Hello, that was a long 5 days since my last post. The problems have not got any worse like i said. Been carrying on using the puter with the annoying symptoms. I can confirm there are no viruses, trojan's, adware, spyware or anything bad on the puter. Some of the questions above are a little too difficult for me so i've decided to format & start from scratch regrettably. This will cure the problem, until it's inevitable return a few months down the line.

I've just a couple of questions before i do this. The last time i formatted i partitioned the hard drive,,,,not sure why? I read it was a good thing to do but have had no use for the spare 15 GB space & don't actually know what to do with it either. The question is, instead of using up loads of time along with loads of Disks (saving our things) before 'wipe-out', COULD i put all of our work/music/docs & photo's, along with program set-up's & internet fav's etc onto drive 'D', (that is the 15GB empty partition). Then go ahead & format the main partition drive 'C' (currently with everything on it) & then reinstall windows etc. & only format drive 'C' WITHOUT losing all our stuff? Or is this not possible? Would it be wise to just put everything onto disks as a back-up? Like i did the last time & format the whole hard drive?

Also, the computer is about 2 and a half years old so a whole bunch of drivers will need up-dating & i'm not sure how to do this. I can go to 'DEVICE MANAGER' & go down the long list of drivers.....right click & choose 'UPDATE DRIVER' for each & every one on the list. Is this the way to do it? Or, do i simply let the scan at Symantech Windows Update site tell me which critical updates are required, & re-start after each windows up-date? Does this process only up-date Windows & would leave the zillions of driver's out of date & probably open to flaws & security holes?

I have all the original disks for everything, but am unsure of the above.

Cheers lads & apologies for going to sleep for 6 months.

You can save created Data,music,your IE favorites MYDocuments ,e-mails ,Addressbook ect ect . and stuff you downloaded from the net ,but not installed programs[you will need to re-install them after the format ] to the partition ,there is a lot of work to a re-install of windows ,mostly reinstalling all you programs ,as for drivers ,make sure you have the disks that came with computer or download needed drivers from the net and save to D:\

Yep, but no problem. Was hoping the problem was fixed but guess not. So, were back.

Yep, format only erases contents of a partition, not the whole Hard Drive. The stuff on D will be safe if you format C. But before the format be absolutely sure you got everything you need on D. A couple of times I've found myself cursing due to a hasty format. Repartitioning drives is possible with some tools (partition magic or such) without losing data. With Fdisk, you will lose everything.

You need to find out what devices your computer has on it. Motherboard brand, model, chipset. Graphics card, sound card, and so on.

Nope. You will have to check if there are newer drivers for your Motherboard/chipset from the manufactorers website. Same goes for Sound, Graphics and other Cards as well.

I believe this has only to do with Windows' own security gaps and the ones associated with your Firewall/Anti-Virus. Hardware drivers have to be updated manually.

Find out the hardware you got and search for newer drivers. Have you used the ones integrated to Windows all the time or what?

I have NEVER gone to the manufacturers sites for updates on graphics card, chipset, motherboard, sounds or whatever else a person should do after a format. Just always thought windows updates sorted everything for you.

I have a long printed list, (forgot how i did it) from ages ago. It details things like: display adaptor is KM400, modem type, unknown monitor!!! keyboard 101/102 key, network adaptor VT6102 Rhine 11 Fast Ethernet adaptor, sound/video/game controllers VT8233A AC Enhanced Audio Controller, sleep button, fan, mouse, hubs, system board, communications port, printer port, data processor, PCI bus, speakers, direct memory access controller, VT8235 PCI to isa bridge, Link Layer, more bridges, & about another 16 more items.

Do i need to look up all of these things on the web & see if there are any upgrades? The puter is 3 years old so there will be updates to be had surely. This would take me forever to do this!! Since i bought the puter i've done about 3 complete formats & started from scratch but i repeat, have NEVER visited a site to download updates (apart from windows updates). Just wondering & 'hoping' that if i were to do this it may cure the original problem. Trouble is, i'm not sure who the manufacturers are of all the components that should be updated. For instance; the graphics adaptor is "via km-400-2kxp.zip" This means nothing to me, like who's the manurfacturer in question here?
Gosh! this is going to take me an eternity. I thought i was doing the correct thing by abandoning trying to fix the usual recurring problem & doing a fresh format (as i successfully did one about 9 months ago). But i'm having 2nd thought with all this investigation as to what manufacturer is responsible for each component. I'm thinking of doing nothing, & continue with the computer working at about 60% efficiency. Unless there is a much easier way as to what upgrades i would need after a format & indeed, how to go about it. It's a dell computer but yet the components do not say the word 'dell' anywhere. Besides, if i did a format & trundled through the aftermath, the problem in the 1st post would surely return once again between 3 & 6 months. Maybe it is an upgrade/update problem after all, coz as i said, i've never done any (apart from 'update driver' in the many options in DEVICE MANAGER, but it always gives a verdict of 'NO UPDATE available'. I've even tried to 'ROLL BACK' all drivers hoping it would cure the problem
Cheers

It sort of does, but sometimes windows just isn't enough. My interrupts problem was due to incompatible nVidia IDE controller drivers. Had to switch to windows' drivers. Your problem might be fixed by doing the opposite (or something completely different).

VIA (chipset manufactorer) KM400 (chipset model) 2KXP (for windows 2000 or XP). Most items in your device manager are integrated to your motherboard. Therefore it's enough if you update your chipset drivers. Also, your graphics card is integrated.

Doing a fresh install between 3 months is the most efficient way to keep your computer smooth. But avoiding the 4-8 hour installing-rebooting hell is worth doing some troubleshooting first.

I'm a bit boggled by the reoccurrence of the problem. The most obvious cause would be a full hard drive (since you should have minimum of 10% free disk space on your hard drives, less might cause system freezes and slowdowns). Other would be conflicting hardware interrupts, but if Windows' Device Manager claims everything is ok, it's not the cause. You could try one thing before installing the new drivers below.

Go to Control Panel --> System --> Hardware --> Device Manager --> Disk drives ... and uncheck enable write caching from your hard drive properties (Policies). And reboot.

If there's no improvement, install the new drivers: (Would recommend doing system back-ups to that D-drive first, though)

New chipset drivers: VIA Hyperion 4 in 1 drivers
and graphics drivers: VIA KM400 integrated graphics driver

Thanks for that. But i've encountered a whole new problem! I've done a format & reinstalled windows XP. All was going fine until i inserted the "1st Utilities Mainboard" disk to install the various drivers etc. When i've got to this stage in the past it was easy, just followed the instructions & installed 4 or 5 different drivers(restarting between each one). However, a VERY STRANGE THING has happened this time. The disk is not damaged but it will not open or run. I first get a message box saying "ErrCode=200IL" when i close the box another appears saying, "SORRY IT'S NOT OUR MAIN BOARD". Well i can tell you it IS it's main board! The computer i bought from new & has NEVER even been opened up. So how is it possible for a different main board to open up the computer whilst i was asleep & install itself. I wouldn't know how to do this anyway! This is now absolutely cracking me up.
I went to the appropriate sites, (luckily i wrote these sites on the disk sleeve from the content of the opening page of the set up the last time i used it. These are, www.viaarena.com & www.viatech.com. i did a scan & it found a bag full of drivers that were missing that would cost £29 a time. (i'd rather buy a speed boat). Of course they are missing! They are all on the disk that it says doesn't belong to the computer!
The drivers it says are missing are: VIA Bus Master IDE Controller, Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard, PS/2 Compatible Mouse, HSP56 World MicroModem, VIA Rhine11 Fast Ethernet Adaptor, Multimedia Audio Controller,& Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller. I am not buying all of these.
My notes on the sleeve also say, VIA VT8235CE, & RtlRack File Version 1.6.0.0 & Vinyl AC97 Codec Combo Driver{WDM}. VIA Technologies,inc.

The computer is really fast again & can multi-task once again, the original problem (at start of this thread) is now completely solved. But, now there is no sound & the web pages go all wavy & wobbly when they are moved or scrolled. Seeing all these drivers missing makes me wonder how it's doing so well for me to even come on here & type. What the heck would you do in this situation? I've contacted the supplier/manufacturer of the Utilities Mainboard disk & awaiting reply. The ONLY thing i did differently from the last format was installing sevice pack 1a. This time i put on sevice pack 2. I don't wish to focus on this point but what else could it be? This is a shame because i've bought a new computer & was hoping to give this one to my sister. It's about 2 and a half years old so should last a bit longer if i can sort it out.

Just one more thing.....the Windows firewall (part of service pack 2) pops up every 3 minutes with "NT Kernel & System file ntoskrnl.EXE has attempted to access your computer" & adds that it has been blocked. Is this a bad thing? I'm about to turn off the Windows firewall in a minute cos it's annoying. Only kept it on whilst doing live update & windows updates & to catch the above file in bits (as it only appears for half a second). I've got another firewall now & updated virus protection.

Gosh! don't know how you put up with me. Hoping for a really simple solution, like "go on holiday"
Cheers

Sorry to inform you, but this is wrong. First you should install Windows XP full, clean, no 3rd party driver disks until it's done. It will use Windows' own drivers to get the system up and running. The drivers you get from VIAARENA (meaning the 4in1 hyperion drivers) replace the ones you got with your computer. You don't need the mainboard utilities and drivers disk AT ALL. The ones provided with your computer are most likely dredfully outdated and will most likely be the source of all evil.

Your Windows XP should contain some of these drivers and install them on it's own. I believe this problem is caused by the install disk you mentioned above. Let me sort this out:

4in1 hyperion drivers contains: VIA Bus Master IDE Controller, Fast Ethernet Adaptor, Audio Controller
Windows XP contains: MS keyboard, PS/2 Mouse, PCI to USB Host Controller (this might be in both)

All of these come with VIA's 4in1 Hyperion drivers. This is practicly hyperion drivers put in more words. And another thing: you probably have DSL for net connection, so ignore the HSP56 World MicroModem. The card is inside, but you don't use it, so forget it.

This is an obvious driver issue. By some strange reason the drivers your "1st maiboard utilites"-disk contains don't do well with your computer. Therefore, don't use it, just put it away.

You don't necessarily need the windows Firewall, if you got another software FW on your computer (ZoneAlarm, Sygate, Norton, Kerio, whatever). Don't like the Windows Firewall spams either, I got it off and haven't experienced any problems. Probably less than before.

Maybe I just have some sort of calling to practicing help desk activities. I'm quite insterested what the solution to this problem will be, since I've had similar but different problems myself.

So, Keep on posting! :cheesy:
-M

Thanks Maggoth, still no reply from the manufacturer but i've fixed the problem. I installed driver package KM400_1692416_XP_wIShld_logod.zip from viatech.com & 2 other 'VIA' stuff that are on the windows update site but in the OPTIONAL updates. The 2 updates currently at windows update site are specifically for this known problem. After i installed the (2 X 'VIA'...etc) things from windows site the sound appeared (which pleased me) but, all the problems (at start of this thread were still present). I did a search for 'KM400' & finally found a suitable driver package. I'm a bit of a novice, but i'll tell you what happened this was a bit STRANGE for me. After I extracted the zip file (above) & began installing it, it searched for other drivers on the computer 1st. Then, as soon as it had finished installing..........the screen went BLACK then came on again. It did this 3 times, i thought the computer had totally fatally crashed, or at best was going to shut down. I did not lay a finger on anything, then suddenly, it gave that ....'DUNG' ....sound, (the one when you disconnect or connect something to your computer when it is switched on). Then, amazingly everything is 100%. I had a play around on just about everything possible office, music, vids, internet, games all at the same time & it's whizzing. Now i'm giving it to my sister!

Maggoth.....i can't do them quote boxes, but you mentioned at the start of your last post 'no 3rd party disks til windows has been installed'. You must have mis-understood me coz i didn't insert the mainboard utilities disk until after windows was on & after a restart. The last time i did exactly this, & everything was fine for about 5 months til the problem returned, so i don't know why this time the disk would not let me go ahead, saying 'this is not our mainboard', but thanks for letting me know the driver's disk is no longer needed.

Thank's a lot for your help.

Yay!

This is just plain excellent. Let's just hope those problems are away for good.

IT may happen that the computer does it again, so remember to burn the driver packages you used to fix those new problems on a cd, better yet, on a couple of cds.

Just one more thing Maggoth. I've come across sites like 'drivermagic', & driveragent.com's. Are these a good thing to subscribe to? Is this an easy way of ensuring all drivers, & indeed the correct ones on the computer are up to date? Yep, correct, i've saved the fixes along with notes.