PC Advice?

[RobsanX]

I need some advice from the computer gurus here. I have a 6 year old PC with Windows XP SP3 on it. It's got an Athalon 3200+ processor, and 1 gig of RAM. I bought a new machine for myself, and put this old one in the living room.

The old machine was having problems, and it was freezing up a lot. At first it would freeze for a few minutes, then come back to life, but eventually it became unbearable.

I wiped the hard drive and reloaded XP SP3 on it, and the problem never really got solved. I don't feel like tossing the machine, so I'm trying to figure out what I should do with it. I'm willing to wipe the hard drive again, and start all over since I have backed up all of my stuff.

Is there a way to get to the heart of the problem? Some diagnostic software or something?

Should I update only to SP2, and leave SP3 alone?

It's hard to decide when I'm not even sure if I'm asking the right questions. All I know is that I don't want to put much, if any money into this old machine. I don't mind putting some time into it though.

[lxskllr]

Sounds like a hard drive going bad. Try running Linux off a thumb drive, or maybe a live cd, and see if it behaves.

You could also install HDTune in XP, and checkout the SMART data it recovers. SMART isn't infallible, but if it says you have problems, you have problems. It doesn't always say though.

http://www.hdtune.com/

[RobsanX]

Sounds like a hard drive going bad. Try running Linux off a thumb drive, or maybe a live cd, and see if it behaves.

You could also install HDTune in XP, and checkout the SMART data it recovers. SMART isn't infallible, but if it says you have problems, you have problems. It doesn't always say though.

http://www.hdtune.com/

Thanks! I'll start there.

[Mdisch]

... Isn't it basically just taking up a lot of space? I mean if it is 6 years old with an old Athlon Processor it must be having trouble with close to any action? Or at least respond quite slowly?
If I were you I'd require a new one.. Or "old" parts(1-2 years old) and build one of your own :-)

[lxskllr]

... Isn't it basically just taking up a lot of space? I mean if it is 6 years old with an old Athlon Processor it must be having trouble with close to any action? Or at least respond quite slowly?
If I were you I'd require a new one.. Or "old" parts(1-2 years old) and build one of your own :-)

Typing this on a 2.8ghz Northy, overclocked to 3.09ghz, with 1gb ram, and GF4 gfx ;^)

[devilock76]

Typing this on a 2.8ghz Northy, overclocked to 3.09ghz, with 1gb ram, and GF4 gfx ;^)

Similar machine here, and sadly XP Sp3 as well, since I am at work and must deal with these winblows machines here daily.

Ken

[RobsanX]

... Isn't it basically just taking up a lot of space? I mean if it is 6 years old with an old Athlon Processor it must be having trouble with close to any action? Or at least respond quite slowly?
If I were you I'd require a new one.. Or "old" parts(1-2 years old) and build one of your own :-)

When it works, it works fine. I can't play newer games on it, but that's why I have a new machine in the bedroom.

This will be the family computer. As long as it can browse the web, run iTunes, do word processing, and other simple stuff, it will be fine.

Looks like hdtune has found a couple bad spots. 0.1% damaged at the moment. Should I be worried about this?

[lxskllr]

Try running chkdsk /r. You'll have to reboot. That should move information off of the bad sectors, and hopefully fix any problems you have. If that does fix it, you should keep an eye on the bad sector count to make sure it doesn't grow. Bad sectors aren't a problem in and of themselves, but it could be the start of the drive going bad.