Member Avatar for Linksol

Help,

This is a friends machine that 'used to work ok' Now it takes about 2 mins just to show the desktop after a windows login...not connected to any network. As soon as you attempt to open any program the hard disk light goes into overload, and its slower than slow.

I have virus checked, scandisk, defrag ...all the obvious things...what next??

Only doubt I have is Norton Ghost is installed, and when I had this on my own laptop I had no end of problems which vanished when i uninstalled...

Thanks

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by goldeagle2005

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Short summary and focused next steps for the Dell Latitude D500 report from . Basic checks (antivirus, Scandisk, defrag) were already tried and several replies propose a reinstall or restore image (, , , ). Before committing to a wipe, run non-destructive diagnostics to distinguish a failing disk from a runaway service or paging issue.

Check the drive first. Read S.M.A.R.T. attributes with the drive maker’s diagnostic or tools like smartmontools/CrystalDiskInfo and run the vendor quick/extended self-test. Inspect the Windows System event log for disk read/write errors. Booting from a Live Linux USB/CD and comparing responsiveness outside Windows is a quick way to see whether the problem is hardware-level (if it’s slow there too, the disk or controller is suspect).

If hardware looks OK, isolate software causes. Boot into Safe Mode and compare boot time. Use Sysinternals Process Explorer/Process Monitor to find which process is producing the heavy I/O after login. Temporarily stop backup/ghost/antivirus services to see if I/O drops—scheduled Ghost jobs can generate intense disk activity. Check physical RAM and paging: constant paging because of low RAM or a too-large pagefile on a failing partition will keep the disk busy; free at least ~10–15% of the volume as a quick test.

Remediation order: back up important data first. If diagnostics show failing sectors or vendor tools fail, image the disk immediately and replace it. If a specific service or corrupt profile is identified, stop/remove that component or restore a known-good image (as suggested) before doing a full reinstall. Reinstalling Windows fixes persistent software corruption but should be the last step after the checks above.

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Member Avatar for John A

Maybe you need to do one of thos 'ol reformats -- ideally they should be done every few years to keep everything fresh, and also to keep viruses off it. I wouldn't do this right away, but this is definitely a good idea, especially if you are running a lot of services.

One thing you could try: Start->Run->"msconfig"
And check what services are running

Member Avatar for 'Stein

Agreed with joeprogrammer on the reformat

Member Avatar for pctec

Every few years? :D I do mine at least every 6 months :D
I make very quick work of it however as I have a ghost image of the drive...

Member Avatar for 'Stein

I make very quick work of it however as I have a ghost image of the drive...

Very smart of ya ;)

Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

Yup. Why dont ya just reload that image? Will be good for your computer AND your patience :mrgreen:

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