It's been like this for a few months. I actually just added another
512 of RAM to see if that helped (1GB total), and it still grinds.
So, when I start Outlook for example, it sits there and grinds for
maybe 15 seconds
Outlook can take considerably longer to start if corruption occurs.
First thing to do...
o Backup your data without overwriting any previous backup
Software
o Spyware, Viruses
---- any Net connected PC needs a decent firewall & A/V software
---- spyware needs to be run occasionally re malicious code
o Microsoft Index Service
---- disable automatic indexing on all HDs
o Anti-Virus Configuration
---- Norton can scan all office & other I/O for you
---- this can massively slow down even high speed PCs
Data Corruption
o Event logging -- Event Viewer in Win2k/XP
---- display filtering -- turn off information, leave on warnings/errors
---- look for code 7 -- relating to bad block on HD I/O
o Data corruption -- Drive Maker Diagnostic Tool
---- download the drive makers drive diagnostic utility
---- verify the drive passes all tests with HD cold (PC just started)
---- verify the drive passes all tests with HD hot (PC has done A/V scan)
Temperatures
o HD temperature -- HDDTemp drive utility
---- download, run, will report the temp of ONE HD on the system
-------- if you have 2 HDs it may report the cooler vs cooking one
---- ensure the HD is ideally <40oC, and most definately <48oC
-------- if the HD is Maxstor they have a higher temp limit than most
-------- unfortunately it is met with a higher operating *baseline*
---- hot HD temp = relocate in the case or increase intake/exhaust cfm
-------- HDs dissipate only 12-20W at most, so little CFM is required
-------- however SOME cfm is required
o Case temperature -- MBM or m/b maker utility
---- both temperature zones should report <38oC, ideally ~32oC
---- case ambient is the temperature your CPU-cooler & HD-see
---- high case ambient = increase exhaust cfm or improve intake area
Memory
o Usage
---- check Commit figures on Task Manager in XP etc
---- check swapfile configuration
o Errors -- MEMTEST utility
---- if the machine is stable, memory errors are unlikely
---- however it is something to always consider if HD errors found
Cabling
o Verify HD cables are the correct type & securely fitted
o SATA non-locking connectors are somewhat unreliable
o ATA connectors need to be 80-wire
o Check BIOS settings -- are as expected
o Check Windows Device Mgr drivers -- are ok, not running in PIO etc
If a HD is on the same bus as an optical device, try splitting onto
two bus. Errors & problems here would result in other behaviour.
PSU...
o Verify the PSU voltages if possible
---- utilities exist to report - MBM or m/b maker utility
---- whilst not perfect it would give some hints
o Verify no capacitors on the mainboard are leaking
---- bulging tops, electrolyte emitted around the base
If all ok by this stage it might be worth trying a different PSU.
o There are only a few PSU manufacturers
o There are many relabellers & custom specifiers
o Corner cutting does exist, and can result in instability
If Optical drives dissappear from the BIOS bootup...
o Verify cabling -- ideally change cables
---- particularly if anything uses SATA, bad cables do happen
o Verify power cabling -- ideally change cables over
---- less common bad power cables exist
o Remove the optical drive -- repeat tests, see if problem persists
---- some HDs dislike being master/slave to an optical drive
Filesystem checks...
o NTFS is more reliable than FAT
Basic housekeeping...
o Even NTFS suffers from fragmentation of files
---- new files overwrite deleted files, or split across available space
---- as space gets fragmented so do the files
o Fragmentation of files involves movement of the head - seeking
---- HDs have high areal density for fast data transfer IF zero seeking
---- HD head seeking is a very slow electromechanical process
o Running a disk defragmentation may improve performance
---- however you need to know the I/O system is reliable first
You need to pin down whether the problem is Hardware, Software or
Configuration. Outlook for example can suffer corruption making it
very slow in opening files - however more severe than you report.
It may be worth checking you have all Office Updates re Outlook...
o Quite a few bugs in Outlook - indeed some call O/OE a bug
o office.microsoft.com & update - will download bug fixes
o Irritatingly XP Windows Update neglects doing office as well
Disk grinding itself can be caused by several things...
o ECC failure -- actual I/O problems
---- creating entry in S.M.A.R.T. data internally & XP Event Viewer
o Head seeking -- files are severely fragmented
---- so the HD is scrambling all over the platters to pick up bits of files
o Temperature -- hot HDs may suffer more thermal recalibration
---- this should not normally interrupt seeks, but can if overheating
o Files themselves -- Lots of folders in outlook can signify trouble
---- Outlook & MS-IE create files like gov'ts create pieces of paper
---- Outlook folders in particular are individual file packages
---- Excessive numbers of folders/files & big archives slow things down
So check if you have a large undeleted folder in Outlook, lots of
directories, a very large Sent folder, or lots of stored emails. Your
email dbase is a *.pst file in your Documents area, it will be a hidden
file. You can backup this file individually, if you delete it then Outlook
will create a new one, if you move it Outlook will ask for its location.
Windows half the time creates tasks & claims productivity gains by
trying to do those tasks faster vs not creating them in the first place
First task is to backup your most important data & verify all readable.
o It is possible to backup bad data, so avoid overwriting backups
o A drive may be slow for normal config or fragmentation reasons
o The machine may be slow due to software configs/miss-configs
XP is a complex muddle, badly written compare to Linux or OS/X.
It can hide quite malicious spyware, and XPs own Indexing Service
is superb at dragging a machine to a crawl. Antivirus scanners can
slow systems down - worst is Norton opening a big Excel file.
A sluggish machine can be improved by using Windows Classic
and removing all "slow down" options. For example editing the
registry HKEY to remove the Start / Programs menu delay.
If the drive is Maxstor a) backup immediately b) check temps
and c) run the manufacturers check. They are less reliable than
some makes although nothing like IBM Deskstar/Fujitsu probs.
Plenty to check
