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Computer restarts and generally runs slow *UPDATE 2/23*

A

archcommus

Diamond Member
Months ago I had some issues with slow bootups after HL2 froze on me. I swapped memory stick positions and it magically fixed the problem. I have been fine for months now with the system being normal and zippy. Tonight I tried a remote desktop session with a friend of mine. Nothing out of the ordinary: I created a password for my login, clicked "Allow etc. etc." in the Remote tab of System Properties, and then let him log on with my name and pass. After we were done I unchecked "Allow etc. etc." and that was that. I restarted the computer to fix my icon positions after using RD and now out of nowhere it takes forever to start up, and it's slow after starting up, too. Not only does it take 20+ passes of the blue bar when loading, but the bar itself moves very slowly and staggered. Then, once I'm at the desktop, everything is generally slow: loading programs, copying files, etc. It just took me four mintues to copy a 100 MB file into My Documents.

So, 1) what caused this out of nowhere?, 2) how should I proceed?
 
Chances are really good it's either an overheat condition, or some kind of hardware failure (yeah, I know, I'm not really telling you anything you didn't already know). If you've got enough RAM on hand for windows to run on one stick of RAM, remove one stick, and see if it is faster/slower. Then try the other stick, and judge the same.

It's possible that one of the RAM sticks is flaky, if swapping the RAM earlier truly was what caused the system to speed back up.

It could also be the power supply (had that one happen once), but the chances of that are really slim.... most BIOS's have a health monitor that allows you to check how much power is getting to the appropriate devices - you could check that too, but I doubt that's the cause.
 
Originally posted by: GeekDrew
It's possible that one of the RAM sticks is flaky, if swapping the RAM earlier truly was what caused the system to speed back up.
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Agreed. Would definitely eliminate this first as a possibility. Rather easily done as well, too. Run the full battery of tests (not just the standard) of Memtest86 or Memtest86+.

Better to let it run overnight, as the full battery takes approximately 5 to 6 hours.
 
Do Cntrl, Alt, Del and look at the processes running and see if there is one running at above 90% all the time.
 
No, definitely no virus, he is a 100% trusted friend and we only connected for brief times. All I did was create a .txt file on my desktop and let him delete it. Unless he gave me one unknowingly, but that's very unlikely.

All of my processes are good, only AVG and Sygate on startup and CPU usage is at the regular 0 to 2% when idling.

Last night I tried one stick by itself and both together but swapped. I did not try the other by itself so I will do that today. I will also run Memtest on each stick individually.

Just to give you some background, though - my old memory was two 512 sticks, both PC-3500, one PNY and one Kingmax. I was running at 200x11 then and now, so the memory was not OCed, yet I still got two or three Memtest errors. The Kingmax stick was brand new and the PNY was not. The system ran fine though so I let it go. Then, when I got the Corsair memory, the sticks together also produced one error in Memtest. That's very peculiar, considering the memory was new and 200 MHz is its stock speed. It was fine at first, then I had this problem back in November, then swapping the sticks fixed it until now, and now it's bad again. So does that mean one or both sticks of the Corsair have been bad since the beginning? But then how do you explain my OLD memory giving errors, too? Maybe it's another component in the system causing the Memtest errors?
 
Originally posted by: archcommus
Last night I tried one stick by itself and both together but swapped. I did not try the other by itself so I will do that today. I will also run Memtest on each stick individually.
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Am not seeing the update with regard to running a full diagnostic. It is difficult to follow your original post now at all, as you've not indicated what steps you've taken, and what the actual results are. Supposition would be this is in fact one of the reasons there are no new replies of assistance. It is much less strain on those attempting to help if the steps taken are presented clearly, and any updates are delineated.
...yet I still got two or three Memtest errors. The Kingmax stick was brand new and the PNY was not. The system ran fine though so I let it go. Then, when I got the Corsair memory, the sticks together also produced one error in Memtest.
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Any error is a bad sign. One error is an indication of faulty memory in some degree. Varying degrees of system failure during operation can be expected from faulty memory - some very noticeable, others slightly noticeable, and others still that can go unnoticed nearly altogether except a seemingly uncoincidental problem at strange intervals.

Proposed course of action: run the full Memtest diagnostic (all tests) on EACH stick of memory separately. In other words, run the full memory diagnostic on the sytem with only one stick of memory in place, then run the full memory diagnostic on the system with only the second stick of memory in place. Any errors reported on either stick likely mean said memory is faulty.

And yes, diagnosing memory faults can be rather annoying.
 
Sorry for any incoherency. My first post still holds 100% true. As of that point I had not tried anything.

My next post still holds true, as well. As I said, I tried one stick alone, but not the other alone, so I will do that tonight. I will also run the full battery on both sticks.

However, I ALSO posted that entire last paragraph in my last post to further clarify why I'm concerned about it. I had errors with the old mem and errors with this mem. Out of four sticks of memory, that's THREE brand new sticks that produced errors, and that's having all the sticks run at STOCK or BELOW stock speed. Wouldn't that lead you to suspect that something else is causing the Memtest errors?

Actually, CAN another component in the system be the cause of Memtest errors?
 
Originally posted by: archcommus
Out of four sticks of memory, that's THREE brand new sticks that produced errors, and that's having all the sticks run at STOCK or BELOW stock speed. Wouldn't that lead you to suspect that something else is causing the Memtest errors?
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All tested separately (as described above)? Using which versions of Memtest86 and/or Memtest86+? Also, it is always best to run any diagnostic on a single component (read: to test if the component itself is faulty) at stock settings (including the processor, if possible). If errors occur from a diagnostic above stock settings, then of course the overclocking (be it heat, voltage, etc) is likely causing the error.

Am only now seeing the correlation between this thread and the Off Topic thread, and would say you are relatively new to the overclocking world? Please accept my apology if this supposition offends.
Actually, CAN another component in the system be the cause of Memtest errors?
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It is possible, but highly improbable. I would venture to say it is more likely to have a few faulty sticks of memory than it is to have a diagnostic report a fault that is actually caused by another component. Improbable, but certainly not impossible.
 
Yes, back when I had the two old sticks I tested them separately, and when I got these Corsair sticks I tested them separately, as well. I remember both the PNY and Kingmax gave me errors before. With the Corsair, I remember one stick gave errors and the other did not. However, running EITHER of these sticks solo now (just tried both) does not help the slow bootup problem.

I will go ahead and run Memtest on them, and if they produce errors I guess RMA them. However, I'd really rather prefer to leave my processor running at 200x11, for two reasons: 1) the BIOS on this board is ultra picky and very often does not POST after changing settings, clearing CMOS requires disconnecting the whole system and bringing it down on the floor, and I'm afraid of experiencing the dreaded BIOS Death, and 2) 200 MHz is the stock speed for this memory, so while the CPU is OCed, the memory is not, so if I get any errors at 200x11, that's still reason enough to RMA the memory, is it not?

And your assumption is okay with me, I am indeed new to the OCing world. This was my first experience with it (beginning in July of last year), and probably my last, as well. Just not my cup of tea.
 
UPDATE.

I ran Memtest86+ v1.20 on both sticks separately. One stick gave me an error almost immediately. The other ran for over nine hours error free. So we obviously have one problem stick. The test was done at 200x11. Should I RMA that one stick to Corsair then?

The other thing is, my computer STILL boots up and runs slow even if with only that one good stick in.

So now what?
 
UPDATE 2.

I did all the remote desktop stuff on Thursday night. I just did a system restore back to Wednesday and it seems to have fixed the slow bootup. Very very good.

So that would lead you to believe that the issue was DEFINITELY caused by whatever stuff I did with RD. What do you think could have happened?

Now that it boots quickly again, if I put that other stick of memory back in it MAY still stay fine, like what happened months ago when removing one stick fixed the issue and it STAYED fixed even after putting it back in. But, because that other stick produced an error in Memtest almost instantly, should I RMA it now even if the system would run fine with it in? Because of system restore fixing the issue I really think the problem was caused by what I did with RD and not the memory.
 
Originally posted by: archcommus
But, because that other stick produced an error in Memtest almost instantly, should I RMA it now even if the system would run fine with it in?
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I certainly would. Again, faulty memory is one of the worst links in an otherwise successful chain of components. Should you ever need to dagnose another machine problem, it will always be suspect.

As far as the booting problem, there isn't really enough information present to make a determination. It is possible it was caused by the Remote Desktop implementation, and usage; then again, it could be completely unrelated. As I stated in the thread regarding such, I typically do not make use of Remote Desktop in favor of other products that are more robust, and not integrated to the operating system itself.

An easy way to test that theory would be to create a restore point manually, attempt another Remote Desktop session, and see the result. Would strongly suggest doing so without the faulty memory in place, however (again, just a bad idea in general, though certainly your choice if you wish to keep and/or use it).
 
Thanks for your assistance.

I already went through the process with the RAM Guy on Corsair's forums months ago, when I was having this problem before. He said go ahead and RMA them, I just never did because I got the situation fixed. So now I can go ahead and go straight to submitting it to them, and link them to that thread. I already did this so I'll wait for their reply.

I could do what you said to see if doing an RD session caused the problem, but why create the extra hassle, I was just playing around with it. By the time I actually have a use for it (maybe once I go to college) I'll be using a different system anyway.

So it's safe to say I suppose that one of these two Corsair sticks have always been bad. I'm glad that one came up error free after over nine hours of testing. A good question, then, is why did my old PNY and Kingmax sticks produce errors even though they were running BELOW stock speed? Could this just be because they were both off-brands?
 
Well I sent an RMA request form to Corsair. Unforunately they will not let me return just one stick, I must send both, but I don't have any other memory in the house.

Anyone got a PC-2100 stick laying around?
 
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