WestC07

My Dell Inspiron 1505 is only about a year old but it's started acting up on me the past few days and I am totally stumped as to what to do so I thought you guys might be able to help me out.

Specs... 2.0GHz C2D, 1G RAM, 120GB HDD. OS is XP Media Center Ed.

The symptom is the fact that it has now become horribly slow. The "Windows XP" startup screen displays and loads for around 4-5 minutes. Upon logging in, even the startup "song" is played choppy like the computer is too slow to play it. Accessing large things takes forever as does opening certain programs.

I first ran a virus scan (Avast), came up clean. Ran SpySweeper scan, clean. And Yahoo Toolbar Spyware scan, clean. Did a system restore to a week earlier and the computer worked fine for about 2 hours or so... programs, internet, songs, etc. perfectly. Then Firefox became unresponsive and it started all over again. I have not installed any new programs within the past month or so I would guess. I don't download music for fear of Spyware, and the most demanding thing I do is play CSS for a couple hours a few times a week on medium settings.

I can still get to all of my files and such so I'm trying to back up as much as I can.

Does anyone have any suggestion on what I can do?

As of right now I'm planning to do an OS reinstall with the Dell CD if nothing else.

Thanks.

__________________
-West

Dell Inspiron E1505-
~Windows XP Media Center Edition
-Intel Core2Duo T7200 @ 2.0Ghz
-256MB ATI Radeon X1400
-1GB RAM
-Lots of other goodies...

vonfeldt7

I would say format your hdd, and reinstall OS.

__________________

WestC07

Well are there any ideas as to what could be causing the problem?

Also, instead of reformatting and reinstalling, I'm thinking of doing a Dell System Recovery. I have the question though of whether or not the outcome will be the same? I know computers are supposed to be reformatted every year or so to get rid of all of the bugs and spyware but would this have the same effect?

"The Dell PC Restore by Symantec program can be used to restore the operating system and the installed programs to the original factory condition. Dell PC Restore by Symantec is available on all Dell Dimension and Inspiron computers shipped in the Americas on or after July 16, 2004 and in Europe on or after August 30, 2004.

4. Turn on the computer.
5. When the Dell splash screen appears during the computer startup process, press and hold <Ctrl> and then press <F11>. Then, release both keys at the same time.
7. In the Dell PC Restore by Symantec window, click Restore. Alternatively, press <Tab> to highlight Restore, and then press <Enter>.

8. When a warning message appears stating that all data will be lost, click Confirm, or press <Tab> to highlight Confirm and then press <Enter>.

The Progress window appears. After the restore process starts, Dell PC Restore by Symantec usually takes only 8 to 10 minutes to finish.

When the restore process is complete, the following message appears:
The system recovery process was successful
9. Click Finish or press <Tab> to highlight Finish and then press <Enter>.

The computer restarts. "

Supposedly it's supposed to be a lot faster than a total OS reinstall but will it give the same effect?

__________________
-West

Dell Inspiron E1505-
~Windows XP Media Center Edition
-Intel Core2Duo T7200 @ 2.0Ghz
-256MB ATI Radeon X1400
-1GB RAM
-Lots of other goodies...

MightyKing

Hm... First, I would do a Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool scan. This can be found in the OS cd that came with your pc.

If that doesn't help at all, do a system restore to a point in time where nothing was done (before the problems began).

Once more, if that doesn't work, I would do a Windows Complete PC Restore.


In the end, if nothing works, I would reformat HDD and reinstall OS.

__________________

Dell XPS M1530 || Windows Vista Home Premium/XP SP3 || Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz|| 3GB DD2 SDRAM|| 320GB 5400rpm SATA || Slot Load DVD+/-RW || 256MB NVIDIA 8600M GT

Asus P4C800 || Windows XP SP3 || Intel Pentium 4 3.00GHz || 1.5GB DDR SDRAM || 122GB Maxtor, 80GB Seagate || Sony DVD RW, Samsung DVD/CD-RW || 128MB RADEON 9800 PRO

BluePlum

Welll i reckon its a virus. Hopefully Ceewi or gaemaster will be around with the instruction for hijack log... just give em some time

WestC07

Will do. Whatever it is it's also eating away at Firefox. First my yahoo toolbar was gone, then my theme, now my weather add-on won't load.

As I said in my first post I've already tried system restore and it ran superbly for a while, then went back slow again.

__________________
-West

Dell Inspiron E1505-
~Windows XP Media Center Edition
-Intel Core2Duo T7200 @ 2.0Ghz
-256MB ATI Radeon X1400
-1GB RAM
-Lots of other goodies...

MightyKing

Well... that's gotta suck. Hope you backed up your stuff just in case..

__________________

Dell XPS M1530 || Windows Vista Home Premium/XP SP3 || Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz|| 3GB DD2 SDRAM|| 320GB 5400rpm SATA || Slot Load DVD+/-RW || 256MB NVIDIA 8600M GT

Asus P4C800 || Windows XP SP3 || Intel Pentium 4 3.00GHz || 1.5GB DDR SDRAM || 122GB Maxtor, 80GB Seagate || Sony DVD RW, Samsung DVD/CD-RW || 128MB RADEON 9800 PRO

WestC07

Yeah, I'm actually on the laptop now. It's functioning, but at about the same pace as our 5 year old desktop.

Thanks for the help. I'd still like to try a hijack this thing-a-ma-jig if someone could help me out.

__________________
-West

Dell Inspiron E1505-
~Windows XP Media Center Edition
-Intel Core2Duo T7200 @ 2.0Ghz
-256MB ATI Radeon X1400
-1GB RAM
-Lots of other goodies...

MightyKing

Would help you, but hijack was too complex for me when I got rid of a trojan long ago lol.

__________________

Dell XPS M1530 || Windows Vista Home Premium/XP SP3 || Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz|| 3GB DD2 SDRAM|| 320GB 5400rpm SATA || Slot Load DVD+/-RW || 256MB NVIDIA 8600M GT

Asus P4C800 || Windows XP SP3 || Intel Pentium 4 3.00GHz || 1.5GB DDR SDRAM || 122GB Maxtor, 80GB Seagate || Sony DVD RW, Samsung DVD/CD-RW || 128MB RADEON 9800 PRO

soccerdude

How many programs do you have starting up and which ones are they? Many of them are probably not needed and will cause your system to be like this.

Go to Start->msconfig->Startup

There you will see all the programs that start up when you power one your computer. Disable the ones you know and are not needed when you start your computer. Also by any chance are you running any other Anti-virus software? If you are, that is a big "no-no" because it will take up more resources and ram.

Another thing... you might would think about getting a bit more ram probably another 512mb to 1Gb as programs get more demanding and tasks require more attention.