Acer Aspire 1350 slow for no apparent reason

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Hello!

I have a very weird problem with my Acer Aspire 1350.

Athlon-XP-M 2400, 192MB RAM, Toshiba MK3021GAS 30GB, VIA S3G KM400/KN400

After a clean reinstall the system runs smoothly but after installing some
software
(mainly Norton Anti Virus 2004, ZoneAlarm, Office XP, Eclipse, Firefox, some
other small programs not really worth mentioning) I experience a severe loss
in system speed.

Programs tend to take ages to load. Sometimes the system simply halts for a
few seconds (mainly when I'm using Eclipse) and then continues.

Since I assumed the hard disk to be the culprit here, I ran every surface
scan software I know of with no results. No bad sectors here. System
benchmarks show decent scores in every aspect (RAM, HD, Processor,
Graphics).

The strange thing is that when I run Benchmarx 4.1's Excel and Word tests I
receive tremendously low scores: 45 cells/second for Excel and 25
chars/second for Word, while a Duron 750 with 265 MB RAM is supposed to
return 300 cells/s and 300 chars/s.

So what to do now? After reformatting and reinstalling the problem returns
after I installed the basic programs.

One thing I should mention: When performing an HD scan, I have the feeling
the scan 'hangs' at a certain percentage. That's why I initially thought I
had caught some bad sectors. But that doesn't seem to be it.

I guess with these vague problems I have no grounds to give it back to Acer
do I?

Any ideas?
Help is greatly appreciated, I'm having this problem for quite a while now.

Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Jan Biel wrote:

> Hello!
>
> I have a very weird problem with my Acer Aspire 1350.
>
> Athlon-XP-M 2400, 192MB RAM, Toshiba MK3021GAS 30GB, VIA S3G KM400/KN400
>
> After a clean reinstall the system runs smoothly but after installing
> some software
> (mainly Norton Anti Virus 2004, ZoneAlarm, Office XP, Eclipse, Firefox,
> some other small programs not really worth mentioning) I experience a
> severe loss in system speed.
>
> Programs tend to take ages to load. Sometimes the system simply halts
> for a few seconds (mainly when I'm using Eclipse) and then continues.
>
> Since I assumed the hard disk to be the culprit here, I ran every
> surface scan software I know of with no results. No bad sectors here.
> System benchmarks show decent scores in every aspect (RAM, HD,
> Processor, Graphics).
>
> The strange thing is that when I run Benchmarx 4.1's Excel and Word
> tests I receive tremendously low scores: 45 cells/second for Excel and
> 25 chars/second for Word, while a Duron 750 with 265 MB RAM is supposed
> to return 300 cells/s and 300 chars/s.
>
> So what to do now? After reformatting and reinstalling the problem
> returns after I installed the basic programs.
>
> One thing I should mention: When performing an HD scan, I have the
> feeling the scan 'hangs' at a certain percentage. That's why I initially
> thought I had caught some bad sectors. But that doesn't seem to be it.
>
> I guess with these vague problems I have no grounds to give it back to
> Acer do I?
>
> Any ideas?
> Help is greatly appreciated, I'm having this problem for quite a while now.
>
> Janbiel

I believe you are barking at the wrong tree. Most certainly, the culprit
is not the hard disk but a piece of software running in the background.
Open Windows Task Manager, click twice on CPU and you will see what
software is consuming most of your CPU cycles. If nothing is wrong on
your machine, you should see System Idle Process with 98 or 99%. In your
case, I strongly suspect Norton AV but there are other possibilites.
Once you have identified the culprit, you need to disable its automatic
loading with Windows. Use msconfig. Reboot and check again.

You need too to run Adaware or an equivalent program to make sure some
spyware is not harming your system. Since you have Norton AV installed,
the probability of a virus should be low.

Hope this helps.


John Doue

 

[Dan]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Does your laptop have an integrated video card? It sounds like 64megs of
ram have been dedicated to video.
"Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> wrote in message
news:d433m8$1o5c$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
> Hello!
>
> I have a very weird problem with my Acer Aspire 1350.
>
> Athlon-XP-M 2400, 192MB RAM, Toshiba MK3021GAS 30GB, VIA S3G KM400/KN400
>
> After a clean reinstall the system runs smoothly but after installing some
> software
> (mainly Norton Anti Virus 2004, ZoneAlarm, Office XP, Eclipse, Firefox,
> some other small programs not really worth mentioning) I experience a
> severe loss in system speed.
>
> Programs tend to take ages to load. Sometimes the system simply halts for
> a few seconds (mainly when I'm using Eclipse) and then continues.
>
> Since I assumed the hard disk to be the culprit here, I ran every surface
> scan software I know of with no results. No bad sectors here. System
> benchmarks show decent scores in every aspect (RAM, HD, Processor,
> Graphics).
>
> The strange thing is that when I run Benchmarx 4.1's Excel and Word tests
> I receive tremendously low scores: 45 cells/second for Excel and 25
> chars/second for Word, while a Duron 750 with 265 MB RAM is supposed to
> return 300 cells/s and 300 chars/s.
>
> So what to do now? After reformatting and reinstalling the problem returns
> after I installed the basic programs.
>
> One thing I should mention: When performing an HD scan, I have the feeling
> the scan 'hangs' at a certain percentage. That's why I initially thought I
> had caught some bad sectors. But that doesn't seem to be it.
>
> I guess with these vague problems I have no grounds to give it back to
> Acer do I?
>
> Any ideas?
> Help is greatly appreciated, I'm having this problem for quite a while
> now.
>
> Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

"Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> skrev i melding
news:d433m8$1o5c$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
> Hello!
>
> I have a very weird problem with my Acer Aspire 1350.
>
> Athlon-XP-M 2400, 192MB RAM, Toshiba MK3021GAS 30GB, VIA S3G
> KM400/KN400
> After a clean reinstall the system runs smoothly but after
> installing some software
> (mainly Norton Anti Virus 2004, ZoneAlarm, Office XP, Eclipse,
> Firefox, some other small programs not really worth mentioning) I
> experience a severe loss in system speed.

The main problem you have is too little RAM. If you've installed all
with default settings, these program loads bits of them in system
memory to achieve quicker start times. With only 192 MB Ram for
Windows XP or 2000 your resources are already depleted before you can
do some work. There are two solutions to your problem:

1. Go into BIOS and adjust down the amount shared memory for the
graphic card. I suspect your machine is set to 64 MB. Reduce it down
to 8 MB. With this kind of machine the card barely handles 5-10 years
games and if you never play games you're going to get 56 more
precious RAM.

2. Buy more RAM. A computer today should never be equipped with less
than 256 MB RAM.

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[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

%&@£Arild Bjørk¤$£$ wrote:
>
> The main problem you have is too little RAM. If you've installed all
> with default settings, these program loads bits of them in system
> memory to achieve quicker start times. With only 192 MB Ram for
> Windows XP or 2000 your resources are already depleted before you can
> do some work. There are two solutions to your problem:

When I sent the post I realized that 192 is awful little RAM. Currently I'm
wondering why I don't have more. Either Acer shipped the laptop with that
little and I didn't pay attention when buying it or something is wrong. I
need to check how much RAM the laptop supposed to have when it shipped. Come
to think of it: Why would they equip a 2400Mhz PC with only 200 MB of RAM?
And more importantly, why didn't I notice that before buying?

> 1. Go into BIOS and adjust down the amount shared memory for the
> graphic card. I suspect your machine is set to 64 MB. Reduce it down
> to 8 MB. With this kind of machine the card barely handles 5-10 years
> games and if you never play games you're going to get 56 more
> precious RAM.

That's another problem I have. This fancy laptop has some strange sort of
tuned down bios with almost no options. All I can change is the boot order
or the USB setting. Any way to flash the bios so I can use the regular
functions?

Thanks for the hint!
Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Jan Biel wrote:
> %&@£Arild Bjørk¤$£$ wrote:
>>
>> The main problem you have is too little RAM. If you've installed all
>> with default settings, these program loads bits of them in system
>> memory to achieve quicker start times. With only 192 MB Ram for
>> Windows XP or 2000 your resources are already depleted before you can
>> do some work. There are two solutions to your problem:
>
> When I sent the post I realized that 192 is awful little RAM.
> Currently I'm wondering why I don't have more. Either Acer shipped
> the laptop with that little and I didn't pay attention when buying it
> or something is wrong. I need to check how much RAM the laptop
> supposed to have when it shipped. Come to think of it: Why would they
> equip a 2400Mhz PC with only 200 MB of RAM? And more importantly, why
> didn't I notice that before buying?

I just opened the thing and funnily there is one 256 MB DDR RAM module in
there (it says so on the sticker).

So how come my system only recognizes 192 MB of it?

Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> wrote in message
news:d43con$26ia$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 18:23:56 +0200

I just opened the thing and funnily there is one 256 MB DDR RAM
module in there (it says so on the sticker).

So how come my system only recognizes 192 MB of it?

Hi Jan... When a computer gets powered on, it does its system check
things and checks for available memory. As long as it is counting, it
will count all the way up to the max of the real memory. Although if it
finds one bad byte during the count. That's all it is going to use. So
unless something else is wrong, it's almost a sure bet that memory
module is bad.



Cheers!


______________________________________________
Bill (using a Toshiba 2595XDVD & Windows 2000)
-- written and edited within Word 2000

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> wrote in
news:d43con$26ia$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de:


> So how come my system only recognizes 192 MB of it?

is the rest going to an 'on board' video card without it's own RAM?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

BillW50 wrote:
> "Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> wrote in message
> news:d43con$26ia$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
> Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 18:23:56 +0200
>
> I just opened the thing and funnily there is one 256 MB DDR RAM
> module in there (it says so on the sticker).
>
> So how come my system only recognizes 192 MB of it?
>
> Hi Jan... When a computer gets powered on, it does its system check
> things and checks for available memory. As long as it is counting, it
> will count all the way up to the max of the real memory. Although if
> it finds one bad byte during the count. That's all it is going to
> use. So unless something else is wrong, it's almost a sure bet that
> memory module is bad.

But in that case I'd expect some sort of error message. But as far as I can
see, the system doesn't even do the startup check. The amount of RAM is
displayed immediately (190MB). No error messages.

The strange thing is that my bios doesn't even have any options in regard to
the RAM checking like in usual bioses. I wonder how I can get a decent
bios...

Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> wrote in message
news:d43j4l$2gh8$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 20:28:43 +0200

BillW50 wrote:
> Hi Jan... When a computer gets powered on, it does its system check
> things and checks for available memory. As long as it is counting, it
> will count all the way up to the max of the real memory. Although if
> it finds one bad byte during the count. That's all it is going to
> use. So unless something else is wrong, it's almost a sure bet that
> memory module is bad.

But in that case I'd expect some sort of error message. But as far
as I can see, the system doesn't even do the startup check. The
amount of RAM is displayed immediately (190MB). No error messages.

The strange thing is that my bios doesn't even have any options in
regard to the RAM checking like in usual bioses. I wonder how I can
get a decent bios...

Hi Jan... Well I'm an engineer and I don't know why that do it that way.
But they check by a simple test and at the sign of the first failure,
that is it. That's all the memory you have.

I'm guessing here, but I guess it never reports any errors for the
memory is because it has no way of knowing how much is installed in the
machine by using the method it checks with (all IBM clones work this way
AFAK). It's okay I guess, but it would be nice if the machine had known
it was supposed to be 256MB, eh?


Cheers!


______________________________________________
Bill (using a Toshiba 2595XDVD & Windows 2000)
-- written and edited within Word 2000

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> skrev i melding
news:d43con$26ia$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
> Jan Biel wrote:

> I just opened the thing and funnily there is one 256 MB DDR RAM module in
> there (it says so on the sticker).
>
> So how come my system only recognizes 192 MB of it?
>
> Janbiel

I suspect Via KN400 reserves 64 MB for the integrated graphic card.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"%&@£Arild Bjørk¤$£$" <not@disclosed.no> skrev i melding
news:S_c9e.7300$SL4.157078@news4.e.nsc.no...
>
> I suspect Via KN400 reserves 64 MB for the integrated graphic card.

Found an old product leaflet on the net:
Built-in S3 Graphics ProSavage8T AGP 8x card with up to 64MB shared memory
(1353LC/LM; 1355LC/LM; 1356LC/LMi) or ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9200 AGP 8x card
with 64MB VRAM (1356LCi/LMi); Simultaneous LCD and external CRT display;
DualViewT support

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

BillW50 wrote:
> "Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> wrote in message
> news:d43j4l$2gh8$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
> Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 20:28:43 +0200
>
> BillW50 wrote:
>> Hi Jan... When a computer gets powered on, it does its system check
>> things and checks for available memory. As long as it is counting, it
>> will count all the way up to the max of the real memory. Although if
>> it finds one bad byte during the count. That's all it is going to
>> use. So unless something else is wrong, it's almost a sure bet that
>> memory module is bad.
>
> But in that case I'd expect some sort of error message. But as
> far as I can see, the system doesn't even do the startup check.
> The amount of RAM is displayed immediately (190MB). No error
> messages.
>
> The strange thing is that my bios doesn't even have any options
> in regard to the RAM checking like in usual bioses. I wonder how
> I can get a decent bios...
>
> Hi Jan... Well I'm an engineer and I don't know why that do it that
> way. But they check by a simple test and at the sign of the first
> failure, that is it. That's all the memory you have.
>
> I'm guessing here, but I guess it never reports any errors for the
> memory is because it has no way of knowing how much is installed in
> the machine by using the method it checks with (all IBM clones work
> this way AFAK). It's okay I guess, but it would be nice if the
> machine had known it was supposed to be 256MB, eh?

What I'm worried about is that the Memory test does not run like it's
supposed to. Usually you see the numbers being counted up from zero at the
beginning. This is not the case here. It displays the Memory size right
away. Usually there is a BIOS switch that lets you enable 'quick boot' which
skips the memory test. But my BIOS does not let me change these switches. I
used a program to read out the cmos settings and the result showed that
indeed quick boot was enabled. So my guess is that the system doesn't even
do the initial memory test but instead assumes that 192 MB is the correct
size.

For that reason I need a decent bios or some tool that lets me change the
CMOS settings. Is it really normal that the Acer bios only displays very few
switches compared to other bioses?

Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Dan wrote:
> Does your laptop have an integrated video card? It sounds like
> 64megs of ram have been dedicated to video.

Yes, I guess it does.

If it does, I'm back to square one

Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> wrote in message
news:d43njp$2n0g$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
Date: Tue, 19 Apr 2005 21:54:30 +0200

What I'm worried about is that the Memory test does not run like
it's supposed to. Usually you see the numbers being counted up from
zero at the beginning. This is not the case here. It displays the
Memory size right away.

Hi Jan... Yes I understand completely. Although unless something isn't
working incorrectly, I personally wouldn't worry too much about it.
There are programs out there that can test your RAM, hard drive, etc.
far better than your BIOS can anyway.

Usually there is a BIOS switch that lets you enable 'quick boot'
which skips the memory test. But my BIOS does not let me change
these switches. I used a program to read out the cmos settings and
the result showed that indeed quick boot was enabled. So my guess
is that the system doesn't even do the initial memory test but
instead assumes that 192 MB is the correct size.

Yeah, but others added a new twist. That is your video card takes 64MB
of it. I have to be completely honest with you. I completely forgot
about that integrated video card factor. So after a little thought, I
believe they are indeed 99% correct.

For that reason I need a decent bios or some tool that lets me
change the CMOS settings. Is it really normal that the Acer bios
only displays very few switches compared to other bioses?

Well I never used an Acer BIOS myself, so it might be normal. But I
don't worry too much if the BIOS offers little options at all. While I
have to admit, it is a bit annoying. But the main job of the BIOS is to
get the OS up and running. And if it can get that done, I'm pretty happy
for the most part.

I also read that you ordered another 256MB of RAM! Gosh... from what I
had read, I feel responsible for your ordering. So what do I owe you for
that?


Cheers!


______________________________________________
Bill (using a Toshiba 2595XDVD & Windows 2000)
-- written and edited within Word 2000

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

%&@£Arild Bjørk?$£$ wrote:
> "%&@£Arild Bjørk¤$£$" <not@disclosed.no> skrev i melding
> news:S_c9e.7300$SL4.157078@news4.e.nsc.no...
>>
>> I suspect Via KN400 reserves 64 MB for the integrated graphic card.
>
> Found an old product leaflet on the net:
> Built-in S3 Graphics ProSavage8T AGP 8x card with up to 64MB shared
> memory (1353LC/LM; 1355LC/LM; 1356LC/LMi) or ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9200
> AGP 8x card with 64MB VRAM (1356LCi/LMi); Simultaneous LCD and
> external CRT display; DualViewT support

So a memory upgrade is my only option now?

Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> skrev i melding
news:d43njp$2n0g$3@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
>> Found an old product leaflet on the net:
>> Built-in S3 Graphics ProSavage8T AGP 8x card with up to 64MB shared
>> memory (1353LC/LM; 1355LC/LM; 1356LC/LMi) or ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9200
>> AGP 8x card with 64MB VRAM (1356LCi/LMi); Simultaneous LCD and
>> external CRT display; DualViewT support
>
> So a memory upgrade is my only option now?
>
> Janbiel

If it's not possible to adjust it in BIOS, have you checked if you can
change it by using software for the graphic card? Right click on the desktop
and select Properties. Go through every advanced setting for the display
driver and see if there is an option for decreasing the memory usage. You
may have to reboot after the change. If there is no setting for this in the
display driver, see if there is an option in the chipset driver or software.
Since I don't have an Apsire, I'm guessing where any such setting may be
found. If there is none, upgrading the memory is a fairly cheap and a very
simple operation. I have done it on a couple nootbooks. Just insert the
memory at an angle and push it down.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Good Man wrote:
> "Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> wrote in
> news:d43con$26ia$1@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de:
>
>
>> So how come my system only recognizes 192 MB of it?
>
> is the rest going to an 'on board' video card without it's own RAM?

Supposedly it does. Thanks

Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

%&@£Arild Bjørk¤$£$ wrote:
> "Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> skrev i melding
> news:d43njp$2n0g$3@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
>>> Found an old product leaflet on the net:
>>> Built-in S3 Graphics ProSavage8T AGP 8x card with up to 64MB shared
>>> memory (1353LC/LM; 1355LC/LM; 1356LC/LMi) or ATI MOBILITY RADEON
>>> 9200 AGP 8x card with 64MB VRAM (1356LCi/LMi); Simultaneous LCD and
>>> external CRT display; DualViewT support
>>
>> So a memory upgrade is my only option now?
>>
>> Janbiel
>
> If it's not possible to adjust it in BIOS, have you checked if you can
> change it by using software for the graphic card? Right click on the
> desktop and select Properties. Go through every advanced setting for
> the display driver and see if there is an option for decreasing the
> memory usage. You may have to reboot after the change. If there is no
> setting for this in the display driver, see if there is an option in
> the chipset driver or software.

I think I tried the display settings already. Since the graphics chip is a
really cheap one, I don't expect it to yield much insight in the matter. But
I'll try all of your suggestions tomorrow. On top of that I just ordered
another 256MB bar of RAM.

This has really been a lesson. I don't think I'll ever buy Acer again.
Surely it's inexpensive, but all the trouble just isn't worth it.

Just out of curiosity, what laptop do you have? Are you content with it?

Thanks for your help!
Janbiel

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Jan Biel" <jan.biel@tu-clausthal.de> skrev i melding
news:d43q4p$2r4m$2@ariadne.rz.tu-clausthal.de...
> %&@£Arild Bjørk¤$£$ wrote:

> Just out of curiosity, what laptop do you have? Are you content with it?
>

My personal laptop is a 2 year old HP Pavillion 4278 withn Mobile Intel
Celeron 2.0, 30 GB HD, DVD-reader/CD-writer. I reasonably content with it.
The key board is a little hard and requires some force to handle. If you're
a piano player there is no problem, but if you were previously using a
desktop with and ordinary key board you'll notice. The fan haved only one
setting, full speed, so there is some noise when it kicks in. Battery time
isn't the best. After two years it's barely 1 and a half hours and closer to
1 if it's working hard work. Video editing really drains it. Apart from that
I have had no problems with it. It's stable and easy to carry around.

At work I have a newer laptop based on an Aopen barebone with Pentium M 1.5
and a 1400x1050 display. It has a more pleasent keyboard and I really like
the display. It makes it real easy to work with several documents at a time.
Battery time is excellent coming near to 4 hours with ordinary office work.
And best of all there is very little noise.