Computer suddenly slower

The other morning when I checked my laptop there was message on the screen to the effect that something had happened and Windoz had detected a problem. It further stated that if this was the first time I got this message I should restart. Otherwise, do some other things. Since this was the first time I did the restart and from that time on, the computer was extremely slow; something like 10 minutes to open an application. After a Check Disk with Windoz replacing some clusters the speed picked up some. I have deleted some programs, run various virus and malware checks with only a few things to clear up, did a de-frag and removed unnecessary files with little success. I also unchecked some programs that usually start whenever I start my laptop. The speed has picked some.

I am inclined to think that I may have a defect in some hardware...is a problem like this possibly related to something in my hardware? Is this what that first message could have been relating to? I don't remember what the message said so I can't assist there. Any other ideas?

Thanks!!

 

I would immediately backup all personal and work documents and files.

It does sound like your hard drive is on the way out. To be sure, you may want to run a drive fitness test that is provided by the manufacturer of the hard drive (not laptop manufacturer).

 

OK. I got a new HD but when I tried to boot it with XP installation CD it got as far where it was in Windoz setup and after a while the same message came up that got this whole problem started. Would that be an indication that the problem might be in some other hardware; or maybe in some software? I tried booting with a Disaster Recovery floppy I created using Back Up My PC. Also, I tried booting using the Drive Image CD but it would only go so far and then the setup would fail. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

 

Is the new HD an internal or external drive, and how did you hook it up?

Any chance Windows XP is being installed on top of the old drive and not the new one? (just checking)

 

yes, it's important that we know how the new drive has been installed.. i.e. , in what configuration.

 

I have a Dell laptop and I simple took the first drive out, changed out the bracket (or whatever it's called) and put the new one in the slot. I don't know anything about configuration. The old one was purchased from DriveSolutions.com and the new one was a replacement under warranty. Same size, etc.

 

What's the verbatim error message?

 

It's a long one but basically it says if this is the first time I got the message I should re-boot. If it is not the first time I may need to uninstall some recently installed software. Or, I may need to make some changes in the bios or cache area, possibly while in Safe Mode. I know nothing about that stuff.

Thanks!

 

Your message may look something similar (not exactly) to this:

"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware or software. Disable OS memory options such as caching or shadowing. If you need to use Safe Mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then select Safe Mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP: 0x000000ED (0x812D0B20, 0xC0000006, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)"



If so, post what the third line says, the one in all caps is important.
And on the bottom, where it says STOP: 0x000000ED. Post those numbers too.
The other stuff is generic and does not help much. These details are where the cause (and hopefully resolution) are.

Just a couple other questions:
Has anybody spilled something on this computer lately?
Anybody physically drop the laptop (phsyical shock)?
Anybody opened the case right before you got the errors?
Any beeps when you boot the computer?

It's just that usually something precipitates errors like this, something that happened right before the errors. If none of that rang a bell don't sweat it.

Geeks, Could it be something in the BIOS? The fact that he gets the same error in both hard drives is a major clue, and what I'm focusing on here (that and the error).

GrreatRon, Check back about the error message (need those specific details, the ALL CAPS line and the numbers part on the bottom), or any other clues too.

 

That is exactly it. I will have to exchanges HDs again and try to boot up to get those numbers so it may be a day or so before I can get back. As to the 4 questions:
Has anybody spilled something on this computer lately?
Anybody physically drop the laptop (phsyical shock)?
Anybody opened the case right before you got the errors?
Any beeps when you boot the computer?
No to all.

Thanks for your help - I will continue to check back to see if you or any others add to this thread. I'll get back with the numbers, etc. when I can. The present HD is working OK for now.

 

Hey if everything's working, take your time! It can be mighty frustrating. When you're ready again to tackle it, we'll be here.

I'm curious which hard drive is working now? The old drive? Just the fact one drive is working changes everything, from a troubleshooting perspective.

So the error message, the slow loading of files, all that is gone, it's running well?

 

The old drive. It was always working but it got slow and Kodo suggested that it might be getting ready to crash so I got the new HD. I had only gotten that error message a couple of times, but it is still running slowly. I had mentioned in an earlier post that chdisk had run and had a message that it had replaced some bad clusters. After that the old HD performed somewhat better but still slowly. What really blew my mind was that I got that same message when I was booting up for the new HD. Bummer!

 

well, I suggested a drive fitness test first.
but, now that we're here and you have a new drive, have you tried new cables?

 

Thanks, Kodo.
I've been trying to get to a driver fitness test but seems like everytime I get to the site I get covered up with other things. I haven't given up on doing that tho.
I know nu-ting about cables. Do laptops have them? Do I have to take the back off to get to them? How did I ever get to be a PFC?

 

oh, didn't realize this was a laptop.. no, typically the laptop drives are directly plugged into the channel. No cable necessary.

 

Ok, I have run the tests and found that the old drive failed and the new drive didn't. The old drive is still working, albeit slowly. Now if I can just the get the new one booted and working.

Thanks!

 

Here are the error messages.

I have two CDs for XPHome: one is the original and the other is one where I have merged the original one and SP2.

When I use the original one, I get this message

SESSION3_INITIALIZATION FAILED

stop: 0x0000006F (0x00000020, 0x00000000, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)

When I use the other one I get this message

***stop: 0x0000008E (0x0000006, 0Xf99bcb18, 0xf960d9fc, 0x00000000)

***setupdd.sys – address F99BCB18 base at F999D000, DATESTAMP 3d6dd67f

Note that there is not a line of capital letter with this one.

Hope this can provide us with some enlightenment!

Thanks!

 

With these error messages, we will definitely find out the problem, hopefully, and a solution?

My first thought is bad RAM. Were any memory modules been added/removed/switched before you started getting this error? I suppose if the RAM is old, it may be on its way out. What I would do first is download a free program called Memtest86 http://www.majorgeeks.com/download1247.html, and test the RAM, sometimes this program will find RAM issues that the simple BIOS RAM test does not. You can save it to floppy (59KB), or CD. Boot from the floppy or CD.

 

How many RAM modules are in the laptop?

If you have one stick only, yeah do the memtest86. But if two sticks, I may run a physical test first. Say you have two RAM sticks. You can take one out, and try the install with just one (remove the faulty RAM module). It may suddenly work, and you found the culprit. Try each RAM stick alone like this. Try switching the slot they're in too for good measure.

You only need 64 MB RAM minimum to install Windows XP I think? I doubt you have any 32MB sticks in there, but just in case...

 

I have 256 RAM, two sticks but have not had any problems with them. Do you still recommend the test and/or trying the install after removing one stick?

 

For the new drive, with the stop: 0x0000008E error, I read in a couple different forums that RAM was the problem.

Here is the Microsoft version (though I personally don't put too much stock in these)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q315335

I just sat down, give me about 10-15 minutes to research the other error. Then I'll double-check both. But for now, I'd start to install XP on the new hard drive with 1 RAM module at a time.

I'll bee bock...

 

It originally sounded like the error messages were the exact same for both drives, and now they sound different. Originally I was looking for a common denominator exclusively, now there is a chance there are in fact two problems. Some new questions please. Looking for clues...

1) What OS is on the laptop?
2) How old is the laptop? Make/Model?
3) How's the old drive been running in the last 24 hours? Is Windows still posting the error?
4) Do you have any other bootable CDs, like Win 98, if so do they get going in the CD drive?

As of now, RAM is my first guess. I'd do the module swap out test, switching sockets for good measure, and if that doesn't work, I'd run several Memtest86 tests. Do you have to do the Memtest86 tests? No. I'm also getting curious about the laptops CD/DVD drive. Could it be incompatible with Windows XP, well its rare but some hardware won't work with XP, or could it even be damaged. Could it be the CDs themselves, unless they're bootlegged or damaged or something unlikely, I'm not thinking too much about that yet.

I've got to go out for a couple, good luck in the meanwhile.

 

The OS is XPHome; laptop is 3.5 yrs old; Dell Inspiron 4000; drive is doing fine, no errors, but still slow; no other bootable CEDs or floppys.

I had a problem with the Memtest. I'm probably doing it wrong. I downloaded it to my Download file, it was a zip file so I extracted it to my Unzipped folder and then transferred it to a CD and tried to boot with that CD and nothing happened. What did I do wrong?

Thanks for all your time and trouble.

 

Alot of variables and more questions...

It sounds like you had some hard drive history in the past with Drive Solutions, and they replaced one under warranty. Please explain. Like 1) what happened to the old hard drive (the one you're using now but is slow) that DriveSolutions gave you a replacement? 2) When was this? And 3) had you ever used the new (warrantied) hard drive, if so, why not anymore?

Also, for the old hard drive (the one you're using now but is slow) you started getting that error a couple weeks ago. And you were able to re-create it two days ago. Yesterday it did not appear at all, it sounds. Either it went away (who knows) or you can re-create the error somehow. It sounds like when you put the Windows XP CD in it triggers the error. Yes? No? Is the error more random than this? Are there many ways to re-create the error? Please explain.

In the 3.5 years you've had the laptop, has the hard drive been formatted? If so, when was the last time?

 

GrreatRon,
Your CD probably wasn't bootable. Go to My Computer, doubleclick on the drive that has the CD in it, and the executable file should be visible. Doubleclick on it, and the file should run.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, Novice. I will check it out in a few minutes but since it is the original CD for XPHome I would think that would work.

Now, for Farbib, the drive history is this. The laptop came with a 10G HD, later I upgraded to a 30G that was warrantied. That was a little over a year ago. When I had this error problem the other day and Kodo said he thought the drive might be getting ready to crash I sent DriveSolutions and email simply telling them that I had an idea that the drive was going to crash and what was their warranty. A few days later I received the new HD for free and was asked to return the old one. I have not formatted any drive - I thought it came from the factory already formatted.

The only way I can re-create the error is to take the present drive out, put the new one in, and then try to re-boot. The process begins and proceeds for a while then the error appears.

I will try to do it again in a bit with one memory stick and see if that works. Will let you know.

Thanks!

 

I was referring to the Memtest application, and not your restore CD,

 

OK. Thanks for the clarification. I followed your suggestion and a window popped up with this message: Enter disk image source file name. Any idea what that means?

Thanks for your input;

 

Farbib;

I tried to do the boot up with each memory stick removed and both time I came to the same messages. The last time there was a slight difference in the 3rd group in the ( ) I'll put it in brackets so you will see the difference.

***stop: 0x0000008E (0x0000006, 0Xf99bcb18, 0xf960d9fc, {oxf96199FC}, 0x00000000)

***setupdd.sys - address F99BCB18 base at F999D000, DATESTAMP 3d6dd67f

Are these driver files or something like that?

 

Did the file on the Memtest CD that you made have an .iso extension? If so, that is your problem, and this file will have to be burned to a CD using any burning software that supports burning images. I use Nero, and it has the option to burn image to disk.

 

No. How do you burn it to a CD? I have a program to do that but do I do it from a download or a zip file or how? Some things I know but more things I don't.

 

I'm unclear on your reply! What did the Memtest file on the CD that you made show as an extension when you right clicked on it, or what was the full name of the file on your CD? My first guess was a shot in the dark, but knowing the file name and extension will help in solving your problem with the CD.

 

There is no iso file. There are 4 files; install.bat; rawrite.exe; readme.txt; & memtest.bin. I downloaded it to my download folder and then seeing it was a zip file, extracted it to my Unzipped folder and from there transferred it to the CD via a CD writer.

Hope that clears things up.

 

GrreatRon, looks like you downloaded a different file. But it's actually a good chance to try a free bootable CD called "The Ultimate Boot CD." It includes many diagnostic tools that boot from CD, including Memtest86. It's time to fire that up. Picture booting your computer from a CD, and getting a menu with like 80(?) programs. You scroll down and see hard drive diagnostic programs, memory testing programs, antivirus programs, etc. That is UBCD. Memtest86 is just one program you can run from a UBCD. You could have a damaged hard drive, for example, and run repairs booting from the UBCD. Or you could have memory errors, and find out using UBCD. And lots of other stuff. If you're gonna learn how to make an ISO, you may as well make a UBCD. It's gonna come in handy for all types of situations. I've made extras and left it with some family and friends in case of emergencies.

Go here http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4019.html and download it. When complete, go to the folder where you saved the file, locate the file, it's called UBCD31-basic.exe, double-click it. It asks where to extract it to, just choose the same folder, and when it is 100% extracted, there should be a new file right next to UBCD31-basic.exe called UBCD31-basic.iso. It's an ISO file, which means if copied correctly to your CD recorder, it can make a bootable CD (in this case make a bootable Ultimate Boot CD).

The last part is the only hangup possibly. Need to know what CD writing software you use. Each CD writing software has a different procedure for ISO files. This is the only step that may give you a problem. If it does, just post which CD writing software you use, and I'll post step by step instructions. And that will be it. You will then put the new CD in the CD drive, restart, and before Windows ever loads, you get the UBCD menu and a choice of all the tools like Memtest86, test your laptop and hopefully find some clues as to what's slowing the laptop and causing the errors.

 

Just so I'm clear on the status of all three drives, are all of the following true?
1) You have not returned the old 30GB drive (which gets an error and is slow).
2) You have not returned the new 30GB drive (which never worked, you tried installing XP on it but got an error during the Windows setup).
3) You still have the old 10GB drive (error free).
4) The present drive is the 1 year old 30GB hard drive.
5) The new drive (for recreating error) is the 1 week old 30GB hard drive.
6) You no longer use the 10GB hard drive.

 

All that is correct. I use Speedy CD software to burn CDs and BackPack as the hardware or Drive E.

 

The more info you provide the more it does look like either a damaged hardware component or compatibility issue with Windows XP. We'll see, could be trillion other things, but right now let's focus on testing that RAM and HD first, though I've got a little test of the BackPack drive.

1) I would like to test the external CD-RW drive, either for damage or compatibility. Do you still have the laptops's old CD-ROM drive? If so, replace the old 30GB HD with the new 30GB HD, and insert the Windows XP CD in the old CD-ROM drive. Maybe the Windows XP installer will work using the old CD-ROM drive?

2) I've never used SpeedyCD software. I looked for an online tutorial with info about SpeedyCd software burning ISOs and did not find any. Based on this picture http://www.micro-solutions.com/pics/record_screen.gif it looks like in step one (select source) switching it to "image file" would work. So I think all you have to do is choose to copy the UBCD31-basic.iso file (that's it, just that one file), and switch the source to "image file." Leave step two (destination) as Disc.

 

What do you mean by "Do you still have the laptops's old CD-ROM drive?" The laptop never had an "old" drive. The BackPack is an external CD rewriter. I haven't downloaded the bootable CD yet since I have dial up and it takes too long. My son is on RoadRunner so I have asked him to download it to a CD and give it to me.

Thanks for now - more later

 

I thought the CD-RW drive may have been an upgrade, and there was an original laying around. Never mind then.

 

I'm going by my son's place and pick up the CD today. Should I swap drives to use the new drive when I use this CD or use the present drive to check things out?

Just thought of something: is it possible to boot up using the external CD writer? May give that a try.

 

GrrreatRon,

1) I don't think Memtest86 will be affected by the hard drive. When you get the UBCD, first run MemTest86 to test the RAM. RAM needs to be eliminated as a possiblity, since one of your error messages often is caused by faulty RAM.

2) I am confused about your CD drive setup. I thought the BackPack drive was your only CD drive. Now I think differently. Please clarify.

3) If at all possible, use your sons computer to install Windows XP on your new 30GB hard drive. That would be a great test, and isolate several important variables here. Not as hard as it sounds. As of now, it can still be a whole lotta things, and this test would go a long way.

4) I don't recall booting to an external drive. I read only older BIOSes won't, and new BIOSes will. Your laptop is 3.5 years old so I guess it will. I'd guess you can go in the BIOS and check the settings to see if it booting to external USB (something similar?) is enabled. Another geek can verify or reject this.

 

Sorry I have not been clearer. I have an internal CD drive that came with the laptop. BackPack is a CD rewriter and uses Drive E.

My son's computer is a desktop, not a laptop so I don't think the HD can be installed on his computer, can it?

I'll run the Mem test now and get back with you later.

 

OK. I ran the memtest and it ran and ran. It never did stop or give me any idea of what was going on so I let it run all night. It came up with 26 passes and no errors so I would assume the memory is not the problem. What do I do next? I clicked on some items under Hard Drive and found about 4 things to check, like Adapter(?). Give me simple details so I can understand them.

Thanks again for all your time and trouble!

 

Try installing Windows XP on the new 30GB drive using the external BackPack drive.

(process of elimination, this to me is the next logical step)

If Windows XP does not install using the BackPack drive, post back so, and provide the make/model of both your hard drives. Then I would get my UBCD and provide step-by-step instructions for scanning the hard drives for errors.

I would have just done it now, but I just had a big fat 1.5 pounds of turkey with peanut butter thai sauce, I'm nice and relaxed and don't plan on getting out of this seat for a good hour.

 

Also try installing another OS on the new 30GB hard drive, while you're at it. Like if you have an old Windows 9x CD. If the 9X setup works, but the XP setup does not, maybe the XP CD is damaged (I doubt it, but let's do the two birds one stone thing)

 

It would boot up using the BackPack drive. I will try to boot up with another OS-I think I have one at the office.

Both of the HDs are Toshiba, 30G, but I don't know the model. How would I find that?

 

So Windows XP installs on the new 30GB drive using the BackPack CD drive, though XP did not install using the other CD drive (you would get an error). True?

No need to try another Windows CD now (that would have been to test damaged media, which it's not).

 

Maybe I wasn't clear again. WinXP does not install with either drive. With the internal drive it will begin the process of Windows Setup and install some files or drives, then stop and in a few minutes the error comes up. With the BackPack drive, nothing happens.

 

I'd like to say it's probably a damaged Windows XP CD, or a damaged hard drive.

However, even if there was a damaged CD, it would not explain the error you also got in the other hard drive.

They could be separate. But I assume these problems happened at the same time, which suggests a common hardware denominator.

And I'd like to blame a bad hard drive. But are both hard drives damaged irrespective of each other?

It's possible, but I think from what I've heard that one hardware component on the laptop is to blame for both hard drives providing errors. That is where my head is at now.

Hmm. Let me think.

Or if any geeks smarter than I want to chime in and help GrrreatRon, whose being a trooper.

 

Maybe they are two separate issues? I don't think both hard drives are bad. I don't think the RAM is bad. The CD drive would not cause the problem. Now it's time to go to the office, and grab another Windows CD like Win98. Install it on the new 30GB drive, and post your success/failure.

If that (call it Win98) CD works, then the Windows XP CD is likely damaged. If that's the case, that would clear alot. Because to me, finding out why the brand new hard drive is not working is most important. It wouldn't surprise me at all if the other hard drive had some errors on the old 30GB drive, and/or it's just slow. But most important is figuring why the new 30GB drive is not working.

Make sure the new Windows CD you get is scratch-free for testing purposes.