Computer Problems

[RaptorMkII]

hey all, as you might've guessed, I'm having problems with my computer. All of a sudden, its started running really slowly... like 5-10 minutes for the start menu to come up, longer for other things. I tried rebooting it, and it took about an hour to come up.

It seems like everything is coming up, but its taking way, way, way longer than it should.

any ideas?

[Goblin6]

Virus, stuffed hard drive?
Hit it with a hammer that should fix it :D

[Big Donkey]

Sounds like it could be a virus if you're comp was running just fine the other day. Any weird noises coming from it?

try booting up in safemode

go to run type in: msconfig

go to processes and for anything out of place or maybe something you've never seen before.
Uncheck it. Be careful not to uncheck things that are critical for your system to run.

[ArchAngel]

hey all, as you might've guessed, I'm having problems with my computer. All of a sudden, its started running really slowly... like 5-10 minutes for the start menu to come up, longer for other things. I tried rebooting it, and it took about an hour to come up.

It seems like everything is coming up, but its taking way, way, way longer than it should.

any ideas?

Here is a microsoft utinity that may be of some help to you. I have found this helps in a lot of cases. Of course as mentioned before make sure you still have adequate free space left on the drive or that will also cause your system to come to a screeching halt.

1. Click the Start button then select Run
2. In the Run window's Open box, type cmd or command
3. Click OK and an MS-DOS-style black screen will appear in a new window
4. Run chkdsk by typing one of the the following commands where the cursor is blinking:
a. chkdsk c: /f /r and then press <Enter> (see Notes below)
OR
b. chkdsk c: /f and then press <Enter> (see Notes below)
5. With either command, a message will appear that says:"chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? <y/n>"
6. Type y (for "yes") and then press <Enter>
7. A message will appear that will say: "This volume will be checked the next time the system restarts"
8. Type exit and then press <Enter> to close the MS-DOS-style black screen window
9. Reboot (restart) the computer as you normally would and chkdsk will automatically begin running after your reboot (restart). While chkdsk is running, you will see a light blue window with a dark blue band at the top and bottom. Chkdsk will display the specific stage it is checking as well as the percentage of completion of the stage. You cannot do anything else on your computer while chkdsk is running. When chkdsk is finished, it will automatically reboot (restart) your computer.
For more information about chkdsk, visit the Microsoft® site at: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/chkdsk.mspx
Notes:
Typing chkdsk c: /f (as in 4b above) will only fix errors that are encountered, while typing chkdsk c: /f /r (as in 4a above) will both fix errors and recover lost data. Running chkdsk with both the /f and /r options (as in 4a above) can often take a considerable amount of time—depending upon the size of your hard drive and the amount of data stored on it. For example, a 60GB hard drive with half the drive filled with data will take about an hour and fifteeen minutes when you use both the /f and /r options. Be prepared to take a long lunch because waiting for chkdsk to finish is somewhat akin to watching paint dry.
While running chkdsk with only the /f option (as in 4b above) is faster, it will only fix errors, not recover any lost data. However, using only the /f option on a similar 60GB hard drive with half the drive filled with data will only take about twenty minutes.

[mikeyb]

IF none of this stuff helped, let us (me) know. I got some other things to try...

[RaptorMkII]

Thanks everyone, I dropped it off at Best Buy, to let the Geek Squad look at it.

Good news is, I'm virus free. Bad news, my hard drive may be going. They're running a diagnostic on it to find out what is definitely going on.

[RaptorMkII]

well, I got my computer back.

after almost $400 and 19 days in Best Buy, I have a new hard drive and the ever so enjoyable job rebuilding everything.

:frustration:

[KajedAnimal]

well, I got my computer back.

after almost $400 and 19 days in Best Buy, I have a new hard drive and the ever so enjoyable job rebuilding everything.

:frustration:

Wow that sucks...you could have had a new computer for $400.

[RaptorMkII]

Wow that sucks...you could have had a new computer for $400.

ugh... tell me about it. I wish I had known how much it would cost (in time and money) when it broke in the first place. I would've gone out and gotten something new.