hi friends..

below is my system configuration. my problem is that when i play an .avi file in my system, the video keeps getting stuck. dis happens in almost all video formats. but when i play a movie in .dat format, i dnt experience much problem. d video plays well. i hd first installed windows xp professional with service pack 2. but in tht os too d same problem occured. i m afraid tht my video card hasn't got corrupted. i hd also install k-lite mega codec pack 3.7. but tht also didnt help. earlier i didnt experience any problem. all was going well. but i dnt knw wht happnd suddenly. i have directx 9.0c installed in my system. my graphic card memory is 16mb. i experience id kind of problem in almost all video formats. upgrading d video driver also didnt make ne help. because of dis problem my system has also started responding a bit slow.. plz help......
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OS Information:
PropertyValue
OS Name Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional|C:\WINNT|\Device\Harddisk0\Partition1
Service Pack 4.0
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
Windows Directory C:\WINNT


Processor:
PropertyValue
Current Clock Speed 995
Description x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 10
Manufacturer GenuineIntel
Name Intel Pentium III processor


Memory (RAM):
PropertyValue
Bank Label CSA 0 & 1
Capacity 268435456

Bank Label CSA 2 & 3
Capacity 268435456

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~512 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 495MB

Disk Drives:
PropertyValue
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Hitachi HTS541680J9AT00
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Size 80023749120 (~75 GB)
Number of Partitions 3


Installed Printers:
PropertyValue

Motherboard:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer TOSHIBA
Model
Name Base Board
Part Number
Product Portable PC
Serial Number 0000000000
Version Version A0


BIOS:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer TOSHIBA
Name Default System BIOS
Release Date 20010913******.******+***
Version Satellite1800 v1.10 TOSHIBA


Monitor:
PropertyValue
Description Generic Television
Name Generic Television
Screen Height 768
Screen Width 1024


Keyboard:
PropertyValue
Description Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard


Pointing Device:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Microsoft
Name PS/2 Compatible Mouse


Sound Card:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer Acer Laboratories Inc.
Description ALi Audio Accelerator WDM Driver
Device ID PCI\VEN_10B9&DEV_5451&SUBSYS_00011179&REV_01\3&61A AA01&0&30


Video Card:
PropertyValue
Adapter Compatibility Trident
Adapter RAM 16777216
Description Trident Video Accelerator CyberBlade XP Ai1 v5.9030-008A.22ICDNP
Installed Display Drivers tridxp.dll
Driver Version 5.00.2195.0131
Driver Date 9/26/2001 2:05:14 PM
Video Mode Description 1024 x 768 x 4294967296 colors


DirectX Installation:
PropertyValue


Modem:
PropertyValue
Model TOSHIBA Software Modem AMR
Name TOSHIBA Software Modem AMR


Network Adapters:
PropertyValue
Description Intel 8255x-based Integrated Fast Ethernet

External Ports:
PropertyValue
External Reference Designator PARALLEL PORT
External Reference Designator EXTERNAL MONITOR PORT
External Reference Designator SERIAL PORT
External Reference Designator MODEM JACK
External Reference Designator LAN JACK
External Reference Designator PS/2 MOUSE/KEYBOARD PORT
External Reference Designator INFRARED PORT
External Reference Designator UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS PORT
External Reference Designator UNIVERSAL SERIAL BUS PORT
External Reference Designator HEADPHONE JACK
External Reference Designator MICROPHONE JACK
External Reference Designator VIDEO OUT
External Reference Designator DC IN 15V
External Reference Designator BATTERY PACK

Expansion Slots:
PropertyValue
Slot Designation Other0
Slot Designation Other1
Slot Designation PC Card(PCMCIA)0
Slot Designation PC Card(PCMCIA)1
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Welcome to D-A-L.

I see that you have an 80 GB hard disk, divided into three partitions:

Model Hitachi HTS541680J9AT00
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Size 80023749120 (~75 GB)
Number of Partitions 3

What size is your O/S partition?

How much free space is there on the partition?

It may be a paging file issue. ie; The partition may be too small to effectively buffer the data.

Have you changed any Virtual Memory settings?

thanks for replying...
my o/s partion size is 22.46 gb.... currently the free space is around 16 gb. my other two partition sizes are 25.39 and 26.67gb respectively. i haven't changed my virtual memory settings. the settings are as it is. total paging size for all drives is 744 mb. so what do i do now? shall i increase or decrease my virtual paging size? is there anything else i can do? plz help...

Yes. As a first measure try increasing your paging file settings.

Write down your current settings.

With 16GB of free hard disk space, try

First set it to Windows Managed. Restart.

If this doesn't make a difference,

try a min/max setting of 744MB/1.2GB.

Also, are the .avi files on the O/S partition (C)?

hello...

i have changed my hard disk partitions. nw i have partitoned my hard disk as 30gb, 30gb and 15gb. these are the capacity of each drive. nw my total paging size for all drives is 744mb. earlier with dis particular setting, i didnt have any problem in viewing video formats. i.e with this particular hard drive partions and paging file settings. i had the same setting in windows 2000 professional as well as windows xp professional. now i am using windows 2000 professional. but now i am having problem. the video is getting stuck. i dont think it is a paging file issue. i have tried changing the settings. now what shall i do??? i am afraid my graphics part of my system has got corrupted. can this happen??? i think this shouldn't be the reason as i am able to view some video formats like .dat, .wmv. do u know what else might cause the problem?? i have already given my system info. please advice what steps shall i take now so that i can view all the video formats in my laptop perfectly.. please help!!!

Also, are the .avi files on the O/S partition (C)?
????

Well, you're running 16MB of video RAM so I doubt that this is a factor.

i am afraid my graphics part of my system has got corrupted. can this happen???

Yes, drivers can be corrupted, as well as actual video "chips" going bad over time. Have you tried reinstalling the video drivers for Win2000?

my .avi files are in my o/s partition as well as the other 30gb partition. before all was fine, but suddenly dis problem happened. with this 16mb video RAM all was working well. i have tried reinstalling my video driver, but this also hasn't helped me much. how do i check my video chip is working fine??? is there any way to repair it?? what shall i do now??

Thank you for answering the file location question. Every bit of information helps.

Your video chip is fine if you're getting video and not getting memory errors. What I meant was that as the chips/motherboard gets old, some day your video may just stop. Sometimes the chip just "burns out".

I'm still reviewing your machine specs and researching.

hii..
finally i have discovered the solution of my problem. i was afraid that my video chip had gone bad. so i was doing some kind of research in the net. i was reading an article on troubleshooting video chip problems. there i found that power consumption by cpu also effects video playback. this thing striked my mind and i remembered that that i had changed my BIOS settings for perfomance. by default my cpu was consuming full power. but when i used to play cricket 2004 in my system, the CPU used to get overheated and the system used to shut down. that time i had changed my power setting to user setting. when i changed that to full power i saw that i m able to play video on my system smoothly. but when i change it to low power or user setting, i can't play my videos smoothly. can u tell me the reason for this??? alas thanx for ur support.

Wow! Thanks for that detailed follow up. If I may add what came to mind when reading this thread...

because of dis problem my system has also started responding a bit slow

but suddenly dis problem happened

Have you done a complete malware scan? One of the first things I do when troubleshooting a PC that is having performance issues is make sure I have a malware free and clean platform to work from. That's clean of heat trapping dust and dirt, as well as malware. Here's a link to my canned text on Cleaning Out Malware. Use it if you don't already have a complete security suite and disk cleaning utilities to rid your system of malware and clutter. You can also use it as a guide to build your own security suite, and to help you develop or enhance a "Practicing Safe Computing" self-discipline.
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when i changed that to full power i saw that i m able to play video on my system smoothly. but when i change it to low power or user setting, i can't play my videos smoothly. can u tell me the reason for this???

You would have to do more research to determine what exactly is happening when you change that power setting, but obviously the High setting provides more optimized settings for your program. Does your BIOS indicate what is set? You said there is a "user" setting too, can't you manually set the "user" setting to match the "High" setting? If so, does your program work then?

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~512 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 495MB

This could still be much of your problem. Like XP, the "sweet spot" for Win2K is 1Gb of RAM. You start out with only 512Mb then your graphics immediately steals 16Mb, so your RAM starts out at less than 1/2 of preferred.

By far, boosting your RAM to 1Gb (2 X 512Mb) will provide a significant performance boost in all aspects of your computing experience. The OS takes up a huge chunk of your RAM just managing itself and your hardware. That leave little room for your programs, so the OS and your CPU is forced to push stuff out to your Page File on your sloowwww hard drive.

With 1Gb, the OS and CPU will have a much bigger (and faster) space to work in, without having to put (and keep track of) frequently used data on the drive's PF. Since the drive is not getting beat on near as much, there is less wear and tear on it, and less heat generated by it, always a special concern for laptops.

You might find an extra 16 or even 48Mb of RAM is snagged and given to graphics, and that would be good in this case. If it is not automatic, check the BIOS - you hate to take RAM away from the system, but 16Mb for graphics is too small. 32Mb will surely make your graphics processing better, but 64Mb would be nice. 1024 - 64 will leave you 960Mb of RAM, still a nice chunk.

nw my total paging size for all drives is 744mb

What do you man "for all drives"? You only need one PF. And 744Mb with only 512Mb of RAM is not enough! The system is taxed even more with only 16Mb for graphics process.

I prefer a fixed size PF (preferably on a second drive, or at least a secondary partition) especially with smaller disks/partitions. When you let the OS manage it, the PF expands and contracts as needed during that computing session. That's great on a big drive with lots of free space. But when free space is limited, things change. When demand is low and the PF is reduced, the space is available for the drive to store data. The next time a larger PF is needed, the OS will be forced to shuffle the PF about to find a large enough chunk of free space. This slows things down, but it also promotes file fragmentation on the drive. And that, in turn, makes the shuffling about task even more difficult.

If me, I would use CCleaner from that link above and make sure the partitions are clean of clutter and temporary files. Then boot into Safe Mode, delete all the Page Files (must click on "Set") and defrag all the partitions. On the least active secondary partition (that is, not the boot partition) setup a 1 Gb fixed PF with the settings of 1024Mb for both the initial and maximum sizes. I would then use the computer, keeping track of RAM and PF needs in Task Manager > Performance. Over time, the size can be tweaked to ensure there is always enough, but not more than needed.

The old rule-of-thumb of PF = 1.5 X RAM, which even MS uses to start with, came about long ago, when 16Mb RAM modules ruled (if not before) is still the correct place to start, IMO, if you don't know where to start. But today, with today's large memory modules, you don't need a large PF when you have enough system RAM for the OS and CPU (and its L1 and L2 caches) to work with.