Computer on the fritz

[shanpooter]

I have an Emachine (bleh) that is about two years old.  Two weeks ago it suddenly began taking an extremely long time to boot up.  Actually, it seemed to boot up normally, but it would sit at a blank screen after the windows loading screen for about 5 minutes before bringing up the blue login screen.  I scanned for viruses and adware, nothing.  So I did a full system recovery hoping that would fix it.  It didn't, and it's getting worse.  It now takes forever to open files, and even longer to open a folder with many files in it.  I don't know a ton about computers so I was hoping that someone could give me an idea of what might be wrong.  I was thinking it was possibly a hard disk problem, since it seems to only affect opening files and folders. 

Don't know if specs would be helpful, but it's an AMD Athelon XP 3000, 512 memory, a GeForce FX 5200 with 256 memory.  I installed the graphics card myself two years ago when I bought the computer, if it makes a difference.  I've been wanting to build a new machine for a while, but wasn't planning on doing it until after Christmas, so I would like to figure out what's wrong with this one.  Any ideas?

[DrBeast]

Maybe a defrag is in order? Open My Computer, right-click on the drive, select Properties, click on the Tools tab and select Defrag. If you've had the 'puter for a long time without having defragged it even once, it tends to slow down a lot.

[shanpooter]

I should have mentioned that I attempted that before I broke down and reformatted.  I usually use scandisk, disk cleanup and defrag every month (that I remember, anyway), and I do regular virus and adware scans. 

It seems amazing to me how differently my computer is running now as opposed to how it was a few weeks ago.  When I click on a big folder, like my music or picture folders, I get that stupid hourglass for minutes before it displays the contents, whereas it used to pop up before I could blink.  My first thought was malware, but I scanned with every reputable program I could find.  And I am very anal about what gets put on my system.  I haven't even installed anything new or changed any settings since before it was running well.

Also, for about a day my computer was not recognizing either of my optical drives.  I have a DVD/CD burner and a CD reader.  They were not listed in My Computer, nor were they even attempting to read anything I put in them.  I turned the computer off and went to bed, and then next day they were back.  Not sure what that was about, but it has never happened before.   It seems to me (and I hope I'm wrong) that my computer is dying a slow death.  I'm afraid to even use it anymore aside from the internet, because I'm waiting for it to die and I don't want to lose anything.  It seems to be getting slower and weirder everyday.   

[jrd]

Use Bootvis to check what is delaying system boot the most, it is likely also behind the rest of the slowdown.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=664

[ZiggyDoodle]

I'm afraid to even use it anymore aside from the internet, because I'm waiting for it to die and I don't want to lose anything.  It seems to be getting slower and weirder everyday.   

Now is the time to back up the stuff that is important to you, because once it blows, there it all goes....

[shanpooter]

Use Bootvis to check what is delaying system boot the most, it is likely also behind the rest of the slowdown.

Thanks Jordi, I will try this now.

edit - I just ran the program, tried it twice and got the same error message each time:

Number of physical drives in the trace file is 0
Trace file has invalid system configuration information

So...is this a hard drive problem?  Or can I somehow change the configuration settings?  The program just shuts down after I click ok on the error message.

[twojeffs]

Sounds to me like the motherboard is crapping out. You could check to make sure the IDE cables are securely plugged into the motherboard, but I doubt that's the problem since both channels appear to be dropping in and out.

[J. M. Pescado]

If it's just a motherboard problem, you're fine. Just get a new computer and you're good to go. Now HARD DRIVE problems, those are bad shit.

[shanpooter]

Sounds to me like the motherboard is crapping out. You could check to make sure the IDE cables are securely plugged into the motherboard, but I doubt that's the problem since both channels appear to be dropping in and out.

Great.  I will try checking the cables and hope that that is all it is.  But I won't hold my breath. 

HARD DRIVE problems, those are bad shit.

Whats so bad about them?  Or were you being sarcastic?  I've replaced hard drives before without too much trouble.  Of course getting a new computer would be easier... guess I'll have to work on the fiance for that one.

[DrBeast]

HARD DRIVE problems, those are bad shit.

Whats so bad about them?  Or were you being sarcastic?  I've replaced hard drives before without too much trouble.  Of course getting a new computer would be easier... guess I'll have to work on the fiance for that one.

Thing is, if it's a failing motherboard you get to keep your disk at least, along with all its valuable data. If it's the hard drive crapping out, good luck with making a backup!

[J. M. Pescado]

Whats so bad about them?  Or were you being sarcastic?  I've replaced hard drives before without too much trouble.  Of course getting a new computer would be easier... guess I'll have to work on the fiance for that one.

If your hard drive blows up, you lose everything on that drive. This is uncool even if you have recent backups. It becomes supremely Jelenedra if you don't. Simply plopping the old drives into a new computer or motherboard, on the other hand, is much simpler. Motherboards and computers can be replaced, your data can't.

[shanpooter]

Ah, I understand now    And you are correct.  I was only thinking about financial things, but loads of personal data is more important.  Before I did my reformat I backed up about 8 dvds worth of stuff, and I'm sure I'll find that I missed something.