating my questions . . . just trying to get it set in my mind.

Denise

 

You do not need the addon's unless something asks for it, or, will not work, and you then enable it.
Some of the slowdown could be indexing services.
When the system is idle the Indexing service makes a database index of all files on your system , so. another little item that might help, as your system must work overtime on it's shuffling the index, because of your film, and photo elements, I suggest that you set this to manual, by right clicking My Computer, manage,services, and scroll down to indexing service, and double click on it to stop it, and then set to manual, so that it will only be used when you want it.
You might need to do a bit of calculation to check the read and write speeds of a hard drive , comparing it to the usb speed and the normal hard drive speed in house- (partition)
I did , once work out different speeds, but it was a while ago, I will try to find my notes

 

USB 1.0 is about 12MB/s

USB2 is about 480 MB/s

SATA-I devices ... 150Mb/sec
- SATA-II devices ... 300Mb/sec
- USB2.0 devices ... 480Mbps (60Mb/sec)If there's 8 bits in a byte.
Then you need to devide 480 by 8 ... this will give you 60
Firewire is more efficient,although around 400mbps and generally would appear to match USB2 speeds.:strong


Here is some hard reading,regarding bits, and bites - but interesting, too.

KiloBytes vs. kilobits vs. Kibibytes
(transfer speeds and capacities)

Quote from http://www.lyberty.com/encyc/articles/kb_kilobytes.html
FireWire (rated at 400 mbps) consistently tests faster that USB 2.0 (rated at 480 mbps) when data transfer is tested on a single device having both interfaces:foolish

All these are theoretical maximum speeds, and expect around two thirds efficiency,

Now, don't take this as read, but I calculate as below.rolleyes

Calculating Sata 11, about 37-38 mbps (theoretical maximum speed 60mbps) expect around two thirds efficiency.
Your file copy speed was at around 10mbps
Large file write about 2mbps
Even cd/dvd roms have similar differnces in read and write speeds, as a comparison.

So, yes, it would appear slow hard drive.- but this is only my inept way of calculating, so ,as I said do not take it as absolutely gospel. :guitar

Any more enlightened geek 's input respected.:tired:tiredLOL

 

I seem to remember when you built this, that we advised not to update the bios,as you had enough to cope with, so, it might be time to update the bios, and any drivers, available.This often solves nigly problems, but be careful with bios update.
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/t-series/bios.php?S_ID=188

drivers
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/t-series/driver.php?S_ID=188

In case the links are not working the main Biostar site for tseries
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/t-series/

Biostar home page
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/

 

From your manual on page 17
the BIOS:
Make a bootable floppy disk.
Download the Flash Utility “AWDFLASH.exe” from the Biostar website:

Confirm motherboard model and download the respective BIOS from
Biostar website.
Copy “AWDFLASH.exe” and respective BIOS onto floppy disk.
Insert the bootable disk into floppy drive and press Enter.
System will boot-up to DOS prompt.
Type “Awdflash xxxx.bf/sn/py/r” in DOS prompt.
System will update BIOS automatically and restart.
The BIOS has been recovered and will work properly.

 

I can only say that I'm amazed. I really can't understand most of "transfer speeds and capacities" but I can pick up bits (no pun intended) and pieces here and there, and the same I can say about your conclusions:

"USB2 is about 480 MB/s

SATA-I devices ... 150Mb/sec
- SATA-II devices ... 300Mb/sec
- USB2.0 devices ... 480Mbps (60Mb/sec)If there's 8 bits in a byte.
Then you need to devide 480 by 8 ... this will give you 60
Firewire is more efficient,although around 400mbps and generally would appear to match USB2 speeds"

(it seems that none of options, such as Wrap Quote on the tool bar are working and the smilies aren't working, probably because I disabled something it needs in Add-Ons . . . will have to check into it.)

The Mb/sec that you provided are in direct opposition to what I've thought, i.e., USB should be slower than firewire, firewire should be slower than SATA, but I have to very much agree that a file copy speed of around 10mb/s is very slow. I can downloadload from the internet at 500kb/sec. Copying a file from my internal drive to an ext hdd takes about 5 times longer, if not more, than from ext hdd to ext hdd.

I'll have to put that aside because it seems that I'll never understand it.

What I did, though, is to go into Device Manager after everything was installed after the last format and check for updates to the drivers and I did it one other time since then. Tonight I right-clicked on each device and selected Update Driver and there was an update for "AMD K8 Processor" (which surprised me) and it was installed. I didn't search for one for the BenQ ROM drive (and never will) and I haven't done anything with BIOS yet.

What also surprised me is that there are 3 "Motherboard resource," 4 "PCI standard PCI-to-PCI bridge," and 10 "PCI standard RAM Controller" listed under System Devices. Is that normal?

Hopefully the BIOS update will do the trick. I can't do it now as I don't have a floppy drive. I ordered a floppy drive and a cable on Saturday and I should receive them in about a week or less.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the time, effort and thought you put into helping me, baklogic. It was so much appreciated when I was building my computer and it's abundantly appreciated now. *hug*

 

I found the add-on that I disabled that's needed for quotes and smilies

:wave :clap :tiredLOL :yum:cool :strong :hyper :wine :celebrate :foolish :grouphug :heli :tas :drink :LOL :dood

 

baklogic . . . I went back through some of the posts from the thread when we built the computer. You had said:

I remember seeing it a day or two ago also. I tried to change the numbers at that time but the 'Apply' button wasn't an option. This evening, I had a little more time so I went back to it again and saw a 'Set' button. I have to reboot for the changes to take affect.

Right now, I have 1G stick of RAM in slot 1 and 1G stick in slot 2. It seems that it may be running a little faster since I removed the 2 sticks of 512Mb RAM but not as fast as I thought SATA would be. All I have to compare it to is my old pc. Damien is faster than my old one by about 40% to 50%, a rough estimate. My old computer was 5 years old . . . copied from a Belarc:

50% faster would have been ok if I didn't have 2G of RAM or if I didn't have SATA, but I think the combination of 2G RAM and SATA, along with an AMD Athlon 64 processor, should have given me at least 100% increase in speed without finagling to get it, unless I'm blowing hot air here.

I'm still waiting for the new floppy and cable to arrive so that I can update the BIOS.

Denise

 

Hi Denise, if your PC is faster than your old one, that is going the right way - the amount it is faster might depend on many factors, perhaps beyond my immediate knowledge, but you have to consider any newer , or, different software, which might be resource hungry, or, the software running at 32 bit might also be slowing things down, on your 64 bit system.
For instance, I am using my Vista 64 today, and with 4gb of ram, I am slowed by a poor graphics card - and found my Presscott 3gb P4, with a radion 9500 (I think- without starting it up ) as quick, as this 2.13 Core 2 Duo.rolleyes
So, we are all learning, and adapting, and tweaking to get better performance :guitar - I still have not pushed the clock, on this one, until I am more informed - but I know when I do I will see more benifit - the real dual cpu performance is noticable, when I skate through applications that bring the second core into more use, or. multytask.:clap
As I said, my calculations may not be perfect, just a crude rough workout.
Keep us posted, and someone might come on-board who has an easier, more accurate way of working out the speeds.confused
I trust you are enjoying trying, and remembering the tweaks, so far.:dancer

 

Incidently, if you go to the seagate site, they have other tools to download - just to check.- you just give the drive numbers, and model, and you are in.

 

Hi baklogic,

I'm seriously thinking about uninstalling X64 and installing XP Pro 32-bit. The only thing stopping me from doing it at this time is the amount of work it will be. My old computer had a lot of problems because it needed to be reformatted and I didn't know how to do it at the time. Now that I know how to do it, I believe that it would run faster than this computer . . . that's how slow this computer is.

Updating the driver for the CPU, disabling most add-ons, and reducing page file size did almost nothing to improve the speed, but I very much appreciate it that you put time and thought into helping me. Most of my programs are on-demand/manual. The ones that are shown as running in Task Manager use almost no CPU. 98% to 99% goes to Process Idle Tasks even when I'm on the internet, unless there are hidden (good) programs that are running that Task Manager doesn't show.

I went to the Malware Forum and ran a number of programs and was told that my computer is clean.

I went to the Software Forum and after running several tests, I was told that my software is working correctly.

In the Hardware Forum, one of the tests shows that the moving/copying rate of files is very, very slow but there's no fix.

I defrag and use Dial-a-Fix to flush DNS, purge SFC and process idle tasks several times a week, but it doesn't help, neither does deleting cookies, history and temporary internet files once or twice a week. SATA has done nothing to increase the speed nor has 2G of RAM. There's something not right but whatever it is, it can't be found. It might be that my motherboard or hard drive were damaged when I installed the SATA card and drives and something ruined my PSU and floppy drive, and it could have been damaged even more when I connected the new floppy drive and sparks and electrical smoke came out of it. How many people can you think of who've had as many problems with any computer than I've had with this one, especially with it sparking and smoking? I'll tell ya, that was the last draw. It's as if it's telling me :neener . Maybe it should never have been dubbed Damien.

It may very well be the onboard graphics card that's causing the problem. It's working properly but it may not be sufficient. Disabling it and installing a good one might help, but it's not an option right now. Maybe if I did a small overclocking of BIOS it might help, but I would need a walk-though to do that.

Microsoft said that it can't fix iexplore 64-bit so that it can run, instead of the default being 32-bit. If Microsoft can't fix iexplore X64 so that it'll run, what hope do I have with an X64 os? I should have :duck when I saw X64 coming. When I purchased everything for this computer, I wanted to get as close to state-of-the-art as possible, even though it changes every day.

I'm going to go to Seagate and see if there's something there that'll help . . . thanks for the suggestion

Denise

 

I may still have some looking around at Seagate, but I can't find anything at the site that offers help. I clicked on Downloads and I clicked on Diagnostic Tools. The choices were either SeaTools (which won't run in my computer for an unknown reason) or the links lead to pages where things are for sale. The closest I came to getting some help was

BIOS updates led me to a page where they were trying to sell me BIOS. I don't understand that. I thought BIOS was just settings in computers. Is there a BIOS part to insall?

 

UPDATE/EDIT FROM LAST POST

I may still have some looking around at Seagate, but I can't find anything at the site that offers help. I clicked on Downloads and I clicked on Diagnostic Tools. The choices were either SeaTools (which won't run in my computer for an unknown reason) or the links lead to pages where things are for sale. The closest I came to getting some help was

There was a telephone number included so I called "them" and spoke with a salesman who said that for $49.99, they could send me an email with updated BIOS because something shares the same IRQ and there's too much going through my CPU and it's getting clogged. Is this for real?

When I clicked on "Scan for Driver Updates," The scan that checked for driver updates shows that I have the most up-to-date drivers but, for $29.99. they'll check for the most recent drivers. I already did that with Microsoft this week and found a new driver for my CPU.

The bottom of the report says

I've attached a copy of the report but I had to cut it into 3 pieces so that it would meet the size requirements of attachments.

 

I use driveragent, myself, and they have always been a most useful site, -Iam not sure now if their cost was annual, or, unlimited, but I have been getting updates for many motherboards for ages-
Sharing IRQ'S, can cause many a niggle, so if you can get a bios update, then it would be a good update - His explanation is one way of saying just that.
In those reports, the sata, and IDE controller could also be some of your problem.:cool
The only driver I never bother with, unless the sound is giving problems, is the ac97 driver- all the others can make a difference.(it's a big download file)
There are other free driver sites where you can get the drivers, anyway, and the bios should be available at the motherboard site, as well as most drivers- I would go there first -FREE.:strong

 

I'm sorry that I'm restating/re-asking the same question but I'm a little confused. Your help and advice have been my lifeline *hugs*

The drivers that are shown in the attachments as drivers that could be installed are drivers that I don't really need except for backup, so I'm assuming that they're the same drivers that I already have. Is this correct?

All of my drivers were on the mobo disc, except for things such as my ext hdds, printer, etc. When I went into Device Manager and clicked on each device to see if there was an update, only the CPU had an update.

So for me to buy updated drivers that the test says I don't need except for backup, to me is a waste of money, or am I on the wrong track?

Thanks for the advice to go to the mobo site to find updated BIOS and drivers. I'll go there first. Free is such a nice word

Denise

 

The drivers that are needed-------

hp officejet 5600 series

NVIDIA MCP51 Serial ATA Controller
Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
NVIDIA nForce System Management
NVIDIA Network Bus Enumerator
I had a look around for you ------------------
From Biostar FAQ'S
How do I know what is the BIOS Version In my System?
When the system was booting, the BIOS Version will be shown on the top of the screen, located at the Upper Left hand corner. For Instance, your will see something like below, VKB0618B VKB - The model of the motherboard 0618 - The date of the BIOS. B - Stand for Biostar.

How to use the Biostar flash utility that came within the BIOS?
To use the flash utility within the bios,

1. Download the necessary Bios from Biostar website to a FDD.
2. Power On the system with the floppy disk and press Del key In order to enter CMOS Setup Menu.
3. Choose "Bios Flasher" function and the system will auto detect the Bios files which was located in the disk.

Following the Instruction to complete the flashing process. That is all you have to do to update the Bios with Biostar motherboard.

http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/
Bios - for t6100-M9
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/bios.php?S_ID=26

Drivers- all new in june/july 2007
http://www.biostar.com.tw/app/en-us/mb/driver.php?S_ID=26

Chipset---- XP 64bit/Server 2003 x64/ 1.0.0.0 2007-07-06 11.07 MB-- SHOULD COVER THE CONTROLLERS

Good luck

 

Officejet driver

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html
http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Look...&h_query=officejet+5600&submit.x=7&submit.y=8

http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Look...&h_query=officejet+5600&submit.x=7&submit.y=8

 

Nvidia site

http://www.nvidia.com/page/support.html

NVIDIA GeForce 6100---------------http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp64_93.71.html

 

Hi baklogic,

Thanks for all the info. I just went to the Biostar website and was about to come back here with a bunch of questions but you beat me to it and I'm very happy. My stomach sank when I saw all the choices.

The new floppy drive came in the mail a few days ago but the cable hasn't arrived yet. If it doesn't come in the mail by Tuesday, I'll order another one and have them overnight it. I really want to get this computer working right and as soon as possible. I just posted a new thread in the Software forum because, ever since I updated the driver for the CPU, my settings keep changing every few days. When I do a System Restore to a point previous to installing the new driver, my settings don't change. I tried it twice and each time it happens that way.

I'm even considering reformatting the hard drive and installing my old XP Pro os because I never had anywhere near the problems that I'm having now. I never updated drivers or BIOS on it because I didn't know that it had to be done, and it was 5 years old. The only piece of hardware that gave me a real problem was the built-in graphics card because it was starting to go.

Thanks again for your recommendations, baklogic. I can't wait until the cable comes in so that I can get started on it. Hopefully, the updates will cure most or even all the problems.

Denise

 

I think you're going to be holding my hand through this.

I started to update the driver for Nvidia when it said

How do I disable them. I looked in Control Panel and Services and couldn't find it.

And you had said

What's an FDD?

This page is a goldmine!

Denise