Diagnose XP - A Windows XP Diagnostic Guide

The following Free guide will help you troubleshoot the most common causes of system problems. Diagnosing System problems can be very complicated and time consuming. There are no simple solutions. Windows XP systems should never Lock-up (freeze), display Blue Screen Stop Errors or Randomly Reboot. These are all warning signs something is wrong or misconfigured with your system. Unless you are a highly trained, experienced PC Technician do not skip any of the following steps.

Notes - Overclocking can cause almost any system problem. It is strongly recommended to only run your system at the correct frequencies. Troubleshooting any problem on an Overclocked system is a complete waste of time. Set the system back to its default frequencies before you begin troubleshooting.



Legal Notice - Reproduction of this guide in whole or in part is strictly forbidden. This guide and ALL versions thereof are protected by copyright under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Feel free to link to this Guide.

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Step 1 - Malware Removal

Malware Infection which includes Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Spyware, Adware and Rootkits can cause or mimic just about any system problem. These include: Application Errors, Lock-ups (freezing), Blue Screen Stop Errors (BSOD) and Random Reboots.

FACT: 89% of consumer PCs are infected with spyware

Malware Removal 1-2-3 Guide - Malware is short for "Malicious Software". It is a general term that refers to any software or program code designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. This includes Viruses, Worms, Trojans, Spyware, Adware and Rootkits. This 3 step guide will show you how to remove these infections and protect yourself from future infections for free using free software.

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Step 2 - Windows Update

Windows Updates can fix numerous problems associated with the Operating System. Make sure you have all the updates installed.

SP2 Installation Advisory - Home Page
KB811113 lists all the fixes included in SP2. Before installing SP2 make sure all of your Data is backed up and you have consulted with your PC manufacturer for any potential problems. Viruses and Spyware can cause the SP2 installation to fail, make sure you have run through Step 1 completely before proceeding. The changes included in SP2 can cause Windows XP and your Applications to stop working, crash or behave differently - KB884130. If the SP2 installation fails you can use these instructions to restore your system: How to recover your computer if the Windows XP Service Pack 2 setup program is not completed successfully (print these out).

Notes - After following the above advisory, it is recommended that you install SP2. The updated security features are well worth it.
- Internet Explorer Pop-up Blocker (I still recommend installing the Google Toolbar if you use IE)
- Internet Explorer Download Monitoring (Warns you about potentially harmful downloads i.e.. Spyware and Viruses)
- Windows Firewall Update (Much better application management and enhanced boot time security)
- Windows Security Center (Notifies you of your AntiVirus, Firewall and Windows Update Status)
- Data Execution Prevention (Help prevents code execution from data pages)

Windows Update - Home Page
Install All of the updates. Not just the critical ones. This may have to be run multiple times. Run it over again until it says 0 updates available. Non-critical updates are essential for improved performance, compatibility and enhanced features. They are all very safe to install.

Notes - Windows Update requires the following services be enabled in Windows XP:

- Automatic Updates - Automatic
- Background Intelligent Transfer Service - Manual or Automatic

Driver Notes - If a Driver issue arises that Windows Update insists upon installing a Driver version older then one you have updated, do not install the one from Windows Update. Use the manufacturers latest version instead and just ignore that Windows Driver Update. With Drivers, the Hardware manufacturer is the one who is correct not Microsoft. Windows Update will sometimes show a Driver is outdated if it is not "Microsoft Certified". It is quite ok to use non-certified drivers. Official non-certified driver versions will have been thoroughly tested by the component manufacturer.

Update - Microsoft Windows Journal Viewer can sometimes conflict with Adobe Acrobat Reader when you open .PDF files, Error: "An installation package for the product Microsoft Windows Journal Viewer cannot be found." If this is happening uninstall The Microsoft Windows Journal Viewer, go to "Start", "Settings", "Add or Remove Programs". The Journal Viewer is only needed to read Journal files created on a Windows XP Tablet Edition PC. It is highly unlikely you will ever need to read these.

DirectX - Download
Windows Update will install the latest version of DirectX. It is still a good idea to check what version you are running and make sure you have the latest version of DirectX installed prior to installing any Drivers. Got to "Start", "Run", type in "Dxdiag" and select "OK". Under the "System" tab, "DirectX Version" check that you have the latest version that is available for Windows XP. - Source

Notes - DirectX 10 is only available for Windows Vista.

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Step 3 - Drivers

Installing the latest Drivers improves system performance and application compatibility. Updated drivers include numerous bug fixes as well as system optimizations. It is recommended for optimal system stability to only use Official drivers and not Beta or Prerelease versions. Performance differences between driver versions including Beta or Prereleased drivers is negligible. The only time Beta or Prerelease drivers should be considered is when a serious application bug is fixed in the Beta or Prerelease version and the component manufacturer has not yet released the Official driver version that includes the bug fix.

Driver XP - Home Page
A Windows Driver Guide that includes component links and instructions.

Notes - Windows Update will install very common driver updates, however these will not always be the latest versions and sometimes can even be an older version of one you have already updated, example: nVidia forceware drivers. It is perfectly safe to install the Windows Driver Updates but if you want the very best system performance you have to check for and install the latest drivers manually. If you are having trouble identifying your hardware use:

PC Wizard - Download - Home Page
An advanced system information utility designed for detection of hardware, analysis and benchmarking. Quickly identify components based on their model and manufacturer, allowing you to download and install the correct drivers.

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Step 4 - Harddrive

Application Errors, Lock-ups (freezing), Blue Screen Stop Errors (BSOD) and Failure to Write to Drive Errors can all be caused by a Defective Harddrive.

Instructions - Select one of the following Diagnostics that matches the manufacturer of your Harddrive. If your manufacturer is not listed the Hitachi (IBM) Diagnostic should work with any drive. If you do not know who your Harddrive manufacturer is use PC Wizard and look under "Drives" to identify it. Most of the Diagnostic Utilities listed require a bootable Floppy Disk drive. Make sure to back up all of your data before proceeding and read the instruction carefully. Any error codes found should be written down and the manufacturer of the Harddrive contacted to see if warranty replacement is possible. Regardless the Harddrive should be replaced immediately. Problems with Harddrives only get worse.

- The Write testing option in these Diagnostics will erase your data, use this option at your own risk. It is not necessary to perform a Write test to see if the drive is defective.

Floppy Drives - It is becoming more common for newer systems not to come with a floppy disk drive. In this case the Hitachi/IBM (CD ISO) should work with most manufacturer's Harddrives. However to obtain a warranty replacement or repair some manufacturer's require an error code from their diagnostic utility. If this is the case let them know your system did not come with a floppy disk drive and ask what they recommend to use to test the drive.

ExcelStor - Download (Floppy Disk) - (No CD ISO available) - Home Page
"Diagnostic Utility for IDE and SATA drives. Supports ExcelStor drives up to 160GB capacity. This utility must be extracted and run in DOS mode."

Fujitsu - Download (Floppy Disk) - (No CD ISO available) - Home Page
"This diagnostic tool is available for use by customers who feel their Fujitsu hard drive may not be operating normally. It is only designed for use with Fujitsu ATA/IDE hard drives."

Hitachi (IBM) - Download (Floppy Disk) - Download (CD ISO) - Home Page
"The IBM HD division is now owned by Hitachi. This download creates a self-booting DOS diskette to run the DFT utility. The Drive Fitness Test (DFT) provides a quick, reliable method to test SCSI and IDE hard disk drives, including Serial-ATA IDE drives. The Drive Fitness Test analyze function performs read tests without overwriting customer data. (However, Drive Fitness Test is bundled with some restoration utilities that will overwrite data.)"

Maxtor - (Quantum) - Download (Floppy Disk) - Download (CD ISO) - Home Page
"Quantum was purchased by Maxtor who is now owned by Seagate. The POWERMAX utility is designed to perform diagnostic read/write verifications on Maxtor/Quantum hard drives. These tests will determine hard drive integrity. The POWERMAX utility is effective on all ATA (IDE) hard drives with a capacity greater than or equal to 500 MB. Maxtor recommends the use of this utility for troubleshooting potential hard drive problems."

Samsung - Download (Floppy Disk) - Download (Floppy Disk) Older Models - (No CD ISO available) - Home Page
"Confirm your model is listed on the page of the Diagnostic Utility you download. This program is used to diagnose the disk when the SAMSUNG hard disk is suspected to have failures. It is strongly recommended to back up your data before using this program!"

Seagate (Maxtor, Quantum) - Download (Floppy Disk) - Download (CD ISO) - Online Test - Home Page
"SeaTools works with most ATA, SATA, or SCSI drives in desktop systems and has a 98% accuracy rate. SeaTools Online is a browser based application that will check ATA, SATA, USB (Generic Drive Tests only), and SCSI hard drives without having to turn off the system."

Toshiba - (No Floppy Disk available) - (No CD ISO available) - Home Page
"Toshiba does not offer a diagnostic utility for their Harddrives. The Hitachi (IBM) Diagnostic can be used to test these drives."

Western Digital - Download (Floppy Disk) - Download (CD ISO) - Download (Windows) - Home Page
"The Data Lifeguard Diagnostic Tools are used primarily for determining the physical condition of your hard drive. If you are having computer problems which you suspect are hard drive related, you can test your drive with this tool."

Noises that indicate a defective Harddrive
These are not a substitute for running a diagnostic program but can help to quickly isolate where to look for a problem.

Slow Spindle Motor
Head Stuck To Platter
Head Damage 1
Head Damage 2
Head Damage 3
Head Damage 4

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Step 5 - Data Recovery

This step is only necessary if you want to try to recover data off of damaged storage media. Data recovery is the process of salvaging data from damaged, failed, wrecked or inaccessible storage media when it cannot be accessed normally. Often the data is being salvaged from storage media formats such as a hard disk drive, CDs or DVDs. There are not many options for the end user to recover data themselves without paying hundreds of dollars to a data recovery service.

SpinRite - Home Page - $89.00
SpinRite is a commercial hard disk scanning and data recovery utility created by Steve Gibson. SpinRite is much more thorough in its surface scans than basic utilities, being able to recover data from damaged portions of hard disks that might not otherwise be read by the operating system. SpinRite uses 'DynaStat' to perform statistical analysis of bad blocks. When it encounters a block which which is hard to read, it repeatedly attempts to re-read it, and tries to determine the value of each byte. The data is then saved onto the same disk after re-allocating the physical block. The goal of SpinRite is to get the hard drive working as reliably as possible, for future use, in addition to recovering as much data as possible. SpinRite is able to operate on all Windows NTFS formats, all DOS FAT, all Linux file systems, Novell, Macintosh (if temporarily moved into a PC) or anything else - it can even be used to repair and recover the hard drive from an ailing TiVo! SpinRite v6.0 achieves complete operating system independence by incorporating the FreeDOS operating system. This allows it to be used on any and all Intel/AMD PC systems. SpinRite 6.0 can create a bootable diskette or generate a standard, CD-R burnable ISO file to create a "SpinRite boot CD". A bootable SpinRite can also be "installed" into any other motherboard bootable devices, such as USB flashdrives for easy, portable booting and use. If you hard drive is still accessible from your system BIOS there is a good chance SpinRite can get the drive to an operational state where you can get your Data off it. Simply put - "It Works"

CDCheck - Home Page - Download
CDCheck is a utility for prevention, detection and recovery of damaged files with emphasis on error detection. It can check each of your CD/DVD (or any other media) and indicate which files are corrupted. CDCheck's reporting features tell you exactly where the problems are. Files on CDs, ZIP drives, USB keys etc. can get damaged in a number of ways, so the program helps you determine whether your data is safe before it's too late. The program can be used with all local or removable media (CDs, DVDs, disk drives, floppy disks, ZIP drives, USB keys etc.) visible by the operating system (Windows Explorer) and also with audio CDs. In addition CDCheck also gives detailed information (manufacturer, type, capacity etc.) about inserted CD or DVD media.

Notes - For personal usage CDCheck is FREE - the unregistered program continues to function after 30 days but a nag screen is displayed at startup.

Trouble In Paradise (TIP) - Home Page - Download
Trouble In Paradise (TIP) quickly diagnoses any Iomega ZIP or JAZ drives and cartridges and warns of impending data loss and/or drive failure. Iomega ZIP and JAZ drives suffer from a head positioning problem (servo stiction) that can actively and permanently damage perfectly good ZIP and JAZ drive media. TIP provides an early warning system when a user's drives are beginning to damage its media.


If you are unsuccessful at recovering your data and need to recover it your only other option is to use a:
Professional Data Recovery Service

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Step 6 - Memory

Application Errors, Lock-ups (freezing), Blue Screen Stop Errors (BSOD) and Random Reboots can all be caused by Defective Memory.

Memtest86+ - Download (Boot Disk) + (CD ISO) - Home Page
"Memtest86+ is a thorough, stand alone memory test for x86 architecture computers. BIOS based memory tests are a quick, cursory check and often miss many of the failures that are detected by Memtest86+."

Instructions - Download the "Pre-Compiled package for Floppy (DOS - Win)" to "c:\memtest", insert a blank formatted 1.44MB Floppy Disk into the Floppy Drive. Unzip the file to the same folder, run "install.bat". At the prompt type "a" and press enter, if the disk is in the drive press enter again. Then wait for it to complete. When it is finished, reboot your PC leaving the disk in the drive, your computer should boot to the disk automatically. If it does not consult your PC manufacturer for further instructions. Once it boots it will run the test automatically, let it run for 3 passes. Intermittent memory errors require a more thorough test of running the diagnostic overnight. If you get any errors (designated in red) then you most likely have a defective memory module and it will need to be replaced. To be sure try reseating the module and testing it in another slot. If you have more then one memory module in your system you will need to test one at a time to isolate the defective module.

Notes - You will not be able to read the Floppy Disk in Windows when it is finished being made, this is due to the file system used by Memtest98+ not being supported in Windows. This is normal.

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Step 7 - System

Application Errors, Lock-ups (freezing), Blue Screen Stop Errors (BSOD) and Random Reboots can all be caused by Overheating, a faulty Mainboard, a faulty CPU or a faulty Power Supply.

Prime95 - Download - Home Page
"This program is a good stress test for the CPU, memory, L1 and L2 caches, CPU cooling, and case cooling. The torture test runs continuously, comparing your computer's results to results that are known to be correct. Any mismatch and you've got a problem! Note that the torture test sometimes reads from and writes to disk but cannot be considered a stress test for hard drives."

Instructions - Download, install and run. In the "Options" menu select "Torture Test", then "Ok", let it run for a minimum of one hour, preferably overnight for a thorough test. On a working stable system this test should never fail. Any errors or failures indicate a hardware problem. The exact cause of a hardware problem can be very hard to find. If both the Harddrive and Memory Diagnostic passed then the most likely causes are Overheating, a faulty Mainboard, a faulty CPU or a faulty Power Supply.


If you cannot isolate the problem take it to a professional.

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Step 8 - Internet

The far majority of Internet related problems are due to Malware infection. Use the Malware Removal 1-2-3 Guide to clean these. Other performance related problems can be fixed using the Optimize XP Guide.

Speakeasy Speed Test - Home Page
Test your Internet connection speed. By measuring the download and upload rate from the following locations you are able to accurately judge your current line throughput or internet connection speed. To take the speed test, choose the server nearest you. ISP claimed Maximum Download Speeds are theoretical and not always attainable for various reasons. It is normal for them to fluctuate. However, drastic differences in what your ISP claims you should get and what you are actually getting should be brought up with your ISP. It is your money after all and I would want to get what I paid for.

Internet Traffic Report - Home Page
The Internet Traffic Report monitors the flow of data around the world. It then displays a value between zero and 100. Higher values indicate faster and more reliable connections. This web site will tell you if those regions of the Internet are currently slowed down. By checking the Internet Traffic Report, you can determine if your problems are global or local.

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Advanced

Autoruns - Download - Home Page
"Utility to display and control startup applications."

PE Builder - Download - Home Page
"PE Builder helps you build a "BartPE" (Bart Preinstalled Environment) bootable Windows CD-Rom or DVD from the original Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 installation/setup CD, very suitable for PC maintenance tasks."

CPU-Z - Download - Home Page
"CPU-Z is freeware that gathers information on some of the main devices of your system."

Dial-a-fix - Download - Home Page
"An advanced utility for Microsoft Windows that repairs various Windows problems, such as: Windows Update, Windows Installer, Permissions and more."

HD_Speed - Download - Home Page
"Measures both sustained and burst data transfer rates of your Hard Disks, CD/DVD-ROMs and Floppy Disks with a real-time graphical display."

Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder - Download - Home Page
"Retrieves your Product Key (cd key) from the registry used to install Windows 95, 98, ME, NT4, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Office 97, and Office XP."

Nero InfoTool - Download - Home Page
"A utility which analyses and displays the most important information about an optical drive, disc, configuration and software."

Process Explorer - Download - Home Page
"Find out what files, registry keys and other objects processes have open, which DLLs they have loaded, and more. This uniquely powerful utility will even show you who owns each process."

Process Monitor - Download - Home Page
"An advanced monitoring tool for Windows that shows real-time file system, Registry and process/thread activity. It combines the features of two legacy Sysinternals utilities, Filemon and Regmon, and adds an extensive list of enhancements."

RemoveWGA - Download - Home Page
"RemoveWGA enables you to remove the Microsoft "Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications" tool."

TCPView - Download - Home Page - Port Authority Database
"An advanced monitoring utility that will show you detailed listings of all open TCP and UDP ports on your system, including the local and remote addresses and the connection state. On Windows 2000 and XP, TCPView also reports the name of the process that owns the open port."

TreeSize - Download - Home Page
"TreeSize tells you how your disk space is being used."

Unlocker - Download - Home Page
"Unlocker enables you to delete, move or rename files or folders that are locked by other processes."

Windows Install Cleanup Utility - Download - Home Page
"Remove Windows Installer configuration information on failed installs."

Windows NT IPConfig Utility - Download - Home Page
"This GUI tool gives you information about your IP configuration in Windows NT, 2000 and XP."

Windows XP Security Console - Download - Home Page
"Windows XP Security Console allows you to assign various restrictions to specific users, whether you're running XP Pro or XP Home. XP Home leaves you completely without the Group Policy Editor, while XP Pro lacks the ability to use the Group Policy Editor to selectively apply policies to specific users."

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Resources

Microsoft Knowledge Base - Search
Search the vast Microsoft Knowledge Base, including thousands of How-To articles.

Microsoft TechNet Events and Error Message Center - Search
Enter the message source and ID to receive an explanation, recommended user actions, and links to additional support and resources.

Microsoft DLL Help Database - Search
Search the DLL Help database to identify the software that installed a specific version of a DLL.

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End

This guide will be revised as new diagnostic utilities are tested and evaluated. Feel free to submit suggestions or comments to OptimizeXP@comcast.net. Do not send Technical Support Questions.