[Clean] Asus X5DC laptop running very slow.

[jontye]

Hi KenB, This is getting beyond my level of understanding, but I've rerun the DOS scan again and written down what was listed in the scan log section,
Started Long Test 7/18/2015 @ 19.43.03
DST Completed without error
Short DST Passed 7/18/2015 @ 20.46.58
Long Test Passed 7/18/2015 @ 20.46.58.

I then exited the scan and tried to open the log on the next screen by entering DIR.log at the C:\ promp, as instructed, and got the following message,

Volume in Drive C: is TURBODSK File not found,

I then tried to save the log onto a usb stick, by typing C:>Copy Log B: as per the instructions on the screen, and got the following message

Error reading from drive B Dos Area, Drive not ready.
I also followed the DOS instructions for connecting the USB stick.

Would it not be just as easy to replace the hard drive, as I've already replaced the one in my laptop, under instruction from your team, about 18 months ago.
Jontye.

 

[jontye]

Hi KenB, I forgot to mention that when I was trying to find the BIOS boot setup last week, I came across the Advanced Boot Option sceen and on it was an option for Repair Your Computer, may this be worth a try ?

Jontye.

 

[KenB]

Hi Jontye

DST Completed without error
Short DST Passed 7/18/2015 @ 20.46.58
Long Test Passed 7/18/2015 @ 20.46.58.

If it said this then you drive would appear to be OK.

Would it not be just as easy to replace the hard-drive

I am not now convinced that your drive is the problem.

Repair Your Computer, may this be worth a try ?

This may be worth looking at after my next suggestion.

We took the RAM out earlier and tried them one at a time.
It could be that they are both faulty.

When you saw the "Repair your Computer" .....was there an option to test hardware ....RAM specifically ?

 

[jontye]

Hi KenB, This is the information on the two screens when I accessed the Windows Boot Manager.

First Screen,

Choose a operating system to start or press tab to select a tool.

Windows 7 >

To specify an option for this choice, press F8

Tools
Windows Memory Diagnostics.

( When I pressed F8 it changed to the second screen )

Advanced Boot Options.
( Use arrow keys to highlight your choice )

Repair Your Computer.

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with networking
Safe mode with command prompt

Enable Boot Logging
Enable low resolution video (640x480)
Last known good configuration (advanced)
Directory services restore mode
Debugging mode
Disable automatic restart on system failure
Disable driver signature enforcement

Start windows normally.

Jontye.

 

[KenB]

Hi Jontye,

You may be in luck:

Windows Memory Diagnostics.

Give this a try.
It should analyse your RAM for you.
I know it is a basic analysis - but if there is a definite problem it should highlight it.

Let me know how it goes

 

[jontye]

Hi KenB, I've run the 'Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool' both the Standard Test and the Extended Test and they both gave the same result, 'NO MEMORY ERRORS DETECTED'.
Jontye.
PS. I've sent you a PM.

 

[KenB]

Curiouser and curiouser !!

Enjoy your holiday - We will still be here when you return

 

[jontye]

Hi Ken, The laptop runs very slowly, with a 'not responding' message on just about every site we go on. This has been ongoing for quite sometime now.

A brief history of solving the problems is, as follows.

Firstly with Seedy21, Re-set I.E., run Mini Tool Box, Defraged C&D drives, run ESET Service Repair Tool, created new User Account.

With yourself, checked the RAM performance, downloaded and run Seatools for Windows, run Automatically Fix File System Errors, used Windows Memory Diagnostics to analyse Ram.
Nothing, so far, has solved the problem, since our return from holiday the laptop has had very little use, it's too frustrating.

Regards Jontye.

 

[KenB]

Hi jontye

Tools
Windows Memory Diagnostics.

( When I pressed F8 it changed to the second screen )

Advanced Boot Options.
( Use arrow keys to highlight your choice )

Repair Your Computer.

Safe Mode
Safe Mode with networking
Safe mode with command prompt

Enable Boot Logging
Enable low resolution video (640x480)
Last known good configuration (advanced)
Directory services restore mode
Debugging mode
Disable automatic restart on system failure
Disable driver signature enforcement

You listed the above as options earlier.
Try selecting "Last Known Good Configuration"
This is an outside chance but worth a try as nothing will be lost in doing so.

Try creating a new user account:
click here

Once created shut down then select the new account on startup.
Let me know if this account has the same problems.

 

[jontye]

Hi Ken, I've started up with ' Last known good configuration', will run it for a couple of days and get back to you. I set up a 'new user account' when I was conversing with Seedy21 about the problem, Do you want me to set up another user account,as there was no improvement when I set up the last one. I'm running the laptop using the original user account as of now, thinking that the last good configuration would have been when this was in use.

Regards Jontye

 

[KenB]

Hi Jontye

No - there is nothing to be gained if you tried this with Seedy21

Let me know how things are after trying "Last Known ..."

 

[jontye]

Hi Ken, After I replied to you last night the laptop went into melt down, I couldn't come out of this site, the screen then froze, not even the arrow would move, after about 10 minutes I removed the battery then replaced it, switched back on to do start up, message came up, 'Checking file system, one of your disks needs to be checked for consistancy', the resulting report said 'Deleted index entry, recovering orphaned files into directory file 81288'.
Opened up using the new user account I set up with Seedy, the laptop worked great for about 5 minutes then went back to dead slow, with a pop up message saying 'SIS tray not working'.
I come out of I.E. which took quite sometime, decided to do a Malwarebytes scan, because it has been a while since one was done, due to the machine not being used, Malwarebytes couldn't connect to the update service, I tried four times, so therefore was unable to scan.
So I then run Microsoft Essentials quick scan, which after 1 hr it had managed to scan all of 723 items, I reckon at that rate it would still be scanning now to complete the process.
My wife has just been trying to open up her ebay page and spent 10 minutes watching the little blue circle going around and around, before she gave up.
Regards Jontye.

 

[KenB]

Hi Jontye

Do this for me please:

Start > type in ......cmd .....then right click on the cmd.exe that shows top left of screen
Select "Run as Administrator"
At the prompt type in ....... fsutil dirty query c: ......then hit return.
You should get a fast response saying if the drive is dirty or not.

"Dirty" is nothing to do with dust - it is Windows flagging problems with reading and writing to the disk itself.

SIS tray not working'

This is linked to the video card.
I assume that this has only happened once ?

Have you run chkdsk on this drive ?

 

[jontye]

Hi Ken, The result came out as ... c: is NOT DIRTY
When I opened the desktop this time the SIS Tray Not Working popped up and went off straight away.
I've checked back through the thread and can't see any instruction for running 'chkdsk'.
One other point I missed out yesterday is that the desktop icons/figuring are much bigger than they were before the meltdown.
Jontye.

 

[KenB]

c: is NOT DIRTY

Thanks for that - at least you have a little bit of good news

desktop icons/figuring are much bigger than they were before the meltdown.

This could be linked with the SIS error you have been getting.
Please remind me that we need to address this if I forget.

Regarding chkdsk - we did this in post #52 by a different route [ sorry I should have checked ]

OK - try this:
Start > type in ....cmd ....then right click on .....cmd.exe ..... that appears top left of screen.
Click on "Run as Administrator"
At the prompt type in ................ sfc /scannow ..............ENTER .............there is a space after sfc

This will check your system files and attempt to correct any that are corrupt or missing.

This process will take some time - make sure that the laptop has the power lead in.
I have been putting off "Repair your Computer" but it may well come to this as a last resort.

 

[jontye]

Hi Ken, I run this overnight, it looks like nothing found, result reads, 'Verification 100% complete'. 'Windows resource protection did not find any integrity violations'.
Jontye.

 

[KenB]

Hi jontye

Thanks for that information.

No malware
Nothing wrong with the hard-drive
Nothing wrong with the installation files for Windows
Checked RAM - seemingly nothing wrong here either.
We ran it in Safe Mode - still the same.

I am now wondering if your video "card" is somehow slowing things down.
The icons should not be over-large. This implies a resolution issue.
The resolution itself will not affect the running of the machine but if the graphics adapter is faulty - this may.

Take a look here and see if you can alter the resolution to a more acceptable level.
click here

 

[jontye]

Hi Ken, I went into Control Panel to change the screen resolution, it was set at the highest level 1366 by 768, I adjusted it to the medium level setting of 1024 by 768 which made the problem much worse, after I clicked to revert back to the original setting the screen froze and remained so for more than 5 minutes, so I again had to remove the battery before restarting the machine.
As happened the last time I had to remove the battery, on restart evrything worked as it should, for all of three minutes, then back to slow, slow, dead dead slow.
However, out of interest I closed down and restarted by opening the original user desktop, and all of the icons/text were of normal size, so possibly the resolution setting wasn't the problem, scrolling through the Control Panel I came across 'Make text and other items larger or smaller' thinking that I can't possibly make the running of the laptop any worse I opened up the link and reset the size from 125% to 100%, surprise surprise it worked and we now have normal size icons and text on the desktop.

Jontye.

 

[KenB]

we now have normal size icons and text on the desktop.

Well I'm happy to hear that at least one of your problems is solved

Slowing down after a few minutes would seem to indicate an over-heating problem.

Download "Speccy" from here: click here
You want the FREE version on the left.
Download it from the Piriform site.

Install and run Speccy.
After it scans your system it will show CPU temperature and others.
Post these here please.

It may be easier if you click on File > Publish Snapshot > click on Yes
Copy the URL and post this here.

This does not show any personal details only machine specs.

Laptops are notorious for gathering dust.
Dust can cause overheating.
If you can get a can of compressed air you can give it a blast through the vents.
Use short blasts as long ones tend to expel liquid ( the propellant )
I suggest that you do this outside.

 

[jontye]

Ken,The results, http://speccy.piriform.com/results/eA2osRhzB2Rcg1wI4XJ2APY
Jontye