Question for the pros

[allinyomouth]

Recently I have been having problems copying, burning, or even playing dvds. While playing dvds the audio and video seem to play slow and is choppy. My next problem is when I try to copy and burn dvds the times are extremely slow. My times have went from 30 minutes to over 3 hours. The programs that I am using are nero and dvdshrink. When I use nero I see that my buffer goes up and down and is no longer running at full power. So I guess my question is, is there some way that I can adjust my buffer in order to get it to run at full power. And will this solve my problem. If not is there something else that I can do to get my burnner to function properly. Thank you to anyone that can help.

[aedipuss]

sounds like you should be looking for a virus/worm/trojan nasty slowing down your computer.

[redwudz]

This may not be related, but it's worth checking to see if your drives have reverted to PIO mode. PIO mode will slow down the computer considerably. And this is a common problem.

To check DMA/PIO mode within Windows:

Control Panel>System>Hardware>Device Manager>IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.

From there, right click on one of the channels and choose 'Properties>Advanced Settings'. All drives should be DMA mode. The 'Current Transfer Mode' for Hard drives is usually DMA 4-6 and DVD burners DMA 2-4, DVD ROMs usually DMA 2. If you see any in PIO mode, that can slow things down.

Changing them back may be easy or complicated. First see if you can change them in that window. If not, I usually right click on the channel the drive is on and uninstall the channel, then let the OS reinstall it by rebooting the computer. This will not damage any files on the computer.

From there, if no luck, get back to us.

If PIO mode is not the problem, then I would suspect a Trojan or Virus also. Trend Micro has a free online scan that is very good: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Then if all that fails, you might try reinstalling the video programs.

[kurbads]

To find out if it not the Troyan you can also press Ctrl+Alt+Del and look in process tab if some strange named exe is not using much CPU power when computer is idle.

[Bjs]

To start with , download and install both avgfree and ad-aware se ... and update both .

Run virus scan .
Next run ad-aware ... quarantine any item's found .

Run scan disk ... pc need's to reboot to perform this function .
Run disk defragmenter ... even if say's no need ... do it .
(Defrag can be used in safemode ... incase it cannot complete task in normal window's)
Note , if safemode is used , you should run defrag in normal window's as well .

Pres ctrl + alt + del ... check for running task's ..

Beware of anything with "wow" in it ... some older scanner's , printer's , camer's software call's this tool ... it is a plague ... nothing but a pain .
Consider removing software that call's this tool .

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There are way's to prevent the running task for displaying "all running task's" on a pc ... do not believe Ctrl + Alt + Del will alway's display the complete running list .

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As for the hardware ... use one or more program's that can use it ... only need to install hardware driver's for those device's ... system will run much faster without that rotten wow thing running .

It is also called when system dose a memmory dump from program crash ... part of dr watson error logging .

Start - run , type MSCONFIG ... goto startup tab ... disable all that do not need to load at startup by default ... msmgs , incd , yahoo messenger , quicktime ... idiot itune's crap ... clean it out and leave only system required program's (systray , explorer , avg , modem dia , ect) .

Hit apply , then ok , reboot pc .

These program's will be called when required by system ... there is no need for them to be up and running at startup time .

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If "alway's on" net is used , when away , shutdown pc and turn off at power point (hacker proof)
With any internet connection , best practice is to update antivirus product before running web browser or email program .

Once it's updated , you are as about as safe as you can be ... depending on antivirus scanner .

Do not ever install thing's like Winfixer .. or other ... just because you see "your pc may be running slower ... get free fixup here" on a webpage ... doing so will cause more problem's ...

Good program's dont advertise in this manner ... it's another spam method .

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Slow burning can also be caused by the media in use ... some are complete rubbish ... they wil work , but very slow to burn ...

Check cable's and jumper setting's ... cable's can slowly fail ... incorrect jumper setting's can cause havoc

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Dma issue's can also be cause by incorrect setting's held in bios ... please consult motherboard manual (download from motherboard manufacturer's website if missing) .

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Finally ... if pc gose nutt's ... os issue caused by corruption or virus attack ... use a product that can make a system restore backup image ... drive image is good , and your system can be back up and running in less than a few minute's (baring actual hardware being at fault) .

[CrayonEater]

An addendum to Redwudz/Bjs' good advice:
Aside from running anti-virus, run SpyBot S&D (www.safer-networking.net) as well as Ad-Aware (www.lavesoft.de). Be sure not to download one of the counterfeits. If that doesn't work and the DMA settings all check out okay, try downloading HiJackThis! (http://216.180.233.162/~merijn/files/HijackThis.exe) at the link below and post the logfile here or at spywareinfo.com.

[Ai Haibara]

(www.lavesoft.de)

That should be www.lavasoft.de . 'www.lavesoft.de' does exist, but it leads to one of those 'domain for sale/coming soon'-type pages with the 'sponsored' (?) links.

[Sunnzi]

Try also claeaning your registry. Registymechanic