Sluggish Acer Aspire 7720 after installing XP

So I went through the process of upgrading/downgrading my Acer Aspire 7720-6604 from Vista Ultimate to XP Pro (using the excellent instructions found on this forum) and, while my system has been stable as a rock, it has also been sluggish as molasses.

Firstly, here are my specs:


The first thing that struck me that maybe I wasn't just expecting too much of my new rig was when I ran Nero's infotool. Now, I know I don't have a Blue Ray or HDDVD drive, so I understand that my drive would require upgrading, but Nero claims that my processor is not up to the task. Is this possible?


Then, the other day I started Adobe bridge and got this prompt:

With my old Toshiba Satellite with a P4 3ghz I never got this prompt.

I did some searching around and learned about this Microsoft XP Hotfix for Core 2 Duos and applied that. No change. All my drivers are installed except for my wifi driver (for the life of me I can't figure out which one it is. None of the drivers from Acer's ftp site seem to work) but that shouldn't slow things down.

But then, today I ran CPU-Z to check my processor and noticed that my FSB is running at 200mhz even though the ugly sticker on my keyboard claims that my computer's FSB should be running at 800mhz.



Could this be the problem? How do I change the bus speed? The BIOS on this machine is crippled and doesn't allow much to be adjusted, but it doesn't seem like I should have to tweak my computer to run at spec. What gives?

If anyone can help me with this problem I'd be grateful.

 

hmm, could it be that XP is not very compatible with new 8xxx/9xxx series processors? You do have the latest BIOS for your laptop (1.33): ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com/notebook/aspire_7720/vista/Bios/?

Regards,
M.

 

I'm downloading the newest BIOS now, though I understand that Acer is not supporting XP anymore, so I don't know why they would put any BIOS fixes into their systems to accommodate users who choose to downgrade.

I was suspect about XP's compatibility with newer processors. In my searching I found this thread on this forum about the hotfix from Microsoft.

 

At first there were some compatiblity issues with the 5920g and XP and those were fixed in a BIOS update, so you might be lucky with your 7720

M.

 

Cpuz says bus speed is 200...
there are 4 concurrent pipelines running @ 200mhz
for a total of 800mhz...

as for the BIOS,, UPDATE it just because it says VISTA doesn't mean it can't help XP... there is verry little difference between a BIOS for VISTA and a BIOS written exclusively for XP... this quote has more info...

later, bigozone

 

take a look at the First spec
then take a look at the NERO info tool.

is it me or is there a gig of ram gone missing ?
in processes have you got a ram hog running (nortans) ?
what does CPU-z say in memory tab ?
just thinking out loud again.

 

jonspencerbx: I updated the BIOS to the newest version (1.33) and there's been no change to the performance.

bigozone: d'oh! I knew it had to be something like that. Shows you what a dufus I am.

hoggie: Yeah. That doesn't look good. Could it be XP? CPU-Z says I've got all 3gb there:


I'm stumped here y'all. Could it be that XP just doesn't recognize the chip as a dual core? Is there anyone else with the T8100 on a laptop with XP running at spec?

 

in the first spec xp is seeing both core's !

it looks like you will have to go through all the drivers one at a time and see if they are up to date.
check all the latest Ver numbers.
a long job

Edit: do a quick test for me take out the 1gb stick of ram..im assuming you have 1gb + a 2gb

just me having an idea

 

Hi Hoggie, thanks for the replies. I'll try that with the RAM when I get home (at the ye olde slow internet cafe right now).

So I looked around the web. Lots of companies are selling laptops with this processor and XP, so that can't be the problem.

Some more info... I copied some photos off of my old Toshiba Satellite and onto a SD card using a USB card reader and then copied them onto my hard drive on my new Acer using the built in card reader. Here's the timings:
transfer 1.42gb from HD to SD Card (Toshiba): 3' 54"
transfer 1.42gb from SD Card to HD (Acer): 11' 22"

Pretty darn slow, huh?

I went through my device manager to see what all drivers I have installed and flagged the one's I thought were unusual (either by date, or provider). Here's the short list:

Computer:
Device: ACPI Multiprocessor PC
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 7/1/2001
Driver Version: 5.1.2600.0

I don't know, is this one supposed to be provided by MS?

IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers:
Device: Intel(R) 82801 HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller
Driver Provider: Intel
Driver Date: 3/21/2007
Driver Version: 7.5.0.1017

Device: Intel(R) ICHM Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2850
Driver Provider: Intel
Driver Date: 11/15/2006
Driver Version: 8.2.0.1011

I thought I downloaded the newest drivers. Can anyone else with these controllers confirm or deny whether they're the newest?

Device: Primary & Secondary IDE Channels
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 7/1/2001
Driver Version: 5.1.2600.2180

Again, does Intel provide their own IDE drivers for this chipset, or is the native MS driver good enough?

Processors:
Device: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T8100 @ 2.10GHZ
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 4/1/2004
Driver Version: 5.1.2600.0

Seems odd to me that a MS driver dating from 2004 would suit an Intel processor from 2008.

Secure Digital host controllers:
Device: SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 10/1/2002
Driver Version: 6.0.4069.5

System Devices:
Device: Intel(R) 82801 PCI Bridge - 2448
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 7/1/2001
Driver Version: 5.1.2600.2180

Device: Intel(R) 82802 Firmware Hub Device
Driver Provider: Microsoft
Driver Date: 7/1/2001
Driver Version: 5.1.2600.2180

Device: Intel(R) ICH8 Family PCI Express Root Ports 1-4
Driver Provider: Intel
Driver Date: 2/28/2007
Driver Version: 8.3.0.1013

Device: Intel(R) ICH8 Family SMBus Controller - 283E
Driver Provider: Intel
Driver Date: 4/10/2006
Driver Version: 8.0.0.1008

Device: Intel(R) ICH8M LPC Interface Controller - 2815
Driver Provider: Intel
Driver Date: 2/28/2007
Driver Version: 8.3.0.1013

Again, I thought the drivers I downloaded from Intel's website last week were the newest.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I've got my fingers crossed that I'm near the end of this mystery.

 

later tonight i will sit down and do some hunting for you.

i like this kind of problem, it gets the brain ticking.

 

Hoggie, you ROCK!

Thanks again!

 

Mr P.

have you done all the usual stuff first. msconfig/start-up and unchecked all the stuff you don't need to run at start up.?
im starting with the simple stuff first.so when we look back at the thread we can make sure we haven't missed any thing

 

had a chat with a HP geek.
he asked how much acer junk(software) do you have running ?

 

and the drivers you list are the right ones although some of the dates do look iffey. Hmmm,,,,,,,,,,,,,,still working on it

 

Well, this is my third time trying to reply to my thread. Internet access in Indonesia sucks, BTW.

Hey Hoggie, thanks for all your suggestions and continued help! I hadn't installed any of Acer's bloatware at first install. I did finally install the epower management and Launch Manager thinking maybe one of them was required for the system. Didn't do anything for my system either way. My startup in MSCONFIG doesn't look too suspect. There's not much in there with a fresh install.

So I finally decided that I would just go ahead and reinstall XP. I was convinced that it must be just a driver install order problem. So I used the method posted on the Soulpass project using n-lite and slipstreaming all the necessary drivers and hotfixes. No change. Still runs the same. I'm stumped and ready to give in to Vista at this point.

Anyway, if anyone has any further tips, let me know.

 

how are your CPU temps??

you may need the I8kfanGUI

just google it. install it, it'll monitor your CPU and HDD temps and on some acers after downgrading the OS the APCI fan controls don't seem to actually activate the fan

just a thought

 

Hi Bigozone.

Downloaded it and ran it. Hasn't really changed anything with my system. The app can't adjust my fan speeds, so I don't know if they're working okay or not. According to the program my CPU is running at 41 degrees Celsius. Is this too hot?

 

41c is real good,, that program will not actually control the fans like it will a DELL laptop,,, but when downgrading some Aspire laptops to XP, they no longer recieve signal telling the fan to turn on when the temp reaches 50c,,

so until you hit 50c you shouldn't have any fan action,, but my laptop came w/ a celeron which would do 47 sitting still, and i have seen it hit 78c under load. it was just a shot in the dark.... but you may wanna keep that program or that link handy,,, just incase you notice your fan NEVER comming ON even when under heavy loads....

to test the fan D/L wprime (google it) and run the long 1024K test,, it may take upto 30 minutes to complete... but that is 30 minutes of 100% cpu usage and that should give you an idea what your temps run @ max...

then end the task (i8KfanGUI) in the Task Manager.... then see if the fan comes on w/o the fan program... just to test it

later,
bigozone

 

I think you should install the Intel driver for your processor and not the MS one. The rest of the drivers look ok. I have the same MS drivers installed but I have amd proc. running XP Pro.

Also this may sound stupid but pls. check and enable Always on in the Power settings to see if it does any good.

 

while these problems are often very annoying, the solution can bring a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

that being said, Mr p. try this:
there is also a hotfix for core 2 duo cpus that doesn't automotically download,

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

might give this a try.... besure to download the patch and do the regedit,, then edit the boot.ini....

reboot and see if that helps....

later,
bigozone

 

Thanks BigO, I had seen this thread earlier in my searches and had applied the original hotfix. I did revisit it and noticed there is yet another update. I'm trying to get that right now, but, err, well I got some dubya ji yay issues if you know what I mean.

As far as the regedit and boot ini goes. The original hotfix did the trick on the former and my understanding on the latter was that it was only for AMD processors. I went ahead and made the edit to my boot.ini anyway, but it hasn't changed anything. No crashes yet though.

I've been wondering that as well. It seems like there should be genuine Intel drivers for all this. I installed the full Intel chipset package and I assumed that that would cover everything. I went to Intel's site, but haven't had any luck finding out any further info on downloads for this chipset. If anyone has any of these drivers I'd be much obliged. Hoggie seemed to think those that I posted earlier and signed MS were the correct ones though. (BTW on the second install the funny dates stayed the same.

I've got the Acer ePower Management thingy on full throttle at all times.

Does anyone know of any standard (and free) benchmark tools I could run that would show how my system is running in relation to another with the same specs?

Thanks,
Mr. P

 

I'm going to throw my Acer experience in on this one so hold on =)

After reading the thread here I'd like to suggest a few things.

#1. Pull one stick of memory from bank 2 so you only are running one stick.

The reason I suggest this is because while your PC comes with 4gb of memory (according to your screen shots) 32bit windows can only see roughly 3GB of it. I have seen pc's slow down that are above the 3GB cap and windows not being able to hand it correctly.

#2. MSconfig is a good suggestion... but irrelevent if it's a clean install.

The previous individual suggested that you look at your msconfig boot table for programs that are not needed. The one reason I don't think this is an issue is because the OP mentioned a clean install of xp (clean to me means using the oem media + key not a restore feature).

#3. Check your sata drivers / chipset drivers

Assuming you downloaded the correct base chipset drivers off intels site you should be fine, but just double check and see that these are the correct drivers.

It almost sounds like your pc is struggling to run properly due to incompatable drivers or hardware exceeding its limitations (more memory that can handle).

Just a few things to look into.

--ssx--

 

Hey SSX4life, thanks for your input.

I actually only have 3gb of memory (yeah, strange amount for them to include). I have been meaning to try removing one stick anyway though as Hoggie suggested it earlier. I made an attempt to remove the panel where the memory (I believe) is located, but after removing the four screws it still didn't budge. Anyone have any tips on getting at memory for this model (or similar) Aspires?

This is still, I think as well, the core (no pun intended, otherwise I would have said "dual core") of my problem. The thing is, my IDE bus, among other things, seems to be slow as well. I mentioned earlier about the Ricoh multi-card reader being super slow to transfer. If I use my USB card reader in one of the USB slots it transfers relatively fast (need to time it against the Ricoh). I have all four drivers installed for the Ricoh (one for the bus and then the three for the individual card formats). Does anyone know about the architecture for this board? Does the Ricoh run off the IDE bus? My DVD Rom multi-drive is also slow to transfer data (it seems), but I haven't benchmarked it. I really need to find a good all around benchmarking application that I can use to get a clear picture of how my system is running compared to similar systems.

Currently I'm at an internet cafe without my laptop, but I'll make another list of the suspicious drivers and repost (some may have changed since my first install). If anyone knows how to find the Intel versions of those MS stamped drivers (they aren't apparently included with the chipset install package) I'd appreciate it.

Cheers to all,
Mr. P

 

Well, again, thanks all for your help. Seriously. I've gotten heaps of help here.

So I think I've got my system working to spec now, and here's how I did it: I went back to nLite to make a new XP disc, only this time I stripped all of the drivers from the disc for Intel processors and slipstreamed the newest ones that I downloaded from the web (Intel Chipset Drivers 1.1.15.0 v8.3.1.1009). There is a folder in there named "All" and you can just point to that directory and included the drivers there on the disc. Otherwise Windows seemed determined not to want to install the newest drivers from Intel over what were installed from the XP disc. Don't know why.

Anyway, my Acer seems to run a great deal faster. I still get those nags from Adobe Bridge that my system isn't up to spec and Nero's Infotool also says my processor needs an upgrade. Probably just have to wait for newer releases of both apps.

Just out of curiosity though, what's the correct Core VID for this processor (T8100 mobile)? Before it would jump around, can't remember off the top of my head what it is on that screen shot on the first page, but now it's steady at 1.250V. A friend of mine thinks this might be too high.

Cheers,
Mr. P

 

For a good indicator of system performance use crystal mark.
http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalMark/index-e.html

basic system specs, lets you know if something is out of whack.