Techies in here please.

O

old.Wildfire

Guest
Elo

This little monkey bought himself a dell Dimension 4500 a couple of weeks ago as it was on special offer, dirt cheap, and allowed me to upgrade my machine, and my brother's machine, by gutting it and distributing the parts. I now have a 2.4GHz P4 system with (alas) 256MB of DDR, a 40GB (ATA-100) HD, and my old GF2 ultra.

My problem is this -

1) windows (xp, argh) takes ages to load
2) programs take ages to load - for example when loading internet explorer from the taskbar for the first time, it takes 30-40s to open up, after which it's fine.
2a) ut2k3 is my second example - it takes 2-3 mins at the ...loading... screen, then chugs like a cheap bint for a minute or so (after freezing for a few seconds when you first spawn), but then once its loaded, it runs fine, 60fps no prob bob.

liek, wtf? the loading times for programs (even the start menu takes a good few seconds to come up each time i move across a level) are insane, but the machine runs perfectly once everything's loaded up. I'm tearing my hair out here with frustration, and have very little idea how to fix this.

help!? please!? :(
 
N

noob_pride

Guest
Did you start with the windows update?
Then make sure all your drivers are up to date...
 
T

Thorarin

Guest
Sounds like something is causing your HD I/O to be extremely slow.

Go to the Device Manager (Alt+Pause, Hardware tab, Device Manager) and check under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Rightclick Primary IDE Channel, select Properties and go to Advanced Settings.

There, check the current Transfer Mode for your harddisk. It should read "Ultra DMA Mode 5" (if I'm not mistaken). The setting right above it should be "DMA if available".

Not sure how the setting would get messed up, but it's worth a shot. Other possible causes could be a virus using an int 13 hook (but those are rare nowadays), messed up CMOS settings or probably a million other things.

With regard to the harddisk, what chipset is used on your motherboard?
 
O

old.Wildfire

Guest
Thorarin - the motherboard is P4 compatible, but, GG DELL, there are no details anywhere in the paperwork about what the board actually is, just loads of stuff about "Q: my cursor isnt moving A: have you checked the mouse is plugged in?" - cringe-worthy.
 
T

talen_sun

Guest
The solution to any XP problem -

c:\format c:

Then install an operation system that works properly...

2000/NT/98...

easy...
 
B

Belsameth

Guest
the problem could be partly to blame due to XP as well.
I have the same (few minutes) loading times on my other machine. but that's an early beta.

besides that. XP does add a lot of crap to your system. you could check sites like http://www.windowsxp.nu/ to get a guide how to smoothen things out a bit.

overall tho, the drivers seem to be the first thing to check.
also re-install DirectX after you updated drivers.
 
P

PJS

Guest
Hard Disk related. Check hard disk transfer settings in the BIOS. Try a different hard disk in the machine.
 
D

Danya

Guest
Yup almost certainly your HDD is knacked / crap / setup wrong. Hence the smoothing after a bit - everything gets cached so the disk doesn't have to work.
One reason I like my scsi. It works. Fast. :D
 
D

darbey

Guest
It really would be dificult to diagnose what the problem is without your complete system spec and maybe some boot logs as it could be many things. Something i have suggested to many friends with similar problemsis to download PCMark2002 from this url http://gamershq.madonion.com/products/pcmark2002/
Its a great utility as it benchmarks and tests the individual components of your system and tells u where u have problems and suggested fixes. Make sure u click on the free one as there is also an advanced version u can purchase.
As an indication i have a roughly similar spec to u and xp takes about 20 seconds from power up to log in and anything up to 5 secs for a program to start.

Lets us know how u get on
 
B

belth

Guest
First mistake - buying a Dell.
Second mistake - paying more than it's worth, no matter if it was 100€
Third mistake - disassembling it.

Get the Intel Application Accelerator software, might help. Run defrag, get more memory (512+). Get better cooling, the P4 might be overheating, causing it to slowdown itself until it cools down to Intel's specs. Don't use the goo the heatsink comes with, use Arctic Silver 2 or 3.

That's if turning on DMA transfers don't help. Get the IAA anyway tho.
 
O

old.Second

Guest
had same problem when i changed my motherboard. Did you reinstall windows after you changed the hardware? If you read the windows manual then it says you should reinstall when changing major parts like motherboard, graphcard and HD(doh).

I did a format C: and reinstalled windows xp again. works like a clock now. Reason may be that the old drivers from the old motherboard still exists and is F'ing up the system.

Try it... it works:)
 
L

-Lonewolf-

Guest
Can everyone say come on together now... "Off Topic Forum"
 
T

Thorarin

Guest
With regard to OS'es.. I switched to Windows XP, because Windows 2000 Server fails to work with the Detonator drivers for GF2 GTS reliably. It causes BSODs in DAoC for one thing.

There, thread back on topic :)
 
N

Novamir

Guest
saying something is 'off-topic' is clearly off topic
 
F

Feldegast

Guest
Was looking for that link Nova posted. But as he already posted I wont bother. Speeded up XP alot, especialy the RAM tweaks.

Otherwise I'd go for the HD line aswell.

Try reinstalling.. its a bitch but feels damn good when Ur done and have a smooth machine again
 
M

MalokOfAxiom

Guest
Easy..

Search the Dell Support Website for the Intel Application Accellerator Driver..

Download it, install it, and you'll be back to full speed..
 
M

MalokOfAxiom

Guest
D'oh..!!

Just read back and noticed Belth has already mentioned IAA..

Do it.. I work with PC's Server's etc all day - Seen this problem, solved it.

Incidently, if you have a copy of Microsoft's TechNet, or have access to it, the cause & solution is detailed in there.
 
E

Ensceptifica

Guest
Every piece of advise I'd wanna give has already been said, so I'll just shut up :p
 
O

old.Wildfire

Guest
well, i have to say, thanks guys, and, um (you didnt see me post this) thanks novamir

:eek: did i just say that? ;)

edit: actually i was quite impressed by the system, the cooling inside is via ducting and a big-ass 120mm fan on the CPU, with a nice hedgehog that I lovingly applied AS2 to when I first got it. Dell's tech support and as a company in general are awful, but DAMN their cases are pretty sweet. Folding setup, drives e.t.c. on sliding racks, front USB, no screws. Don't like the plastic but from the point of view of someone who spends a lot of time with the case open tweaking things, it's a dream.
 
C

cjkaceBM

Guest
Can't view the benchmarks - any chance you can cut and paste?

Having worked in a PC repair shop one thing always stuck in my mind about Dell PCs. They had a tendency to use Cable Select for their drives and slave the CD off the Hard Disk, which I found caused a problem sometimes.

BTW your tech specs are

http://support.jp.dell.com/docs/systems/dim4500/specs.htm#1101572

The board is an Intel 845E based, AGP4x, UDMA100 etc.

Things to check.

Whether you are actually running at AGP 4X.
Whether you are actually running UDMA 100.
Do you have the latest nVidia Drivers?

From what I read about you problem the fault is either

a: sucky video drivers
b: sucky intel mainboard :)

Heres the link for the Intel Application Accelerator

http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa/

Interesting note from the above page -

The Intel® Application Accelerator is a performance software package for Intel desktop and mobile PCs.


Intel Application Accelerator also provides:
Faster Boot Time via Accelerated Operating System Load Time
Accelerated Disk I/O for Games, Graphics Applications, Disk Utilities, and Media Authoring Applications
Performance-enhancing Data Pre-fetcher for Intel® Pentium® 4 processor-based systems
Support for 137GB and larger hard drives
 
S

Subbiz

Guest
always reinstall O/S after upgrading/changing motherboard/cpu. Ive had similar problems with this untill I did that.
 
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