No joke - XP too fast!

[G0AOZ]

Never thought I'd query why XP was running lightning fast, but I am!

Time laptop, Athlon running at 1.8GHz with 256Mb RAM, XP Home, no Service Pack. The first XP splash screen shows the green squares simply racing across the box at lightning speed, desktop appears almost instantly, but cannot get the touchpad mouse to work, and the DVD drive won't read ANYTHING.

Event Viewer reports errors relating to a timeout on the DVD drive which is not surprising, and Device Manager shows nothing in error. The hardware all appears to check out fine, and a basic installation made on another Time laptop runs perfectly on this one. So it has to be the Windows XP installation...

I can boot this machine fine with the XP CD, so tried an over-the-top repair. However, once it's in the final stages and it's actually running Windows, it needs more files off the CD and then of course refuses to recognise the disk in the DVD drive!

Boots up fine in Safe Mode, but selecting Diagnostic Startup (MSCONFIG) in Normal Mode produces the same ultra fast speed with loss of facilities. The Windows clock shown in the SystemTray is surprisingly running slowly in Normal mode, but correctly in Safe mode.

The System Restore Points only go back about three months, and selecting the earliest one makes no change to the condition.

Anyone come across this before? How do I make this one run at the correct speed?

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[G0AOZ]

I stated earlier that the clock was running slowly. I've just realised it's the MINUTES I'm seeing whizzing by, not the SECONDS!! It looks like the clock is running about 50 times faster than it ought to be...

P.S. Sorry, should probably have put this in the XP forum, but I've started so I'll finish, as Magnus would have said.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[stduc]

Are you using Time's recovery CD? Or a CD specifically for the Time? I imagine it needs specific drivers?

If you don't have the correct CD for that machine then possible workarounds that occur to me are.

Can you boot to recovery console and copy the files it is after to a folder on the hard drive and install them from there?

Build your own XP CD using something like winfuture and incorporate all the required drivers for the time.

However, I would imagine that something serious is failing on the motherboard in the area of the timing crystal. So I think it's probably best to remove the hard drive and recover what you can and get a new machine?

[navy]When I married "Miss Right" I didn't realise her first name was 'always'. LOL[/navy]

 

[wahnula]

The hardware all appears to check out fine, and a basic installation made on another Time laptop runs perfectly on this one. So it has to be the Windows XP installation

I'm afraid this statement is not very clear...

Have you tried another OS like Knoppix Linux or Puppy Linux to check the hardware?

I must say Roger, you do have the most interesting head-scratching problems!

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[acewarlock]

Have you tried botting from a Floppy and checking the clock?




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[stduc]

It's just occurred to me - an obvious check is to see what is happening to the clock if you go into the BIOS screens. Maybe the CPU had become overclocked for some reason? Maybe the CMOS battery is dying and the CMOS settings have become corrupt?

So I believe that I would see what the BIOS settings are and maybe set them to 'safe' or 'normal'. Having noted what they are at the moment of course.

[navy]When I married "Miss Right" I didn't realise her first name was 'always'. LOL[/navy]

 

[acewarlock]

If you boot from a floppy and the clock is still fast, it's the BIOS or the MB.




This is a Signature and not part of the answer, it appears on every reply.

This is an Analogy so don't take it personally as some have.

Why change the engine if all you need is to change the spark plugs.

 

[G0AOZ]

Think I've finally hit on the answer to this one...

BIOS clock ok, Safe Mode bootup ok, but Normal Mode, whizzzzzz! When I put the basic installation from another Time laptop into this one (swapped HDD), it worked fine. But then I noticed the modem driver wasn't installed. That gave me a clue... Went back to the installation that was running at speed and disabled the modem in Device Manager. All is now fine, and seconds ticking by on the Windows clock really are seconds again. I reckon the modem may have taken a static hit when connected to the phone line.

Thanks for all your ideas guys. As you say Tony, I do seem to get 'em don't I. Still, what's life without a challenge now and again.

ROGER - G0AOZ.