Member Avatar for CaptNKILL

Hello, im working on a computer for someone at school and this problem is driving me nuts. The computer is used for a movie editing class and was built last year by students (but never had this problem until a few months ago).


Problems:

  • Videos stutter and skip often in Adobe Premiere and Windows Media Player
  • Some audio files skip in Windows Media Player and when Windows plays them
  • Access to some files and programs seems slow

Solutions we tried:

  • New display drivers (ATI catalyst 4.1)
  • Disabled the audio in the BIOS
  • Defragmented / Ran scandisk
  • Ran Windows update (Downloaded DirectX 9.0b and Media Player 9)
  • Lowered Hardware Acceleration levels in Windows and Media player
  • Changed AGP Transfer Rate (PCI mode,1x,2x,4x)
  • Enabled\Disabled AGP Fast Writes
  • Changed swap file settings
  • Changed startup options (so fewer programs start with windows)

System Specs:

  • AK39N v1.1 Motherboard (KT400, onboard sound, onboard LAN)
  • Athlon XP 2100+ CPU
  • 512Mb PC-2100 DDR SDRAM
  • 2x Seagate Barracuda ATA IV 80Gb Hard Drives
  • ATI Radeon 8500 All In Wonder DV
  • Sparkle 300W PSU
  • US Robotics 56K Fax Modem
  • Lite-On 52x CD-ROM
  • Lite-On 52x24x52 CD-RW
  • Sony 3.5 Floppy
  • Windows XP Home Edition (all updated)

Any ideas are welcome.
Thanks guys.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
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  • 1 Day Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

Generated

noted CPU pegging at 80-100%, and the replies from (check util/malware) and (spyware tools) are good starting points. The combination of heavy CPU use plus audio/video stutter usually narrows to three things: (A) a CPU-bound codec/encode task, (B) disk I/O falling back to PIO, or (C) driver/kernel-level (DPC/IRQ) activity. The steps below focus on isolating which of those is happening and on targeted fixes that are often missed.

First, identify the consumer. Open Task Manager (show processes from all users) and sort by CPU. If the media app itself tops the list, try a short low-res file and close other apps; codecs or Premiere settings may be the bottleneck. If the System process or kernel time is high, look for driver/interrupt trouble (use msinfo32 -> Hardware Resources -> Conflicts/Sharing and Event Viewer for repeated driver or disk errors).

Second, check IDE transfer mode and the hard drives. In Device Manager expand "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers" -> Primary/Secondary IDE Channel -> Properties -> Advanced Settings -> Transfer Mode. If any device shows PIO instead of "DMA if available", Windows may have degraded it after errors; set it back to DMA or uninstall the IDE channel(s) and reboot so Windows redetects the drive. Run the HDD manufacturer diagnostics and check SMART to rule out a failing drive. Also swap IDE cables or try the second drive alone to test.

Third, rule out bad drivers and peripherals: temporarily remove/disable nonessential PCI devices (modem, TV-tuner on the All-in-Wonder, extra NIC) and retest—these often cause DPC spikes. Update the KT400 chipset/IDE drivers and the motherboard BIOS only from the vendor site, and run memtest86 for RAM. Do a full AV/anti-spyware scan (as suggested) and, while testing, disable real-time AV to see if it affects playback. If power or instability is suspected, try a known-good higher-wattage PSU.

Priority checklist: 1) identify CPU owner in Task Manager, 2) restore DMA / run HDD SMART tests, 3) remove suspect PCI devices, 4) update chipset drivers and BIOS (with caution), 5) run memtest and malware/AV scans.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Redshift

You could try a lower screen resolution if you haven't already also do a full virus and spyware / Malware scan there may be something eating up your resources.

Also when the problem is happening have a look in system monitor at your Ram and CPU utilisation it will help diagnose where the problem is.

Member Avatar for CaptNKILL

I looked at the utilisation and it indicates that the atlon xp 2100+ is at 100% or else very high around 80-100.

Member Avatar for caperjack

run the 2 spyware programs in my signature ,spybot and ad-aware ,install and then update them ,and scan and remove what they find

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