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CPDN no longer relinquishing resources.

CPDN no longer relinquishing resources.

Questions and Answers : Windows : CPDN no longer relinquishing resources.
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Profile GarryNearWinnipeg

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Message 25028 - Posted: 7 Nov 2006, 22:45:40 UTC

I\'d been running HadSM3 for about 6 months with no problems whatsoever, then about Oct.14th I suddenly got really slow start-ups when powering on my PC. Whenever BOINC is running, all other applications take much longer to initiate. (BOINC does not automatically start - I changed it to manual start a long time ago.)When I start my internet connection (using dial-up)it takes about 60 seconds to open a port (it only takes 1 second if BOINC not running) and I always see the CPDN/BOINC message \"exited with zero status but no \'finished\' file ... etc.\" so there is obviously some resource conflict going on. Around this time I got a download from Microsoft for October\'s security update but MS\'s site has no record of any problems resulting from this update. I was also messing around with some older Windows programs on that weekend, trying to install them for my grandkids to play with. They were not running great so I uninstalled them. I\'m wondering if one of these programs could have altered a Registry setting and the uninstall did not change it back? Task Manager and Performance Monitor both show maximum CPU usage when CPDN running, as usual, and drops to much less when CPDN is shut down. The strange part is that prior to Oct.14, I never had any slowness while BOINC was running and cold starts took about 3 minutes, not 7 or 8. I guess my question is - could a Registry change(s) cause BOINC/CPDN to act like this - if not, what could be doing it?
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Profile MikeMarsUK
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Message 25031 - Posted: 8 Nov 2006, 8:35:15 UTC


Most likely the programmes you\'ve been installing have taken up extra memory, and your PC has started \'thrashing\'. This is when there is insufficient memory for everything to be going at the same time, and it starts using the hard disk instead (which is incredibly slow and makes your system feel like it\'s been dipped in glue).

If you pull up the \'task manager\' (right-click on the toolbar), turn to the \'processes\' page, and make a note of anything which has a large figure in the \'mem usage\' column (You may need to \'View/Select Columns\' to see it). You can search on google to find out what they are, or alternatively, ask here.
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Message 25040 - Posted: 9 Nov 2006, 2:43:59 UTC

Can you also make sure that the hadsm3 processes have their priority set to \'Low\' (from the Task Manager).

But your main problem seems to be at Windows startup - right? Are you sure that you don\'t have any malware infection(s)? Run a full virus-scan and spyware-scan to be sure.

Also check if you have unnecessary startup items; Startup Inspector is an easy-to-use tool to check and control startup items.
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Message 25047 - Posted: 9 Nov 2006, 16:31:30 UTC

Re: Reply 25031 - I\'m not running any \"extra\" programs, remember - I uninstalled them.I checked memory usage in TM - nothing abnormal - CPDN using it\'s limit as specified in my preferences(plus 100% CPU)and various small services running in the background. No \"thrashing\" when PC is up and running.
Re: Reply 25040 - not sure how to set priorities in TM - will look into that, but you\'re right - that\'s not my main problem. The startup takes exceptionally long plus the simple act of opening a port when I initiate internet connections - just started after Oct.14th - everything worked ok prior to then. As well, the opening of the port is affecting BOINC, which it never used to. I ran a full virus scan and spyware scan - nothing \"bad\" found. Have also run \"chkdsk\" and defrag analysis (fragmenting too small to warrant defragging)and the EVENT Logs do not show anything significant. I was thinking of digging into the \"System Monitor\" (performance logs)but haven\'t ventured into that yet as I\'m hoping someone will be able to tell me if the Registry COULD be the problem or not. In the meantime, I\'ll check out \"Startup Inspector\" as you suggested. Note: I do have a full backup of my hard drive (created in mid-Sep.) on a second hard drive so I could possibly move the Registry files over to the current HDD - but that\'s a tricky bit of work and if I mess it up I could be in worse trouble than I\'m in now. Any new ideas? (Could Registry settings cause the effects I\'m seeing?)
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Message 25051 - Posted: 9 Nov 2006, 19:57:13 UTC

October 14th
The date of an automatic Windows update.
Co-incidence?

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Message 25069 - Posted: 10 Nov 2006, 15:37:41 UTC

Re: Reply 25051 - I think so. I took a tour through Microsoft\'s TECHNET for their Oct.10th security update release and could not find anything relating specifically to what I\'m experiencing. They did mention some port blocking but that was for incoming connections not for outgoing connections. My port opening delay only happens when BOINC is running (even if its suspended). Besides, if that Security Update is causing any kind of impact on my PC, it must be doing the same to thousands of other PCs and MS would have been alerted about it by now (4 weeks in use)and would have advised users about it and how they would fix it. I\'m still leaning toward the possibility of one of the 3 \"games\" I temporarily installed changed a Registry or something and the change wasn\'t reversed when I ran the uninstall. The games came from reputable companies and were legitimate (not pirated)copies, hoever, they were originally written for Windows 95/98 so maybe XP can\'t handle them? They often hung my whole OS when I ran them, that\'s why I uninstalled them. It\'s just that BOINC\'s behaviour is the only thing that\'s changed significantly since I installed them other than the slow startup. When BOINC is running all other programs take much longer to start up and run slower as well. When BOINC is not running all other programs start & run at normal speeds. I don\'t think this problem was caused by BOINC, but I\'m hoping someone familiar with BOINC can make an educated guess as to what could make BOINC act this way.
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Message 25127 - Posted: 16 Nov 2006, 2:54:49 UTC

Has this one got EVERYONE stumped?? I\'d really appreciate any help anyone can offer.
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Message 25129 - Posted: 16 Nov 2006, 3:31:41 UTC

We can only offer advice on matters that we\'ve come across before, hopefully with a solution.
This appears to be a new problem.

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Message 25135 - Posted: 16 Nov 2006, 8:54:08 UTC

A screengrab of taskmanager\'s processes tab just after a reboot may be useful, with the \'CPU time\', \'mem usage\' and \'total mem usage\' columns displayed (view/select columns).

(Incidentally Windows update does often mess up firewall settings).
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Message 25752 - Posted: 27 Dec 2006, 15:25:06 UTC

Re:Message 25040 - confirmed hadsm3 processes have low priority. Full virus scan and spyware run - nothing found. Installed and ran Startup Inspector - nothing significant found.
Dec.20,2006 - after discussing my problem with my ISP Support, they suggested considering running System Restore. Ensured all backups were up to date and ran System Restore back to Oct.1,\'06. When completed I had several MS and Virus updates to re-apply but the pc seemed to be running the way it used to. Have now been using it for 7 days and all is well. I think my original suspicions about the old programs changing the Registry and their uninstalls failing to change the Registry back is correct. Please add this incident to your arsenal of possible fixes for slow-running PCs, especially if BOINC starts behaving abnormally. Thanks for your helpful suggestions.
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Questions and Answers : Windows : CPDN no longer relinquishing resources.

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