Problem with my laptop

[bigandy]

It's been a few weeks now and I've been having some serious performance problems with my laptop. The problem seems to be set off often times when downloading files or transferring files (between the drive in the computer and my external drive), but sometimes it doesn't even seem to matter. I've done all the normal stuff, virus scans, spyware scans, defrag, etc., but it doesn't seem to help. My mouse will lag, typing will lag, programs load slowly, and music and movies will skip. Today I also started getting "Windows - Delayed Write Failed" error balloons, which say that Windows was unable to save all the data for the file "X" and this could be caused by either a hardware or network error.

It's a Dell Inspiron 9300 P4M 1.73GHz, 1GB of PC3200 memory, GeForce Go 6800, 8x DVDRW.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[thefultonhow]

I've gotten the Delayed Write Failed errors when I've unplugged my external hard drive without stopping it in the Safely Remove Hardware applet first. It's possible that your USB connection is cutting out on you (either on the laptop end or the hard drive end) or that your external hard drive is going bad.

A couple of things to try:

1. Post a HijackThis log. It's conceivable that there's a program that's interfering with the normal operation of the drive -- spyware or not.
2. Check in Device Manager under the "Universal Serial Bus controllers" branch. If you right-click on each of your USB Root Hubs and go to Properties, Power will tell you what you've got plugged in and how much power it's drawing. If the devices on that root hub are drawing close to or more than the limit (in my case, 500 mA per port), the USB connection may go haywire. While you're there, go to the Power Management tab and uncheck "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power."
3. Plug the hard drive into a different port. This is especially true if it's running thru an unpowered hub, but it's possible that one of your ports is wonky.

[glc]

I think you are spot on, TFH. We've been discussing this on IRC and the external drive is doing some weird things. It won't dismount for a chkdsk and it won't safely eject either. Last thing he did was reboot and he hasn't come back yet.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by glc It won't dismount for a chkdsk and it won't safely eject either.

Of course, this behavior could just mean that something is still accessing the drive -- Windows is extremely finnicky about not letting you eject an external hard drive until all applications and Explorer windows that it even thinks could access the drive are closed.

But yeah, it sounds like the hard drive could be heading south.

[Statica]

Or there's something wrong with the controller drivers. These errors can be a software error caused by the bad drivers as well. Have you checked for updated drivers from Dell? Or the Drive mfger? Check out a version of s/w induced error: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=330174&sd=RMVP

[glc]

Doesn't XP have a setting to allow removal of external hard drives without software ejecting first? Optimize this drive for quick removal or something like that - which turns off some caching?

[thefultonhow]

Off-topic: How do you get on IRC? I downloaded an IRC client but it's not letting me connect. I searched PCMech and tried to connect to the recommended servers, but I can't. Is Undernet down?

EDIT: Never mind, I used mIRC and it connected after about 5 tries of different servers.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by glc Doesn't XP have a setting to allow removal of external hard drives without software ejecting first? Optimize this drive for quick removal or something like that - which turns off some caching?

Yes, there's something about that in the Tips and Tricks forum, but I checked my drive and it's always been set to "Optimized for Quick Removal," yet I still get the Delayed Write Failed error if I don't stop the hardware first.

[Statica]

Yes there are optimizations for quick removal, but no matter what the OS its just not a good practice IMO (there's a reason why filesystems on some OS' are mounted).

[Statica]

Originally Posted by thefultonhow Off-topic: How do you get on IRC? I downloaded an IRC client but it's not letting me connect. I searched PCMech and tried to connect to the recommended servers, but I can't. Is Undernet down? EDIT: Never mind, I used mIRC and it connected after about 5 tries of different servers.

Undernet seems to be down most of the time for me. BTW if you use FF, try chatzilla extension .. I use it . .and it's quite nice.... now back to our regularly scheduled programming....

[bigandy]

Sorry, I got busy doing other things and wasn't able to come back to the computer. After removing the external drive the problem still exists, but not as badly as before. I will try running the diagnostic tools on the system hard drive in the morning, and see what that does.

[glc]

Originally Posted by Statica Undernet seems to be down most of the time for me. BTW if you use FF, try chatzilla extension .. I use it . .and it's quite nice.... now back to our regularly scheduled programming....

The preloaded server list in most IRC clients is not optimum or even valid half the time. There's a current server list at www.undernet.org along with a Java client if you want to use your browser instead of a dedicated client. I have the best luck with the European servers - specifically oslo1 and amsterdam2, and never the default 6667 port, it's too congested. Using the default "irc.undernet.org" server puts you in a rotary, and most often will put you on a bad server.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by glc There's a current server list at www.undernet.org along with a Java client if you want to use your browser instead of a dedicated client.

Heh, I was trying to do that last night, but the Undernet sites were all down or otherwise unresponsive. I got on in the end though, so it's all good.