Recently, my PC (about 7 years old now, but altered/upgraded many times since) started experiencing some serous issues. One day, I suddenly had to disable USB booting in BIOS or it wouldn't recognize my hard drives. It is often slow to boot and/or shut down - though it will almost always boot or shut down eventually if I wait long enough (10-40 minutes approximately, I never timed it), but that's obviously not normal or healthy (it used to boot in ~2-4 minutes) .
After booting and starting Windows successfully, it will often be slow to access files or recognize drives - the easiest way to tell is if I use my file manager - an antiquated version of ACDSee: v2.41 - which I prefer over windows explorer. If my computer is working properly, ACDSEE 32 2.41 will start properly (in ~3-5 seconds) and I see my normal mouse cursor and full file directory after it loads. If not, then the hourglass shows up and never goes away, my file directories don't fully show up, and ACDSee hangs. I can force close it but it doesn't solve anything.
Even if I don't try to start ACDSee, it's clear that something isn't right. While most of Windows seems to work more or less properly, files/drives in general are slow to load or be recognized. If I try to play an AVI file on my hard drive (with Windows Media Player), it won't load. And programs that open files (like Virtualdub) often have the same problem as ACDSee, though only when I try to open a file.
I'm going to call this state a "buggy boot" for the purposes of this thread. The strange thing is, if my computer has a good boot, none of these problems occur and ACDSee loads and works properly. With a good boot, my computer will, for the most part, function properly until I shut it down or reboot it. It is possible that it is slightly slower to access files than usual even with a good boot (like 5-15% slower), but it's nowhere near as bad as it is with a buggy boot.
One possible exception is that, once, when I left my computer idle for a very long time, the ACDSee bug happened even though it was initially a good boot. This has only happened once (so far), and is odd because I have my power management set to NEVER shut off hard drives and only shut off my display after 20 minutes of inactivity.
So, my current focus (besides figuring out what's wrong and what part to replace) is how to avoid buggy boots and get good boots. This is very problematic for me because I like to reboot very often. First, I have a dual-boot setup - one boot (on one hard drive) is Windows 7 64 bit, and the other (on another hard drive, the master drive) is Windows 7 32 bit. I use 64 bit 95% of the itme. Second, when I run certain programs/games and swap my monitor settings (I swap to an Aero theme to record video, then back out of it when I'm done; I have my TV as my second display for when I want to use my TV with my PC - I swap out of dual display when I'm done witht that) around, it makes some games more prone to crash - this is a quirk that has existed for years, which is probably unrelated, and which I never considered an issue before since I easily resolved it by rebooting. Also, running some games would make other games more prone to crashing afterwards.
From what I've figured out so far, rebooting always results in a buggy boot (though I'm not 100% sure of this). Cold booting is the only way to achiveve a good boot. Force shutting down my PC via the power button will always result in a buggy boot afterwards. After a buggy boot, I have to shut it down properly - I click shut down and wait for 15-40 minutes for it to finish shutting down.
All of this started about 2 weeks ago. I didn't make any major hardware or software changes at that time, nor have I done so recently.
I've done a full virus scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and it's very unlikely that i have a virus in the first place - I don't use any pirated software. I never run any third-party executables unless it's either open-source or VERY thoroughly vetted (to a ridiculously obsessive extent). I never visit pirate/warez or other shady web sites. I only browse with Noscript. I never click on suspicous links. My OS/browsers have the latest security updates. So while it's always possible malware is responsible, I think it's highly unlikely.
I ran diagnostics on all of my internal hard drives (I have 4 external hard drives which programs don't run off of - I use them only for storage of video files and file backups) with Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic and all of them were good.
I have not run diagnostics on my RAM yet, but I plan to do so soon.
The most significant change I've made to my computer in the recent past is that about one year ago, I replaced/upgraded my motherboard, CPU, and power supply. I replaced/upgraded my RAM shortly before that. That motherboard, since I wanted one that was compaitble with my old CPU (even though I ended up having to replace my CPU as well), was a very old model that looked refurbished when I got it.
Below are my system specs. Please help me figure out what's wrong with my computer and how to solve it (and what part to replace, if necessary). Let me know if you need more information.
OS: Windows 7 64bit / Windows 7 32-dual-boot on two separate drives
CPU: Intel Core i5-2550K @ 3.4 GHz (NOT overclocked and was never overclocked)
MOTHERBOARD: Intel Corporation DZ77BH-55K
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Memory Kit Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R
PSU: CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply & New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
Video Card: EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-3662-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded 2 x USB 3.0
After booting and starting Windows successfully, it will often be slow to access files or recognize drives - the easiest way to tell is if I use my file manager - an antiquated version of ACDSee: v2.41 - which I prefer over windows explorer. If my computer is working properly, ACDSEE 32 2.41 will start properly (in ~3-5 seconds) and I see my normal mouse cursor and full file directory after it loads. If not, then the hourglass shows up and never goes away, my file directories don't fully show up, and ACDSee hangs. I can force close it but it doesn't solve anything.
Even if I don't try to start ACDSee, it's clear that something isn't right. While most of Windows seems to work more or less properly, files/drives in general are slow to load or be recognized. If I try to play an AVI file on my hard drive (with Windows Media Player), it won't load. And programs that open files (like Virtualdub) often have the same problem as ACDSee, though only when I try to open a file.
I'm going to call this state a "buggy boot" for the purposes of this thread. The strange thing is, if my computer has a good boot, none of these problems occur and ACDSee loads and works properly. With a good boot, my computer will, for the most part, function properly until I shut it down or reboot it. It is possible that it is slightly slower to access files than usual even with a good boot (like 5-15% slower), but it's nowhere near as bad as it is with a buggy boot.
One possible exception is that, once, when I left my computer idle for a very long time, the ACDSee bug happened even though it was initially a good boot. This has only happened once (so far), and is odd because I have my power management set to NEVER shut off hard drives and only shut off my display after 20 minutes of inactivity.
So, my current focus (besides figuring out what's wrong and what part to replace) is how to avoid buggy boots and get good boots. This is very problematic for me because I like to reboot very often. First, I have a dual-boot setup - one boot (on one hard drive) is Windows 7 64 bit, and the other (on another hard drive, the master drive) is Windows 7 32 bit. I use 64 bit 95% of the itme. Second, when I run certain programs/games and swap my monitor settings (I swap to an Aero theme to record video, then back out of it when I'm done; I have my TV as my second display for when I want to use my TV with my PC - I swap out of dual display when I'm done witht that) around, it makes some games more prone to crash - this is a quirk that has existed for years, which is probably unrelated, and which I never considered an issue before since I easily resolved it by rebooting. Also, running some games would make other games more prone to crashing afterwards.
From what I've figured out so far, rebooting always results in a buggy boot (though I'm not 100% sure of this). Cold booting is the only way to achiveve a good boot. Force shutting down my PC via the power button will always result in a buggy boot afterwards. After a buggy boot, I have to shut it down properly - I click shut down and wait for 15-40 minutes for it to finish shutting down.
All of this started about 2 weeks ago. I didn't make any major hardware or software changes at that time, nor have I done so recently.
I've done a full virus scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, and it's very unlikely that i have a virus in the first place - I don't use any pirated software. I never run any third-party executables unless it's either open-source or VERY thoroughly vetted (to a ridiculously obsessive extent). I never visit pirate/warez or other shady web sites. I only browse with Noscript. I never click on suspicous links. My OS/browsers have the latest security updates. So while it's always possible malware is responsible, I think it's highly unlikely.
I ran diagnostics on all of my internal hard drives (I have 4 external hard drives which programs don't run off of - I use them only for storage of video files and file backups) with Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostic and all of them were good.
I have not run diagnostics on my RAM yet, but I plan to do so soon.
The most significant change I've made to my computer in the recent past is that about one year ago, I replaced/upgraded my motherboard, CPU, and power supply. I replaced/upgraded my RAM shortly before that. That motherboard, since I wanted one that was compaitble with my old CPU (even though I ended up having to replace my CPU as well), was a very old model that looked refurbished when I got it.
Below are my system specs. Please help me figure out what's wrong with my computer and how to solve it (and what part to replace, if necessary). Let me know if you need more information.
OS: Windows 7 64bit / Windows 7 32-dual-boot on two separate drives
CPU: Intel Core i5-2550K @ 3.4 GHz (NOT overclocked and was never overclocked)
MOTHERBOARD: Intel Corporation DZ77BH-55K
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Memory Kit Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9R
PSU: CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply & New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
Video Card: EVGA SuperClocked 02G-P4-3662-KR GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case with Upgraded 2 x USB 3.0
Definitely make a memtest boot stick and test the ram. When you try windows on another drive, install it completely independently of all the others. You have to eliminate every variable you can sometimes. So isolate it completely. And if ram, temps, etc all fail to resolve the issue, start flashing firmware, even if you have the newest version. 
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