Diagnosing/fixing computer performance problems--Reliable software for this?

[Cobra9777]

PCs require regular maintenance or they inevitably get bogged down. Laptops seem to be more prone to this than desktops. Just basic stuff like: defrag all HDDs, check AV logs, empty recycle bin, clear browser cache/history/cookies/etc, clear temp files and download folder, uninstall unneeded programs, check MSCONFIG and disable unneeded start-up processes, reboot and check running processes and resources, backup critical data, and blow out the dust. This requires very little time and no specific expertise.

Even with regular maintenance, I reformat and do a clean install of the OS about every 2 years just to clean up the registry. I never use the manufacturer's disk which is loaded with bloatware. Only a clean and lean Windows OS disk. I then tweak the OS for optimum performance according to several online guides. My desktop is 8 years old, laptop is 6 years old and they're both running smooth and fast on Windows 7.

 

[W2R]

Check to see if you can install more memory. Insufficient memory is a big cause of slow performance.

+1000 Good heavens, 4 GB RAM? No wonder it runs slowly. I don't think I have had that little RAM for a very, very long time. Try three to four times as much RAM, to leave a little headroom for future needs.

Or, just buy your wife the new computer without trading anything in. Even better, maybe be a big spender and buy identical new high end computers for each of you without trading anything in. Then you can transfer files at your leisure, and what a Merry Christmas it will be at your house.

 

[easysurfer]

Is the slowness online, or offline or both? I remember when I had DSL and my computer would seem to take a long time like accessing a website only to find having slow DSL was part of the problem.

 

[Lsbcal]

MSCONFIG was mentioned above as something to try. There are some web links to articles about running this to get rid of unwanted startup stuff. Problem for me is to know that I'm not screwing up something I want to keep going.

I bought my system with 8GB of RAM some years ago.

Maybe time to just get a nice new system that fits your needs? Sometimes it's good to get all the new bells and whistles.

 

[Cobra9777]

MSCONFIG was mentioned above as something to try. There are some web links to articles about running this to get rid of unwanted startup stuff. Problem for me is to know that I'm not screwing up something I want to keep going...

Just do a google search on each checked item in the start-up tab. If you expand the 'Command' column, you will eventually find an .exe file. If the file name and path isn't self-explanatory, then google it. If you don't need it running at start-up, uncheck it. I do the same with any mysterious processes running in task manager, particularly if it's consuming a lot of resources.

 

[rbmrtn]

4GB of RAM is more than sufficient for most home users. Unless you have some memory intensive progam running or many programs running at once ( like dozens of IE tabs open ) you probably will never touch 8GBs. Just open taskmanager and look at your memory usage,

 

[easysurfer]

MSCONFIG was mentioned above as something to try. There are some web links to articles about running this to get rid of unwanted startup stuff. Problem for me is to know that I'm not screwing up something I want to keep going.

I bought my system with 8GB of RAM some years ago.

Maybe time to just get a nice new system that fits your needs? Sometimes it's good to get all the new bells and whistles.

That's why you'd want to make an image of the system before trying to fix. That way, if something gets screwed up during the fixing attempt, you could easily restore to how things were before.

 

[Lsbcal]

I've never tried to restore much of anything although I do backups weekly with images and all. I've only had to get at a few data files. Either I'm lucky or just cautious. Restoring a hunk of stuff seems scary to me but maybe it's easy?

 

[easysurfer]

I've never tried to restore much of anything although I do backups weekly with images and all. I've only had to get at a few data files. Either I'm lucky or just cautious. Restoring a hunk of stuff seems scary to me but maybe it's easy?

I use Macrium and have that set for scheduled image backups of my system and data each morning. Usually, before I wake up, the image is done. Comes in handy, say if my computer gets hit by ransomeware I'm only a quick restore away from recovering.

Also, comes in handy to for testing updates or changes. Once again, a quick restore away.

 

[kneehigh]

A. QUICK FIX
With Win 7, you can use System Restore. Go back to a point (hopefully you created a restore point) after the last time you had it fixed. Someone may have mentioned this process, but don't remember seeing it.

B. LONG TERM POSSIBLE SOLUTION (only if you are comfortable doing hardware and software upgrades, otherwise give it to somebody who can do it or part of the upgrade you can't do). None of these are really that difficult.
1. Definitely upgrade your ram. PS is a ram hoarder. 16 Gigs if your laptop can take it. Crucial can easily tell you how much ram your computer can upgrade to.
2. Upgrade to SSD. Skip hybrid. Bestbuy Samsung 850 EVO 250GB Internal Serial ATA Solid State Drive for Laptops Black MZ-75E250B - Best Buy
I've seen them as low as $69 when they're on sale. It comes with a cloning software, but you might have to buy the cable to connect from usb2/3 to the SSD.
3. Use external HHD through usb3 if it's available for your docs and pics. Take the HHD you take out from your laptop and buy a case for it at FRYS and convert it to an external drive.
4. Definitely upgrade to Win 10 in spite of the trepidation of a few. Make sure you have copy of your software licenses before upgrading software. Windows 10 Defender is just fine as an antivirus.
5. Nothing better than a fresh install as mentioned previously. If you can do it once, you can do it again and again which is a good skill to have in the future. This will be the best way to restore the performance of your laptop. If you run into problem--google, ask a friend or geek squad for last resort. BTW, make sure she can do her work on another computer while you're doing the upgrade. You want plenty of time to work on it without the added pressure.
6. Use Acronis True Image 2016 to create images of your backup. After this step, you can restore that laptop before your honey can give you the excuse, "Not tonight dear. I have a headache." You are going to be a hero.
7. No amount of software monitoring or adding some 100% proof antivirus or deleting the culprit will improve computer problem as well as a clean image. Unfortunately, someone is always going to click on something that they shouldn't (knowingly or unknowingly).

C. BETTER SOLUTION, POSSIBLY.
Buy a new system. If you can afford a Thinkpad (even an older version), then go for it. Make sure the specs are enough for what she's doing-- preferably with SSD, plenty of RAM, usb3, etc.

 

[sengsational]

I had an application called "whats running". It was very easy to turn off things that started automatically. I haven't used it since gojng to a fresh system, but I think it would be smart to get a feel for what it looked like when the machine is fresh. But that won't help if the registry gets bloated...the only really good solution there is the factory reset, or better yet, a fresh OS install that comes without all of the crapware that comes on many of these systems nowadays.

 

[kneehigh]

Asus R500A-RH51-WT 16-Inch Notebook (2.5 GHz Intel Core i5-3210M processor, 4GB RAM?

She's running Win 7 on an Asus laptop configured per the recommendation of a local computer shop after she told them she was using PhotoShop Elements 9 and Elements Organizer.
Intel Core i5-3210M CPU @ 2.50 GHz 2.50 GHz
Installed memory RAM 4.00 GB (I haven't checked to see if there's room for more memory or if it is hard to access the board)
64 bit operating system
Intel HD graphics 4000
.

Is this the model you have? It's got a couple of usb3 (blue). Use that port instead of the usb2. I looked at the min req for PS 9 and it's pretty low, but that's min req. Who knows what she has up running while she's working. You can start with the SSD and try that first. Also turn off anything that the PS is doing to try to automatically connect to the internet.

 

[Souschef]

I went on line and found a youtube demo to clean out all the update notifications. I had almost 2 GB of notifications!

 

[samclem]

Is this (Asus R500A-RH51-WT 16-Inch Notebook (2.5 GHz Intel Core i5-3210M processor, 4GB RAM ) the model you have? It's got a couple of usb3 (blue). Use that port instead of the usb2.

No, it's a K55A model with the same specs. It does have two USB 3 ports, so I'll use those for any data swapping. Thanks.

 

[rgarling]

Try removing AVG and see if things improve. I've had some performance problems with that program lately.

 

[Bflotomny]

Samclem, a random thought while thinking about your issue and reading some of the responses... Do you know if you are running 2 or more anti-virus programs. MS Security Essentials and something else will fight for dominance and slow your computer down. Like I said just a thought.

 

[samclem]

Samclem, a random thought while thinking about your issue and reading some of the responses... Do you know if you are running 2 or more anti-virus programs. MS Security Essentials and something else will fight for dominance and slow your computer down. Like I said just a thought.

No, it's just AVG. I'll have to try turning it off (what did I read, it takes 20 seconds average before an unprotected computer gets turned into a zombie bot?)

 

[target2019]

And disable your Internet connection before disabling av protection.

 

[RonBoyd]

This is another program that is useful for "improving" computer performance (over 150 tweaks & settings):

Ultimate Windows Tweaker for Windows 7 & Vista

...

Other

• Extensive code optimization for speed improvement
• Improved refreshing capability after applying tweaks
• No more prompts after each Apply clicks
• Some UI and typo fixes.

This program is not installed but run as a stand-alone application... can be carried on a Flash Drive, for instance.

(There are, also, versions for Windows 8 & 10. http://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultimate-windows-tweaker-4-windows-10)

 

[Dash man]

Use a Mac and you won't go back!


Sent from my iPhone using Early Retirement Forum

 

[REWahoo]

Nothing like a good old Mac vs. PC cage match to send a thread to Porkyland...

 

[M Paquette]

Nothing like a good old Mac vs. PC cage match to send a thread to Porkyland...

LINUX! No, NETBSD! No, LINUX...

I'll just go sit in the corner and run Mach...


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[stlguy57]

Why are these Windows issues and their troubleshooting even acceptable is the bigger question....

 

[kneehigh]

What Windows issues? My son has a Mac Pro that he was going to get rid of because it was slowing down. I took it and having not worked on apple stuff, replaced the HHD with 250 GB of SSD. He was surprised that it performed so much better. Point is that "issues" are not limited to Windows.

 

[bUU]

Why are these Windows issues and their troubleshooting even acceptable is the bigger question....

Because they're not Windows issues, per se, but rather issues introduced by all the other crap we add to Windows. kneehigh points out that we see it on Macs, and I assure you we even see the same thing on Linux: After adding a JVM, a proprietary application platform, a web interface, indexing, an ETL engine, an integration interface, a presentation interface, etc., guess what? The system slows down. We solve it by scaling horizontally and vertically, but the personal computer user puts everything on one box.