Forum Moderators: phranque
Basic info:
Windows XP
Laptop was dropped a year ago - screen broke - fixed - but seemed a little slow afterwards.
Since then I picked up adware on my computer - spybot kept reloading when I 'refreshed/reloaded xp (can't remember the correct term)'. So used webroot spy sweeper and got rid of all ad and spy ware.
Fan on computer now constantly runs, the computer is stupidly slow and freezes all the time.
It keeps crashing saying my ati2dvag.dll 'stopping working' .
Before I thrown the laptop out the window and buy a new one I was wondering if anyone could help.
I thought I may need to replace the ati2dvag driver and have sent the following support ticket to ati.com but haven't been able to give them a lot of info about my computer because I don't know how to find much of the info.
If anyone has any ideas - ie which driver I need to download or whether my problems may be caused by something else I'd REALLY appreciate it!
Ticket:
Ticket Description
Type of Inquiry: Laptop / Notebook support
Bus Type: Don't Know
Operating System: WINDOWS XP
Other Operating System:
Driver Version: Don't know
Other Driver Version: Don't Know - see notes
Category: Drivers & Software
Driver Version:Summary: Which ati driver do I need to download?
Details: Sir/Madam,I've been having problems with my ati2dvag.dll 'stopping working' so my computer crashes. My computer is also very slow when opening programmes, and freezes for a while when I use programmes like IE and Macromedia fireworks.
I've been told I should replace the ati2dvag.dll
I know very little about hardware so I am not sure which driver I should download to replace it with.
My control panel gives this information about my ati driver:
8.08-041111a-021421C-Toshiba
and this about my ati control panel:
6.14.10.5090
Please could you give me a link to which driver I should be replacing it with.
If you've reached the point of being prepared to buy a new computer, back up any work you have, etc. and perform a clean restore (to factory settings).
If you don't have restore disks, a clean reinstall in XP may be trickier but is probably your best bet.
If the system continues to misbehave, then it is probably a hardware fault.
However before you do all that...
CTRL-ALT-DEL will bring up the task manager. Since you say the fan is on permanently, check if a task is using (nearly) all the CPU time. If yes, google the task name and close it (if safe to do so). If the system continues to work (rather than crash immediately) track down the origin of the task and uninstall the offending software. However, if it's adware/spyware, etc. this may not be so easy.
Kaled.
Do you have system restore disks?
If you've reached the point of being prepared to buy a new computer, back up any work you have, etc. and perform a clean restore (to factory settings).
I can't remember it I have the disks (i will check) but I have done some sort of system restore before when I had the adware problem. I restored it to various 'dates' in safemode and I didn't notice any chance with anything. Programmes were still there that I'd downloaded before the dates etc. I must have done something wrong.
If you don't have restore disks, a clean reinstall in XP may be trickier but is probably your best bet.
Any clues where would be the best place to get instruction on this?
If the system continues to misbehave, then it is probably a hardware fault.
I thought of this - especially after the laptop was dropped.
However before you do all that...CTRL-ALT-DEL will bring up the task manager. Since you say the fan is on permanently, check if a task is using (nearly) all the CPU time. If yes, google the task name and close it (if safe to do so). If the system continues to work (rather than crash immediately) track down the origin of the task and uninstall the offending software. However, if it's adware/spyware, etc. this may not be so easy.
Are you talking about the processes section? In this section nothing goes above 05 in the CPU colum - apart from 'System Idle Process' which is around 97. Under the Mem Usage colum, nothing goes above 47,000K - the bigger ones being exporer, IE, Google Accelerator (downloaded this to try and help speed things up) etc.
I did notice that simply resizing hte task manager box makes the General CPU usage go up to about 40% - is that normal? All that work to resize a box?!
As for Chkdsk - that looks WAY over my head but I'm trying to look into it.
Poke around their support site.
Reinstall XP - boot up with XP disk and follow directions.
