Down to the bare metal

juju · 10-21-2005, 04:11 AM

Diagnosing OS-related problems on Windows is extremely difficult because it is closed-source. There's simply not enough information about the components to dig down deep into the problem with. I think this is one of those situations where one thing is good in principle, but in reality, another thing is way easier. Still, there are a whole host of things you could have done first to try to prevent spending so much time reinstalling. Such as:

Disabling all the apps that load up at boot time (msconfig and/or hijackthis)

Ensuring that DMA is enabled on the hard drive.

Ensuring that you have enough RAM.

Running the hard disk diagnostic tool (obtained from the hard disk manufacturer's website).

Checking the RAM integrity (memtest86+)

Of course, keeping this from happening again is a whole other list.

Happy Monkey · 10-21-2005, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juju

Ensuring that DMA is enabled on the hard drive.

How do you do this in XP?

juju · 10-21-2005, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

How do you do this in XP?

I think you go into the device manager, into the properties of either the hard drive or the ide device. A quick google could provide more details, but that's usually where I go.

Perry Winkle · 10-21-2005, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by juju

Of course, keeping this from happening again is a whole other list.

A short list though. Simply,

Don't use Microsoft Windows

(I can't help myself, sorry.)

10-21-2005, 04:11 AM	#1
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	Diagnosing OS-related problems on Windows is extremely difficult because it is closed-source. There's simply not enough information about the components to dig down deep into the problem with. I think this is one of those situations where one thing is good in principle, but in reality, another thing is way easier. Still, there are a whole host of things you could have done first to try to prevent spending so much time reinstalling. Such as: Disabling all the apps that load up at boot time (msconfig and/or hijackthis) Ensuring that DMA is enabled on the hard drive. Ensuring that you have enough RAM. Running the hard disk diagnostic tool (obtained from the hard disk manufacturer's website). Checking the RAM integrity (memtest86+) Of course, keeping this from happening again is a whole other list. Last edited by juju; 10-21-2005 at 04:13 AM.

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