Windows Quirks

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Kreiger5

Weaksauce
Joined
Nov 5, 2005
Messages
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For anybody who takes the time to read this, thank you.

hey guys, never even knew this forum was here (all wrapped up in the amd processor, and overclocking forums, heh)

My Windows Xp install is doing some rather weird things on occasion.

Problem 1) I come home after work (typically, I sleep, than go right to work, so the computer is idle for 15-17 hours), and my internet connection is cut (wireless, medium signal normally). The solution i have normally found is to disable my wireless, and enable, and then it finds the network again, and i'm back on no problem. However, recently, I have been unable to disable the wireless. The option is there,. but. Nada. It's like i'm not even clicking on it. Same problem if i try Repair, Status or Properties. View available DOES work, but shows nothing (like i'm not getting any signal), Also, Bridge Connections does work (or, would if i wanted to bridge my connections).

So, to fix, i have to reboot. However, in doing so, windows takes literally 10 minutes+ to close down, save all settings and reboot itself (i timed it once to 10 minutes and it hadn't finished, so i hit the reset button) based on my hardware, there is no reason for that slowness.

I don't have spyware (nothing above and beyond what users normally snag on the internet, but i have spybot and adaware for that, both which show nada currently), and i run nod32, which updates itself, and it also shows nothing. (i've run all the above programs in safe mode as well).

I think that about covers problem 1.

Problem 2) worries me a bit more, tho it happens very rarely. Long story short, programs decide that even tho they are on my hard drive, they will no longer open. Exes, clicked upon, give me an hourglass for a second and a process in taskmanager that is MUCH smaller than the normal should be. (Opera using 970k mem, for instance). The only solution to this i've found is to reinstall the program in question. So far this has happened to doom3, and Opera. Rebooting does NOT fix the problem.

problem 3) Recent problem (last couple days) When opening a web page in opera, or opening up explorer, i get a momentary "program not responding" like moment, where my title bar freezes, and the program (wherever it is) stays blank (also, if i drag it around my desktop, i get that stutter thing you get when you drag a program that's not responding, where it leaves copies of itself all over the damned place). This usually lasts about.. 2 seconds on average.

All three of my problems aren't life threatening, but i'm genuinely worried that they may be a symptom of something (corrupt windows files, dieing HD, etc)

I'm not sure what info you guys would like to help me here.. i'm running sp1 (it was slipstreamed on the disk, and for some reason i can't make a sp2 slipstreamed.. i do what it says and the damned thing won't boot). it's Xp Corp pro.

My Hardware is as follows:

Evga NF-41 Motherboard (not the latest bios, i haven't flashed yet)
165 Opteron at 2.4 (idle temps 37, load 43 (i seated my hsf badly, that's a PEBKAC problem, not an Opteron one, i;m fixing it soon)
Western Digital Caviar 80 gb HDD (did a complete format when i bought new hardware and reinstalled everything from scratch)
Evga 7800 gt ( latest drivers)
And some ghetto ram (2x256 Geil value, 1x512 corsair) on medium timings and a 1:2 divider

Looking at that, i'm not sure i have the latest chipset drivers, so maybe i'll try that out.

Sorry for the REALLY long post, i wanted to try and get your answers before you asked them to make it easier for you guys to help.

I can send screenshots on anything you like, and will (of course) answer any questions.

Again, if any of these problems sound familar, or if you know a program i don't which could tell me what's wrong, please input. I'm about to try backing up my unrecoverable data to dvd's and just format/reinstall (try that sp2 disc again)

If it matters, i run a Shell replacement (Bblean) but i've been using it for over a year without any problems.

Again, to anybody who read this far down, Thank you.
 
It could probably be "fixed" through a series of registry cleanings, removing residual program installations and drivers, and stuff like that... but it's not worth your time.

It's time to break out the Windows CD, format, and reinstall, and probably use a bit more discretion at what you install this time around.
 
sounds like a stability issue to me.

if you havent done any stability tests i would run prime95 and memtest, and maybe even superPI just to double check its not your hardware.


when was the last time you did a clean install of xp?
 
Well he is OC'ing that Opteron from 1.8 to 2.4, but these don't sound like the symptoms you'd get from an overclock to me..
 
i'm prime95 stable for a couple hours, my ram was fine last time i checked memtest (getting new ram for x-mas 2 gb g.skill). and i haven't tried super-pi.

I didn't think this was new hardware related, and i did a clean install just after thanksgiving, when i got all my new hardware. (mobo/cpu/gpu and i wanted to make sure my xp would support the dual core).
 
This sounds very much to me like some junk software mucking things up.
 
You are getting all those issues after just a couple weeks of a Windows install? That is an issue in its self.

Maybe Windows had some issues on the initial install and they are progressing. It does not sound like an overclocking issue, but with such a high OC it is always possible. Malware is the most likely problem, you say you have some scanners and cleaners, but honestly, if they are a problem to begin with it could be effecting your system rather you think they are gone or not. It's entirely possible that your system was corrupted durring the removal of such software.

This is a bit scarey...
nothing above and beyond what users normally snag on the internet
Click to expand...

Don't allow yourself to be the normal idiot on a PC who gets so weighed down by crapware their systems are all but unusable. If you are getting malware (like you said), you need to put a stop to that. Increase your security settings, use another browser, don't open random email attachments, don't preview emails when reading them, etc.

I recommend a reinstall of Windows, period.
 
Tweakin is totally on target.

All those scanners and cleaners and all that junk seem to get most used by the people who download and install crap on their computers in the first place. If you're careful with what kind of software you put on your computer, you never have to run that stuff in the first place.
 
Tweakin said:
I recommend a reinstall of Windows, period.
Click to expand...
Agreed. All those symptoms sound like they are related to the same thing, but you aren't going to have a fun time finding and fixing it.

Wipe and reload. Stay away from sites like *viper or any other window tweak sites. I'd avoid reg cleaners too, but that's just me. I tend to be very safe in my computer use, so I don't usually need a reg cleaner. YMMV

btw: This does sound like a hardware issue to me. All these issues are tied in to the deep underpinnings of windows, which gets flaky when the hardware is being stressed. If I didn't know you were overclocking, I'd be suspicious of the powersupply.

Just read that you seated the hs/f improperly. That would my best guess. Not that reseating it is going to fix this, there may have already been damage to the OS.
 
i haven't visited any tweak sites, and by "normal users" i mean tracker cookies, and what happened to come attached to my bearshare, which i removed the moment i downloaded the program. I have been pulling in alot of torrents, and maybe one of them had something that got into my system and disappeared. after christmas, i'll reseat HSF, add in my new ram, backup my media to dvds and wip/reinstall.

Also, my PSU is the 520W Skyhawk. (Gm-520sc). It was rated well on dfi-street, and the amps looked pretty damn solid. Also, it was like 40 bucks

When this started, i originally questioned my ram, and the fact that i'm running two diff types.

Anyway, thanks everybody who contributed to this.. i really do appreciate it.

If anybody else thinks of anything, please share.
 
Kreiger5 said:
i haven't visited any tweak sites, and by "normal users" i mean tracker cookies, and what happened to come attached to my bearshare, which i removed the moment i downloaded the program. I have been pulling in alot of torrents, and maybe one of them had something that got into my system and disappeared. after christmas, i'll reseat HSF, add in my new ram, backup my media to dvds and wip/reinstall.

Also, my PSU is the 520W Skyhawk. (Gm-520sc). It was rated well on dfi-street, and the amps looked pretty damn solid. Also, it was like 40 bucks

When this started, i originally questioned my ram, and the fact that i'm running two diff types.

Anyway, thanks everybody who contributed to this.. i really do appreciate it.

If anybody else thinks of anything, please share.
Click to expand...

Have you been defragging your drives? If you are using bittorrent on Windows that tends to fragment the drive quite a bit.
The other thing could be your drive getting flaky. Try running the drive manufacturer diagnostic utility on it.
 
It sounds like malware of some sort to me, I'm going to throw in another vote for reformatting and checking your hardware. In the meantime...

Have you tried stepping down the OC at all and seeing if that helps? Can you post a screenshot of active processes in task manager? Sometimes that's the easiest way to spot problematic software. Is it any better if you boot into safe mode and open up some apps?
 
Kreiger5 said:
i haven't visited any tweak sites, and by "normal users" i mean tracker cookies, and what happened to come attached to my bearshare, which i removed the moment i downloaded the program. I have been pulling in alot of torrents, and maybe one of them had something that got into my system and disappeared. after christmas, i'll reseat HSF, add in my new ram, backup my media to dvds and wip/reinstall.

Also, my PSU is the 520W Skyhawk. (Gm-520sc). It was rated well on dfi-street, and the amps looked pretty damn solid. Also, it was like 40 bucks

When this started, i originally questioned my ram, and the fact that i'm running two diff types.

Anyway, thanks everybody who contributed to this.. i really do appreciate it.

If anybody else thinks of anything, please share.
Click to expand...
Still sounds like a hardware issue to me. Doesn't sound like ram, that's usually system crashes. CPU/PSU issues will manifest themselves very oddly, which is what makes me suspect the PSU.
 
Slartibartfast said:
It sounds like malware of some sort to me, I'm going to throw in another vote for reformatting and checking your hardware. In the meantime...

Have you tried stepping down the OC at all and seeing if that helps? Can you post a screenshot of active processes in task manager? Sometimes that's the easiest way to spot problematic software. Is it any better if you boot into safe mode and open up some apps?
Click to expand...

I can post a screenshot, i'll do so in a second. No, i haven't tried stepping down the OC, the processor i'm using takes 2.4 on a LOW end, unless i got the worst chip in the bunch, and i'm not touching my volts. Also, it doesn't ALWAYS happen. This isn't a repeatable error, if it was, i would have been able to track down the problem.

Case in point, yesterday i got home from work, and my internet was funked. Today, same hours, same time away, same everything and internet is fine. i DID defrag yesterday after i posted, and i'll be looking for a drive diagnostic tool now while doing my other internet stuff before i settle into my css.

As i said, i'll keep track of what's going on before each error, so i can try to lock down a source, but since it happens like.. once a week, it's hard to find a common denominator.

As i said, i WILL be formatting and reinstalling after x-mas, and i'll unplug my second optical drive to assure it isn't a funk psu problem. (one hd, two optical drives, the pci-e connector and one set of cathode tubes(in addition to the normal fans, mobo and such) shouldn't cause anything over 500w to have any sort of problem.. i would think..
 
you know, this sounds like a Kerio firewall problem.
try uninstalling/disabling kerio and see if that helps
 
not using kerio.

i WAS using nvidia firewall, but it crashed my torrent program, and i uninstalled it.

maybe it left some stuff in my registry?
 
Your problem sounds very familiar. I've seen something just like it on other overclocked systems.

Back off the overclock and run at spec for a couple of days and see if the problem disappears.
 
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