Slow Installing XP

joshbrinkley · 10-09-2006, 01:21 PM

The computer is just slow all together. It takes overnight to install xp. i have switched out memory, hard drive and hard drive cable. i'm beginning to think its the motherboard, which i don't have another to replace it with to see. any suggestions?

edit to say: i also tried switching cpu's to no avail.

~~OMGmissinglink~~ · 10-09-2006, 01:36 PM

PC info will help direct or detect problems if post the info. did you check that your system is XP compatable/

**hwm54112** · 10-09-2006, 03:36 PM

Check your Bios settings- check that cpu caches are enabled

bios_from_a_to_z/

Tumbleweed36 · 10-09-2006, 06:10 PM

Hi,

We really need help with the specs of your computer. There is not way to estimate what might be wrong unless we know what we are dealing with. That would be the best place to start.

joshbrinkley · 10-10-2006, 05:13 AM

Dell Optiplex gx150
PROCESSOR, 82815, 1.13, 256, 133FSB, TUALATIN
PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD)
128Mb RAM
Right now, 20Gb Maxtor Hard Drive

Let me say this too, i left it in the middle of setup yesterday at 12% when i came back to it this morning it was at 30%. It had XP before I reloaded.

**Fr4665** · 10-10-2006, 05:22 AM

i think the ram is really limiting it the cpu is a p3 wich should run it fine. maybe its also the speed of your cd rom drive your installing from

joshbrinkley · 10-10-2006, 08:49 AM

i put more RAM in there to try to no avail. I don't know if its the cdrom b/c it takes well over an hour to format a 20Gb hard drive.

**hwm54112** · 10-10-2006, 09:48 AM

The only way a slow cd-rom could enter into it, is if you have busmastering disabled in bios. In that case, all the drive's would be operating in PIO mode, a substantial slow down. It almost has to be somewhere in a bios setting

~~OMGmissinglink~~ · 10-10-2006, 09:49 AM

XP's minimum ram requirements 256mb ram,^ >512 or more recommended.

**hwm54112** · 10-10-2006, 10:27 AM

My kids first xp computer worked fine at 128-slow but never would take over 1-2 hours to install-

Minimum required is 64, minimum reccommeded is 128, minimum user reccomended was 256, now seems to be 512 (keeps going up) microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sysreqs

~~OMGmissinglink~~ · 10-10-2006, 11:22 AM

HWM, your right the minimum is 64mb, point trying to get across 256-512 minimum to run xp on a decent level.

joshbrinkley · 10-10-2006, 11:32 AM

i have 640Mb in it now. Still going slow. I thinks its some sort of motherboard problem, but i don't have another motherboard to find out.

~~OMGmissinglink~~ · 10-10-2006, 11:37 AM

Old pc = remove side panel check the processor fan is running, if fan is running next remove the fan, clean the HS & Fan. clean the processor and bottom of the HS and apply new thermal paste, pref arctic silver 5 thermal compound.

**Barry_R** · 10-10-2006, 12:26 PM

If it were the CDROM drive it would not take so long to format a 20gig HD because once the format software is loaded into ram it no longer needs the CDROM to format the drive.

There may be something going on with that Hard Drive or a Bios setting. I think the drive may be going bad.

**carsey** · 10-10-2006, 12:43 PM

Check that the CPU speed/Mhz is as it is suggested. This is in the BIOs

joshbrinkley · 10-12-2006, 08:16 AM

ok, i finally just let the setup run and sometime over night i get a blue screen. The first one said something about vga, so i put in a video card and restarted the setup, well last night sometime i got another blue screen. this one says something about framebuf and STOP: 0x000000EA

**koala** · 10-12-2006, 10:09 AM

Enable the Level 1 cache in BIOS and check your video card is working in another computer.

**hwm54112** · 10-12-2006, 10:14 AM

Your post is eluding to a video card issue but without complete error messages it is hard to help you. The stop error you’ve posted indicates an issue with an Nvidia card while running windows, but there is no reference to the error message while installing windows. The circumstances are entirely different. If you could post any text that is included with the stop error as well as the frame buffers and the original vga error it would help

Edit:

As it stands we don't know what you've done. It's been suggested again to enable the cpu cache but we don't know if you've done that or not

joshbrinkley · 10-13-2006, 09:50 AM

ok, its fixed, went into bios and the only thing i changed was the cpu was set to compatible and i changed it to normal. Now it is running at normal speed.

joneswr · 01-30-2009, 09:49 PM

After two days of searching, you saved me Josh. All i needed to do was change the CPU setting in the bios in my Dell Optiplex GX150 from compatible to normal and was FINALLY able to boot from the Ubuntu LiveDisc thanks for the post.

10-09-2006, 01:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	Slow Installing XP The computer is just slow all together. It takes overnight to install xp. i have switched out memory, hard drive and hard drive cable. i'm beginning to think its the motherboard, which i don't have another to replace it with to see. any suggestions? edit to say: i also tried switching cpu's to no avail.

10-09-2006, 06:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 18,021 OS: XP Professional	Hi, We really need help with the specs of your computer. There is not way to estimate what might be wrong unless we know what we are dealing with. That would be the best place to start. __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

10-10-2006, 05:22 AM	#6 (permalink)
Fr4665 aka mr.fraggs Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: USA or Germany Posts: 2,965 OS: Win XP,Vista,Android My System	i think the ram is really limiting it the cpu is a p3 wich should run it fine. maybe its also the speed of your cd rom drive your installing from __________________ I don't subscribe to threads please PM me if i miss a reply. ------- Everest SensorView Pro DriverCleaner how to fix your game

10-10-2006, 12:26 PM	#14 (permalink)
Barry_R TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: California Posts: 700 OS: Win XP Home, Linux Mint My System	If it were the CDROM drive it would not take so long to format a 20gig HD because once the format software is loaded into ram it no longer needs the CDROM to format the drive. There may be something going on with that Hard Drive or a Bios setting. I think the drive may be going bad. Last edited by Barry_R; 10-10-2006 at 12:29 PM.

10-12-2006, 10:09 AM	#17 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 11,211 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Enable the Level 1 cache in BIOS and check your video card is working in another computer. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

10-09-2006, 01:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
~~OMGmissinglink~~ Troubled Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,535 OS: XP Pro sp2 My System	PC info will help direct or detect problems if post the info. did you check that your system is XP compatable/

10-09-2006, 03:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
hwm54112 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2,233 OS: WINXP	Check your Bios settings- check that cpu caches are enabled bios_from_a_to_z/

10-10-2006, 05:13 AM	#5 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	Dell Optiplex gx150 PROCESSOR, 82815, 1.13, 256, 133FSB, TUALATIN PLANAR (MOTHERBOARD) 128Mb RAM Right now, 20Gb Maxtor Hard Drive Let me say this too, i left it in the middle of setup yesterday at 12% when i came back to it this morning it was at 30%. It had XP before I reloaded.

10-10-2006, 08:49 AM	#7 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	i put more RAM in there to try to no avail. I don't know if its the cdrom b/c it takes well over an hour to format a 20Gb hard drive.

10-10-2006, 09:48 AM	#8 (permalink)
hwm54112 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2,233 OS: WINXP	The only way a slow cd-rom could enter into it, is if you have busmastering disabled in bios. In that case, all the drive's would be operating in PIO mode, a substantial slow down. It almost has to be somewhere in a bios setting

10-10-2006, 09:49 AM	#9 (permalink)
~~OMGmissinglink~~ Troubled Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,535 OS: XP Pro sp2 My System	XP's minimum ram requirements 256mb ram,^ >512 or more recommended.

10-10-2006, 10:27 AM	#10 (permalink)
hwm54112 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2,233 OS: WINXP	My kids first xp computer worked fine at 128-slow but never would take over 1-2 hours to install- Minimum required is 64, minimum reccommeded is 128, minimum user reccomended was 256, now seems to be 512 (keeps going up) microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/sysreqs

10-10-2006, 11:22 AM	#11 (permalink)
~~OMGmissinglink~~ Troubled Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,535 OS: XP Pro sp2 My System	HWM, your right the minimum is 64mb, point trying to get across 256-512 minimum to run xp on a decent level.

10-10-2006, 11:32 AM	#12 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	i have 640Mb in it now. Still going slow. I thinks its some sort of motherboard problem, but i don't have another motherboard to find out.

10-10-2006, 11:37 AM	#13 (permalink)
~~OMGmissinglink~~ Troubled Join Date: Sep 2006 Posts: 1,535 OS: XP Pro sp2 My System	Old pc = remove side panel check the processor fan is running, if fan is running next remove the fan, clean the HS & Fan. clean the processor and bottom of the HS and apply new thermal paste, pref arctic silver 5 thermal compound.

10-10-2006, 12:43 PM	#15 (permalink)
carsey Moderator, TSF Articles Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Hunwick, Co. Durham England Posts: 10,470 OS: XP Pro SP3 My System	Check that the CPU speed/Mhz is as it is suggested. This is in the BIOs

10-12-2006, 08:16 AM	#16 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	ok, i finally just let the setup run and sometime over night i get a blue screen. The first one said something about vga, so i put in a video card and restarted the setup, well last night sometime i got another blue screen. this one says something about framebuf and STOP: 0x000000EA

10-12-2006, 10:14 AM	#18 (permalink)
hwm54112 TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2,233 OS: WINXP	Your post is eluding to a video card issue but without complete error messages it is hard to help you. The stop error you’ve posted indicates an issue with an Nvidia card while running windows, but there is no reference to the error message while installing windows. The circumstances are entirely different. If you could post any text that is included with the stop error as well as the frame buffers and the original vga error it would help Edit: As it stands we don't know what you've done. It's been suggested again to enable the cpu cache but we don't know if you've done that or not Last edited by hwm54112; 10-12-2006 at 10:19 AM. Reason: koala's post

10-13-2006, 09:50 AM	#19 (permalink)
joshbrinkley Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 80 OS: xp	ok, its fixed, went into bios and the only thing i changed was the cpu was set to compatible and i changed it to normal. Now it is running at normal speed.

01-30-2009, 09:49 PM	#20 (permalink)
joneswr Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1 OS: ubuntu feisty fawn	Re: Slow Installing XP After two days of searching, you saved me Josh. All i needed to do was change the CPU setting in the bios in my Dell Optiplex GX150 from compatible to normal and was FINALLY able to boot from the Ubuntu LiveDisc thanks for the post.