Severe windows lag..

[Rishy]

hey there guys...

I just reformatted my PC, but there is a severe lag upon startup. When its logging on, the HDD light is static on...at the desktop nothing will appear except my mouse and itll take like 5 - 8 minutes for everything else to load...

then everything is smooth...

But when i go place(like to different drives) from My Computer..theres a lag...

Also there are sudden lag spikes as well..

Everyime I don any of the above, the HDD light will be static on..

Hope someone can help...

 

[funggorgor]

how long have you been using this harddisk?
check for bad sector

 

[MrChad]

System specs? Operating system?

Open up Device Manager in System properties and find your Primary IDE controller. Go to Properties and make sure you are running in DMA mode.

 

[Rishy]

oops...sorry....AXP, 1 80GB WDC(Primary) 1 200GB WDC(Slave) both are IDE...running WinXP SP1

also, if all my drives are connected via IDE...should it say they are SCSI devices in Device Manager ?

 

[Rishy]

Originally posted by: funggorgor
how long have you been using this harddisk?
check for bad sector

about 1 1/2 years....no problems...

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: Rishy
oops...sorry....AXP, 1 80GB WDC(Primary) 1 200GB WDC(Slave) both are IDE...running WinXP SP1

also, if all my drives are connected via IDE...should it say they are SCSI devices in Device Manager ?

Possibly. Are they connected to your motherboard or to a separate IDE controller card?

 

[Rishy]

all connected to mobo directly...

 

[MrChad]

Ok. Let's go over a couple of things.

1. This is a new install. Why not run SP2? You should always try and keep Windows as up-to-date as possible.
2. Did you connect your machine to the internet unpatched? You can be infected by worms in a matter of minutes with an unpatched XP machine. You might want to slipstream SP2 onto your XP install CD and start over.
3. Have you installed the chipset drivers for your motherboard? These can affect performance (you didn't list what motherboard you have, so I can't point you to the proper download location).

 

[Rishy]

1. Well, people around me have put in SP2...tons of problems. Besides, i have been runnning SP1 forever with no problems...you really think SP2 is a good idea ?
2. Nope, patched and firewalled...
3. Yup...everythings in. Before i installed there were a bunch of things in device manager that didnt have a driver, after i was done they were all solved...

 

[MrChad]

Originally posted by: Rishy
1. Well, people around me have put in SP2...tons of problems. Besides, i have been runnning SP1 forever with no problems...you really think SP2 is a good idea ?
2. Nope, patched and firewalled...
3. Yup...everythings in. Before i installed there were a bunch of things in device manager that didnt have a driver, after i was done they were all solved...

Yes, SP2 is a good idea. I have no trouble with it. On a clean install it's a no-brainer.

Have you checked your IDE controller settings in Device Manager? Are you running in DMA mode?

 

[spyordie007]

All you're seeing is a handfull of people doing a lot of complaining. The vast majority of SP2 installs are error-free.

Personally I've performed or pushed about 300 SP2 installs and only once did it give me any problems. 1/300 isnt bad at all.

As for your speed problem:
You mentioned you have a SCSI device showing in the device manager. I'm going to assume that's your IDE controller, however most regular on-board IDE controllers wouldnt show as a SCSI device. So my question for you is do you have both an "IDE ATA/ATAPI controller" section as well as a "SCSI and RAID controllers" section? What is listed under the "SCSI and RAID controlers" section? Where do you have your drives physically plugged in to those controllers? And are all the drives (both hard disks and CDROM, etc.) on seperate IDE channels?

Also like MrChad suggested make sure you're in DMA mode.