The Tangled Glitchy Maze That Is My Computer

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Last week, I decided to take the bold step of switching from cheap dial-up (Netzero) to high speed (Comcast). It was either the best or worst decision I ever made. Here’s why: first, my computer takes even longer to boot up than with Netzero. When it finally reaches the screen with the icons (and that’s after the annoying blue screen that lasts forever); and I click on the Comcast icon, I have another long wait for the Internet. Before that, I get a pop-up: Internet Explorer Script Error: Line:2 Char:1 An error has occurred in the script on this page: dtx framework is undefined: chrome://comcastb/content/toolbar.htm: Do you want to continue running scripts on this page? Yes/No. Now if anyone can understand what I just wrote, I applaud them. When I’m online, the computer seems to work well enough. Yesterday, I googled “resolving script errors” and got a reference to errornerd.com who in turn recommended something called Regcure. I saved Regcure to the desktop. I haven’t activated it because of some suspicions (there are some complaints and errornerd might be a shill for Regcure; in which case it goes in the trash). Today I downloaded Internet Explorer 8 which seemed to make the problem worse. I had to go through almost two hours of bluescreens, frozen screens, starts, restarts, switch-ons and offs before I was able to get online. Now please excuse this long paragraph;I detailed my problems to help me ask my questions. (1)What about Regcure? Do I activate it or trash it? (2) Does anyone have an idea of what’s going on with my computer? Is highspeed too rich for it? (3) Are there any online cures that won’t make it worse? Really I’m at my wit’s end. Maybe the computer’s too old but I have to work with what I got. Greythings8

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Here’s why: first, my computer takes even longer to boot up than with Netzero. When it finally reaches the screen with the icons (and that’s after the annoying blue screen that lasts forever); and I click on the Comcast icon, I have another long wait for the Internet. Before that, I get a pop-up: Internet Explorer Script Error:
[snip]
(1)What about Regcure? Do I activate it or trash it? (2) Does anyone have an idea of what’s going on with my computer? Is highspeed too rich for it? (3) Are there any online cures that won’t make it worse? Really I’m at my wit’s end. Maybe the computer’s too old but I have to work with what I got. Greythings8

I would wait with adding more software to the mix (or trying different kind of registry edits).

Can you tell us something about the computer? This is posted in the Internet Explorer forum, and then we don’t know what Windows version you use.

[*]So what Windows version & service pack is installed on the PC?
[*]Since you mention age; what kind of processor and how much RAM (memory)?
[*]Did the blue screens start directly after you went to high speed, Comcast?
[*]What version of Internet Explorer did you use before IE8?

There is nothing wrong with upgrading to IE8, if one wants the latest browser from MSFT. But then the computer must be stable and working, installing new software doesn’t solve problems.

It is possible to, for example, disable script debugging in IE in some cases, but we need to know a little more about the PC in general.

I would definitely wait with installing/using Regcure.

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My PC uses Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2. It’s a used computer I got from a friend. I don’t know its age. Maybe less than a decade but more than five years. Let’s say around seven or eight to be safe. The monitor is a Dell but the processor is an ASUS A7V266-E (or so the manual says). According to the manual: “The three DDR DIMM sockets support 2.5 volt unbuffered/registered Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Access Memory of 64MB, 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, and 1GB to form a memory size between 64MB to 3GB.” I don’t know what I just typed but I’m assuming this is what you mean by RAM. When I had Netzero the blue screen lasted for only 30 seconds or so. The problem started a day or so after I went Comcast. The grassy fields picture appears, then the bluescreen, then the icons. Sometimes the grass field reappears and I can log on. Other times the bluescreen stays and I’m stuck. When that happens I have to turn off the computer and turn it on again, hoping that it boots up as normal; sometimes it works but I don’t think it’s very healthy. As near as I can tell the version I had before IE8 was IE7. Hope this helps. Thanks. Greythings8

I would wait with adding more software to the mix (or trying different kind of registry edits).

Can you tell us something about the computer? This is posted in the Internet Explorer forum, and then we don’t know what Windows version you use.

[*]So what Windows version & service pack is installed on the PC?
[*]Since you mention age; what kind of processor and how much RAM (memory)?
[*]Did the blue screens start directly after you went to high speed, Comcast?
[*]What version of Internet Explorer did you use before IE8?

There is nothing wrong with upgrading to IE8, if one wants the latest browser from MSFT. But then the computer must be stable and working, installing new software doesn’t solve problems.

It is possible to, for example, disable script debugging in IE in some cases, but we need to know a little more about the PC in general.

I would definitely wait with installing/using Regcure.

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My PC uses Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2.
[snip]
The monitor is a Dell but the processor is an ASUS A7V266-E (or so the manual says).
[snip]
When I had Netzero the blue screen lasted for only 30 seconds or so. The problem started a day or so after I went Comcast. The grassy fields picture appears, then the bluescreen, then the icons. Sometimes the grass field reappears and I can log on. Other times the bluescreen stays and I’m stuck. When that happens I have to turn off the computer and turn it on again, hoping that it boots up as normal; sometimes it works but I don’t think it’s very healthy. As near as I can tell the version I had before IE8 was IE7.

First, there is nothing wrong with using an older PC. At the same time I can answer your second question under (2): “Is high speed too rich for it?” No, I don’t think so, and I don’t think that that is the problem here. True, with 2, 8 or perhaps 15 Mbit/s you have the possibility to download at high speed and that can strain the memory a bit, if on low resources.

As for the hardware itself; I asked so that we could get a general picture, since you have blue screens (or Stop Errors) and perhaps other problems. The manual can but usually doesn’t tell what kind of processor and memory are installed, since the motherboard can be configured in many different ways.

The Asus A7V266-E is a “socket A” motherboard. It uses processors from AMD, such as AMD Athlon XP or AMD Sempron. Socket A (or socket 462) was a socket type that came around 2000-2001 and was in use for some years, so I would agree that 7 years is likely, I had one in 2002 and some years on. That is not a problem at all, since it is contemporary with Windows XP.

The motherboard can hold up to 3 GB DDR memory, and as you say; the three memory sockets can hold 64, 128, 256, 512 or 1024 MB each. At the time they usually shipped them with a single 256 MB memory module.

When you have started Windows (and logged in, if you use a password) so that you are watching the Desktop (“the grass field”) you can get some basic information about the processor and the amount of memory by looking at the Properties for My Computer. A quick access to the properties is to: press the Windows-key (if present) and then press the Pause/Break key (found top right on the keyboard).

Or you can simply right-click on “My Computer” (either on the Desktop or in the Start menu) and select Properties. It will then show you the processor type, its speed and the amount of memory. It can be useful to know.

As for the blue screens, or as I said stop errors, they are there to tell that something important and critical has happened. You said: “Sometimes the grass field reappears and I can log on. Other times the bluescreen stays and I’m stuck.” The default setting in Windows is to restart the PC when a system error occurs, that is to help the user get going if the error was just a small glitch (but one should not keep it in that condition, blue screens every start). That could explain why you sometimes see the Desktop again, but then you would have seen the PC restart. That is also what I think about the behaviour before Comcast; you said the blue screens “lasted for only 30 seconds or so”. When the error is there, that means that Windows has stopped. If the blue screen goes away, Windows must have restarted the PC.

Blue screens are mostly related to faulty drivers or hardware. To solve that one needs to know which error it is. They sure are not easy to decipher.

If you can type down the error message and post it here, you probably can get some help with it. They usually look something like this: Stop 0x0000000A and sometimes mention a specific file name. The file name, if present, can also be a great clue.

Since your OS is Windows XP and you have problems with start up and OS, apart from the IE script error, perhaps this thread should be moved to the Windows XP forum.

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I right clicked on My Computer; description is as follows: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition; Version 2002; Service Pack 3: Computer: AMD ATHLON [TM] XP 1900+: 1.21 GHz, 512MB of RAM. The error message reads: “INTERNET EXPLORER SCRIPT ERROR: LINE:2 CHAR:1 An error has occurred in the script on this page: DTx Framework is undefined: 0 : Chrome: //ComcastB/content/toolbar.HTM: Do you want to continue running scripts on this page? yes/no.” This is the only error message. Hope this helps. Thanx. Greythings8

First, there is nothing wrong with using an older PC. At the same time I can answer your second question under (2): “Is high speed too rich for it?” No, I don’t think so, and I don’t think that that is the problem here. True, with 2, 8 or perhaps 15 Mbit/s you have the possibility to download at high speed and that can strain the memory a bit, if on low resources.

As for the hardware itself; I asked so that we could get a general picture, since you have blue screens (or Stop Errors) and perhaps other problems. The manual can but usually doesn’t tell what kind of processor and memory are installed, since the motherboard can be configured in many different ways.

The Asus A7V266-E is a “socket A” motherboard. It uses processors from AMD, such as AMD Athlon XP or AMD Sempron. Socket A (or socket 462) was a socket type that came around 2000-2001 and was in use for some years, so I would agree that 7 years is likely, I had one in 2002 and some years on. That is not a problem at all, since it is contemporary with Windows XP.

The motherboard can hold up to 3 GB DDR memory, and as you say; the three memory sockets can hold 64, 128, 256, 512 or 1024 MB each. At the time they usually shipped them with a single 256 MB memory module.

When you have started Windows (and logged in, if you use a password) so that you are watching the Desktop (“the grass field”) you can get some basic information about the processor and the amount of memory by looking at the Properties for My Computer. A quick access to the properties is to: press the Windows-key (if present) and then press the Pause/Break key (found top right on the keyboard).

Or you can simply right-click on “My Computer” (either on the Desktop or in the Start menu) and select Properties. It will then show you the processor type, its speed and the amount of memory. It can be useful to know.

As for the blue screens, or as I said stop errors, they are there to tell that something important and critical has happened. You said: “Sometimes the grass field reappears and I can log on. Other times the bluescreen stays and I’m stuck.” The default setting in Windows is to restart the PC when a system error occurs, that is to help the user get going if the error was just a small glitch (but one should not keep it in that condition, blue screens every start). That could explain why you sometimes see the Desktop again, but then you would have seen the PC restart. That is also what I think about the behaviour before Comcast; you said the blue screens “lasted for only 30 seconds or so”. When the error is there, that means that Windows has stopped. If the blue screen goes away, Windows must have restarted the PC.

Blue screens are mostly related to faulty drivers or hardware. To solve that one needs to know which error it is. They sure are not easy to decipher.

If you can type down the error message and post it here, you probably can get some help with it. They usually look something like this: Stop 0x0000000A and sometimes mention a specific file name. The file name, if present, can also be a great clue.

Since your OS is Windows XP and you have problems with start up and OS, apart from the IE script error, perhaps this thread should be moved to the Windows XP forum.

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[snip]
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition; Version 2002; Service Pack 3: Computer: AMD ATHLON [TM] XP 1900+: 1.21 GHz, 512MB of RAM. The error message reads: “INTERNET EXPLORER SCRIPT ERROR: LINE:2 CHAR:1 An error has occurred in the script on this page: DTx Framework is undefined: 0 : Chrome: //ComcastB/content/toolbar.HTM: Do you want to continue running scripts on this page? yes/no.” [snip]

Hello,
The System properties seem fine, in general; the amount of RAM is enough. If it indeed is an AMD Athlon XP 1900+ and it’s running at 1.21 GHz that is a bit slow. The XP 1900+ was 12×133.3 ~ 1600 MHz; 1.6 GHz. I think the speed in BIOS has been reset from 133 MHz to 100 MHz, thus 1.2 GHz (12×100). That happens easily when the default values in BIOS are loaded, either due to a reset or at will after a BIOS upgrade and loading the default. But that can be dealt with later. Just to let you know that you have some extra 400 MHz in there, and that we can deal with that later on.

As to the script error when you start IE; first I thought that you might perhaps wait until you have solved the blue screens at the start, stability etc. But there are some things to check related to that.

Do you have some kind of Comcast page as your start page in Internet Explorer?

Have you checked the PC with an up to date anti-virus (AV) program lately (and I do hope you have some AV installed and running)? You should do that; also it would be good if you checked the PC with some anti-spyware software.

As for the Stop Errors (your reply to Stuart); it doesn’t seem like you fond any there. Perhaps if you could write it down when it happens next time.
—-
P.S. BTW, if you like, you can remove some of the quoted text when you reply to someone. The Lounge software will, by default, quote the entire message you reply to. But in many threads that isn’t necessary, since all posts are there already, it only makes the post longer. To do that you can remove some of the text between [ quote ] and [ /quote ]; as long as both codes are there it should work.

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Typically, when I go online, I click on one of the Comcast icons on the Desktop. Usually it was the Comcast Account Login icon. There are several other Comcast icons that were installed when the computer was hooked up. Frankly I didn’t know which ones to click; I picked one and used it the most. I didn’t think to click the IE icon. When I did it took about 30 seconds to connect. The start page is Comcast; a news and info site like CNN or Yahoo. My PC has Symantec AntiVirus with LiveUpdate. As for the stop errors, I have a theory that they might be something else. When I turned on my PC, I took notes. Maybe my description might help but I don’t know. (1) The Desktop (grassy field) appears and then vanishes; (2) The icons appear with the bluescreen background, the arrow either appears with the hourglass or switches between hourglass/arrow; (3) Unable to click icon with icon/bluescreen background (a couple of days ago, when the icon/bluescreen switched to screensaver, I moved the mouse to bring back the screen, but the screensaver froze); (4) I wait until the red indicator light on my PC stops blinking; (5) I turn the computer off then back on; (6) The same thing happens but the icon/bluescreen lasts temporarily (several seconds) before the desktop reappears; (7) I can click online with the icon/desktop background. There are no error messages during this period. Now, I don’t know if it qualifies as a stop error. Another point of interest: when I clicked on the IE icon, as opposed to the Comcast icon, no error message appeared. I don’t know if this means anything; it might happen tomorrow when I do the same thing. As it stood, it took me a half hour to get online to type this message. Greythings8

Hello,
The System properties seem fine, in general; the amount of RAM is enough. If it indeed is an AMD Athlon XP 1900+ and it’s running at 1.21 GHz that is a bit slow.
…
…
P.S. BTW, if you like, you can remove some of the quoted text when you reply to someone. The Lounge software will, by default, quote the entire message you reply to. But in many threads that isn’t necessary, since all posts are there already, it only makes the post longer. To do that you can remove some of the text between [ quote ] and [ /quote ]; as long as both codes are there it should work.

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… I click on one of the Comcast icons on the Desktop … … but the icon/bluescreen lasts temporarily (several seconds) before the desktop reappears …

I think you can see from my edited quote here that I’m beginning to think that there’s nothing wrong with your machine per se, other than some poorly constructed Comcast software and a bit of impatience on your part, with no offense intended.

I have been through the cycles of phone line, DSL and now cable internet and not only for myself but many, many other folks I’ve worked with. It’s my experience that many (if not all) ISPs do a little too much with their installation and setup CDs. They mess with your browser, network connection settings and all manner of other things that are not necessary to get connected, especially in an “always on” setup like DSL or cable. It’s my practice NEVER to use the ISP provided CD and I do it myself, the manual way. With today’s OS and hardware that usually requires very little setup and tweaking. In your case, the Comcast stuff is already installed, so I think you’re doing the right thing. Boot your computer and go directly to IE or whatever browser you choose and you should be connected. I’m not familiar with Comcast but I would hope they don’t require you to “logon” through them every time you want to use the web. If you think that’s true, let us know.

Secondly, from the gist of your wording, I think maybe the thing you’re calling “bluescreen” is really the Windows initial background color which DOES go away as Windows finishes loading all its drivers and other software and then loads YOUR chosen background and/or wallpaper. I think that for now you need to be a little patient and let the bootup finish to see if it always ends with your background and desktop. Sometimes that can take SEVERAL minutes. See next paragraph.

If I’m right about the ISP story, what may be taking your machine so long to boot could very well be the loading and setting up of the stuff that Comcast did when you installed it. If my suggestions appear to be true or somewhat so, we can explore further what you might do to clear up some of the auto-load stuff. Let’s see how it goes.

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Right. OK. So it’s not bluescreen but initial background color. Thanks for the clarification. So, working from the assumption that it’s the Comcast software, what do we do about it? Because it’s not just a case of two or three minutes. We’re talking 5+ minutes of icons with blue background and nothing happening. I don’t think it’s supposed to last that long (note the trouble I had with the screensaver) and neither does my patience. I think perhaps (from what I read of your response) that it’s a case of too much food going down a narrow throat. So obviously I need to get rid of some stuff here, but I don’t know what (maybe next time I shouldn’t use Armenian vodka makers from Moscow to install the software). Greythings8

I think you can see from my edited quote here that I’m beginning to think that there’s nothing wrong with your machine per se, other than some poorly constructed Comcast software and a bit of impatience on your part, with no offense intended.

I have been through the cycles of phone line, DSL and now cable internet and not only for myself but many, many other folks I’ve worked with. It’s my experience that many (if not all) ISPs do a little too much with their installation and setup CDs. They mess with your browser, network connection settings and all manner of other things that are not necessary to get connected, especially in an “always on” setup like DSL or cable. It’s my practice NEVER to use the ISP provided CD and I do it myself, the manual way. With today’s OS and hardware that usually requires very little setup and tweaking. In your case, the Comcast stuff is already installed, so I think you’re doing the right thing. Boot your computer and go directly to IE or whatever browser you choose and you should be connected. I’m not familiar with Comcast but I would hope they don’t require you to “logon” through them every time you want to use the web. If you think that’s true, let us know.

Secondly, from the gist of your wording, I think maybe the thing you’re calling “bluescreen” is really the Windows initial background color which DOES go away as Windows finishes loading all its drivers and other software and then loads YOUR chosen background and/or wallpaper. I think that for now you need to be a little patient and let the bootup finish to see if it always ends with your background and desktop. Sometimes that can take SEVERAL minutes. See next paragraph.

If I’m right about the ISP story, what may be taking your machine so long to boot could very well be the loading and setting up of the stuff that Comcast did when you installed it. If my suggestions appear to be true or somewhat so, we can explore further what you might do to clear up some of the auto-load stuff. Let’s see how it goes.

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… obviously I need to get rid of some stuff here, but I don’t know what …

OK, let’s try finding out what’s running at startup to see what can or should be eliminated.

I happen to like a utility that was mentioned fairly recently here in The Lounge because of its simplicity: WhatInStartup – Disable/enable/delete programs running at Windows startup

At the same time, if you’re more detail oriented, the the ever popular Autoruns for Windows. It IS a complex program, so I’d recommend starting with the first one above to see. If you like, you could make a cropped screenshot like the following to let “expert” Loungers make suggestions, if possible. (the attached is only a partial screenshot.)

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I downloaded WhatInStartup but haven’t activated it. I’m going to treat it like Regcure; have it on the ready but not running until I’m sure this is a good program. I never heard of it; my PC pops up the usual warnings of possible viruses and such; I want other opinions before running the file. It looks promising but I’m cautious. Greythings8

OK, let’s try finding out what’s running at startup to see what can or should be eliminated.

I happen to like a utility that was mentioned fairly recently here in The Lounge because of its simplicity: WhatInStartup – Disable/enable/delete programs running at Windows startup

At the same time, if you’re more detail oriented, the the ever popular Autoruns for Windows. It IS a complex program, so I’d recommend starting with the first one above to see. If you like, you could make a cropped screenshot like the following to let “expert” Loungers make suggestions, if possible. (the attached is only a partial screenshot.)

Reply | Quote

I downloaded WhatInStartup but haven’t activated it. I’m going to treat it like Regcure; have it on the ready but not running until I’m sure this is a good program. I never heard of it; my PC pops up the usual warnings of possible viruses and such; I want other opinions before running the file.

A: pay attention to the advice you’ve been give re quoting That is prune the quotes down, I’m sure we didn’t need another copy of Al’s startup screenshot.

B: I don’t believe Al would have suggested a Program that was going to destroy your computer. If you’re looking for help in this forum, you’ve got to learn to trust us. We’re good people. Honest

C: If you don’t trust a program don’t download it. A well-meaning (but ignorant) third party might see it and think “ooh I’ll run this…”

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Apologies to Al and others. I’m new to this forum; I don’t use these programs often; and years of listening to horror stories about computers has left me hypercautious. OK! OK! I’ll run the darn program!

A: pay attention to the advice you’ve been give re quoting That is prune the quotes down, I’m sure we didn’t need another copy of Al’s startup screenshot.

B: I don’t believe Al would have suggested a Program that was going to destroy your computer. If you’re looking for help in this forum, you’ve got to learn to trust us. We’re good people. Honest

C: If you don’t trust a program don’t download it. A well-meaning (but ignorant) third party might see it and think “ooh I’ll run this…”
[/quote]

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Dear Al. Sorry for the trust issues. I’m not too computer savvy so I’m not very familiar with cropping.
I ran the program and this is what came up. I decided to try the tried and true method of copy and paste.
I hope you can make sense of it; I hope I haven’t flooded your computer or something. Personally all this
gobbledygook makes me crosseyed. Greythings8

[codebox]
Adobe Reader Speed Launch Startup Folder -> Common “C:Program FilesAdobeAcrobat 7.0Readerreader_sl.exe” No Adobe Acrobat 7.1.0.2008042300 Adobe Acrobat SpeedLauncher Adobe Systems Incorporated C:Documents and SettingsAll UsersStart MenuProgramsStartup C:Program FilesAdobeAcrobat 7.0Readerreader_sl.exe
BtcMaestro Registry -> Machine Run “C:Program FilesHP Wireless KeyboardKMaestro.exe” No BTC Kmaestro 1, 0, 0, 0 KeyMaestro main program BTC HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:Program FilesHP Wireless KeyboardKMaestro.exe
C-Media Mixer Registry -> Machine Run Mixer.exe /startup No Mixer 1.46 Mixer C-Media Electronic Inc. (http://www.cmedia.com.tw) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:WINDOWSMixer.exe
CARPService Registry -> Machine Run carpserv.exe No SoftK56 Modem Driver 6.02.05 carpserv Conexant Systems, Inc. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:WINDOWSsystem32carpserv.exe
ccApp Registry -> Machine Run “C:Program FilesCommon FilesSymantec SharedccApp.exe” No Client and Host Security Platform 104.0.8.3 Symantec User Session Symantec Corporation HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:Program FilesCommon FilesSymantec SharedccApp.exe
ComcastAntispyClient Registry -> User Run “C:Program FilescomcasttbComcastSpywareScanComcastAntispy.exe” /hide No 2.3.0.98 HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:Program FilescomcasttbComcastSpywareScanComcastAntispy.exe
iTunesHelper Registry -> Machine Run “C:Program FilesiTunesiTunesHelper.exe” No iTunes 6.0.5.20 iTunesHelper Module Apple Computer, Inc. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:Program FilesiTunesiTunesHelper.exe
MSMSGS Registry -> User Run “C:Program FilesMessengermsmsgs.exe” /background No Messenger 4.7.3001 Windows Messenger Microsoft Corporation HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:Program FilesMessengermsmsgs.exe
NeroFilterCheck Registry -> Machine Run C:WINDOWSsystem32NeroCheck.exe No Ahead Software Gmbh NeroCheck 1, 0, 0, 2 NeroCheck Ahead Software Gmbh HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:WINDOWSsystem32NeroCheck.exe
OpenOffice.org 2.0 Startup Folder -> User “C:Program FilesOpenOffice.org 2.0programquickstart.exe” No C:Documents and SettingsTonyStart MenuProgramsStartup C:Program FilesOpenOffice.org 2.0programquickstart.exe
QuickTime Task Registry -> Machine Run “C:Program FilesQuickTimeqttask.exe” -atboottime No QuickTime 7.1 QuickTime Task Apple Computer, Inc. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:Program FilesQuickTimeqttask.exe
SMC Registry -> Machine Run C:SMCSMC.exe No HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:SMCSMC.exe
swg Registry -> User Run C:Program FilesGoogleGoogleToolbarNotifierGoogleToolbarNotifier.exe No GoogleToolbarNotifier 4, 1, 509, 1944 GoogleToolbarNotifier Google Inc. HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:Program FilesGoogleGoogleToolbarNotifierGoogleToolbarNotifier.exe
Universal Installer Registry -> User Run “C:Program FilesComcastUIUniversal Installeruinstaller.exe” /fromrun /starthidden No SupportSoft Container 6,8,726,0 SupportSoft Container SupportSoft, Inc. HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:Program FilesComcastUIUniversal Installeruinstaller.exe
vptray Registry -> Machine Run C:PROGRA~1SYMANT~1SYMANT~2VPTray.exe No Symantec AntiVirus 10.1.4.4000 Symantec AntiVirus Symantec Corporation HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:PROGRA~1SYMANT~1SYMANT~2VPTray.exe
Windows Defender Registry -> Machine Run “C:Program FilesWindows DefenderMSASCui.exe” -hide No Windows Defender 1.1.1593.0 Windows Defender User Interface Microsoft Corporation HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun C:Program FilesWindows DefenderMSASCui.exe
[/codebox]

OK, let’s try finding out what’s running at startup to see what can or should be eliminated.

I happen to like a utility that was mentioned fairly recently here in The Lounge because of its simplicity:
WhatInStartup – Disable/enable/delete programs running at Windows startup

At the same time, if you’re more detail oriented, the the ever popular Autoruns for Windows. It IS a complex program,
so I’d recommend starting with the first one above to see. If you like, you could make a cropped
screenshot like the following to let “expert” Loungers make suggestions, if possible.
(the attached is only a partial screenshot.)

Reply | Quote

I have moved this thread to the Windows XP forum (from the Internet Explorer forum).

You should be able to find out what kind of STOP error this is by looking in Event Viewer. To do this

[*]Select Run… from the Start menu
[*]Type eventvwr.msc into the Run dialog box and click the OK button
[*]In the pane on the left of the Event Viewer application, select System
[*]Look for errors that happened around the time of your incident and double click them to get the details

If you find an error (with a RED flag) at the time of your incident then post the details here and we may be able to help understand what happened.

Reply | Quote

These are the errors I found. The DCOM errors go back several days so I didn’t include them all. Maybe you can make sense of this. Thanx. Greythings8

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Dhcp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1002
Date: 5/18/2009
Time: 10:12:12 PM
User: N/A
Computer: TONY1
Description:
The IP address lease 24.19.234.214 for the Network Card with network address 0013F76F3F7F has been denied by the DHCP server 0.0.0.0 (The DHCP Server sent a DHCPNACK message).

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
Event Type: Error
Event Source: DCOM
Event Category: None
Event ID: 10010
Date: 5/19/2009
Time: 9:53:03 PM
User: TONY1Tony
Computer: TONY1
Description:
The server {0002DF01-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: DCOM
Event Category: None
Event ID: 10010
Date: 5/19/2009
Time: 10:12:14 AM
User: TONY1Tony
Computer: TONY1
Description:
The server {0002DF01-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: DCOM
Event Category: None
Event ID: 10010
Date: 5/18/2009
Time: 10:25:05 PM
User: TONY1Tony
Computer: TONY1
Description:
The server {0002DF01-0000-0000-C000-000000000046} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: W32Time
Event Category: None
Event ID: 29
Date: 5/18/2009
Time: 10:12:17 PM
User: N/A
Computer: TONY1
Description:
The time provider NtpClient is configured to acquire time from one or more time sources, however none of the sources are currently accessible. No attempt to contact a source will be made for 14 minutes. NtpClient has no source of accurate time.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: W32Time
Event Category: None
Event ID: 17
Date: 5/18/2009
Time: 10:12:17 PM
User: N/A
Computer: TONY1
Description:
Time Provider NtpClient: An error occurred during DNS lookup of the manually configured peer ‘time.windows.com,0x1’. NtpClient will try the DNS lookup again in 15 minutes. The error was: A socket operation was attempted to an unreachable host. (0x80072751)

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: Dhcp
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1002
Date: 5/18/2009
Time: 10:12:12 PM
User: N/A
Computer: TONY1
Description:
The IP address lease 24.19.234.214 for the Network Card with network address 0013F76F3F7F has been denied by the DHCP server 0.0.0.0 (The DHCP Server sent a DHCPNACK message).

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

I have moved this thread to the Windows XP forum (from the Internet Explorer forum).

You should be able to find out what kind of STOP error this is by looking in Event Viewer. To do this

[*]Select Run… from the Start menu
[*]Type eventvwr.msc into the Run dialog box and click the OK button
[*]In the pane on the left of the Event Viewer application, select System
[*]Look for errors that happened around the time of your incident and double click them to get the details

If you find an error (with a RED flag) at the time of your incident then post the details here and we may be able to help understand what happened.

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These are the errors I found. The DCOM errors go back several days so I didn’t include them all. Maybe you can make sense of this. Thanx. Greythings8

None of these errors is significant. I was hoping you might find the error from the “blue screen” event, but it is not in this list.

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On ALL of our computers and others that I have worked on, using Comcast, we have NEVER installed any software.

Also remember that Comcast offers Norton’s Free. If Norton’s has been installed without uninstalling your other Anti Virus, firewall, and other protection programs, then they are all fighting each other.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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(1)What about Regcure? Do I activate it or trash it?

This is just about Regcure. I have used the paid version for about two years now. It’s a very good registry cleaner and does get rid of a lot of “trash” in the Reg. If it will help with your new Comcast install, I don’t know. I don’t think it would hurt to try.

Since it started with the Comcast change over, I would be on the phone with Comcast first thing. Hopefully, you will get a tech who knows what he/she is doing.

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Out here in the Greater Seattle area, there is NO Comcast login, except for the email and for the master Comcast account. This master account is for the user to add/delete email accounts with Comcast. One can also order other services through this account. But this login is mainly for the email.

Comcast is “ALWAYS” on unless one pulls the power cable from the cable modem.

Using the Comcast Icon, sets the home page to be Comcast.net and yes it can take several seconds to load. Not as bad as CNN, MSN or any other loaded up news page. Yes, with all of the protection programs, IE takes about 10 seconds to open, using the IE icon. We now have 6 machines connected to our router which is connected to the Comcast modem, and they ALL load very quick using IE 8.

I would go to a clean site (I use Google.com) and it loads very quick, and set it to be your “Home page”. To do this, with IE open, go to Google.com or what ever site you want to be your home page, go to the menu, Tools, Internet Options. There you will see a “Use Current” button, this will select current site as the home page. Now OK, yourself out, close IE, and now restart IE and it should open to the web site that you chose.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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I just went to Google and clicked the set this site as your homepage button. Then closed and opened IE. Worked just fine, much better than Comcast. I’m starting to believe Comcast is responsible for everything bad that’s happened to my computer this past week. Greythings8

Out here in the Greater Seattle area, there is NO Comcast login, except for the email and for the master Comcast account. This master account is for the user to add/delete email accounts with Comcast. One can also order other services through this account. But this login is mainly for the email.

Comcast is “ALWAYS” on unless one pulls the power cable from the cable modem.

Using the Comcast Icon, sets the home page to be Comcast.net and yes it can take several seconds to load. Not as bad as CNN, MSN or any other loaded up news page. Yes, with all of the protection programs, IE takes about 10 seconds to open, using the IE icon. We now have 6 machines connected to our router which is connected to the Comcast modem, and they ALL load very quick using IE 8.

I would go to a clean site (I use Google.com) and it loads very quick, and set it to be your “Home page”. To do this, with IE open, go to Google.com or what ever site you want to be your home page, go to the menu, Tools, Internet Options. There you will see a “Use Current” button, this will select current site as the home page. Now OK, yourself out, close IE, and now restart IE and it should open to the web site that you chose.

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Also check to see if McAfee was installed?

What Anti virus and firewall progarms did you have installed, before Comcast?

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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My PC has Windows Defender, Symantec AntiVirus, and Symantec Client Firewall. I’ve had them awhile. So far as I can tell, these are the only ones. Greythings8

Also check to see if McAfee was installed?

What Anti virus and firewall progarms did you have installed, before Comcast?

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My PC has Windows Defender, Symantec AntiVirus, and Symantec Client Firewall. I’ve had them awhile. So far as I can tell, these are the only ones. Greythings8

If Al recommended it, then it is safe. I do not use the program personally, but anything a Moderator, Administrator or WMVP tell you to try is 100% safe.

When was the last time you did any housekeeping ??? Things like dump the temp files and browser cache, run the Disk Cleanup Utility and defrag the hard drive. Alot of the things you are describing can be caused by too much clutter on the drive.

There is a great FREE utility CCleaner that can do all these tasks for you and a whole lot more. You just have to set it up to cleanup what you want cleaned and run the cleaner.

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I can’t read that gibberish either. You need to put up a SCREENSHOT like mine so we can see what was on your screen when you ran the program. You don’t know how? The basics: Press the Print Screen key while the program is on the screen. Open a graphics program like Paint or whatever you have and, in a new picture window, press CTRL-V to paste in the image. Save that file as a JPG or PNG file.

Then read our FAQ ( [post=”759433″]Post 759433[/post] ) about how to upload it.

We can talk about cropping later.

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Here is the file. Thanx. Greythings8

I can’t read that gibberish either. You need to put up a SCREENSHOT like mine so we can see what was on your screen when you ran the program. You don’t know how? The basics: Press the Print Screen key while the program is on the screen. Open a graphics program like Paint or whatever you have and, in a new picture window, press CTRL-V to paste in the image. Save that file as a JPG or PNG file.

Then read our FAQ ( [post=”759433″]Post 759433[/post] ) about how to upload it.

We can talk about cropping later.
[/quote]

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Here is the file. Thanx. Greythings8

A reply to one of your latter posts about start up software etc. (I was busy yesterday evening, and see that there have been some posts.)

I agee that what you called bluescreens is most probably the background, behind the wallpaper or something else. STOP errors are found in the source: “System error” in the Event Viewer you checked earlier, and since there are no, we move on.

I have never installed specific ISP software, since not needed. In some cases it is “nice” of them to offer anti-virus etc. but that is a different thing.

Your first post about start-up software was OK, but it was a bit compact, so the screen shot is perhaps better.

Just from a general point of view about the performance and speed of the PC, also knowing, as I mentioned earlier, that it is underclocked (running too slow 1.2 vs. 1.6 GHz) and that the RAM is 512 MB, I think that some of these programs could be excluded from running at the Windows start (or login) since many of such programs keeps running in the background to no use.

As you will see, you have two anti-spyware running and some unnecessary softeware.

Adobe Reader Speed Launcher – Supposed to speed up the launch of Adobe Reader when you open (double-click) a PDF file. Not necessary, can’t be uninstalled unless software is removed. Disable it either with WhatInStartup (which I don’t use so I don’t know all its capabilities, but from the looks it seems it can disable) or with AutoRuns (which is very good and capable).

BtcMaestro – Is your keyboard driver/software. Keep it if you want to use extra keys or other “facilities” on your keyboard, but normally there is no need for extra software.

C-Media Mixer – Is software for your soundcard, probably came with the device drivers. It probably is not necessary since (and I guess from experience with other sound driver & software) only adds some quick access to a “sound mixer”, sound configuration software. Disabling it will most probably not disable the sound. You should keep it. But later on if you like you can try do disable it from starting, either from inside the mixer program, or with the help of programs such as mentioned above (WhatInStartup or AutoRuns).

CARPService – Useless program I assume. Software for you old dial-up modem (you did have dial-up Internet before, didn’t you?). Try to find it in Add or Remove Programs, Control Panel and uninstall.

ccApp – This is a “Client and Host Security Platform” from Symantec, I think. Could be part of its plug-in for Office Outlook, thus e-mail scanning, but could have other functions as well. However, I have not looked closer at this one, so it should absolutely be kept, also since part of AV. This is something you can check later, together with Sound Mixer etc.

ComcastAntispyClient ComcastAntispy.exe – Ver. 2.3.0.98 is some sort of Anti-Spyware software from Comcast. It could be “VMN Anti-Spyware” from Visicom Media, thus a free anti-spyware included by your Internet Service Provider (ISP) Comcast, it seems.

Since you also have Defender running, my advice is that you should not have two anti-spyware programs running at the same time. There is nothing wrong having more than one anti-spyware installed (that isn’t true for anti-virus since they must be kept running), but you should disable one anti-spyware from real time running. If you like Defender better, keep that one. See if this one can have its real time scanning disabled inside program, if not disable it from starting or uninstall it.

iTunesHelper – This one is most probably not necessary, it is a monitoring program for iTunes (your MP3 player). One could very well test disabling this one.

MSMSGS msmsgs.exe – This is Messenger. It is a personal choice if one wants to have the Messenger running in the background. I don’t use such software, so I would disable it.

NeroFilterCheck – This is helper software for your CD writing software Nero. I haven’t looked closer. If you use Nero CD burning, keep it.

OpenOffice quickstart.exe – This one, as you probably know, puts the quick start software in your tray, the Notification Area, and lets you start different applications from OpenOffice. Keep it, or if you prefer to launch your Office software from the Start menu, there is no need for this and it can be disabled so that it doesn’t consume memory.

QuickTime Task – Another tray software, from Apple. It’s not necessary to have this one running. (I don’t use QuickTime so I don’t know about possibilities to disable it, otherwise disable as per above with AutoRuns or other similar software.)

SMC C:SMCSMC.exe – This one needs a check. It could be your, what you call “Symantec Client Firewall”, but I don’t know. Symantec acquired Sygate some years ago (and Symantec also has a firewall included in some of their software, such as Norton Internet Security). But it could also be something different, such as malware. If it’s your firewall, it obviously should be kept. But since it has an odd location (C:Program FilesSMC is more likely, but could be an old install of Sygate perhaps), check it.

GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe – You can save yourself some memory by disabling/removing this one, if you like. A notify software for the Google ToolBar in your browser. It does some small checks I assume, for new software etc. Not necessary.

Universal Installer uinstaller.exe – This is software from Comcast that runs hidden. I don’t know about this one. But as mentioned earlier, most of the time there is no need to install specific software from the ISP. If you like, check if you can uninstall it. Perhaps it installed other things such as the anti-spyware above and then perhaps that one doesn’t have a separate entry in Add and Remove Program. Check if it is needed. You can, if you don’t remember, check folders by date to see what got installed at the time you started using Comcast.

VPTray.exe – Part of Symantec Antivirus. As it says, tray software that probably gives you access to run AV scans and configure the AV software from the tray. Keep it.

Windows Defender – As you know, Microsoft Windows Defender. It is your real time antispyware protection as well as antispyware scanner. Keep it.

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I went through the list and disabled or deleted half of the items. I shut down and restarted the computer. It was still a little slow but the tentative results seemed better than the preceding week. I’m going to try again tonight. It got me thinking, though, about other clutter that might be interfering with my service. Maybe it’s long past time for some spring cleaning; but, as with the startup list, I have a hard time figuring out what to keep or trash, or even where to begin. Do you have any pointers? Oh by the way everyone, thanks for your help. I learned more about my PC in the past week than in the three years I’ve had it. Thanks again. Greythings8

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Sigh! Just when I thought….. Weeell’p, I tried going online tonight; ran into the same problems. One half hour to finally get online. It has to be clutter; or maybe it’s the adapter (the installer couldn’t connect the cable to the PC so he brought an adapter). Anyone think I should do some more cleaning? Or is it that little thing at the back of my PC that connects the cable? Or should I resign myself to shutdowns and restarts? Or maybe take an ax to the whole thing and renounce technology altogether? Greythings8

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I have NOT used Symantec (Norton’s) in some time, but, I have seen times when it will slow down a system a lot.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

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smc.exe is part of Symantec

http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/smc/

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smc.exe is part of Symantec

http://www.processlibrary.com/directory/files/smc/

Hi Doc,
Yes, I looked at that page as well as other pages. As you know, the file name doesn’t tell everything, it must be put into context, always. Where is it located? Does the user have that software or associated software? Etc. And I mentioned that.

Since the OP has a “Symantec Firewall” it could very well be that, I don’t run Symantec products now; and I don’t know if they sell their firewall as a separate product, don’t think so. So “Symantec AntiVirus, and Symantec Client Firewall” could be Norton IS or something else.

Then I thought the path was a bit odd, but not suspicious. I have had email clients that default to something outside of %ProgramFiles%. And it could also be some older version installed. But all that is so much easier to check when at the PC isn’t it. So, I think that it should be kept, obviously.

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Since the PC is an older, hand-me-down system, it could be a remnant from an earlier installation since it is really part of the Sygate firewall. As you say, hard to tell and best left alone.

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Have you tried downloading and running CCleaner ??? If you Install it and simply run it using the default settings, it should clean most of the junk the system has collected over the years, eliminating clutter as an issue and giving you a much better idea of what you are dealing with.

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I just downloaded and ran CCleaner. I didn’t realize I had so much stuff. I never cleaned before; I just hope I didn’t clean out something I need. I’m going to shut down and restart the computer. Fingers crossed. Greythings8

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Shut down and restarted. The bootup went a little faster this time around. Not quite as fast as I wanted but within the limits of my patience. I’ll try again tonight. Fingers crossed twice. Greythings8

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You might try running the defrag utility if you can leave your system on overnight. I say run it overnight because, if you have not run it in awhile, it can literally take HOURS to defrag the entire drive depending on the size of the drive, amount of data, how badly fragmented it is and the fact that the native Windows defrag utility (Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragmenter) is rather slow.

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First: what’s defrag? Second: I’m hesitant to leave my PC on for too long (electric bill? wear and tear on the PC?). My PC’s second hand. The friend who gave it to me had given me another that didn’t work well because the previous owner used it 24/7. How many hours approximately? Greythings8

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First: what’s defrag? Second: I’m hesitant to leave my PC on for too long (electric bill? wear and tear on the PC?).

It can be very difficult to estimate how long it takes to defragment a hard drive, if not impossible, since we don’t know its status.

But it is always good to remove (delete) temporary files, empty cache folders etc. before doing a defragmentation, since that are files that you don’t want to save in the long run anyway, thus no need to defragment them together with other data on the drive.

As you know, it is possible to empty the browser cache folder via the Tools Options in IE etc., but some people use tools such as CCleaner to clean out temporary files in several locations in one sweep, as you tested with CCleaner.

However, it is unlikely that the defragmentation takes hours, more like 5-30 minutes (but in your case, if never done and depending on the size, perhaps 10-60 minutes), and above all, you can at any time stop it and go on working with something else, but it is better to let it finish and be done with it (for that time).

For some different reading about defragmentation, see:

A short explanation, see number 4, here:
4. Defragment your hard disk drive – Maintenance tasks that improve performance
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/s…mproveperf.mspx

A MSKB 314848 on the issue: How to Defragment Your Disk Drive Volumes in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314848

A little longer explanation:
TechNet Magazine: The Desktop Files: The Truth about Defragmentation
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc137767.aspx

General information about Windows XP, beside the offline help files:
A general start point about Windows XP at Microsoft, as an example:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/default.mspx

The above has a link to this, which has several good advices and explanations:
Maintain your system with Windows XP
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/s…in/default.mspx

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First: what’s defrag? Second: I’m hesitant to leave my PC on for too long (electric bill? wear and tear on the PC?). My PC’s second hand. The friend who gave it to me had given me another that didn’t work well because the previous owner used it 24/7. How many hours approximately? Greythings8

Since Argus has answered most of this, I’ll just address a few things you bring into question.

Defrag = Defragment. This is the process where the bits of data stored randomly on a hard drive by the operating system are collected and grouped together to make data recall faster.

Leaving the PC on for an extended period is not harmful to the system and does not use an excessive amount of electricity. If you turn off the monitor and just allow the system to run the defrag routine, it will use the equivilent of about a 200 watt light bulb for the time it is on. There are 2 schools of thought on turning off a system or leaving it on 24/7. One, that the constant on and off cycles expand and contract the soldered connections inside the PC from the heating and cooling and thus weaken them, causing early failure. While leaving the system run 24/7 wears out the hard drive causing premature failure.

The defrag time is related to the speed of the utility used (Windows native utility is rather slow) and how badly fragmented your drive is. I have to disagree with Argus about the time involved to defragment a very badly fragmented drive. I have worked on 40GB drives, that had never been defragged in 4+ years of use, that took 4-8 hours for the initial defrag pass and still needed at least one more pass with the utility, and sometimes 2 or 3, to completely defrag the drive. For this reason, I use a third party defrag utility, PerfectDisk.

HTH

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The defrag time is related to the speed of the utility used (Windows native utility is rather slow) and how badly fragmented your drive is. I have to disagree with Argus about the time involved to defragment a very badly fragmented drive. I have worked on 40GB drives, that had never been defragged in 4+ years of use, that took 4-8 hours for the initial defrag pass and still needed at least one more pass with the utility, and sometimes 2 or 3, to completely defrag the drive.

Hi Doc,
Well you’re the Doc! Apparently I don’t put my little paws on the really dirty drives.

I agree with you that that can happen, and yes, “MSFT” also said “might take several hours” in the first link I posted. You could perhaps attribute my optimism as me wanting to encourage … It depends a bit on what happened during the years. Adding and removing a lot of software, or more likely, adding and removing a lot of user data, though that usually involves a lot less files and file changes, can fragment badly. But I also think that it depends a bit on how or if one prepares the drive for defragmentation, removing temp files and unwanted software etc. Enough empty space etc. But also other aspects: the software and hardware doing it, as you said.

To the OP, Greythings8: If you need some help with tracking down the processor speed issue, if it is a faulty BIOS setting, just ask. It could perhaps be good to have some extra 400 MHz when doing all that.

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Ah! Another computer term I’ve never paid attention to until now. So! A faulty BIOS setting? What’s a BIOS? How do I fix it? Since I’m assuming 400 MHz is extra power, how do I crank the PC? Will it crank the electric bill? What about wear and tear? Greythings8

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What’s a BIOS? How do I fix it? Since I’m assuming 400 MHz is extra power, how do I crank the PC? Will it crank the electric bill? What about wear and tear?

You don’t have to worry about the electric bill for that change in processor speed. As for wear & tear; same, no change.

If you search a bit on the net there are several pages that explain BIOS. Here is one link, for example: HowStuffWorks “How BIOS Works”

As an introduction, you can also take a look at some of the pages at the end of the user’s manual you mentioned earlier. There is absolutely no need to understand everything there, but it will show a bit of the BIOS Setup program.

The BIOS is located on the motherboard and basically it is settings that hold information about your hardware; the hard drive, the memory etc. so that the processor can start working with the hardware, find the hard drive and eventually load the Operating System, in this case Windows.

Just like many programs that you use; your browser, the Notepad etc. the BIOS Setup program comes with some default values that works for that motherboard and its devices. The BIOS Setup program also recognises the hardware during the start.

There is usually no need to change anything in BIOS. There are some exceptions, for example the boot order (in which the processor looks for a bootable drive).

However, as I said earlier, sometimes the BIOS is reset to default values, and sometimes not all of these match the hardware. This is also described in your manual; it do reset to 100 MHz.

In your case, if you indeed have an AMD Athlon XP 1900+, that one should run at 1.6 GHz. It uses a multiplier applied on the bus speed; in your case that multiplier is 12. So it is very easy to recognise that when you get the processor speed 1.2 GHz (as you mentioned earlier) the setting has probably changed from 133 to 100.

[table=CPU Speed]

[th=width]Bus clock[/th][th=width]Multiplier[/th][th=width]Processor frequency[/th] 133 MHz x 12 = 1596 MHz 100 MHz x 12 = 1200 MHz

[/table]

With your motherboard this could be a result of, as I see it:

[*]it is not operating in the default “JumperFree Mode”, which means the processor settings are changed with small switches onboard the motherboard, and these switches have been set in the wrong position.
[*]It is working in the default “JumperFree Mode”, but the settings in the BIOS Setup program for the processor have been reset to default values or changed at will to underclock it for some reason.

Case A is very unlikely, but one never knows when it comes to second hand PCs.

However, this board used some other switches that I have not seen before, and can’t have been that common; see page 20 in manual: “CPU Type Frequency Setting (PALO_FREQ)”.

This complicates it a bit. The above cases are quite simple, it most probably is set in the default “JumperFree Mode” and you should thus be able to do a simple change in the BIOS program from 100/33 to 133/33 (System/PCI Frequency). But the abovementioned switch has a default setting to “ATHLON/DURON”, the other being “PALOMINO”. The problem here is: the processor AMD Athlon XP 1900+ IS a Palomino (I once had an Athlon XP 1800+). The AMD Duron was a low-end processor, replaced by the “Sempron”. Originally it ran on 100 MHz bus speed and even if the Duron was based on the Athlon, I’ve never heard about an “Athlon/Duron” as the manual says at the above page. But they don’t always get everything right in the manuals.

It would be so much easier to do a quick check on the motherboard first.

One thing you could do, that can be interesting, and give you a little more technical info. about the processor and the memory, is to download and run CPU-Z. It’s a freeware from CPUID, it doesn’t need to be installed (if you chose the ZIP file), just unpack it and run the file. It is safe to use. See (downloads at top left of the page): http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

It will tell you what processor (CPU) you use and at what speed it’s running, as well as the bus speed and memory type.

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Well, I must admit these past two weeks have been a learning experience. I tried reading your reply the first time; I kind of got all crosseyed and such, losing myself in BIOS and MHz’s, so I decided to take a few days break, before tackling the answer again. I downloaded and ran the Cupid (seems better to pronounce than CPUID); wrote down the results. I read a few pages about BIOS from How BIOS Works and the instruction manual, plus page 20 (CPU Frequency Setting). Here’s what I get: the core speed is 1211MHz and the bus speed is 100.9MHz, which I take to mean that it is the default (ATHLON/DURON) setting, right? So that means that I have to reset it to PALOMINO, right? Now I haven’t read that far in the manual, but I’m assuming that I do the reset, after I turn on the computer and it passes POST, right? (Plus, considering that I’m having trouble with my floppy drive I can do the same in correcting that problem too, right?) Am I on the trail so far? Greythings8

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Here’s what I get: the core speed is 1211MHz and the bus speed is 100.9MHz, which I take to mean that it is the default (ATHLON/DURON) setting, right? So that means that I have to reset it to PALOMINO, right?

I guess I was hoping for a small screen shot from CPU-Z, so that we got the general processor information, its name etc. (before changing bus speed one do want to know what kind CPU it is), and the core speed, multiplier etc., but I didn’t say that in my other post.

No, I don’t think that you will need to change the CPU Type Frequency Setting (PALO_FREQ) jumper. If the one who built the PC knew what he did, this one should have been changed from the default ATHLON/DURON to PALOMINO. In fact as the manual says, and I’ve seen elsewhere, the Palomino CPU will only function on that board if the jumpers are set to PALOMINO.

The reason why I mentioned it was that it added an extra layer of confusion into the mix, and the jumpers isn’t that easy to check if one isn’t used to work inside the PC.

I think that it is realistic to assume that your PC is indeed set up to work with the Palomino; to work in Jumper Free mode (that means all settings are done in the BIOS Setup program instead of on the motherboard with jumpers), and the only reason you have another CPU speed than default is wrong CPU settings in BIOS.

It is either the System/PCI frequency (likely) or the multiplier (unlikely).

So, could you post a screen shot from first tab in CPU-Z?
Run CPU-Z, press the following key combination: Alt-Print Scrn. Then open Paint and paste the screen shot (Ctrl-V), save it as .PNG or JPEG. Then add it to your post (for help see the FAQ etc. [post=”759433″]Post 759433[/post]).

You can also take a look inside the BIOS Setup Program and write down what you see on the first lines of the Advanced Menu. The BIOS Setup on your PC is accessed by pressing the Delete key very early in the start process; actually it can sometimes be good to tap the key directly after powering on the PC. However, if too late the start process will continue and eventually load Windows. If this happens, just close Windows and restart the PC and try again.

The BIOS Setup program itself is a menu-driven program, you move around the menus and screens with the arrow keys, and sometimes use the other keys such as Enter to select an item and get optional settings for that item.

But in this case you only want to look at the values then exit.

So when in the BIOS Setup, use the arrow keys to move to the Advanced Menu screen (right arrow key); it is shown on page 58 in the manual.

What do you see? The first values are essential:
CPU Speed;
CPU System Frequency Multiple;
System/PCI Frequency (MHz);
System/SDRAM Frequency Ratio;
CPU Vcore

To EXIT without changing anything, press Esc (see also page 76). You may also be asked if you want to save changes, but since you don’t want that this time, answer no.

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Here’s the CPU-Z. I ran a defrag program recently; the results are promising. I tried printing the FAQ instructions on adding attachments to my post (so I wouldn’t have to access the site all the time) but ran into difficulties. Are there any instructions on how to select and print the entire FAQ instruct rather than just the part on the screen? Greythings8

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Here’s the BIOS Setup: CPU Speed: [1200 MHz]; CPU System Frequency Multiple: [12.0x]; System/PCI Frequency (MHz): [100/33]; System/SDRAM Frequency Ratio: [Auto]; CPU Vcore: [1.75 OV]

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Here’s the BIOS Setup:
[snip]

I have looked at it, but before, or if, we move on with that, I think it could be good if we recapped what’s been done and relate it to your initially posted problems. Also, the problem you mentioned with the floppy drive (in [post=”777409″]Post 777409[/post]); perhaps that can be posted in a new thread, perhaps in the Hardware forum, so that we don’t expand this thread even further.

The reason I would like to wait a bit with the CPU speed, I don’t know about other, is that I have to find a little more information about which different models of motherboards AMD (the company that manufactured your processor) recommended for your processor. I know how to find info. about older models at their site, but it can be a bit hard to find now, since they mix older pages (designs) with new ones etc.

The XP 1900+ should work with a 266 board, but no matter the chip, it is all up to the mobo vendor.

Somehow it seems they recommended: Athlon XP 1800+ (Model 6), Athlon XP 1700+ (Model 6), Athlon XP 1600+ and Athlon XP 1500+ for your board, not the 1900+. At the time that could happen; to get a stable PC you sometimes had to get a BIOS update that fixed it, or perhaps even use a 333 board. But other 266 chips worked better, and they did indeed recommend the A7N266-E (note the N), that used a nVidia chip, for the 1900+. That said; there are old posts on the net with your combination. The A7V266-E used the VIA KT266A chipset.

Before going back to your Comcast issues and getting the Operating System to run even better; if you can check which BIOS version you use with CPU-Z (third tab; Mainboard), should say something like Award 1006 or similar, that would be good information to have when working with the BIOS Setup program.

How is your PC running now? Start up; starting your browser (IE etc.). You have done some changes and maintenance, which is very good:

[*]Disabled or deleted some start up programs (if you delete a start up entry, most of the time it would be fine just uninstalling the software).
[*]Changed the start page in the browser.
[*]Removed old temp files and emptied cache folders.
[*]Defragmented the hard drive.

How is it with the Comcast software; was there some technician installing software on the PC? As mentioned by others before, there is no need for software from your ISP. For example anti-virus (as mentioned) should not be doubled. But since there’s a lot I don’t know about Comcast and the type of Internet service you have (or combo; telephone etc.), it is difficult to give advise on that. But in general, and I’ve seen this reported by other customers, there is no need for some special software.

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I’ve disabled or deleted most of the extraneous programs. The technician who installed Comcast was that Armenian vodka maker I mentioned earlier. The Comcast package is a hi-speed internet/basic cable combo. The maintenance has seen results; my PC runs smoother; it’s easier to go online. The blue background is not as big a problem as earlier. The startup is a tad slow for my taste and I don’t want to become too complacent (the “blue” problem came up again several days ago and I had to restart). Overall there has been considerable improvement. That issue with my floppy drive, I’ll post in another thread. Here is the BIOS info from Mainboard:

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Are there any instructions on how to select and print the entire FAQ instruct rather than just the part on the screen?

Your browser should be able to print an entire web page even if it is longer than the screen. Try File | Print… or Ctrl+P.

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Hi Doc,
Well you’re the Doc! Apparently I don’t put my little paws on the really dirty drives.

I agree with you that that can happen, and yes, “MSFT” also said “might take several hours” in the first link I posted. You could perhaps attribute my optimism as me wanting to encourage … It depends a bit on what happened during the years. Adding and removing a lot of software, or more likely, adding and removing a lot of user data, though that usually involves a lot less files and file changes, can fragment badly. But I also think that it depends a bit on how or if one prepares the drive for defragmentation, removing temp files and unwanted software etc. Enough empty space etc. But also other aspects: the software and hardware doing it, as you said.

To the OP, Greythings8: If you need some help with tracking down the processor speed issue, if it is a faulty BIOS setting, just ask. It could perhaps be good to have some extra 400 MHz when doing all that.

Hey Argus,

Yeah… I get all the sicko’s. The drives I’ve seen that are the biggest messes seem to be those of seniors who have changed their ISP a couple times and never removed the old software. They have almost no personal data and use the computers mostly for email, shopping and online games. Go figure ?????

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One, that the constant on and off cycles expand and contract the soldered connections inside the PC from the heating and cooling and thus weaken them, causing early failure.

Doc, I agree with both you and Argus on your points taken, except for the on/off cycles bit.
Today’s modern etching and soldering techniques on PC boards have about eliminated that as potential problem.

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Were the modern techniques present with my computer model? Greythings8

Doc, I agree with both you and Argus on your points taken, except for the on/off cycles bit.
Today’s modern etching and soldering techniques on PC boards have about eliminated that as potential problem.
[/quote]

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Were the modern techniques present with my computer model? Greythings8

Probably.

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Were the modern techniques present with my computer model? Greythings8

How old is an “older model”?
Most probably it falls into the “modern” age.

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Doc, I agree with both you and Argus on your points taken, except for the on/off cycles bit.
Today’s modern etching and soldering techniques on PC boards have about eliminated that as potential problem.

I stand corrected. Never having been very “technical” on the hardware side of things, I guess that bit of info got past me. Thanks for bring this old dog up to speed.

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Hi guy’s
Been reading and following this thread with alot of interest (learning too).
DocWatson, you suggested using CCleaner, which I do use on occasion, but if
I may, I’d like to suggest running another cleaner (Revouninstaller) as well. It has tools which
seem to clean a bit deeper than CCleaner. It’s a freeware found at

Revo Uninstaller Freeware

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Hi guy’s
Been reading and following this thread with alot of interest (learning too).
DocWatson, you suggested using CCleaner, which I do use on occasion, but if
I may, I’d like to suggest running another cleaner (Revouninstaller) as well. It has tools which
seem to clean a bit deeper than CCleaner. It’s a freeware found at
http://www.revounistaller.com

Hans has mentioned Revo in a few of his posts, but I hadn’t looked into it yet. When I followed your link, SpySweeper threw up a warning as the page loaded and then the site looked all wrong. It seems that Revo has shut down and the domain may be for sale.

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Hans has mentioned Revo in a few of his posts, but I hadn’t looked into it yet. When I followed your link, SpySweeper threw up a warning as the page loaded and then the site looked all wrong. It seems that Revo has shut down and the domain may be for sale.

Try this link Doc. The OP’s link is missing the second “n” in “revouninstaller”.

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Try this link Doc. The OP’s link is missing the second “n” in “revouninstaller”.

Thanks John. I guess I need another cup of coffee.

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Try this link Doc. The OP’s link is missing the second “n” in “revouninstaller”.

A lesson to us all there to beware of typosquatters Well done for (almost) taking a bullet for the team Doc.

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A lesson to us all there to beware of typosquatters Well done for (almost) taking a bullet for the team Doc.

An honest mistake I think Jon. Shame on me for not catching the typo. But… let’s be careful out there.

“Taking one for the team”, so to speak, is the reason we should all use the software we recommend. Keep it up to date and keep yourself current on the latest software to protect your system. MalwareBytes has become one of the new “essentials” and programs like Adaware have become bloated and less useful. SpySweeper is one of the only pieces of antivirus, firewall or anti-malware software I pay for, but I am very confident in my protection. Good protection isn’t costly and thus shouldn’t be overlooked. The data you save, may be your own.

Rant over.

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I fixed the link in [post=”776729″]Post 776729[/post].

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oops! Sorry Doc, my typing skills isn’t what it used to be.
Thanks Rebel for the correction.

(ref: REVO link).

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