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My coworker's computer stopped working properly. After login the Desktop loads then everything slows to a snails pace. Meaning opening My Computer could take up to 5-10 minutes. Then seemingly randomly the computer just freezes and wont complete any task although the cursor moves freely.

I have gone through starting/stopping services on start-up but still can't pinpoint the problem. (I did this because in safe mode everything seems normal (in terms of speed) however some problems still exist). I want to re-image his computer since he has a clonezilla backup image however his outlook files have to backed up first. I cannot even do this since the copy gets hanged up on 96.2% (i used regular drag and drop as well as robocopy). the outlook file is roughly 8gb and there is 100gb of free space on the external HDD. I tried to copy in safe mode with the same results.

Any help or direction would b greatly appreciated... Thank you

Maurycy
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  • Have you tried using Process Explorer to determine if a specific process is hogging resources? – EBGreen Aug 04 '11 at 18:55
  • http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653 – EBGreen Aug 04 '11 at 18:56
  • I checked and the cpu usage remains at 0% then jumps with any movement to screen to ~30% in terms of memory Physical is at 16% I am testing out process explorer now thanks – Maurycy Aug 04 '11 at 18:58
  • Yeah, hopefully it will tell you specifically which process is causing the resorurce spike. Unfortunately I have a sneaking suspicion that the culprit will be explorer.exe :) – EBGreen Aug 04 '11 at 19:00
  • That's what i concluded as well since its hogging 28k of memory. What would I do if that were the case? I am running out of options :( Thanks – Maurycy Aug 04 '11 at 19:01
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    In my experience (and this is purely anecdotal) file indexing is often the issue. I've never been faced with a situation that was bad enough that I figured out a good solution though, sorry. – EBGreen Aug 04 '11 at 19:05
  • Here is a screenshot of the processes running (wont be too helpful but here it is anyways) link any ideas? – Maurycy Aug 04 '11 at 19:11
  • Can also be an infection...http://superuser.com/questions/100360/what-to-do-if-my-computer-is-infected-by-a-virus-or-a-malware/157533#157533 – Moab Aug 04 '11 at 20:36

2 Answers2

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I cannot add anything to the speed/performance issue but suggest removing the drive and attaching it directly to a working system to grab the data from Outlook. Either directly or with a USB adapter.

Dave M
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  • thanks :( that would be the last resort. I would have to go out and buy the usb adapter. Appreciated – Maurycy Aug 04 '11 at 19:25
  • A desktop system would allow you to conenct the problem drive even if you had to use the CD drive cables. Is it a laptop or a desktop system that has the issues? SATA or EIDE? – Dave M Aug 04 '11 at 19:52
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Sounds like you may have a failing hard drive, or at least file-system corruption.

Any "NTFS" or "Disk" warning or failure entries in the Event Logs?

You should run a read-only disk check against it to see if it reports things are OK or not:

  1. Open the "Computer" window.
  2. Right-click on the drive in question.
  3. Select the "Tools" tab.
  4. In the Error-checking area, and click .
  5. Un-check "Automatically fix file system error (to put it in Read-Only mode), and click .

Or open a command prompt and run chkdsk c:.

If it does report problems, you can then (re)run it in write-mode (check mark "automatically fix..." or run chkdsk c: /f and hopefully it will correct the problem enough tog et you working.

Keep in mind that chkdsk will just drop data in bad sectors, which can make things WORSE. :) If bad sectors are suspected, consider obtaining and running SpinRite (in recovery mode), before using chkdsk in write-mode, as SpinRite will attempt to determine what the data in a bad block was before marking it off-line.

Warning: If the drive is really messed up, both chkdsk /F and SpinRite could take hours to complete.

Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007
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  • Thanks i actually already ran chkdsk and it made a bunch of changes ( i ran in read only since C: was being used by the system) it then ran in write mode on system reboot. I am now waiting/verifying if any fixes occurred. Thanks! – Maurycy Aug 04 '11 at 19:57
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    Sometimes you have to do 2 chkdsk in a row to get it healed when it has more than a few problems with the file system. I had to do 3 in a row the other day on a really corrupt system. – Moab Aug 04 '11 at 20:39