Welp, I'm back. I dare say I'm starting to become a regular poster of problems in this forum. Whether that's a good or bad thing, I'm not going to think about. ;)
Ok, here we go. And be advised, this is a long-ass post. Seriously. Go get a drink.
For starters, here are my specs:
-Tyan Trinity KT-A S2390B motherboard
-Athlon XP 1700+ CPU
-512 MB of SDRAM on three sticks, one 256, two 128s, all three different brands
-Maxtor 80GB HDD with 8MB cache (the brand new one I bought for those who've helped me in the recent past) *Primary Master*
-Maxtor 40GB HDD (currently disconnected due to power concerns, more on that later) *Primary Slave - if it were connected*
-LG 32x-10x-40x CD-RW/Burner *Secondary Master*
-Asus 52x CD-Rom Drive *Secondary Slave*
-ATI Radeon 9500 Pro (the official one made by ATI, not by a third party)
-Sound Blaster Audigy Gamer
-D-Link DFE-538TX 10/100 Ethernet Adapter, Network Interface Card
First things first. I've fixed the issues I've posted about in the past (kind of fixed.....you know how it is) but I've recently encountered a fresh assault of the "random lockups" I've had before. What I mean by this is my computer will simply freeze. No warning, no apparent software causing it, just a simple freezing. Desktop image frozen on monitor, mouse pointer not moving, keyboard not responding to Caps Lock and Num Lock attempts...you get the idea.
The freezes are inconsistant with the computer activity that's supposedly causing them. I could be doing anything from booting into XP and simply opening Explorer (booted for the first time all day, active less then 6 minutes) from simultaneously surfing the net, chatting with 5+ people on MSN, and working on an Excel assignment while Winamp, WinMX and IRC are playing music and maintaining queued slots for downloads in the background (left idle all day, active more then 6 hours, then used as stated above when I get home) before the freezes occur.
The only thing that changes when this freezing happens is the sounds coming from my tower. It sounds like a fan is either speeding up or slowing down but I can't even tell cause my CPUs HSF (Thermaltake Volcano 9) is loud as hell and makes it hard to distinguish whats making what noise. I can't even tell if the fan doing the things its doing when I freeze is the CPU HSF or the fan in my PSU! If I had to guess, I'd say the fan is slowing down though, as if suddenly under a low load. Think about the sound your computer makes as it boots into XP and then finishes running the "userinit" process and crap about 20 or so seconds of hitting the desktop. That little "high to low" tone the system seems to make. Vague? Of course. But it's all I've got.
Now because of this and the approaching conclusion of my college year I've decided to start from scratch and reinstall everything, hoping for the best. However, since I'm not out of the woods yet (still have exams, still low on time, still low on money) I need to start thinking about how to fix whats broke for the time being, before I can spare the daylight to trash it and start anew.
So, number 1: What should I be looking at with regards to my hardware config and software to minimize or eliminate these lockups?
I've already done all the tweaking from Persian Immortal's WinXP tweak guides, especially paying attention to those regarding pagefile size setting and the DisablePageExecutive registry tweaks. I've also squared everything away with regards to running Windows Update (to the point where no updates are available,) Ad-Aware, Regcleaner, WinOptimizer, Cacheman, Bootvis, Error-Checking (both the long one where you check both options in XP and reboot, and the shorter manually run one "chkdsk /f" that focuses on corruption,) defragmenting, System File Checking (sfc /scannow) and taking two extra strength Advil with some Coke.
I've also run the Memtest 86+ ISO boot CD some dude suggested to me last time I posted and it did 7 passes through all the tests in just under 4 hours, with 0 reported errors. So even though my three sticks of differently branded RAM working together is one of the worst RAM configurations possible, its still working as well as the day I installed Windows 98 years ago. Apparently anyway.
Now here's where things get ugly. I stated above that my 40G HDD was disconnected due to power concerns. These power concerns arose from the following, shameful fact:
I'm running my computer off a 250 Watt PSU.
*Cringes as forum members scream, brandish the Cross and start hissing*
Now it's a no-brainer that this could be the source of my lockups, and a simple (and crucial) upgrade of my PSU would probably solve my problems, also negating the purpose of me typing this post and having you read it in the first place. However, why I'm typing this post looking for help is because the lockups aren't consistant with my crappy PSU alone. Freezes never occured in Windows 98 for example, even though I was running the exact same rig setup and power settings. Also, if my PSU truly was the bottleneck causing all my troubles, why can I use my PC more then 12 hours one day and only 12 minutes the next before problems occur? Shouldn't I be having trouble all the time and not just some of the time if my PSU were the cause?
My PSU is A bottleneck, to be sure, and I'm way ahead of your suggestions that I upgrade it ASAP, but I'm not convinced it's THE bottleneck creating the source of my woes.
Regardless, fixing my crap will just put a splint on my broken leg. Only through a fresh install of everything will I be able to put my weight back on it and run my daily miles. Which brings me to my second point of advice:
Number 2: If I have two HDDs, one 40GB, one 80GB (/w 8mb cache), what's the absolute best method to install WinXP and manage it's installation?
By "best method", I mean things like whether installing it off the WinXP CD or copying the setup files to my HDD and installing it from there is the best choice. Almost like the old "Wincabs" way of installing Windows 98, where you would install Windows off the HDD and the OS would never ask you to insert the Win98 CD for things like driver updates and crap. If there's a way to do that with Windows XP, I'd love to hear about it in detail.
By "manage it's installation" I mean things like HDD partitions configurations, (ie. putting what partitions where and why. For example, should I install XP on a seperate partition and put my data on another on the same HDD, or should I put XP on one partition, make another partition on same HDD for backup data but keep my main data on my second HDD?) and pagefile settings. (if I have two HDD's, which one do I put the pagefile on? same HDD with XP installation? same partition or different partition?)
So yeah, there you have it. Any advice, suggestions, comments, quips, random expressions of the english language and smilies regarding causes/solutions to my freezes, super-optimal WinXP installations and ways to get rich quick are appreciated. Well, the quips will be appreciated if they're good, but unappreciated if they suck. Ditto for the random expressions. Also, no "***** yourself out to X number of fat chicks for 1000 bucks a piece" suggestions. I watch Family Guy too. :rolleyes:
Thanks in advance. Respond at your convenience.
Peace.
-The Fiercest
"Your speed is in a constant battle with your attention to detail." - Unknown Author
Ok, here we go. And be advised, this is a long-ass post. Seriously. Go get a drink.
For starters, here are my specs:
-Tyan Trinity KT-A S2390B motherboard
-Athlon XP 1700+ CPU
-512 MB of SDRAM on three sticks, one 256, two 128s, all three different brands
-Maxtor 80GB HDD with 8MB cache (the brand new one I bought for those who've helped me in the recent past) *Primary Master*
-Maxtor 40GB HDD (currently disconnected due to power concerns, more on that later) *Primary Slave - if it were connected*
-LG 32x-10x-40x CD-RW/Burner *Secondary Master*
-Asus 52x CD-Rom Drive *Secondary Slave*
-ATI Radeon 9500 Pro (the official one made by ATI, not by a third party)
-Sound Blaster Audigy Gamer
-D-Link DFE-538TX 10/100 Ethernet Adapter, Network Interface Card
First things first. I've fixed the issues I've posted about in the past (kind of fixed.....you know how it is) but I've recently encountered a fresh assault of the "random lockups" I've had before. What I mean by this is my computer will simply freeze. No warning, no apparent software causing it, just a simple freezing. Desktop image frozen on monitor, mouse pointer not moving, keyboard not responding to Caps Lock and Num Lock attempts...you get the idea.
The freezes are inconsistant with the computer activity that's supposedly causing them. I could be doing anything from booting into XP and simply opening Explorer (booted for the first time all day, active less then 6 minutes) from simultaneously surfing the net, chatting with 5+ people on MSN, and working on an Excel assignment while Winamp, WinMX and IRC are playing music and maintaining queued slots for downloads in the background (left idle all day, active more then 6 hours, then used as stated above when I get home) before the freezes occur.
The only thing that changes when this freezing happens is the sounds coming from my tower. It sounds like a fan is either speeding up or slowing down but I can't even tell cause my CPUs HSF (Thermaltake Volcano 9) is loud as hell and makes it hard to distinguish whats making what noise. I can't even tell if the fan doing the things its doing when I freeze is the CPU HSF or the fan in my PSU! If I had to guess, I'd say the fan is slowing down though, as if suddenly under a low load. Think about the sound your computer makes as it boots into XP and then finishes running the "userinit" process and crap about 20 or so seconds of hitting the desktop. That little "high to low" tone the system seems to make. Vague? Of course. But it's all I've got.
Now because of this and the approaching conclusion of my college year I've decided to start from scratch and reinstall everything, hoping for the best. However, since I'm not out of the woods yet (still have exams, still low on time, still low on money) I need to start thinking about how to fix whats broke for the time being, before I can spare the daylight to trash it and start anew.
So, number 1: What should I be looking at with regards to my hardware config and software to minimize or eliminate these lockups?
I've already done all the tweaking from Persian Immortal's WinXP tweak guides, especially paying attention to those regarding pagefile size setting and the DisablePageExecutive registry tweaks. I've also squared everything away with regards to running Windows Update (to the point where no updates are available,) Ad-Aware, Regcleaner, WinOptimizer, Cacheman, Bootvis, Error-Checking (both the long one where you check both options in XP and reboot, and the shorter manually run one "chkdsk /f" that focuses on corruption,) defragmenting, System File Checking (sfc /scannow) and taking two extra strength Advil with some Coke.
I've also run the Memtest 86+ ISO boot CD some dude suggested to me last time I posted and it did 7 passes through all the tests in just under 4 hours, with 0 reported errors. So even though my three sticks of differently branded RAM working together is one of the worst RAM configurations possible, its still working as well as the day I installed Windows 98 years ago. Apparently anyway.
Now here's where things get ugly. I stated above that my 40G HDD was disconnected due to power concerns. These power concerns arose from the following, shameful fact:
I'm running my computer off a 250 Watt PSU.
*Cringes as forum members scream, brandish the Cross and start hissing*
Now it's a no-brainer that this could be the source of my lockups, and a simple (and crucial) upgrade of my PSU would probably solve my problems, also negating the purpose of me typing this post and having you read it in the first place. However, why I'm typing this post looking for help is because the lockups aren't consistant with my crappy PSU alone. Freezes never occured in Windows 98 for example, even though I was running the exact same rig setup and power settings. Also, if my PSU truly was the bottleneck causing all my troubles, why can I use my PC more then 12 hours one day and only 12 minutes the next before problems occur? Shouldn't I be having trouble all the time and not just some of the time if my PSU were the cause?
My PSU is A bottleneck, to be sure, and I'm way ahead of your suggestions that I upgrade it ASAP, but I'm not convinced it's THE bottleneck creating the source of my woes.
Regardless, fixing my crap will just put a splint on my broken leg. Only through a fresh install of everything will I be able to put my weight back on it and run my daily miles. Which brings me to my second point of advice:
Number 2: If I have two HDDs, one 40GB, one 80GB (/w 8mb cache), what's the absolute best method to install WinXP and manage it's installation?
By "best method", I mean things like whether installing it off the WinXP CD or copying the setup files to my HDD and installing it from there is the best choice. Almost like the old "Wincabs" way of installing Windows 98, where you would install Windows off the HDD and the OS would never ask you to insert the Win98 CD for things like driver updates and crap. If there's a way to do that with Windows XP, I'd love to hear about it in detail.
By "manage it's installation" I mean things like HDD partitions configurations, (ie. putting what partitions where and why. For example, should I install XP on a seperate partition and put my data on another on the same HDD, or should I put XP on one partition, make another partition on same HDD for backup data but keep my main data on my second HDD?) and pagefile settings. (if I have two HDD's, which one do I put the pagefile on? same HDD with XP installation? same partition or different partition?)
So yeah, there you have it. Any advice, suggestions, comments, quips, random expressions of the english language and smilies regarding causes/solutions to my freezes, super-optimal WinXP installations and ways to get rich quick are appreciated. Well, the quips will be appreciated if they're good, but unappreciated if they suck. Ditto for the random expressions. Also, no "***** yourself out to X number of fat chicks for 1000 bucks a piece" suggestions. I watch Family Guy too. :rolleyes:
Thanks in advance. Respond at your convenience.
Peace.
-The Fiercest
"Your speed is in a constant battle with your attention to detail." - Unknown Author
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