[ssj4Gogeta]

Hi

I've got a strange problem in XP SP2. The system runs fine, but after every hour or so I find myself unable to start any program. The programs already open run just fine. This continues for around 5 minutes and then suddenly all the programs that I'd attempted to open in those 5 minutes pop up. This repeats every hour or so.

I have Kaspersky 7 running with auto updates, so I don't think this can be a virus.

To check whether something is hogging my CPU I left the task manager open and then when the issue occurred I checked and there's no process hogging the processor. The processor just sits there doing nothing, system idle process at 99% usage.

Please help.:smile:

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

bump

 

[Pauldo]

That is strange.

Have you removed the overclock to see what happens? I'm assuming that you are talking about the rig in your 'My System' drop down.

When did you install your video card? If this problem started happening right after you upgraded than it's possible that there is a driver conflict.

Pauldo

EDIT: Aw man, I started writing a reply before you bumped but got pulled away. Hopefully this will get more people replying.

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

Thanks for your reply Pauldo. :smile:

But the problem has been occurring since before I overclocked and it started occurring months after I installed the card.

 

[Pauldo]

Don't rule out the video card yet even though the problem didn't start until well after the upgrade. The times that I have had conflicts between onboard video and a dedicated graphics card there has been slow downs similar to that. If there aren't any other suggestions it might be worthwhile to re-install to see what happens (probably should uninstall first to to be on the safe side).

Of course, there is always the re-format option. That's a lot of work, though. Maybe just try re-installing the system drivers. I had a system once that just about every time Windows XP updated I had to re-install system drivers to get things working again.

Pauldo

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

It could be that I'm using nvidia beta drivers. :4-dontkno
But it doesn't happen in Vista, using the same driver version. I'm thinking of doing a repair install, but I might just upgrade to SP3. Do you think upgrading to SP3 will also work as a repair? Or should I run a repair from the SP3 disk? lol I'm a little confused.

 

[Pauldo]

I would lean more towards the beta drivers, although it could be anything.

As for the repair install and SP3, I would repair first than do the upgrade. SP3 is just a collection of windows updates, not a full install of windows.

Did you mean run a repair from the SP2 disk? Yes, if that is what you originally installed on your computer.

Pauldo

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

no I meant running a repair from the slipstreamed SP3 disk.

ok I'll change the drivers and see what happens. Sorry I can't do that now. I have a six hours class. Will report to you when I get back home.

 

[Pauldo]

Any progress?

Just curious.

Pauldo

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

I'm sorry for the delay.

I uninstalled the beta drivers and installed new ones. The problem still occurs.

 

[Pauldo]

Well that's not what I was hoping to hear.

A repair might be the way to go. Let me know how it goes (and which way you went, repair than SP3 or SP3 then repair) as I am very curious how this will sort out.

Pauldo

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

ok I'll do that tomorrow as tomorrow's class is in the evening. what do you think I should do first? repair or SP3? or should I first do sfc /scannow?

 

[Pauldo]

I didn't even think about sfc. That might be even better as you wouldn't have to re-apply Windows updates. As for repair I would do it first before SP3, but that is just me. Worse case scenario is that you would have to reformat, which might be what you need to do anyways.

Two things I just thought of, and both are kind of a shot in the dark, have you run any other virus software on this machine other than Kaspersky 7? Are you running Spyware Doctor and/or Ad-Aware?

Also, what is your psu and can you monitor voltages? Maybe you're getting voltage fluctuations every so often and that is how it is manifesting itself. It sure seems like your system is endlessly cycling for 5 minutes yet it's not due to cpu usage.

Pauldo

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

i've tried many av softwares in the past, but none seemed to work as good as Kaspersky (Norton was a nightmare). So I've stuck to Kaspersky for the last year. I don't run Spyware Doctor or Ad-Aware, but I do run Spyware Blaster. But it doesn't scan the system, so I'll do an online Mcafee scan, just to be sure. Though I don't think this can be a virus cause in that case something would hog the CPU.

My PSU is 400W. You may be right about the PSU. It is an Indian company called Hytech, and I don't trust most India companies. But I'd like to rule out everything else first before buying a new PSU. I can monitor voltages using Asus PC Probe II. Current voltages are 11.77, 3.28, 5.02 and vcore is 1.35. the +12V sometimes drops to 11.72.

One thing though-- if it's a voltage problem, then why do the apps already open run just fine?

I'll leave the software open to see if there's some fluctuation.

Thanks for your help, its very much appreciated. :smile:




The +12V just dropped to 11.62V for a second. How much fluctuation is acceptable?

EDIT:The lowest I've seen it drop to is 11.56V. It did it just once, it generally remains between 11.72-11.77.

 

[Helmtar]

the problem of 5 min pause then continueing work .
seems the computer is waiting for something

possible causes of computer waiting ,
over heating system generally slows down the system especially if its the vga card untill even full processor stop mostly known freezing PC but mouse is movable
but in your case it seems to be graduately meaning that it could be on the border of ( during normal > heavy workload , could you check the temperature of system recources ?

network also is possible to have those long timeouts in sertain occasions , could you check during that time what the computer is doing ( not only CPU but also network , paging file , R.A.M ) ?

could also be windows scrypting , mostly known as virus , spyware , corrupt data.
but i must admit that usually those timeouts untill computer continues is mutch shorter , unless that has also been changed somehow ,in this case it would be nice to know what the computer is waiting for generally , maybe even a " advanced process watcher could be used "

hope this helps

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

Thanks Helmtar, for your reply.

There is no overheating, Asus PC Probe shows the idle temps as less than 40 C, which is good for a Prescott. Max temps are around 52 C, again normal. The graphics card idles at around 60 C. The system does not freeze, and the apps already open work just fine. It's just that I can't start new apps in that period. There's absolutely no abnormal activity in the taskmanager in that period, the network works as normal, paging file, CPU, RAM are all fine.

 

[Pauldo]

What I was trying to say with the anti-virus was that Kaspersky has some known issues/conflicts with spyware and other anti-virus software. Even with previous versions of it's own software. If you have had Norton on that machine before and you haven't run any kind of removal tool than you more than likely still have files left on your machine that could be conflicting with Kaspersky 7 and causing this kind of hiccup.

As for your voltage, yeah that is a bit low but I think that the fluctuation is more of a problem than a low reading. To give you an example, I've been at the computer now far about an hour and my 12 volt reading is 12.04 and hasn't moved the whole time.

Weird things can happen when your voltages fluctuate but I would look into the anti-virus conflict first. If you didn't use a removal tool to uninstall Norton or if you had a previous version of Kaspersky I would uninstall everything (Kaspersky 7), grab the appropriate removal tools and clean the system of anti-virus apps than start over with Kaspersky 7.

Pauldo

P.S. Congrats on your 1k posting :4-clap:. Where are you doing all of your posting? I thought you were in the mid 900's when you first started this thread.

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

thanks. but over 600 are in the offline section.:embarased
try the three word game. its fun.:grin:

i couldn't do a repair today as i was unable to find my XP CD. I had Norton before I did a format a few months back. I've only had Kaspersky since then.
And if this is a PSU issue, why doesn't the issue occur in any of the other OS's i have? by the way, there's one more problem i'm having. I dialup my broadband connection (PPPoE) through windows (not the router). While using ti I sometimes get this error message:

and my connection stops working. i can't even right-click the network icon in the system tray, it gives no menu. when i click it t see properties, the window appears for a fraction of second and then disappears. i cant even disconnect it. also, the audio stops working after this. i have to reboot to make the connection and the audio work.

 

[Pauldo]

Yeah, it looks like a repair or maybe even another reformat is needed here.

Let me know how it goes.

Pauldo

 

[ssj4Gogeta]

ok, i'll try sfc first, then repair and then reformat, if repair doesn't solve it.