CPU Load 100% Windows 98SE

And then throw Diskeeper into the mix.

Question now for jackpan

Did you by any chance CHANGE cable positions of the HD when you removed the slave.

Man-O-Man I need HELP now!!!! And I think we need to check this out. It may well be the KEY to the whole problem. Or do I see something that is not there. Or I interpit things wrong.

Either me or somewhere along the line something does not make sense here.

Does anybody agree that these two quotes DO NOT agree ?

How could diskeeper still cause problems if it was removed ?

My thoughts;

If Diskeeper was removed AFTER the HD then I would bet the it DID NOT get removed properly.

Or it did not remove properly in the first place.

I am EAGERLY awaiting replys.

BillyBob

 

I will try to answer your questions in order:

BillyBob - I removed the HD first before removing Diskeeper.

Rockster2U- I carefully checked the configuration specs for the Maxtor jumper specs. The type I have is a style B. See page 11 of the Maxtor Installation Guide. Mine was set on cable select; second column from the left. I moved the jumper to master (left column). There is absolutely no difference. CPU Load at 100%.

BillyBob - No cable position was ever changed. Inside my tower are two trays for HD's. The top tray is where my primary (Maxtor) HD was located. No jumpers or cables were touched. Under the primary drive I inserted the slave drive. I set the jumper to slave and plugged it in. That's it!

These are my defragmenter results:

Drive C Statistics
Volume Size 19.44 GB
Used Space 1.9 GB
Free Space 17.54 GB
Total Files 11893
Cluster Size 16 KB
Health Analysis
Initial Scan Result OK. No crosslinked files.
Percent of Data Fragmented 13 %
Percent of Files Fragmented 1 %
Total Fragmented Files 29
Total Excess Fragments 145
Average Fragments per File 1.01
Overall Disk Health Poor. Very high fragmentation levels.
Recommendations Use a disk defragmenter as soon as possible to improve performance.
Is your hard drive near capacity? A full hard drive fragments significantly faster and hence slower system performance.

CPU Load results:

Windows ConfigurationDescription Your Results
Common Name Windows 98 SE
Full Version Windows 98 4.10.2222 A
First Install Mon Dec 1 2003
Free Resources 86%
Fonts Installed 102
Windows Scripting Version 5.6.0.8825
PCPitstop Version 134

CPU Load 100%

 

jackpan

Thank you.

I think now we have some very good info to work with.

But I will say that I do believe the problem is with Diskeeper.

I myself do not have any ideas as to what to do. But, I am sure that someone does.

I now have another question or two . Be they relevant or not I have no idea.

But could the BIOS be involved here in some way ?

Could the Boot sector of the HD be messed up now ?

BillyBob

 

jackpan

Since the troubleshooting done so far hasn't helped, suggest you reread my post. That's another possibility.

 

sparrow

I may not think that is that case but I would not rule that out either.

BillyBob

 

BillyBob - This is what my BIOS looks like:

IDE Devices
Primary Master - Maxtor HD
Primary Slave - None
Secondary Master - DVD+RW
Secondary Slave - CD-ROM

The DVD writer is set as the master and my old CD-ROM is set as the slave.

"Could the Boot sector of the HD be messed up now? "
How would I know this?

sparrow - I don't know what you mean when you said, "I'd first like to know if this box has been online ". If you mean the former slave drive the answer is no.

There are no firewalls or anti-virus programs installed. What I run once or twice a week are the following:

Spybot, Ad-aware, EasyCleaner, CleanUp, X-Cleaner, CWShredder, RegSeeker, Housecall-beta, ScanDisk, and Disk Defragmenter.

Anything else, please ask. Thanks again.

 

Personally, would not go online without a firewall. Zonealarm is free and as good as any; you should use it. Would certainly like to see a hijackthis log posted, preferably in the spyware removal section so the experts will see it.

Read the 'stickies' at the top of that forum if you haven't.

 

If Diskeeper is still a possible cause I would reinstall it then uninstall it (maybe uninstall it in Safe Mode), unless there may be special uninstallation instructions at the Diskeeper website.
The BIOS could be involved if the HD information was being misreported. In this case, go into the BIOS settings (or read the motherboard manual) and look for an Autodetect Hard Disk Drive menu (some BIOSes don't have it). Run that. It should be run each time the drive configuration is changed.
Unfortunately, I think the Boot sector is messed up. One thing that may well work is to start a reinstall of Windows from the CD. It goes through a disk scan at the beginning, run that, then exit the install before Windows starts copying files.
Check the drive with the harddrive manufacturer's utilities (PowerMax and MaxBlast).
Check the partition information with Partition Magic if you have it. You can download a program called Partition Manager (by Ranish, I think), it will give you information about the partitioning, but you cannot make changes unless you pay for it.
I think the reason why the CPU is at 100% may be due to Explorer.exe trying to interpret the configuration information when the slave drive is no longer there. If you happen to have Norton Systemworks it has a utility to show the percentages of all running programs. With Explorer.exe problems you will notice the system goes very badly after you try to look for files, open My Computer or run Windows Explorer.

In the end you may need to repartition the drive. Those utilities I mentioned may be able to fix the problem (at least confirm the cause if it is a partitioning problem) or you may want invest in Partition Magic or Partition Manager if they look like being able to fix it.

Matt

 

This worries me.

Again. If Diskeeper was removed WHY is it still available ?

Reinstall-Uninstall MAY fix it. MAYBE.

If it was removed AFTER the HD I do not think it would remove correctly.

Also a question for jackpan

Did you make sure the Diskeeper was shutdown and not running and NO PART of it loading at bootup when you tried to unistall it ?

These may not be the right answers but may let someone stumble onto the right one.

BillyBob

 

sparrow - hijackthis log posted in spyware section. Stickies were read.

mattman - diskeeper completely gone.
BIOS - My BIOS Auto Detect is called Reset Configuration Data. You swith it to enable and it runs at next bootup. No change.
While in my BIOS I looked for IDE related issues. I found two. They were both listed under Integrated IDE Controller. The first was Hard Disk / CD-ROM. There were two options; enable and disable. Mine is set to enable. The second is Hard Disk Boot Sector with two options; unlocked and write-protect. Mine is set to unlocked.
You brought up a great point about explorer.exe. When I click on My Computer it takes about 10 seconds for it to open. In the meantime a flashlight icon is searching for the contents. After the 10 seconds elapses, My Computer opens.

What do you mean by run windows explorer? All it does is open my C: Drive. I think you lost me here.

BillyBob - Diskeeper was loaded in two places with two install setups. One was in my Program file folder and the other in a Windows file folder. I ran the add/remove and it was removed from Programs. The other install.exe remained in a Windows folder. Never saw this before. To make a long story short Diskeeper is gone from everywhere. All registry entries are gone.

 

Well that sure good news and it should help.

I program, two places. Apparently it was not running fron the one you unistalled previously.

Is anything running any better at all ?

BillyBob

 

Nothing has changed. My system at least does not freeze up. CPU Load still at 100%. This one really takes the cake. My final resort will be to reinstall Win98SE. I've done reinstalls before on small laptops with minimum hardware attached and very few programs installed. The only problems I've encountered were with drivers. Doing a reinstall with my desktop might be a different story. Printer, scanner, two CD drives, etc., etc. I know for a fact my HD is connected correctly and so are the CD drives. My software expertise has come to an end. A reinstall seems to be the logical next step. If the system is virus free and all gargage files have been deleted, it might go smoothly. I'm going to think about this for a few days before making a final decision. If any of you good folks out there can come up with anything else, I'll give it a shot. At this point in time I think we hit the proverbial brick wall. Talk to you later and thanks again.

 

I disagree. I think we have hit and gotten 1/2 thru the wall. At least it no longer freezes.

Seing as how you have done reinstalls before you do not have much to lose by trying again. Sure beats a FORMAT and start over.

Three things are needed.
1-- A 98SE CD.
2--A 98 Startup Disk.
3--And of course the multi digit Activation number ( or what ever they call it LOL. )

Boot from a power off state DIRECTLY to the Startup disk.

Then at the A:\ Prompt type D:\Win98\Setup. ( D: representing your CDROM )

Then just watch carefully to make sure Windows goes back into the existing Windows folder.

BillyBob

 

Quick question. Do you think the idea of a reinstall is a good one? I need your honest opinion. I've seen it do magical things in the past on smaller systems. It is however my last choice.

 

I will do the best I can. And yes I do.

I hope others jump in here too and help out with their ideas.

Right now you system is in tuff shape. And unless there is something that I do not see I do not believe it is hardware related. ( drivers etc. ) I think it is all Windows files.

Now what I would do and what is best may well be two different things entirley. But I do not believe you have a thing to loose by trying it.

I think it better to have a go at it rather than start all over again.

However I would suggest one thing. Set the Video back to Standard VGA before attempting to re-install.

And make sure everything possible is stopped from loading at bootup ESPECIALLY Anti-Virus and Firewall. Either one can kill a reinstall by not allowing files to be overwritten.

Now if you said ONE WORD about UPGRADING right now I would have two words. FORGET IT !!! But going back overtop with the same version USUALLY works OK.

But I would just say " Make sure you boot to the Floppy and run setup from the Win98 folder on the CD. DO NOT let it boot to the HD first because stuff can/may get loaded that will interfer with the install. When Windows restarts it will handle that stuff better.

I know you are frustrated. But I ask you to hang in there a bit and see what others may have to say.

Good luck.
BillyBob

 

If you had more than one partition on the HD I woulld suggest copying the Win98 folder on the CD to the HD.

But I do not recommend that with only one partition.

That is where the 2nd HD would be very handy.

BillyBob

 

First and perhaps most important, I'd reinstall if I were you. Secondly, "My BIOS Auto Detect is called Reset Configuration Data" is incorrect or lets say only partially correct. Reset configuration data is used to detect and re-alocate IRQ's and memory addresses of specific hardware devices and can be particularly helpful in resolving device conflicts when I/O cards have been moved around, added or removed. It has no bearing on auto detecting Hard drive geometry. Lastly, if your drive as listed earlier in this thread (6L020J1) is correct, then the Maxtor website for your drive type (C) and its corresponding jumper settings is incorrect. I just re-confirmed it to make sure I didn't make a mistake in looking this up. Maxtor identifies your drive as a Diamond Max Plus D740X and you may want to check this out in light of the problems you are experiencing.



(again - don't think jumper setting is going to have much bearing vs CS but you could have a messed up MBR) Re-install is path of least resistance.

Anywhere near Westport? Grew up there .....

 

I also, would think that a reinstall would be worth trying (actually, I thought of suggesting it when I talked about running the disk scan). I have not had a bad experience with reinstalling.

Matt

 

mattman

I thought about it earlier also. But dropped the idea until the problems with Diskeeper could be fixed. If done before that it would more than likely have been a DISASTER. But now I think there is a good chance of getting the boat to float again.

Question.

Was I wrong in any way ( I hope not ) to stand firm AGAINST upgrading. I know it was never really mentioned until I did but I was watching. Thinking back I recall reading many post with advice ( including from me ) NOT to attempt upgrading in a case such as this.

Also I believe that jackpan has done a very good job of hanging in there. I have to give him A LOT of credit for that.

BillyBob

 

BillyBob - I agree with you that the problem is not hardware related and the cause is system files. Your response also created two new questions:
1. Why set the video display back to standard VGA? This is a new one for me.
2. Why boot to the floppy startup disk first? Why not just insert to install CD, go to RUN and type in D:/setup. I thought the floppy was used if you could not boot up your system.
Comment - If you recall I never once used the word "UPGRADE ". This my friend is a nightmare. I did it once years ago and will never do it again. Clean installs and reinstalls are the only way to go.

Rockster2U - There is nothing in my BIOS that refers to Auto Detect. I used Reset Configuration Data only because there were no other options available. Let's review the jumper setting one more time. According to Maxtor the cable select column is in the middle. That is, reading from right to left, it would be column three.

Mattman - Once in awhile a reinstall does not go cleanly. It happened to me once with drivers. The installation CD installed the newest drivers available. Much to my surprise some of the drivers were too new. Yes, too new! I'm not kidding. The installed drivers were dated 1999. I found an older set with an older version number dated 1997 and they worked perfectly. I do not have an answer to this. All I know from personal experience is than it can happen.

Message to all - Just returned from the PC Pitstop test page. They have a section on Disk Health. The following troubleshooting message was displayed:

cpu.cpp,42,0 Fell back to registry 0 MHz (pre-lock)

CpuInfo.cpp,402,0 raw 0, locked 0 MHz

cpu.cpp,48,0 Fell back to TestClockFrequency

CpuInfo.cpp,402,0 raw 797, locked 800 MHz

CpuInfo.cpp,402,0 raw 797, locked 800 MHz

This is very similar to my old Diskeeper error log. If I had to guess this very well could be the cause of my CPU Load being at 100%. Any thoughts or comments?