cpu slowdown...POR QUE!!!!

[dave8753]

This has been bugging the living CHRIST out of me.

 

My PC is slow...i mean really slow.

 

I formatted my HDD and installed windows XP 32 bit SP2 (I had Vista 64 bit before and it isn't compatible with ANYTHING)

 

There is literally NOTHING installed on my computer besides drivers (which are all up-to-date straight from the manufacture's website and all are digitally signed to work with my OS), Office 2007, Age of Empires 3, and Bitcomet.

 

While you may think some of these programs interfere with it...keep in mind that the computer was showing the symptoms BEFORE anything was installed except windows. (leading me to believe I have a hardware problem)

 

my specs are as follows:

Motherboard: ASUS P5KC

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6550

GPU: ATI Raedon X1950

RAM: 4 GB (all kingston memory)

Network Card: Netgear W311T 108Mbps (PCI)

 

What leads me to believe that it is a CPU problem is because I did a little search on the internet and I found 2 other people who had the EXACT same problem I have and their specs are completely different than mine except the...you guessed it...the Intel E6550.

 

The main issues are this:

Windows loads extreamly slow (Task Manager shows 97% on idle process tho)

Installation of programs such as Age of Empires, Photoshop, and Adobe Acrobat Reader took 2 hours, 3 hours before i quit, and about 10 minutes respectively.

 

What the hell is going on?!

I have a reasonably fast computer and my 5 year old laptop installs programs, loads windows, and executes programs faster than it does.

 

POR QUE!!!!!!

[Dalo Harkin]

Right first things first - have you been told by windows updates that you need an INTEL CHIPSET DRIVER?

The only thing that will cause your CPU to 'throttle' when it shouldn't is the lack of the intel chipset driver.

 

THIS is VERY common on ASUS boards.

 

Also is ALL the RAM the same speed?

 

PS - welcome to FPCH

[Seth]

Is the computer slow in Safe Mode?

[dave8753]

Yes, all of the ram is exactly the same.

 

Yes, i have installed the intel chipset drivers.

 

Yes it is slow when it boots into safe mode

[Dalo Harkin]

Have you disabled anything in the BIOS for the CPU?

also have you manually set the timings for the RAM from the manufacturers site?

[dave8753]

I don't know how to do any of that...so no

[Dalo Harkin]

Ok I would say that its more a problem with the RAM not running right than your CPU then:-

can you tell me the model number of the RAM sticks and I will get the timings and talk you through setting them in the BIOS.

[Seth]

Ok I would say that its more a problem with the RAM not running right than your CPU then:-

can you tell me the model number of the RAM sticks and I will get the timings and talk you through setting them in the BIOS.

 

Or as a quick test Dalo, Dave can first test the system with one stick only.

[Dalo Harkin]

^^ Agreed - they should be DDR2 RAM and if they are Dual Channel then leave one in slot 1 and 3.

If they are not dual channel leave one in slot 1 as Seth said.

 

Windows 32bit versions will only utilise 3.25GB of RAM anyway so effectively one stick is wasted.

[Seth]

I was thinking of going to the lowest denominator and just trying one stick. Even if it was dual channel, I believe that would be fine, as the ram would just run as a single channel.

[Dalo Harkin]

But single channel will run slower - to really notice if the RAM is the problem I would use 2 (if they are dual channel)

[Seth]

But single channel will run slower

 

Agreed, but not nearly as slow as Dave's system is running now.

 

It's probably dual, so I was thinking one stick just in case the dual channel aspect of the memory controller was farkled.

[Dalo Harkin]

If the memory controller is knackered then the Northbridge would be damaged and the GPU would not work well either.

 

I dont mind - he has the choice he can try 1 or 2 sticks.

Edited August 22, 2008 by Dalo Harkin

[Seth]

Another possibility is the hard drive; specifically the motor spinning at a much lower RPM than it should be.

 

Either way, the good news is we know it's a hardware problem.

[Dalo Harkin]

Agreed mate - (good shout) that is a very high possibility -

I will await Dave to get back to us and if he can let us know if he can run some HDD tests.

[Seth]

Dave,

 

If the memory tests don't solve the problem, then download SpeedFan, click on the S.M.A.R.T. tab, click the drop down arrow, then click on "Perform an in depth online analysis of the hard disk".

 

Does the drive rate ok?

[dave8753]

okay, i do NOT have Kingston RAM...it is OCZ

 

Here is what it says on the side:

"PC2 6400, 2 GB Dual Ch, Vista Upgrade"

[dave8753]

Or as a quick test Dalo, Dave can first test the system with one stick only.

 

tried it...doesn't change anything

[Tony D]

I'm thinking hard drive also.

[dave8753]

Dave,

 

If the memory tests don't solve the problem, then download SpeedFan, click on the S.M.A.R.T. tab, click the drop down arrow, then click on "Perform an in depth online analysis of the hard disk".

 

Does the drive rate ok?

 

I did the analysis on both my internal HDDs

and the lowest rating was on my "seek error rate"---which was normal.

 

I did get a "watch" on my secondary HDDs "TA increase count"

[Seth]

Hmmm.

 

Is it slow to boot as well?

 

See if the problem occurs in Safe Mode.

[dave8753]

Hmmm.

 

Is it slow to boot as well?

 

See if the problem occurs in Safe Mode.

 

Yeah the boot is INCREDIBLY slow (its a bit more acceptable in safe mode but still slow)

 

when i open up a program like Firefox it wont show a window for a good 20-30 seconds. Everything is just incredibly delayed.

[dave8753]

Okay new development. I looked at my running processes and found that windows was running 8 processes all called "mspaint.exe"

 

I stopped all of them (except one, because it will re-open itself)

 

I ran a full virus scan and found nothing...perhaps windows is just retarded and feels it necessary to run 8 copies of MSpaint in the background.

 

don't know if this is the root of the problem, but it could be a lead

[maynardvdm]

Hi

 

What virus scan did you run?

 

Try this one:

 

Download and Run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:

• Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and install the program
  
• At the end, make sure a checkmark is placed next to:
  o Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  o Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  
• Click Finish
  
• If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version
  
• Once the program has loaded, select Perform full scan, then click Scan
  
• When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results
  
• Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected
  
• When completed, a log will open in Notepad. Include this log in your next reply
  

Note:

If you for some reason lose the log, it can be retrieved manually from this location:

C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\Logs\mbam-log-date (time).txt

[dave8753]

Hi

 

What virus scan did you run?

 

Try this one:

 

Download and Run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:

• Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and install the program
  
• At the end, make sure a checkmark is placed next to:
  o Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  o Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  
• Click Finish
  
• If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version
  
• Once the program has loaded, select Perform full scan, then click Scan
  
• When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results
  
• Be sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected
  
• When completed, a log will open in Notepad. Include this log in your next reply
  

Note:

If you for some reason lose the log, it can be retrieved manually from this location:

C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\Application Data\Malwarebytes\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\Logs\mbam-log-date (time).txt

 

 

I have windows onecare.

I don't know how good it is, but i already bought it.

 

Is it good at detecting viruses?

Or more importantly: is the one you posted better at detecting the type of virus that could be on my PC?

 

This also goes back to another question: how are viruses getting on my computer when I formatted the HD and only licensed software has been installed?