HD loading problem

Since a couple of weeks I have a weird problem which I can't seem to fix, even reinstalling windows didn't help :-/ When I load GPL and start the race, the fps varies rapidly from 36 to about 10.. The reason is obvious, my HD is doing 'something' like a madman, allthough everything allready is loaded. It takes about 1 minute before the loading stops and then I'm having a constant 36fps again. The same problem with F1C and Netkar. It's kind of annoying that you have to wait a minute before you can really start to race, especially with online races :-/ Specs: P4 1.6 Radeon 9700 512mb 2 x 20gig HD connected on the same IDE cable, removing the other HD didn't fix the problem Andre

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 10:09:51 +0200, Andre Warringa <[email hidden]> wrote: >When I load GPL and start the race, the fps varies rapidly from 36 to >about 10.. The reason is obvious, my HD is doing 'something' like a >madman, allthough everything allready is loaded. It takes about 1 >minute before the loading stops and then I'm having a constant 36fps >again. Turned off System Restore? /Martin

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 08:56:58 GMT, [email hidden] (Martin Granberg) wrote: >Turned off System Restore? > >/Martin Uhm.. turned of what? :-/ Where can I turn this off? If you mean kill all the background processes, yes I use enditall.. Andre

>It might also help to defrag if you haven't lately. Perhaps your swap >file is heavily fragmented? I did a defrag on one of my 20gig drives last week. Set it on defrag at 01:00 am, turned on the screen at 10:00am and it was on 30%.. so it would take me a couple of days defragging both HD's.. I can't leave GPL that long :-/ Andre

Andre Warringa <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>... > my HD is doing 'something' like a > madman, allthough everything allready is loaded. It takes about 1 > minute before the loading stops and then I'm having a constant 36fps > again. I have had similar problems with various computers in the past. Usually it is some kind of indexing service or virus scanner running in the background. Don't know if "end it all" or whatever would help (I've never tried it) but I would take the general approach of making sure that all background tasks/services are shut down and then saying a little prayer that it goes away. It might also help to defrag if you haven't lately. Perhaps your swap file is heavily fragmented? Good luck, Gerald

On this day of our lord, Thu, 31 Jul 2003 15:27:47 +0200, Andre Warringa <[email hidden]> quilled: >I did a defrag on one of my 20gig drives last week. >Set it on defrag at 01:00 am, turned on the screen at 10:00am and it >was on 30%.. so it would take me a couple of days defragging both >HD's.. I can't leave GPL that long :-/ > >Andre It shouldn't take anywhere near that long for a 20gb HD. An hour or two at most. You have a HD problem. Have you run a surface scan on it? Checked for any boot sector virus? Looks to me like a new HD is in your future.

That doesn't sound good at all. I had a similar problem a few years ago playing CMR2. Every 5 seconds EXACTLY, the game would pause for a solid second! I figured something must be trying to do something every 5 seconds. So I checked what was running, and realized that some applications relating to my old video card were still installed and probably trying to look for the video card or access it. There's also the possibility of other programs running for you. Stuff like Kazaa and other shitty filesharing programs when you close them don't actually close, so you could still be sharing all your .mp3s and such while trying to play GPL. That's not good.. What else could it be.. hmm.. Maybe a virus, some sort of Trojan trying to do something big time. Mike http://mikebeauchamp.com "Andre Warringa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> Since a couple of weeks I have a weird problem which I can't seem to > fix, even reinstalling windows didn't help :-/ > > When I load GPL and start the race, the fps varies rapidly from 36 to > about 10.. The reason is obvious, my HD is doing 'something' like a > madman, allthough everything allready is loaded. It takes about 1 > minute before the loading stops and then I'm having a constant 36fps > again. > > The same problem with F1C and Netkar. > It's kind of annoying that you have to wait a minute before you can > really start to race, especially with online races :-/ > > Specs: > P4 1.6 > Radeon 9700 > 512mb > 2 x 20gig HD connected on the same IDE cable, removing the other HD > didn't fix the problem > > Andre

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 10:02:27 -0700, Fred Abberline <[email hidden]> wrote: >It shouldn't take anywhere near that long for a 20gb HD. An hour or >two at most. You have a HD problem. Have you run a surface scan on it? >Checked for any boot sector virus? Looks to me like a new HD is in >your future. It's not the HD - both HD's take that long, and before this I had 1 40gig HD which took about 2 years to defrag.. I don't know if this is related, but I have a 40speed cdrom drive, and installing a cd takes about 15 minutes :-/ Andre

"Andre Warringa" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

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> On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 10:02:27 -0700, Fred Abberline > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >It shouldn't take anywhere near that long for a 20gb HD. An hour or > >two at most. You have a HD problem. Have you run a surface scan on it? > >Checked for any boot sector virus? Looks to me like a new HD is in > >your future. > > It's not the HD - both HD's take that long, and before this I had 1 > 40gig HD which took about 2 years to defrag.. > I don't know if this is related, but I have a 40speed cdrom drive, and > installing a cd takes about 15 minutes :-/

Sound like you're running both cd-rom and HD in PIO mode and not DMA, check in device manager.

Fred Abberline wrote in news:[email hidden]:

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> On this day of our lord, Thu, 31 Jul 2003 15:27:47 +0200, Andre > Warringa <[email hidden]> quilled: > > >>I did a defrag on one of my 20gig drives last week. >>Set it on defrag at 01:00 am, turned on the screen at 10:00am and >>it was on 30%.. so it would take me a couple of days defragging >>both HD's.. I can't leave GPL that long :-/ >> >>Andre > > It shouldn't take anywhere near that long for a 20gb HD. An hour > or two at most. You have a HD problem. Have you run a surface scan > on it? Checked for any boot sector virus? Looks to me like a new > HD is in your future.

Andre, Do you have a virus checker running? I know mine will kick in every once in a while (if I forget and leave it running during a defrag), and the whole defrag operation resets and starts back at the beginning again. That can make it seem like your defrag operation is taking forever to run. Incidentally, I have a 20GB drive and Windows XP Home, and a defrag takes me about five minutes. Mind you, I do this about every week or so, so things aren't too badly out of whack. Obviously it will take longer for the defrag job to run if the disk is a "mess" when it starts -- simply because it has more to do. The other option, mentioned by others, is that your hardware just isn't set to optimal settings. It soulds like everything connected to your drives is running slower than it ought to, including your CD-ROM throughput. Why don't you start by telling us what your BIOS settings for your drives are, and what your system specs are? You can download a copy of "SiSoftware Sandra" from a number of sites and it will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about your hardware and software, if you don't already know this stuff. Good luck! -- Darryl

On this day of our lord, Thu, 31 Jul 2003 22:38:19 GMT, Andre Warringa <[email hidden]> quilled: >It's not the HD - both HD's take that long, and before this I had 1 >40gig HD which took about 2 years to defrag.. >I don't know if this is related, but I have a 40speed cdrom drive, and >installing a cd takes about 15 minutes :-/ > >Andre OK, you have an IDE controller problem because I can guarantee you that it doesn't take that long to defrag a 20gb HD and no installation from a 40x cdrom takes 15 minutes.

Mike Beauchamp wrote: > What else could it be.. hmm.. Maybe a virus, some sort of Trojan trying to > do something big time. Sounds like a network creeper. How are you connected to the internet, Andre, by cable modem? Gerry

On Fri, 1 Aug 2003 12:27:34 +0100, "bertrand" <[email hidden]> wrote: >Sound like you're running both cd-rom and HD in PIO mode and not DMA, check >in >device manager. This could be it.. for both my cdroms and both my HD's DMA is checked off.. but when I enable it I get 'Enabling DMA may damage your hardware' message.. Is this really the case or is it safe enough to just try it, without the possibility of an HD crash?? Andre

On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 14:10:10 GMT, Darryl Johnson <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Why don't you start by telling us what your BIOS settings for your >drives are, and what your system specs are? You can download a copy >of "SiSoftware Sandra" from a number of sites and it will tell you >more than you ever wanted to know about your hardware and software, >if you don't already know this stuff. > >Good luck!

Thanks for that long answer Daryll :) I'll download Sandra and post the specs here! Andre

On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 22:03:18 +0100, Gerry Aitken <[email hidden]> wrote:

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>Mike Beauchamp wrote: > >> What else could it be.. hmm.. Maybe a virus, some sort of Trojan trying to >> do something big time. > >Sounds like a network creeper. How are you connected to the internet, >Andre, by cable modem? > >Gerry

Yup, cable modem.. why? And what is network creeper? Andre

Andre Warringa wrote:

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> On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 22:03:18 +0100, Gerry Aitken > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > >>Mike Beauchamp wrote: >> >> >>>What else could it be.. hmm.. Maybe a virus, some sort of Trojan trying to >>>do something big time. >> >>Sounds like a network creeper. How are you connected to the internet, >>Andre, by cable modem? >> >>Gerry > > > > Yup, cable modem.. why? And what is network creeper? > > Andre

VERY IMPORTANT: have you recently shared any drives? Network creepers get in through these shares. Only share files, and even then it's safer to password or make them read only. You could well have one of these, going by the evidence, so do a scan of the whole system with an up to date scanner, find out which bleeder you have, and blow it to the stone age, son. :) Good luck Gerry

Gerry Aitken wrote:

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> Andre Warringa wrote: > >> On Fri, 01 Aug 2003 22:03:18 +0100, Gerry Aitken >> <[email hidden]> wrote: >> >> >>> Mike Beauchamp wrote: >>> >>> >>>> What else could it be.. hmm.. Maybe a virus, some sort of Trojan >>>> trying to >>>> do something big time. >>> >>> >>> Sounds like a network creeper. How are you connected to the internet, >>> Andre, by cable modem? >>> >>> Gerry >> >> >> >> >> Yup, cable modem.. why? And what is network creeper? >> >> Andre > > > VERY IMPORTANT: have you recently shared any drives? Network creepers > get in through these shares. Only share files, and even then it's safer > to password or make them read only. > > You could well have one of these, going by the evidence, so do a scan of > the whole system with an up to date scanner, find out which bleeder you > have, and blow it to the stone age, son. :) > > Good luck > > Gerry > > > >

The above advice is for 98, but you're using XP, yes/no? Gerry

Andre Warringa <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

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> On Fri, 1 Aug 2003 12:27:34 +0100, "bertrand" <[email hidden]> > wrote: > > >Sound like you're running both cd-rom and HD in PIO mode and not DMA, check > >in > >device manager. > > This could be it.. for both my cdroms and both my HD's DMA is checked > off.. but when I enable it I get 'Enabling DMA may damage your > hardware' message.. > Is this really the case or is it safe enough to just try it, without > the possibility of an HD crash?? > > Andre

You need to determine if your drives and motherboard support DMA (the manf. should be able to tell you). If so you can turn on DMA. If only one or neither do, I would be leery of turning it on. I'd be really surprised if any of them don't support it. good luck, Gerald

On 4 Aug 2003 05:41:21 -0700, [email hidden] (Gerald Moore) wrote:

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>You need to determine if your drives and motherboard support DMA (the >manf. should be able to tell you). If so you can turn on DMA. If >only one or neither do, I would be leery of turning it on. I'd be >really surprised if any of them don't support it. > >good luck, >Gerald

Ok, I set my HD's to DMA and did a defrag.. 1 HD of 20gig took me now 4 hours to defrag. Someone here wrote it took him 5 minutes to defrag a HD.. 5 minutes seems really fast to me, seeing the huge amount of work the pc has to do with a defrag.. is 4 hours normal or is that really absurd slow? Andre

Andre Warringa

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> > Ok, I set my HD's to DMA and did a defrag.. 1 HD of 20gig took me now > 4 hours to defrag. Someone here wrote it took him 5 minutes to defrag > a HD.. 5 minutes seems really fast to me, seeing the huge amount of > work the pc has to do with a defrag.. is 4 hours normal or is that > really absurd slow? > > Andre >

An empty hd might defrag quicker, but 5 minutes? no way...perhaps he's confusing Scandisk with Defrag. dave henrie

Andre Warringa <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>... > > Ok, I set my HD's to DMA and did a defrag.. 1 HD of 20gig took me now > 4 hours to defrag. Someone here wrote it took him 5 minutes to defrag > a HD.. 5 minutes seems really fast to me, seeing the huge amount of > work the pc has to do with a defrag.. is 4 hours normal or is that > really absurd slow? I think 4 hours is not an unreasonable amount of time if your drive is severely fragmented and relatively full. It probably also depends on the size of your files, and the OS, and how much RAM you have. I can defrag my 20GB drive in a lot less time, but I defrag pretty much any time I install or write anything of signifigant size. Plus, I have an AMD 2400+ More important: Did any of this help solve your problem?

On 5 Aug 2003 14:31:41 -0700, [email hidden] (Gerald Moore) wrote: >More important: Did any of this help solve your problem? Setting the DMA on seems to have increased the speed a bit, but I don;t think the speed of my HD and CDROM are as they should be. I'm going to do a total clean reinstall of windows this weekend, hope this helps :-/ Andre

Andre Warringa <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

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> On 5 Aug 2003 14:31:41 -0700, [email hidden] (Gerald Moore) wrote: > > >More important: Did any of this help solve your problem? > > Setting the DMA on seems to have increased the speed a bit, but I > don;t think the speed of my HD and CDROM are as they should be. > I'm going to do a total clean reinstall of windows this weekend, hope > this helps :-/ > > Andre

What OS did you say you were running?

On 6 Aug 2003 05:23:10 -0700, [email hidden] (Gerald Moore) wrote: >What OS did you say you were running? W98. I tried WinXP a couple of weeks ago, but I had problems with my SBLive under XP so I installed 98 again. Going to try XP again now :-/ Andre

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 10:02:27 -0700, Fred Abberline <[email hidden]> wrote: >It shouldn't take anywhere near that long for a 20gb HD. An hour or >two at most. You have a HD problem. Have you run a surface scan on it? >Checked for any boot sector virus? Looks to me like a new HD is in >your future. It's not the HD - both my 20gig HD's take that long for a defrag. Andre