Personal computing discussed

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blur98
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slow pc help

Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:46 pm

Hello.

Since I had my computer it always gradually gets slower. Slow enough to take 10 seconds to load a web browner. The activity light frequently is on.
The only fix is always to make a clean install. Then it is quick as normal and months later it slows down again. I have done this many times.

Its not a virus or hard drive space scarcity.
Perhaps it could be bad RAM.
Thanks in advance.
 
Techgoudy
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Re: slow pc help

Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:35 pm

This is not a hardware issue, but instead a maintenance one. Over time an OS will slow after installing applications, updates, and not clearing things using utilities like disk cleanup and such. I would advise learning how to clean the computer up instead of reinstalling windows every time.
 
whm1974
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Re: slow pc help

Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:51 pm

This.

You shouldn't need to reinstall Windows very often if at all these days. However when you install software it will often install other programs as well that will slow your system down. Make sure you look for checkboxes for extra stuff and uncheck those you don't want to install.
 
BlackDove
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Re: slow pc help

Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:14 pm

Probably is malware or failing hardware. What have you checked for malware with? Things dont become slow for no reason and a windows install can basically stay the same "speed" for years. Bad RAM wouldnt be gradual or fixed by a reinstall.

What other diagnostics have you run? Run these tools in this order and reboot each time it says to.

https://www.malwarebytes.org/antirootkit/

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/

https://www.f-secure.com/en/web/home_gl ... ne-scanner
 
notfred
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Re: slow pc help

Sat Jul 04, 2015 8:21 pm

Losing DMA on the hard drives due to errors on the cable?
 
blur98
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Re: slow pc help

Sun Jul 05, 2015 9:21 am

Thanks for all the replies.

I usually clean the computer with disk cleanup and CC cleaner.
I have AVG and Ad aware installed. When I install new programs I don't install the extra stuff.
 
Melvar
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Re: slow pc help

Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:24 am

Samsung 840?
 
BlackDove
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Re: slow pc help

Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:48 am

blur98 wrote:
Thanks for all the replies.

I usually clean the computer with disk cleanup and CC cleaner.
I have AVG and Ad aware installed. When I install new programs I don't install the extra stuff.


Those are all useless or worse than useless and detrimental. AVG secure search is malware. Use the stuff i linked. Ccleaner can screw up your registry too.

Get Malwarebytes Anti Malware and Anti Exploit and use a decent free antivirus like Microsoft Security Essentials. For $25 a year for three PCs Malwarebytes is also totally worth it.

https://www.malwarebytes.org/trial/ Go to detection and protection settings and enable rootkit scanning.

https://www.malwarebytes.org/antiexploit/ one of the most sophisticated and effective tools for securing your browser.
Last edited by BlackDove on Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:55 am, edited 2 times in total.
 
cheesyking
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Re: slow pc help

Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:53 am

Might be worth having a look in resource monitor to see what's causing all the disk activity.

Personally I wouldn't be surprised if it was AVG which seems pretty bloated and slow these days.
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BlackDove
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Re: slow pc help

Sun Jul 05, 2015 10:58 am

cheesyking wrote:
Might be worth having a look in resource monitor to see what's causing all the disk activity.

Personally I wouldn't be surprised if it was AVG which seems pretty bloated and slow these days.


Or this which has Virus Total integration as well(in options enable Virus Total). You can replace task manager with it too. Make sure you go to File and show details from all processes.

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sys ... 96653.aspx
 
Aether
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Re: slow pc help

Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:37 am

More info is needed to help. Do you have any trouble with lockups, or does it just get unreasonably slow after a few months? Are you using an SSD or a spinning hard drive? How much memory do you have? Have you tried anything yet like using another hard drive or swapping out cables?
 
just brew it!
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Re: slow pc help

Sun Jul 05, 2015 11:59 am

You need to use Task Manager (or Process Explorer) to figure out what process(es) are running in the background and generating all of that disk I/O activity.

Is the system drive a mechanical HDD or a SSD? If it is mechanical, is the system set up to run a periodic defrag? If it is a SSD, is it a Samsung 840 series drive?

Are you experiencing any system instabilities or crashes, or just the slowdowns? Bad RAM generally causes application crashes or BSODs, not slow performance.
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blur98
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 8:57 am

just brew it! wrote:
You need to use Task Manager (or Process Explorer) to figure out what process(es) are running in the background and generating all of that disk I/O activity.

Is the system drive a mechanical HDD or a SSD? If it is mechanical, is the system set up to run a periodic defrag? If it is a SSD, is it a Samsung 840 series drive?

Are you experiencing any system instabilities or crashes, or just the slowdowns? Bad RAM generally causes application crashes or BSODs, not slow performance.


Sorry for the delay.

There are not any crashes/instability.
It is a regular HDD. A VISTA system with 1.5 GB RAM.

Any program I use takes up to 90-100 CPU usage at times. Also a high RAM percentage too. I use Chrome often.
 
cheesyking
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 10:33 am

Sounds like you need more RAM. Vista with less than 2GB of RAM is a painful experience. All the hard drive activity is probably being caused by the page file being in constant use.

As an interim measure you can get chrome to reduce its memory use with an extension that suspends background tabs ("tab hibernate" is one but there are several others). NB this will only help if you have lots of tabs open at the same time. It works by removing tabs you haven't looked at for a while from ram so when you switch back to those tabs it might have to do a page refresh.
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wirerogue
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 10:37 am

it's vista.

check your task manager for svchost.exe using a ton of memory.

that would be the windows update doing it's thing. usually at boot.

solution. leave computer on and/or kill that process.
 
SoM
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 11:06 am

also don't forget to do a disk defrag

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DPete27
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 11:56 am

You've got a "virus" problem.

BlackDove wrote:
Those are all useless or worse than useless and detrimental. AVG secure search is malware. Ccleaner can screw up your registry too.

I second this. AVG is horrible, and I've had CCleaner mess up my registry. Use Avast Antivirus instead. It's free and better than Microsoft Security Essentials IMO. I only use Avast on my computers (no other anti-malware stuff) and have never had a problem with slowdowns. Uninstall AVG before you install a different anti-virus program. It's bad to have 2 anti-virus programs running. I'd also argue that it's detrimental to performance and pointless to have active malware programs running alongside modern anti-virus software. It's just more proecesses' that are doing the same task, sucking up resources.

If you use Avast, do the "custom installation" option and uncheck all the grime fighter, VMSecure, etc etc (stuff that doesn't look like core-AntiVirus functions) they're just bloat that most users will never use anyway. "Grime Fighter" will actually give you a pop-up after a while, but is only available on the paid version. It's their way to upsell.

Are you actually RUNNING virus SCANS, or just assuming that "active protection" of AVG is getting the job done. You need to actually run virus scans from time to time to remove bad stuff (AVG sucks at removing bad stuff even with scans...so). Note: Avast doesn't schedule scans by default upon installation. You need to set up a scan schedule.

When's the last time you cleaned your browser history and cookies? Defragmented the hard drive? These are simple (albeit manual) tasks that can be done in your browser and/or Vista.

As others have said, more RAM will improve the performance of your PC, but RAM itself is NOT the cause of a gradual slowdown. It's possible/obvious that you've got background processes' that are sucking up tons of resources, likely that along with the CPU and hdd activity, it's stealing RAM also. This all leaves less resources to run programs that you're actually using. Given that you said 1.5GB and Vista, I'd assume you've got DDR2 RAM which you should be able to get an additional 2GB for $10-15. Do that regardless, these days it's recommended to have at least 3-4GB of RAM. What is the brand/model of the computer? Do you have 32-bit Vista or 64-bit? Are there empty RAM slots that you could fill?

How many tabs do you typically have open at a time in Chrome?

Already mentioned, but going forward: Make sure you're reading each page of software installations. It is VERY common for free software to come bundled with random other unrelated programs/toolbars in various degrees of sneakyness. Always select "custom installation" when given the option. Unselect all programs/toolbars that are not the one you're currently installing. If you wanted the other bundled programs/toolbars you can easily download them separately. This is the most common pitfall for the vast majority of users: just clicking next-next-next until a program is installed without paying attention to what else is coming along for the ride.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
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Milo Burke
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 12:23 pm

Up through Vista, each version of Windows used up more RAM and processing power than its predecessor. Since Vista, each version of Windows uses less RAM and processing power than it's predecessor.

- Upgrading to Windows 8 or 10 will help your computer feel faster
- Upgrading your RAM will definitely help - if you're an average user on a budget, aim for 4 GB, although 8 GB is good for more demanding users
- Installing Windows on a Solid State Drive (or SSD) will make a world of a difference, so buy one as soon as possible
- Try this: http://www.microcenter.com/product/4495 ... tate_Drive
- Or this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KFA ... PDKIKX0DER

- Be sure to uninstall any crapware that shipped with your computer and gets installed each time you install Windows fresh, often games and updater tools and media software you'll never use
- Be sure to uninstall crapware that accidentally gets downloaded with things like Java and Flash Player, often "security tools" and browser toolbars and shopping "aids" that are essentially selling your computing habits to advertisers
- Many security tools are inadequate, many security tools add serious bloat to everything you do, and many people unknowingly have multiple security tools installed at once. Yikes! Stick with just one sleek security tool to improve performance. Others on this site may know better than I, but Microsoft Security Essentials is free and good enough for me.
 
DPete27
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 12:39 pm

Did MSE ever get it's AV certification back? (news article from Jan 2013) I switched to Avast when I heard about it and haven't looked back since.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
anotherengineer
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 12:49 pm

That's pretty bad.

My wife's 4+ yr old laptop (brazos E-350 1.6Ghz dual core) is faster than that. It is running 4GB ram though and a Crucial M4 256GB SSD with W7 x64. Only installed protection is malwarebytes anti-malware.

No issues.
https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/premium/

Sad thing is way back, it used to be for life, which is when I got it and got grandfathered in.

As others have chimed, may want to check all cable connections are tight, all coolers are clean from dust/lint, look at getting a 2GB stick of ram, and an SSD. If you are running integrated graphics on that thing a small dedicated card might help a bit also.

Good luck.

edit - also make sure chrome doesn't have any ad-ons, some can bog it down. I have found ublock origin very good on FF, may want to give that a try also.
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Waco
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 1:05 pm

1.5 GB of RAM is the issue here. Even Windows 7/8.1 are in bad shape in terms of disk access as soon as you try to do anything with that amount of RAM. Paging sucks!
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DPete27
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 1:26 pm

Hey now! Up until mid-2012 my HTPC was a single core Athlon 3200+ with 1.5GB of RAM running Win7 and it was just fine for web browsing and watching shows/movies. Only real reason I got rid of it was the inability to watch 1080p content (and the fact that it was 10 years old). I've already agreed that the OP should add RAM to the system though.
Main: i5-3570K, ASRock Z77 Pro4-M, MSI RX480 8G, 500GB Crucial BX100, 2 TB Samsung EcoGreen F4, 16GB 1600MHz G.Skill @1.25V, EVGA 550-G2, Silverstone PS07B
HTPC: A8-5600K, MSI FM2-A75IA-E53, 4TB Seagate SSHD, 8GB 1866MHz G.Skill, Crosley D-25 Case Mod
 
blur98
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 3:28 pm

Even when I use XP it had the same issue. So the RAM seems unlikely.
I will uninstall AVG and try Avast. I'll also run another Malwarebytes scan along with an Avast scan.

I plan to get a newer PC; possibly build it if I can make enough space.
Still I want to fix this PC though.
 
madtronik
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 3:39 pm

blur98 wrote:
Even when I use XP it had the same issue. So the RAM seems unlikely.
I will uninstall AVG and try Avast. I'll also run another Malwarebytes scan along with an Avast scan.

I plan to get a newer PC; possibly build it if I can make enough space.
Still I want to fix this PC though.


If you want a good free and lightweight antivirus try Bitdefender Free. Simple as hell and hassle free.
 
BlackDove
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Re: slow pc help

Thu Jul 16, 2015 8:05 pm

DPete27 wrote:
Did MSE ever get it's AV certification back? (news article from Jan 2013) I switched to Avast when I heard about it and haven't looked back since.


Antiviruses are ALL pretty useless. NONE of them can effectively protect against zero days. Microsoft Security Essentials is fine but you cant just rely on ANY antivirus. At least Microsoft Security Essentials uses bottom up ASLR too.

Those AV Comparitives and certifications are meaningless.

The best thing you can do is use exploit mitigation. This is the most important piece of security software to use. The free version only shields browsers and their plugins like Flash and Java. Since thats usually what is targeted by explois, thats usually enough for most users. It is infinitely better than using adblock and noscript, which offer no protection. Premium allows you to make custom shields for any application.

https://www.malwarebytes.org/antiexploit/

Clean out all the malware you can with these tools. Run them one at a time, in this order, and reboot when prompted.

https://www.malwarebytes.org/trial/ enable rootkit scanning in detection settings. Run a threat scan. If youre going to pay for any security software, this is,the one to pay for since premium gets you real time protection.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/ click clean after looking through the tabs to see what its going to remove.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/downloa ... oval-tool/

Make sure you have Windows configured correctly. Watch out for social engineering attacks.

Manual tools to use are

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sys ... s/bb963902 Autoruns to look for and prevent unnecessary things from starting.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sys ... s/bb897437 TCPView to look for suspicious network activity.

And process explorer which i linked before.

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