eMachines T6528: why does it take so long to completely load Windows and the desktop?

[mshan]

Once everything is loaded, the computer is pretty fast (system is not quite as snappy as Core Duo, but the system is fast, especially after I added 2 x 12 MB RAM).

EDIT: can I definitely rule out a slow hard drive (and especially it's 2 MB cache) as the cause of my slow complete boot times?

 

[Rubycon]

The drive is older and definitely slower than today's 16MB models with firmware that's suited for XP's deeper queue depths and higher areal densities.

You can always try bootvis and run a driver load trace to see how long things are taking on startup.

 

[mshan]

Thanks! Gonna try that.

I have one other question, if I may:

When this eMachines awakes from sleep, the screen develops this odd flicker (you can see shortcut icons from upper right corner flicker in lower left corner transiently). Problem only occurs when awakening from sleep (BIOS was STR / S3, and I tried changing it to auto with no difference), and is only fixed when I reboot the computer. Any ideas what's causing the problem and how do I fix it?

 

[Rubycon]

I'd stay away from using system standby.

Instead set the hard disk spin down to never, system standby to never and monitor power off at 20 minutes.

If you must conserve more hibernate is a viable option that will not have these issues as well. What hibernate does is creates a file on the hard disk (hiberfil.sys) and the entire memory state is written to this upon initiation of a hibernation session. When completed, the pc completely shuts down.

You can completely take apart a pc and ship all the parts across the globe, reassemble them (and assuming shipping went without problems and assembly is correct!) and restart and the system state will be just as it was left. Even open documents, etc. This is why this is a preferred shutdown method with a UPS as people tend to leave their PC's with everything open.

 

[mshan]

Thanks for all the input (I ran optimize in bootvis and it did speed things up noticeably. Still slower than my other computers, but am improvement. Kinda thinking I need to put a different hard drive in the system and use this Seagate in an external enclosure for backups).

Is that video flickering I am describing a symptom of improper wakeup from sleep, or do you think I've got some sort of hardware problem (mobo is essentially MSI K8MGM2 with Nvidia 6100 / 410 chipset)?

 

[Rubycon]

It could be video related - that chipset is UMA (shared video memory) is it not?

Try it with a different monitor CRT/TFT etc. and see if behavior is similar.

 

[mshan]

Yes, integrated video which draws from system memory.

Why would a different monitor make a difference (is it just some quirk of the LCD I currently have - DCLCD9c)?

 

[Rubycon]

Many LCD's (in analog mode) will auto calibrate upon receiving a video signal from a rested state. This brief alignment procedure may explain the graphical anomalies that you're observing.

 

[mshan]

Makes sense.

I tried to use the monitor's Auto Configuration button when this flickering occurred previously, but the only thing that fixed it was to reboot the whole computer. ??

Think I am going to end up doing what you said above instead of standby.

 

[oynaz]

Do you have Java installed? The new version has a bug in the auto-update, which makes some computers really sluggish.

 

[mshan]

Add / Remove says JS Runtime Environment 5.0 update 2.

 

[mshan]

I have one other question about this eMachines computer.

I've got an XFX 7600GS video card on the way for my own computer, but won't be able to install it for a while.

If I pop it in my dad's eMachines, then later take it out, is this going to mess up my current video drivers (Nvidia 6100 /410 chipset)? Or do both the integrated graphics and the dedicated pci video card use the same unified Nvidia driver?