Noisy slow 5150

I have an E510 which is identical to the 5150 (the E510 was only sold in the US).

Exactly what did you do on a "system restore"?  Just reinstall Windows over the existing installation?  A complete restore using the Dell Recovery partition (CTRL/F11 at power on)?  or a complete manual reinstall with or without reformatting the hard drive?

You need to find where the whine is coming from, either the CPU cooling fan or one of the hard drives. 

By slow startup, do you mean the Power On initial POST is slow or is it after it starts Windows?  This also makes a difference in trying to pinpoint the problem. 

There are (or were) diagnostics on the hard drive, accessed by F12 at initial power on.  Run a complete diagnostic (if it's still there) and see if it shows up any problems. 

If there are no hardware problems, a complete reinstall is the first step - use the Dell recovery partition, as noted, as it will restore the PC to the original factory condition.  If not the manual reinstall including reformatting the hard drive should be used. 

More information would help us to help you.

Thanks Fireberd.

The system restore was done 'automatically'  in safe mode (or so it told me), so maybe it didn't actually do it...... I will try F11 (once I've backed up)

I will run a full diagnostics from F12. Your question on slow startup apply to both - power on but particularly when I start Windows.

BTW would you recommend any free backup software? We just cut and paste at the moment but it's not sufficient and I worry about when/if the HD commits suicide!

Thanks so far - I will do the above and let you know how it goes.

WM

OK. Ran diagnostics: For my Maxtor C drive, I got a "FAIL - return code 7". The Seagate's passed OK

Also, when I start up, as Windows loads, I ge the message in a Visual C++ Dialogue box: "ccSvcHst.exe R6025 Pure Virtual function call message" which I have never managed to get any sense about on this forum - nobody can help.

Hope this makes sense and will help to work out the problem.

As far as the noise goes, it is a very quiet hum that cycles every 10 seconds or so - the best way I can describe it is it's a bit like a background sound of machinery . If it's the fan, I guess it's an easy job to change it?

WM

The hard drive is failing and probably the reason for everything being slow.   It may even be the source of the noise.  If it's the CPU cooling fan, you need to use a Dell fan as it has extra electronics in the fan.  You can use a non-Dell fan but everytime you boot up you will get a Fan Failure notice and have to press F1 to boot up.

I use Acronis True Image and backup my hard drive - all partitions to a 2nd hard drive (can be an internal or external USB connected). With Acronis you could completely restore the hard drive to it's condition, when you do the backup, and not lose anything. 

If the new Seagate drive is large enough you could backup to the Seagate drive with Acronis, replace the original hard drive and restore the hard drive from the Seagate.  Acronis is not free but it's worth the price.   Acronis True Image Home 2010 

If you don't use Acronis, you can backup all your user data to the Seagate.  You can't backup programs as they must be installed.  If you don't use a program such as Acronis, the Dell recovery and diagnostic partitions will be lost when you replace the hard drive.

OK then. I guess that the Acronis software is a better option than re-installing as I will have to do a comprehensive backup any way?

This has suddenly got more serious than I thought!

How will I know if the C drive is OK physically?

Perhaps I can refer back to you if I have any problems with the backup - I've not done anything like this before and am a bit computer illiterate!

WM

The "C" drive, from what you posted is a hardware failure and the drive will need to be replaced.  I don't think just reinstalling is going to help this, you will have to buy a new hard drive.

your drive is living on borrowed time... while you still can you need to do an image of it as fireberd has said (unless you do not care about losing your boot drive and everything on it).  Image it to the second internal drive if you have the space.  Pick an imaging program such as Acronis or Ghost15.  Some have trial versions you can use.   Do that first then go get a new drive.  Run Forrest run.

It's the May Day bank holiday tomorrow - guess what I'll be doing!

Watch this space.........

Should I and how do I create a partition on the X drive to do this? (I was serious about being PC illiterate). Would it be a good idea to download Acronis to the X drive rather than the dodgy C?

Thanks for all the info so far - it's great to know that there is help in the ether.

WM

OK. Backed up twice, to X drive and an external HD for extra peace of mind. I've used the Acronis package, which seems quite easy to use and I will probably buy it when the free trial expires.

What I need to know is what to do with the backup! I will get a new HDD (any recommendations?) so what do I do when I install it?

I am entering uncharted territiory and need my hand held!!:emotion-18:

WM

Thanks Fireberd.

I have actually cloned it to the X drive now - was this wise and is it of any use to me? Does this mean I can now designate the X drive as the new C drive or isn't it as easy as that?

Thanks for the software recommendation - very idiot-friendly and easy to use!

WM

You need to create "bootable rescue media" (a bootable CD).  Then when you get the new drive installed you boot with the rescue CD and follow the on-screen instructions to "restore" the backed up disk image to the new drive.

That "should" work.  Try booting from that drive and see what happens.  Check the boot sequence in the BIOS so that is the first boot device.

I'm not sure if I got this right - I went into Setup by pressing F2 and then switched off SATA 0 which is the Maxtor, and left SATA1 on which is the X drive. The system has booted up OK but is as slow as before, so I'm guessing that as it's a clone it will mimic the original primary drive until I do all the diagnostics, cleanups and defrags etc.

Is there anything else I can do?.....Would you like to come over to my house to sort it for me? I live in Cardiff, Wales, UK, so it's just round the corner from you! LOL

MF

I did wonder - do other posters agree?

If I reinstall, I'm into more uncharted territory but I guess I can find all the info in previous posts on this forum but you may receive a cry for help....!

WM