Hi
I've been having some trouble with my computer for a little while now, so I decided it was time to wipe the harddrive.
I did an FDISK and then format, and put windows XP back on. The problem I was having: When windows logged in, there was a wait period before I could do anything... for about a minute, I couldn't open My computer, or run any programs, until it eventually kicked in.
Also, when playing a lot of recent games, my computer locks up completely solid... no ALT TAB, no ALT CTRL DEL... and no num lock light when I press it.

After FDISKing and started from scratch, I'm finding the problems are STILL here. Long wait period when I boot up, and freezing during games. I got the most recent video card driver (Radeon 9200) and sound driver.
I don't know whats going on! Could anyone provide a bit of assistance?
Thanks in advance

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OS Information:
PropertyValue
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Professional|C:\WINDOWS|\Device\Harddisk0\Partitio n1
Service Pack 0.0
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS


Processor:
PropertyValue
Current Clock Speed 2399
Description x86 Family 15 Model 2 Stepping 7
Manufacturer GenuineIntel
Name Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.40GHz


Memory (RAM):
PropertyValue
Bank Label RAS 2 & 3
Capacity 268435456

Total Memory Deteced in Hardware: ~256 MB
Memory Reported to Operating System: 255MB

Disk Drives:
PropertyValue
Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model Maxtor 6E040L0
Media Type Fixed hard disk media
Size 41109949440 (~38 GB)
Number of Partitions 1


Installed Printers:
PropertyValue

Motherboard:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer ECS
Model
Name Base Board
Part Number
Product P4VMM2
Serial Number 00000000
Version 1.0


BIOS:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer American Megatrends Inc.
Name Default System BIOS
Release Date 20010402******.******+***
Version AMIINT - 10


Monitor:
PropertyValue
Description Default Monitor
Name Default Monitor
Screen Height 768
Screen Width 1024

Description Default Monitor
Name Default Monitor
Screen Height
Screen Width


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


Pointing Device:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer (Standard system devices)
Name USB Human Interface Device


Sound Card:
PropertyValue
Manufacturer VIA Technologies, Inc.
Description Vinyl AC'97 Codec Combo Driver (WDM)
Device ID PCI\VEN_1106&DEV_3059&SUBSYS_41611106&REV_50\3&61A AA01&0&8D


Video Card:
PropertyValue
Adapter Compatibility ATI Technologies Inc.
Adapter RAM 134217728
Description RADEON 9200 SERIES
Installed Display Drivers ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version 6.14.10.6483
Driver Date 9/29/2004 8:22:22 AM
Video Mode Description 1024 x 768 x 4294967296 colors

Adapter Compatibility ATI Technologies Inc.
Adapter RAM 134217728
Description RADEON 9200 SERIES - Secondary
Installed Display Drivers ati2dvag.dll
Driver Version 6.14.10.6483
Driver Date 9/29/2004 8:22:22 AM
Video Mode Description


DirectX Installation:
PropertyValue
Version 6.03.01.0146


Modem:
PropertyValue

Network Adapters:
PropertyValue
Description VIA PCI 10/100Mb Fast Ethernet Adapter - Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description RAS Async Adapter
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport
Description WAN Miniport (L2TP)
Description WAN Miniport (PPTP)
Description WAN Miniport (PPPOE)
Description Direct Parallel
Description WAN Miniport (IP)
Description WAN (PPP/SLIP) Interface
Description Packet Scheduler Miniport

External Ports:
PropertyValue
External Reference Designator Def

Expansion Slots:
PropertyValue
Slot Designation PCI1
Slot Designation PCI2
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What were your previous problems? (Before wiping.)

Any error messages?

Have you checked the Event Viewer for errors?

Go to Start then Run then type in eventvwr.msc
Look thru all 3 tabs for red X errors, double click for details.

Also try Run then type in devmgmt.msc
Look for yellow "!"

Also try Run then type in dxdiag
Look for problems under all tabs

The problems I was having were the same ones I'm having now (thats why I wiped in the first place), constant freezing and problems with games, and the long wait period when I log in.

I did what you suggested, I found a lot of errors and warnings under applications and system, but it means nothing to me, I don't know what it's trying to tell me. Device manager has no problems, and direct X diag has no problems.

Anyy suggestions on what to do next?

Try to pick out errors by time of start up & or a freeze & post some.

Or reboot and note the time & post the new errors.

Do you run an anti-virus? Do you scan for malware/adware?

I haven't got any anti-virus or spyware removers on my comptuer yet. I wiped it today actually, it's only been up and running for about 3 hours now, I've been getting drivers and whatnot in that time.

I reset my computer, and checked the event viewer after the little wait period. There are no errors or warnings in that time that it was stuck.
I found something interesting though, there are logs for much earlier in the day, before I FDISK'ed and formatted... how'd they get there? All of them except for 2 (there are about 20 of them) are errors, mostly with the cd rom, I'm guessing it had to do with a cd not working properly, because I had a few of them in today.

So far no progress! Thanks for the replies

Did you run an AV & scan for adware before?
Was there ever a time when your machine was working well?
Your issues are usually linked to viruses or not enough RAM or a bad power supply. If you played the games at some point with no problem I would suspect virus issues. To check that out I would suggest the following:

Run a full scan. This may take some time depending on your drive size (maybe an hour): This is a good scan: BitDefender Free Online Virus Scan

Also please follow all of Owen's instructions HERE once you have completed that post your log on the Spyware, Adware and Viruses board

Hey, have run across a few people with these same symptoms. Turned out that they were using the computer just fine, kept up to date on drivers and then one day it just started acting like what you are experiencing.

Hard locks that require a reset button push. Most of these issues turned out to be the video card. The latest one had a video card (ATI Radeon) that was rated to run at 8X mode. We bumped it down to run at 4X and the problem disappeared. Thinking that there was some kind of memory over/under run happening. Things works fine now though after change.