[elotrocoso]

Hello

I Recently managed, after a long wait, to get myself a decent, relatively high-end laptop for gaming, and everyithing was going well the first days(after getting the hang of vista). I got myself a copy of neverwinter nights 2 and got decent loading times, and no gameplay issues, when, suddenly, after installing another game and playing it for a while( Leasure suit larry: magna cum laude), the loading times of NWN2, and the overall performance of my PC went to the pits, in a very odd way.
What happens is not a simple performance loss(or at least is not the main issue), but that the game takes about 20-40 seconds to actually BEGIN loading whenever a loading screen apears. This also happens whenever I launch a program, taking some time for the program to apear(it takes like 5 secs to open minesweeper).
I have McAffe as an antivirus, but i also tried using spybot and Ad-Aware(they found nothing other than tracking cookies) as well as installing AVG free and runing it on safe mode(found nothing), i also had spyware crawler installed, but usually did nothing more than bug me about running the real-time shield with full admin privileges, which ofcourse i dont have, and seem to be a pain in the backside to get.
I found some suspicious programs running on the background( like coinme.exe, which is now gone, and 2 taskeng.exe and trustedinstaller.exe) and tried disabling the task programmer(taskeng), to no avail, since i apparently dont have enough admin privileges. Oh, i also tried using the restore point from just before the instalation of LSL, which did nothing special.

Im not sure if Im infected, or its a vista issue, or its a game issue, so i ll try posting it in the 3 sub-forums(hope its not a problem ). Sadly, i cant format, since i dont have the installation CDs with me, let them home(they ll be here in about 3 weeks though), i ve tohught about installing XP on top, but im not sure if it ll help.
Any help would be really apreciated, since while its not incredibly critical, is very, VERY frustrating.....

here s my hijack this log.

Logfile of HijackThis v1.99.1
Scan saved at 04:42:39 p.m., on 07/10/2007
Platform: Unknown Windows (WinNT 6.00.1904)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v7.00 (7.00.6000.16512)

Running processes:
C:\Windows\system32\Dwm.exe
C:\Windows\Explorer.EXE
C:\Windows\system32\taskeng.exe
C:\Program Files\Winamp\winampa.exe
C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0\bin\jusched.exe
C:\Program Files\Sigmatel\C-Major Audio\WDM\sttray.exe
C:\Program Files\DELL\MediaDirect\PCMService.exe
C:\Windows\OEM02Mon.exe
C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe
C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe
C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe
C:\Program Files\McAfee\Common Framework\UdaterUI.exe
C:\Program Files\DellTPad\Apoint.exe
C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools\daemon.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe
C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\msnmsgr.exe
C:\Program Files\McAfee\Common Framework\McTray.exe
C:\Windows\ehome\ehtray.exe
C:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\BTTray.exe
C:\Program Files\Digital Line Detect\DLG.exe
C:\Program Files\DELL\QuickSet\quickset.exe
C:\Windows\ehome\ehmsas.exe
C:\Program Files\DellTPad\Apntex.exe
C:\Program Files\DellTPad\HidFind.exe
C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\livecall.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEUser.exe
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WLLoginProxy.exe
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
C:\Users\Yo\Desktop\HijackThis.exe

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://google.daemonsearch.com/fr/
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://www1.la.dell.com/content/defa...=co&l=es&s=gen
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant =
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch =
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = Internet Explorer provided by Dell
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
O1 - Hosts: ::1 localhost
O2 - BHO: Adobe PDF Reader Link Helper - {06849E9F-C8D7-4D59-B87D-784B7D6BE0B3} - C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\ActiveX\AcroIEHelper.dll
O2 - BHO: BitComet ClickCapture - {39F7E362-828A-4B5A-BCAF-5B79BFDFEA60} - C:\Program Files\BitComet\tools\BitCometBHO_1.1.8.30.dll
O2 - BHO: SSVHelper Class - {761497BB-D6F0-462C-B6EB-D4DAF1D92D43} - c:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0\bin\ssv.dll
O2 - BHO: scriptproxy - {7DB2D5A0-7241-4E79-B68D-6309F01C5231} - C:\Program Files\McAfee\VirusScan Enterprise\scriptcl.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {7E853D72-626A-48EC-A868-BA8D5E23E045} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: Windows Live Sign-in Helper - {9030D464-4C02-4ABF-8ECC-5164760863C6} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Windows Live\WindowsLiveLogin.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Windows Defender] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MSASCui.exe -hide
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [WinampAgent] C:\Program Files\Winamp\winampa.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SunJavaUpdateSched] "c:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0\bin\jusched.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SpywareTerminator] "C:\Program Files\Spyware Terminator\SpywareTerminatorShield.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SigmatelSysTrayApp] C:\Program Files\SigmaTel\C-Major Audio\WDM\sttray.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ShStatEXE] "C:\Program Files\McAfee\VirusScan Enterprise\SHSTAT.EXE" /STANDALONE
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PCMService] "C:\Program Files\Dell\MediaDirect\PCMService.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [OEM02Mon.exe] C:\Windows\OEM02Mon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvSvc] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\Windows\system32\nvsvc.dll,nvsvcStart
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvMediaCenter] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\Windows\system32\NvMcTray.dll,NvTaskbarInit
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NVHotkey] rundll32.exe C:\Windows\system32\nvHotkey.dll,Start
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NvCplDaemon] RUNDLL32.EXE C:\Windows\system32\NvCpl.dll,NvStartup
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [NeroFilterCheck] C:\Program Files\Common Files\Ahead\Lib\NeroCheck.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [McAfeeUpdaterUI] "C:\Program Files\McAfee\Common Framework\UdaterUI.exe" /StartedFromRunKey
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Apoint] C:\Program Files\DellTPad\Apoint.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [BgMonitor_{79662E04-7C6C-4d9f-84C7-88D8A56B10AA}] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Ahead\Lib\NMBgMonitor.exe"
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [DAEMON Tools] "C:\Program Files\DAEMON Tools\daemon.exe" -lang 1033
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Sidebar] C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe /autoRun
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [MsnMsgr] "C:\Program Files\MSN Messenger\MsnMsgr.Exe" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ehTray.exe] C:\Windows\ehome\ehTray.exe
O4 - Global Startup: BTTray.lnk = ?
O4 - Global Startup: Digital Line Detect.lnk = C:\Program Files\Digital Line Detect\DLG.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Inicio rápido de Adobe Reader.lnk = C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\reader_sl.exe
O4 - Global Startup: QuickSet.lnk = ?
O8 - Extra context menu item: &D&ownload &with BitComet - res://C:\Program Files\BitComet\BitComet.exe/AddLink.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: &D&ownload all video with BitComet - res://C:\Program Files\BitComet\BitComet.exe/AddVideo.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: &D&ownload all with BitComet - res://C:\Program Files\BitComet\BitComet.exe/AddAllLink.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: E&xportar a Microsoft Excel - res://C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office12\EXCEL.EXE/3000
O8 - Extra context menu item: Enviar imagen al dispositivo &Bluetooth... - c:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\btsendto_ie_ctx.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Enviar página al dispositivo &Bluetooth... - c:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\btsendto_ie.htm
O9 - Extra button: (no name) - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - c:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0\bin\npjpi160.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: Consola de Sun Java - {08B0E5C0-4FCB-11CF-AAA5-00401C608501} - c:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0\bin\npjpi160.dll
O9 - Extra button: Enviar a OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office12\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: &Enviar a OneNote - {2670000A-7350-4f3c-8081-5663EE0C6C49} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office12\ONBttnIE.dll
O9 - Extra button: BitComet Search - {461CC20B-FB6E-4f16-8FE8-C29359DB100E} - C:\Program Files\BitComet\tools\BitCometBHO_1.1.8.30.dll
O9 - Extra button: Research - {92780B25-18CC-41C8-B9BE-3C9C571A8263} - C:\PROGRA~1\MICROS~2\Office12\REFIEBAR.DLL
O9 - Extra button: @btrez.dll,-4015 - {CCA281CA-C863-46ef-9331-5C8D4460577F} - c:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\btsendto_ie.htm
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: @btrez.dll,-12650 - {CCA281CA-C863-46ef-9331-5C8D4460577F} - c:\Program Files\WIDCOMM\Bluetooth Software\btsendto_ie.htm
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\windows\system32\nlaapi.dll
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\windows\system32\napinsp.dll
O11 - Options group: [INTERNATIONAL] International*
O13 - Gopher Prefix:
O16 - DPF: {B8BE5E93-A60C-4D26-A2DC-220313175592} (MSN Games - Installer) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...o.cab56649.cab
O16 - DPF: {BD393C14-72AD-4790-A095-76522973D6B8} (CBreakshotControl Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...t.cab57213.cab
O16 - DPF: {C3F79A2B-B9B4-4A66-B012-3EE46475B072} (MessengerStatsClient Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...t.cab56907.cab
O16 - DPF: {F5A7706B-B9C0-4C89-A715-7A0C6B05DD48} (Minesweeper Flags Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...r.cab56986.cab
O18 - Protocol: livecall - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Protocol: ms-help - {314111C7-A502-11D2-BBCA-00C04F8EC294} - C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Help\hxds.dll
O18 - Protocol: msnim - {828030A1-22C1-4009-854F-8E305202313F} - C:\PROGRA~1\MSNMES~1\MSGRAP~1.DLL
O18 - Filter hijack: text/xml - {807563E5-5146-11D5-A672-00B0D022E945} - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\MICROS~1\OFFICE12\MSOXMLMF.DLL
O23 - Service: Ares Chatroom server (AresChatServer) - Ares Development Group - C:\Program Files\Ares\chatServer.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\ehome\ehstart.dll,-101 (ehstart) - Unknown owner - %windir%\system32\svchost.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: McAfee E-mail Proxy (Emproxy) - Unknown owner - C:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\McAfee\EmProxy\emproxy.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: McAfee HackerWatch Service - McAfee, Inc. - C:\Program Files\Common Files\McAfee\HackerWatch\HWAPI.exe
O23 - Service: McAfee Framework Service (McAfeeFramework) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files\McAfee\Common Framework\FrameworkService.exe" /ServiceStart (file missing)
O23 - Service: McAfee Redirector Service (McRedirector) - McAfee, Inc. - c:\PROGRA~1\COMMON~1\mcafee\redirsvc\redirsvc.exe
O23 - Service: McAfee McShield (McShield) - McAfee, Inc. - C:\Program Files\McAfee\VirusScan Enterprise\Mcshield.exe
O23 - Service: McAfee SystemGuards (McSysmon) - Unknown owner - C:\PROGRA~1\McAfee\VIRUSS~1\mcsysmon.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: McAfee Task Manager (McTaskManager) - McAfee, Inc. - C:\Program Files\McAfee\VirusScan Enterprise\VsTskMgr.exe
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\qwave.dll,-1 (QWAVE) - Unknown owner - %windir%\system32\svchost.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\seclogon.dll,-7001 (seclogon) - Unknown owner - %windir%\system32\svchost.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: SigmaTel Audio Service (STacSV) - SigmaTel, Inc. - C:\Windows\system32\STacSV.exe
O23 - Service: @%ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe,-101 (WMPNetworkSvc) - Unknown owner - %ProgramFiles%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe (file missing)
O23 - Service: XAudioService - Conexant Systems, Inc. - C:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\xaudio.exe

[Rollin' Rog]

It sounds like the IDE channel your hard drive is on may have degraded to "PIO" mode.

While the configuration interface for this in Vista is a bit different than XP, open the Device Manager and look at the Advanced settings for your IDE/ATA controllers.

Enable DMA should be checked for all, and for all where applicable you should be in Ultra DMA Mode 5 or greater for Hard Disk; 2 or greater for optical drives. They can be reset by uninstalling the driver and rebooting.

There is also a reset script here which I believe should work on Vista as well as other versions or at least do no harm:

http://winhlp.com/node/10

[elotrocoso]

Thanx for the quick response.
Oddly enough, i only have one ATA channel (0), which is for cd-rom(its in ultra dma 2 btw), no other channels are shown, looked at the drive section, but there s nothing concerning the IDE/ATA controllers shown. tried running the script, but it says there are no channels to reboot.... is this normal, considering im in vista? any other tips?

[Rollin' Rog]

If it were a desktop and the drive configuration was a "RAID" type, I'd say yes.

But for a laptop -- the drive has to be on an ATA channel as far as I know.

Is this what you have > http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3937

What do you see when you go to the Control Panel > Performance and Information Tools > Advanced Tools

Any problems reported?


You can try doing "clean boot" troubleshooting > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

[elotrocoso]

Yep, thats my laptop, except for the processor, which is 2Ghz.
I ve tried doing a clen boot, but i still get the same issues, could be for lack of drivers or anything else in the clean boot, since i havent tried to do the whole service testing yet(mostly because im thinking its the tasken.exe( task programer) thats causing the problem, which i have not been able to disable since i dont have full admin privileges( by the way, i ve 2 tasken.exe running, is this ok?).

there s a couple of problems reported
1. performance might be improved by changing visual configuration
2. some startup programs are causing slow boot

nothing about the HD though..... going to look into them anyways, and try a couple of the tools listed.

any ideas on why i dont have my ATA channel listed then.... i ve been reading and, in the link with the DMA script, its said that if the disk has a non-windows driver, it may not apear in the list. any ideas on how could i check if its ultra DMA in this case?

By the way, i ve been told that i can access the full admin account by using safe mode, but i ve never got the option of choosing another account than my own when i do so.

[Rollin' Rog]

There is a built-in Admin account that is locked -- same thing on my Acer. Here is a wassup on it, I was going to unlock mine -- but decided since I had no real reason to do so, just to leave well enough alone:

http://www.computerworld.com/action/...8&pageNumber=2

No reason why you need it anyway.

The same drivers would be loading even in a clean boot.

Check the Task Manager and see if any processes are consistently using high CPU time -- say over 20%.

See if you can find out what boot processes are causing the delay -- sometimes the Performance monitor suggests disabling startup programs.

What is your overall Windows Experience Index?

The thing about visual performance relates to Aero -- in the performance tuning section of the Advanced tools this is called "desktop composition".

For what it's worth I have ALL the "goodies" unchecked except for Visual Styles and Font Smoothing.

Just for the heck of it install "diskspeed32" and test it on your drive -- what kind of an average speed does it give you?

http://www.geocities.com/vgrinenko/DiskSpeed32/

I don't know why the ATA channel isn't showing up, but obviously you have one. On my laptop (not Vista) the hard drive is actually on the Secondary IDE, not the Primary.

[elotrocoso]

I usually check the taskmanager like a crazy person, reason why i think the problem is with taskeng, but there s nothig using 20% or more resources constantly.

my WE index is 4.6

i ve tried unchecking all the visual goodies, doesnt change much, and im now pretty much sure i ll have to make a format, when i get my disks that is.......
and i ll try hat diskspeed thingy and tell you the results

[Marbleman]

If you drive has not downgraded itself to PIO, and you are not able to find any other cause, then check for fragmentation. Installation of the second game (LSL:MCL) may have increased fragmentation. No harm in checking. If you find that fragmentation is high, then do a thorough defrag and a boot-time defrag to defrag the system files (MFT + paging file etc).

EDIT: nevermind about the startup entries. Deleted.

[Rollin' Rog]

There's an update here it won't hurt to install, at least I survived it

>> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/938194

Have you tried doing a "clean boot"?

[elotrocoso]

thx guys, but im gonna wait for the disks and format, nothing else seems to work, and i ve heard its pretty easy to do so with a dell startup disk. thanx for everything though