random windows xp problems

[w3t]

i came back to my computer a few days ago and i noticed some error messages had popped up. they basically said that some folder on my second hard disk was not accessible and the data may not have been saved and so on. so i reboot and since then, windows in every aspect has been sluggish, which is why i think it's a problem with my primary disk and not the secondary. for example, when i am doing random things the mouse pointer will jump across the screen; if i'm playing a song with winamp and launch ANY other program the song just garbles and comes to a complete halt until the program loads. the symptoms seem like a paging file problem but i'm pretty sure that's not it. i ran scandisk and found no problems with the primary disk. i think the disk could just be on its way out as my computer has pretty much been on for two years (since i got it). even so, this will give me a reason to build a new one with serial ata drives. any help or suggestions would be great.

ps: i haven't noticed any processes eating up cpu or resources.

[Despised]

I seem to be having the same problems, and conannot confirm if it is primary or secondary harddisk related as i also have and aging primary and secondary,

The bit about winamp was what tipped me off but where you had error messages i had random reboots after 2 or 3 days of uptime, but an error message "windows has recovered from a serious error"

[w3t]

i never got any serious error messages or random reboots, but i think the winamp problem is only the least of it. i started thinking that i should move all sensitive data to my third disk on my pci ide controller, but then the thought occurred to me that the sluggish performance could be due to the additional controller. i mean, i've never had a pci controller before and have no idea if that malfunctioning could be causing some kind of problem with the bus and therefore the problems i am experiencing. i think i'm just going to disconnect the other disks and see if the problem persists. still, suggestions welcome.

[Despised]

At first i thought it may have been caused by the ram becoming lose from its slots whilst the base unit was being transport ed via car, but after cleaning these out and doing a fresh install of xp pro after a couple of weeks the problems surfaced again, i tried unplugging my extra usb pci card which had caused problems in the past but this made no difference either.

As a last resort i thought it may be a problem with overheating as it is left on for sometimes weeks long (if it lasts) and CDs always came out rather warm from the drive but after replacing the old cd drive it has cooled down considerably and still has the sluggishness and the winamp problems as described in your post.

[D1Ringer]

Hey guys,

A hdd that is in a clean environment will last over 50000 hrs if running all the time unless you're getting spikes or something. Turning on and of causes wear the heads dragging on the platters.

Win-amp is a resource hog most of the time. I don't use it. I have 40 gig wd over 5 years old...runs great. the other 40 & 80 g drives are fine too. You guys have software issues, as well as irq or I/O conflicts. That's what makes garbled sound and sluggish performance.

[w3t]

well i certainly haven't been running this thing for 50000 hours. i really want to believe that this isn't a hard drive problem; the only thing that made me think so was the error message related to my secondary disk. i just think it's strange that software issues or irq/ i/o conflicts would just appear one day without any warning. so, any suggestions?

[w3t]

well well well! it seems that d1ringer is correct in this matter: i removed my hard disks from my onboard ide controller and plugged them into my pci controller and now everything is back to normal. go figure. thanks for the help guys.

[Phatfingers]

I have the same  problem as well.
I am using a dual boot with 98 and Xp and the problem does not occur during 98 but only on Xp.In media player I also have the same cracking noises when I start to play a mp3 file but it works better then in Winamp.
I also had a slight change in connecting my hd and my cd rom & writer and since THEN the problem occur.
But resetting my original setting doesnt have any effect.
I have tried everything...Installing windows xp again and again ; I used every trick in the book.Tried using different drivers...
Is there somebody with a good answer instead of buying another sound card or etc?

[phatfingers]

Well ....here is MY solution to this problem...
Winamp uses different kind of output  plugins..
It depends on which WinAmp version You use but I tried it on 2.9,3 and part 5.1
and it all worked.
My solution is to change the direct3dsound plugin  to normal wave or vice versa...Put  your buffer rate high if you need it...I do it on a 700 mhz pc so..
dont use the cpu energizer cause it sucks in Winamp 5!!!
My sound is crystalclear now and I dont seem to have any problems anymore..
It is commen that Directx is the problem of regular sound problems since a lot of programs use this output as an accelerator but about 25 % of the used soundcards aren completely 100 % directx proof.
Stupid but he..it is windows right?? Wait another 100 year for a fullproof windows...

[Help me PLZ!]

i am sick of windows xp now


            All
               plugandplay usb device don't work on xp i have tryed multipl computers multipl times can andy help is their a patch i have all updates

[Guest]

Jeez,

I had all the problems you people describe.  I reinstalled XP but that didn't help.  I pulled out my RAM and reinserted them one by one... and that didn't help.  I swapped my videocard out ... no effect.

FINALLY, I uninstalled all my codecs.  Reinstalled just two (ACEMegaCodecs and Dr. DIVX) and my sounds were back, nice and clean. BUT, the random reboots still occurred.  THEN, while surfing on the internet, I found a VIA AC'97 driver that addressed this problem ( pb_alc650_5320.exe ).  What did I have to lose?  So I installed that.  

No crashes since.

Could be a sound driver.  Try the latest version... then an older version.

Dennis