Explorer/My computer Performance problems

[GT98]

Ok guys I need a hand here. I have a a P3-450@558 with a DVD-ROM, 40x CD-ROM, 2x SCSI CD-Burner, and a IDE ZIP drive. My problem is that when ever I open up explorer or my computer...it takes FOREVER (10-15 seconds) for it open up or show any drive icons. I thought that I might have fried my Western Digitial 13GB drive from overclocking it but I just installed a 30.7GB drive and its doing the same thing. I did a OS reinstall back in november thinking it would fix it but no luck. Also I tried running the CPU at its normal speed but that didn't work either. I have the CD-rom and HD together on one IDE channel and the DVD drive and ZIP on the other. I was thinking that maybe the PS I have in it currently can't put out the amps to spool up the drives and maybe 300W PS would help solve the problem.

I'm at wits end with the problem. its really annyoing at times when I'm trying to get stuff off the drive, but otherwise game performance is alright.

Scott


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Abit BH6 with a P3-450@558,128mb RAM,G400 MAX,SB Live!, Optiquest V95 19in montor, Asus 40x CD-ROM, Aopen 5x DVD-ROM, 2x CDR, WD 13.6 GB HD,SupraMax 56k modem

[Alegria]

You didn't mention which SCSI controller you have in your combo
It sounds like a driver thing though.
Some older Adaptec 2940AU cards cause delays when used in conjunction with 98's original driver (AIC78XX.MPD). Even though there is no CD in the CD-R it might seem to hang for a while.
Don't get the idea as of yet.

Regards, Alegria

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The pump don't work, 'cause the vandals took the handle...
Bob Dylan

[GT98]

well I do have a Adaptec AIC7850...which looks like it might be the same driver as whats what you are talking about..mine is dated from 1999 so I guess I should take a look at Adaptec's site to see if they have anything else newer out there....

Scott


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Abit BH6 with a P3-450@558,128mb RAM,G400 MAX,SB Live!, Optiquest V95 19in montor, Asus 40x CD-ROM, Aopen 5x DVD-ROM, 2x CDR, WD 13.6 GB HD,SupraMax 56k modem

[GT98]

well I do have a Adaptec AIC7850...which looks like it might be the same driver as whats what you are talking about..mine is dated from 1999 so I guess I should take a look at Adaptec's site to see if they have anything else newer out there....

Scott


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Abit BH6 with a P3-450@558,128mb RAM,G400 MAX,SB Live!, Optiquest V95 19in montor, Asus 40x CD-ROM, Aopen 5x DVD-ROM, 2x CDR, WD 13.6 GB HD,SupraMax 56k modem

[Alegria]

Your driver is from 1999, but what is its internal revision number?
Mine is 2.21. It is Adaptecs latest MPD from the 3.02.2 Family Manager Set for AIC 78XX.
Windows 98 claims this driver to be older even on SE upon install. But that is not true. Try using the Adaptec driver.

Regards, Alegria

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The pump don't work, 'cause the vandals took the handle...
Bob Dylan

[GT98]

well I just checked (been battling it out with Win2000 (installing) eariler this morning) and I have verison 2.21a and I still have the same problems with slow performance. Any other ideas?

Scott


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Abit BH6 with a P3-450@558,128mb RAM,G400 MAX,SB Live!, Optiquest V95 19in montor, Asus 40x CD-ROM, Aopen 5x DVD-ROM, 2x CDR, WD 13.6 GB HD,SupraMax 56k modem

[Vlip]

I was having this problem, because I didn't install the floppy drive (just hate those little unuseful things). Each time I tried to access the explorer, he tried to find it.
something like 30 secs to wait.

I don't know if that may help you, but...

Vlip

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"A vaincre sans péril, l'on triomphe sans gloire"
Corneille

AMD Athlon 500, Asus K7M, 128Mb PC100 SDRAM, Matrox G400MAX, Sb Live and a lot more toys and gadgets.

[GT98]

Well after getting my system back to normal this evening and getting Win2000 to work on my old 13GB drive and keeping Win98 on the 30GB drive. I went back to the CD-burner. I left the thing disconnected powerwise and guess what? the speed was back in explorer and My computer. Can anyone suggest a good low end SCSI card that I can get to replace my AIC 7850? I was thinking of getting a 2940 but that would be overkill or just getting rid of my ZIP drive (rather not do that) and get myself a HP 4x4x32 CD-R/CDRW to put on the IDE channel that will be freed up by loseing the ZIP drive.

Scott


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Abit BH6 with a P3-450@558,128mb RAM,G400 MAX,SB Live!, Optiquest V95 19in montor, Asus 40x CD-ROM, Aopen 5x DVD-ROM, 2x CDR, WD 13.6 GB HD,SupraMax 56k modem

[GT98]

Well I rather not get rid of it becasue it was a freebie from my dad when he upgraded to a 8x CD-R. If I do get an upgrade I'm looking at getting a HP 8250 4x4x32 drive.

Scott


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Abit BH6 with a P3-450@558,128mb RAM,G400 MAX,SB Live!, Optiquest V95 19in montor, Asus 40x CD-ROM, Aopen 5x DVD-ROM, 2x CDR,SupraMax 56k modem, Win98 SE on Western Digital 30.7GB, Win2000 on a WD 13 GB HDD

[Alegria]

Hi Scott, since your problem is SCSI related I just have to ask for once, did you check the termination settings on the CD burner and the SCSI card? A faulty cable could also be causing the trouble. Termination should be provided on both ends of the SCSI chain which means on the host adaptor and the SCSI CD-R in your case. The CD-R should be connected to the very last connector of the cable as the host adaptor should be on the other end of the cable. There must not be any connectors after the CD-R. Termination should be set to enabled on the CD-R.
If that is not the case, the SCSI adaptor will reset the bus very often when a data transmission occurs because of signal reflections and weaknesses. Imagine a SCSI Bus working like a guitar string. If it is tied up the right way it can swing from end to end. If you cut one end (no termination) it can't swing anymore. If you put your finger on it somewhere in between (not using the last connector on the ends) it is dampened (signal distortion and weakness). This can cause a lot of problems with the drive when it is accessed.

If you're looking for a good IDE CD-R/RW
I agree the Plextor 8432 is a good drive although a little noisy when used as a reader.
If you are looking for a simple PCI SCSI Card
some cheap SymbiosLogic/NCR 53C810
adaptor could be sufficient. In Germany those cards cost about 35$ to 40$. They have driver support in Win95/98/NT/2000/OS/2/Linux/Solaris and whatever OS you can think of on a PC. They come without a BIOS sometimes so you can't boot from it if your motherboard does not have built-in Symbios BIOS support. Most boards have it though.

That's all for now, gotta wake up my wife now.

Regards, Sascha

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The pump don't work, 'cause the vandals took the handle...
Bob Dylan

[Punk]

I have this problem also when I leave a cd-rom in my player...Non scsi system. But not so many secs...about 5 or so...Does anyone have a solution? Except for leavinf the cd-rom out offcourse...

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What I like about computing?2 much 2 mention

[TnT]

Some CD-ROM drives seem to need to power up everytime Windows Explorer opens. This causes the system to wait to be able to read the drive and causes delays.