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Question

Windows XP Locks Up During Speed Test

Jan 4, 2013 2:53AM PST

Recently, a solid state (no moving parts) hard drive was installed in my laptop running XP Home. Since then, and not being able to find a driver for this Kingspec drive, the machine stops in mid stride frequently. I thought it was random, almost, but, in fact, especially in Explorer 8, when doing a DSL speed test from speedtest.net, the odometer bar stops in mid stride, the hard disk light comes on and stays on, System Idle Process goes to the top of Task Manager's Processes tab, and the time the machine is 'stalled' in factored into the speed test, reducing it from over 6Mbps to 2Mbps or thereabout. It fluctuates, but it is activated always at the time the speed test gets up to the high speed of over 6Mbps. Basically, everything but the motion of the mouse is halted. Anyone know what this might be or if there is a driver for the 64Gig Kingspec solid state hard drive?

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Yup.
Jan 4, 2013 3:00AM PST

But given the story I can't point to the PC or an incorrect OS install. I find many of today's owners unaware of how involved a XP install is.

Let's use this link for an example.
http://forums.cnet.com/7726-7587_102-2699006.html

There are more issues than a proper install as XP knows nothing about SATA and then you have the requirement for SP2 as a minimum to get the SATA drivers installed. Finally you encounter bugs in the BIOS IDE emulation.

-> Let's hear how you deal with this as well as heat sink compound and old PCs.
Bob

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Not SATA
Jan 4, 2013 5:14AM PST

Solid state hard drive, the Kingspec 64G is a PATA drive, not that I expect this to be much help.

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That detail is not in your OP.
Jan 4, 2013 5:22AM PST

It helps it's a PATA except that only means we have to watch out for the old 40 conductor cable issue. Let's hope these are 80's. The rest of my post still stands.

Tell more if you can.
Bob

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PATA is for a laptop
Jan 4, 2013 8:20AM PST
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I'll be a little more blunt.
Jan 4, 2013 8:51AM PST

The PC's make, model and details are missing. This could be one of the P4 based laptops or the rather famous other models. SSD drives are not without flaw so you would pop the old HDD and see if the problems continue but rather than give the details out little by little let's hope for a better look at this PC and a story about the OS install.

XP is not easy to install. And with SSD you could find yourself with an unreliable system. No one I know supports such a setup so you ask around for clues but given the story I can only guess it's some old laptop that should be retired.
Bob

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Laptop is Sony PCG-505EX
Jan 4, 2013 9:46PM PST

Well, I guess No Country for Old Machines applies and the laptop is the culprit. I have two of these and the one with a normal hard drive works much much better, none of the same 'limbo' experiences of the other. Moving on, you know when your keyboard gets stuck in upper case and is just unusable, really? I know this is an aside, but the Sony with the SSD has this problem all of the sudden, very often, as well, and which is fixed virtually every time by playing crazy drums on the keypad with the Shift, Caps Lock, and Ctrl buttons. The only problem they both have had is if they have been running for a while, when shutting down, well into the shutdown procedure often a window comes up saying something about a bad instruction error and points to a particular hexadecimal code and locks up then, like something is embedded down so low [to do the only thing computers do, copy] that it just can't shut off during a shutdown.

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The OS
Jan 4, 2013 9:54PM PST

The person who installed the SSD merely mirrored the system of the other machine with a standard hard drive, then copied it back with the SSD hard drive installed on a different PCG-V505EX. I tried to find a driver, as he suggested, but I could not. Guessing there are no paddles to go up this river..

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Then test it with the normal HDD.
Jan 5, 2013 1:25AM PST

I did think about the issue and since we could pull the DMA rate back we might be able to make it work.


Try PIO Mode first. It's noted at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310751

I think there once was a way to set the DMA MODE but it's been a long time and the link eludes me.
Bob