Slowness & Sound Problem w/Dell D620 Laptop on Windows XP
We are having an ongoing problem with a Dell laptop that has got me puzzled. I am on the verge of simply replacing the computer and using the old one for non-production use, but I thought I would see if anyone else has any ideas first. I've listed the details below. Please let me know if you have any ideas as to what the problem may be.
Thanks,
BHAF
COMPUTER & SOFTWARE
- Dell Latitude D620 laptop
- Windows XP SP2 (now SP3)
- MS Office 2003 with latest SP & updates
- NOD32 AV
- WinZip, Adobe Reader, Flash Player, & similar standard software (all current or near current versions)
- ACT 2000 contact manager
SYMPTOMS
1. The machine boots up and runs very slowly (i.e. everything takes a long time).
2. When any sound is played, it breaks up badly. This happens with internal and external speakers and doesn't matter what the sound is (e.g. Windows sounds, music from MP3 or CD).
3. Occasional blue screen of death. Minidump files show BugCheckCode: 000000f4.
HISTORY
We purchased this computer new in April 2007 and it worked fine until about May 2008. (It was on Windows XP SP 2 at this point.) It then began having the problems listed above, although the user couldn't think of any particular event that preceded the problems. I worked on my own and with Dell to try various things including:
- Ran Dell Diagnostics. Found no problems.
- Updated all drivers to latest versions.
Dell finally said to reinstall Windows. I did a clean reinstall of Windows XP SP3 (i.e. reformatted first) and all of our standard programs. The machine then ran beautifully for a couple of months. Last week, the user installed various Microsoft updates downloaded automatically by Automatic Updates (see below), and the computer immediately began having the symptoms again (except, so far, the BSOD). One by one, we then uninstalled all of the updates installed last week, but the computer still has the slowness and sound problems. Note that we have another D620 purchased a month or two after this one that runs the same software, and it has had no problems. Because it doesn't appear to be a hardware problem, Dell won't replace the laptop.
RECENT UPDATES
This is order in which I uninstalled the recent MS updates. I believe there was also a Root Certificates update, but that was not uninstalled.
1. Security Update for Windows XP (KB956803)
2. Security Update for Windows XP (KB956391)
3. Security Update for Windows XP (KB957095)
4. Security Update for Windows XP (KB954211)
5. Security Update for Windows XP (KB956841)
6. Security Update for Windows XP (KB956390)
7. Update for Outlook 2003: Junk E-mail Filter (KB957257): OUTFLTR
8. Security Update for Excel 2003 (KB955466): EXCEL
Thanks,
BHAF
COMPUTER & SOFTWARE
- Dell Latitude D620 laptop
- Windows XP SP2 (now SP3)
- MS Office 2003 with latest SP & updates
- NOD32 AV
- WinZip, Adobe Reader, Flash Player, & similar standard software (all current or near current versions)
- ACT 2000 contact manager
SYMPTOMS
1. The machine boots up and runs very slowly (i.e. everything takes a long time).
2. When any sound is played, it breaks up badly. This happens with internal and external speakers and doesn't matter what the sound is (e.g. Windows sounds, music from MP3 or CD).
3. Occasional blue screen of death. Minidump files show BugCheckCode: 000000f4.
HISTORY
We purchased this computer new in April 2007 and it worked fine until about May 2008. (It was on Windows XP SP 2 at this point.) It then began having the problems listed above, although the user couldn't think of any particular event that preceded the problems. I worked on my own and with Dell to try various things including:
- Ran Dell Diagnostics. Found no problems.
- Updated all drivers to latest versions.
Dell finally said to reinstall Windows. I did a clean reinstall of Windows XP SP3 (i.e. reformatted first) and all of our standard programs. The machine then ran beautifully for a couple of months. Last week, the user installed various Microsoft updates downloaded automatically by Automatic Updates (see below), and the computer immediately began having the symptoms again (except, so far, the BSOD). One by one, we then uninstalled all of the updates installed last week, but the computer still has the slowness and sound problems. Note that we have another D620 purchased a month or two after this one that runs the same software, and it has had no problems. Because it doesn't appear to be a hardware problem, Dell won't replace the laptop.
RECENT UPDATES
This is order in which I uninstalled the recent MS updates. I believe there was also a Root Certificates update, but that was not uninstalled.
1. Security Update for Windows XP (KB956803)
2. Security Update for Windows XP (KB956391)
3. Security Update for Windows XP (KB957095)
4. Security Update for Windows XP (KB954211)
5. Security Update for Windows XP (KB956841)
6. Security Update for Windows XP (KB956390)
7. Update for Outlook 2003: Junk E-mail Filter (KB957257): OUTFLTR
8. Security Update for Excel 2003 (KB955466): EXCEL
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
I don't think it is malware. Although we haven't tried since it problem recurred, we ran scans with multiple AV scanners before and found nothing.
I will check current processes, event logs, hard drive access, etc. tomorrow. Found nothing unusual here when diagnosing last time though. I'll also have user try safe mode as I can't recall if we had tried that last time.
Note that sound problem occurs even while playing the Windows logon sound immediately after booting, so I don't think CPU load is a factor.
We have not had a BSOD this time (i.e. since rebuild), but below is contents of the last minidump file we had from before the rebuild.
I'll post back when I have more info.
bhaf
MINIDUMP CONTENTS
----- 32 bit Kernel Mini Dump Analysis
DUMP_HEADER32:
MajorVersion 0000000f
MinorVersion 00000a28
DirectoryTableBase 0a480060
PfnDataBase 81086000
PsLoadedModuleList 8055c700
PsActiveProcessHead 80562818
MachineImageType 0000014c
NumberProcessors 00000002
BugCheckCode 000000f4
BugCheckParameter1 00000003
BugCheckParameter2 89b3c248
BugCheckParameter3 89b3c3bc
BugCheckParameter4 805d13b6
PaeEnabled 00000001
KdDebuggerDataBlock 8054c2e0
MiniDumpFields 00000dff
TRIAGE_DUMP32:
ServicePackBuild 00000200
SizeOfDump 00010000
ValidOffset 0000fffc
ContextOffset 00000320
ExceptionOffset 000007d0
MmOffset 00001068
UnloadedDriversOffset 000010a0
PrcbOffset 00001878
ProcessOffset 000024c8
ThreadOffset 00002728
CallStackOffset 00002980
SizeOfCallStack 00000b5c
DriverListOffset 00003770
DriverCount 00000079
StringPoolOffset 00005b60
StringPoolSize 000010a8
BrokenDriverOffset 00000000
TriageOptions 00000041
TopOfStack b63864a4
DebuggerDataOffset 000034e0
DebuggerDataSize 00000290
DataBlocksOffset 00006c08
DataBlocksCount 00000005
Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 (Service Pack 2) MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible
Kernel base = 0x804d7000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x8055c700
Debug session time: Tue Jun 24 17:08:40 2008
System Uptime: 0 days 2:10:05
start end module name
804d7000 806e2000 nt Checksum: 001FB950 Timestamp: Wed Feb 28 01:15:54 2007 (45E5484A)
Unloaded modules:
affdd000 b0008000 kmixer.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
affdd000 b0008000 kmixer.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b1da1000 b1dcc000 kmixer.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
baedc000 baedd000 drmkaud.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b1dcc000 b1def000 aec.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b2674000 b2681000 DMusic.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b27b4000 b27c2000 swmidi.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
bae56000 bae58000 splitter.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b2b6d000 b2b81000 parport.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b754f000 b7558000 processr.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b98df000 b98e3000 kbdhid.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
bacb0000 bacb5000 Cdaudio.SYS Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b98e7000 b98ea000 Sfloppy.SYS Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
bac88000 bac8d000 Flpydisk.SYS Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
baca0000 baca7000 Fdc.SYS Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
Finished dump check
I will check current processes, event logs, hard drive access, etc. tomorrow. Found nothing unusual here when diagnosing last time though. I'll also have user try safe mode as I can't recall if we had tried that last time.
Note that sound problem occurs even while playing the Windows logon sound immediately after booting, so I don't think CPU load is a factor.
We have not had a BSOD this time (i.e. since rebuild), but below is contents of the last minidump file we had from before the rebuild.
I'll post back when I have more info.
bhaf
MINIDUMP CONTENTS
----- 32 bit Kernel Mini Dump Analysis
DUMP_HEADER32:
MajorVersion 0000000f
MinorVersion 00000a28
DirectoryTableBase 0a480060
PfnDataBase 81086000
PsLoadedModuleList 8055c700
PsActiveProcessHead 80562818
MachineImageType 0000014c
NumberProcessors 00000002
BugCheckCode 000000f4
BugCheckParameter1 00000003
BugCheckParameter2 89b3c248
BugCheckParameter3 89b3c3bc
BugCheckParameter4 805d13b6
PaeEnabled 00000001
KdDebuggerDataBlock 8054c2e0
MiniDumpFields 00000dff
TRIAGE_DUMP32:
ServicePackBuild 00000200
SizeOfDump 00010000
ValidOffset 0000fffc
ContextOffset 00000320
ExceptionOffset 000007d0
MmOffset 00001068
UnloadedDriversOffset 000010a0
PrcbOffset 00001878
ProcessOffset 000024c8
ThreadOffset 00002728
CallStackOffset 00002980
SizeOfCallStack 00000b5c
DriverListOffset 00003770
DriverCount 00000079
StringPoolOffset 00005b60
StringPoolSize 000010a8
BrokenDriverOffset 00000000
TriageOptions 00000041
TopOfStack b63864a4
DebuggerDataOffset 000034e0
DebuggerDataSize 00000290
DataBlocksOffset 00006c08
DataBlocksCount 00000005
Windows XP Kernel Version 2600 (Service Pack 2) MP (2 procs) Free x86 compatible
Kernel base = 0x804d7000 PsLoadedModuleList = 0x8055c700
Debug session time: Tue Jun 24 17:08:40 2008
System Uptime: 0 days 2:10:05
start end module name
804d7000 806e2000 nt Checksum: 001FB950 Timestamp: Wed Feb 28 01:15:54 2007 (45E5484A)
Unloaded modules:
affdd000 b0008000 kmixer.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
affdd000 b0008000 kmixer.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b1da1000 b1dcc000 kmixer.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
baedc000 baedd000 drmkaud.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b1dcc000 b1def000 aec.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b2674000 b2681000 DMusic.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b27b4000 b27c2000 swmidi.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
bae56000 bae58000 splitter.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b2b6d000 b2b81000 parport.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b754f000 b7558000 processr.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b98df000 b98e3000 kbdhid.sys Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
bacb0000 bacb5000 Cdaudio.SYS Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
b98e7000 b98ea000 Sfloppy.SYS Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
bac88000 bac8d000 Flpydisk.SYS Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
baca0000 baca7000 Fdc.SYS Timestamp: unavailable (00000000)
Finished dump check
ASKER
We were able to restore the system back to a point before the updates, and the computer now works normally again. For now, we've decided to not apply any further Windows updates. In the future, I'll either apply updates one at a time to figure out where the problem lies or replace this computer and use it for some other purpose (testing, etc.).
Thanks to both rid & smittyboom for replying. I'm going to give points to smittyboom since his post reminded me to try Windows system restore.
bhaf
Thanks to both rid & smittyboom for replying. I'm going to give points to smittyboom since his post reminded me to try Windows system restore.
bhaf
What processes are running: do you know they are all needed?
What is autostarting on this system?
What is CPU load when you try to play music?
Can you check if hard drive is on DMA access or if it has reverted to PIO (it's in device manager)?
/RID