Computer SHOULDN'T be slow... but it is

Discussion in 'Windows' started by MandyMarieB, Sep 20, 2015.

  1. MandyMarieB

    MandyMarieB

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    Hey friends! I have a HP Pavilion TouchSmart with Windows 8.1 on it, and there are times it runs fine... but there are other (more frequent these days) times where it runs like a snail. And it SHOULDN'T. 759GB of 910 GB free. 7.19 GB of 8.00 GB of RAM available. Yet some programs (usually Firefox and Photoshop) will run SO slow at times/eat so much CPU, that the entire thing freezes up until I close some stuff down on the Task Manager. It just... doesn't seem right. No viruses or spyware detected, so what gives? Any thoughts?
     
    MandyMarieB, Sep 20, 2015
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  2. MandyMarieB

    something back

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    Go to the task bar, right click on it, choose task manager, then in the section
    start-up disable the programs you don't want to start automatically.

    You can always run them from the programs own icons.

    If you are using ccleaner go to the registry section, then scan for issues,
    then choose fix them.

    As an extra you could down load a program called wise registry cleaner.

    A defrag could also help.

    http://www.wisecleaner.com/wise-registry-cleaner.html

    http://www.freewarefiles.com/downloads_counter.php?programid=44664
     
    something back, Sep 20, 2015
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  3. MandyMarieB

    MandyMarieB

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    Thanks for the reply! :)

    I do have a whole bunch of start-up programs disabled. Have also defraged, and set it to do so every week. I haven't used CCleaner in a while, but I'll give it a go.
     
    MandyMarieB, Sep 20, 2015
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  4. MandyMarieB

    something back

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    something back, Sep 20, 2015
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  5. MandyMarieB

    sparkster

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    This just sounds like a compatibility issue if you ask me. If you're virus/spyware-free, your disk is defragmented and your temporary files have been cleaned up, then there is no reason why you should be experiencing this problem. I would imagine that this is the result of Firefox conflicting with some other program, perhaps your security software or Photoshop maybe. It does seem to be a common problem with Firefox.
     
    sparkster, Sep 20, 2015
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  6. MandyMarieB

    something back

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    Yes there is a possibility THAT A CONFLICT IS CAUSING IT.

    AFTER UNINSTALLING BOTH PROBLEMATIC PROGRAMS

    IT'S BEST TO ONLY INSTALL ONE PROGRAM AT A TIME THEN RUN YOUR MACHINE.

    AFTER INSTALLING THE SECOND PROGRAM THEN DO THE SAME

    if the problems still exist then uninstall again, and reinstall them in a different order
     
    something back, Sep 20, 2015
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  7. MandyMarieB

    MandyMarieB

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    I don't have too much on my computer, so there aren't many programs to be conflicting with. :( I guess I should probably discontinue use of Firefox.

    Thanks for the suggestions, guys!
     
    MandyMarieB, Sep 21, 2015
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  8. MandyMarieB

    nytegeek

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    Both manual defrag and registry cleaning can be safely skipped. They don't help. Defrag runs automatically once a week on any version of Windows from Vista up to 10. NTFS on modern HDD's will see 0% performance gain from a manual defrag unless the drive is severely fragmented. Registry cleaning hasn't been relevant to windows performance for the better part of the last 15 years except for in very rare cases.
     
    nytegeek, Sep 23, 2015
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  9. MandyMarieB

    MandyMarieB

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    Really? Wow, I had no idea. And yet all those security programs continue to push that sort of thing on us, usually as a 'pro' feature. I guess for people like me who don't know any better! Lol.
     
    MandyMarieB, Sep 24, 2015
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  10. MandyMarieB

    IcyBC

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    You should do a thorough search on the safety usage of CCleaner before performing the registry part of it. If I remembered correctly, Lifehacker website and many other websites suggested to skip using the registry cleaning using CCleaner though.
     
    IcyBC, Sep 25, 2015
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  11. MandyMarieB

    sparkster

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    Ah, yes, I would advise this too. Did you create a registry backup the first time you used CCleaner? If a needed registry entry was removed during the registry scan then this could cause issues. Running the backup will place the entry back in the registry. This might not be the problem at all though.
     
    sparkster, Sep 26, 2015
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  12. MandyMarieB

    nytegeek

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    Registry cleaners won't speed up your computer. They are a complete waste of time. They often remove registry entries they shouldn’t. Registry cleaners scan your registry for entries that might be outdated or unused and remove them. Unused or old registry entries don't affect your computer’s performance. The registry contains hundreds of thousands of entries. Registry entries themselves are tiny.You could remove a few thousand entries and not make a significant difference in the size of the registry.

    Windows doesn't slow down because you have registry keys for uninstalled programs in your registry. Windows doesn't get confused because certain keys point to outdated programs. 15 years ago when you computers were much slower, had significantly less ram, and HDDs were smaller a registry cleaner might have been helpful.

    You could try using system restore with a point before the slow down assuming one is available, refreshing windows, or even a re-install. I would save these three options for a last resort though.

    1. Turn off programs you don't need or use that start up with windows. After installing a lot of software over time a number of programs can be added to your system start up that you don't need. To much of this can have a significant impact on the start up time of your PC.
    2. Remove malware. Malware can slow your PC incredibly. Malware can include Spyware, Adware, Rootkits, and less commonly viruses. Don't assume that intelligent computing or your antivirus software will prevent malware from being a problem on their own because they wont. Use a secondary On-demand tool like Clam or Panda Cloud Cleaner to verify.
    3. You can turn off windows features that you never use. There are a whole list of these, but the one I will mention here is the Windows Indexing Service. It can consume a lot of resources attempting to keep files indexed. This speeds up searches but can slow the PC down. Just remember if you do a lot of searching it may be best to leave it on.
    4. Completely uninstall any software you don't need or use.
     
    nytegeek, Sep 26, 2015
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  13. MandyMarieB

    MandyMarieB

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    See, I had already done a system reboot and that didn't make all that much difference. I transferred all my important stuff to Dropbox, then started Windows new. In order to keep things running fast (or so I had hoped), I kept most of my stuff in the Dropbox, so I wasn't just dumping a bunch of stuff back onto the clean computer. I've turned off a bunch of start-up programs, I have virus/malware protection and run it weekly, have turned off a few features, and anything I don't need, I uninstall. I've done all I can think of. :( Just don't know what the deal is.
     
    MandyMarieB, Sep 27, 2015
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  14. MandyMarieB

    nytegeek

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    Which antivirus you have and how it is configured is just as important as having one. What are you using? How does it score on independent lab testing? Does it impact performance? If you share the name of the software I might be able to make suggestions for something better.

    The kinds of things most people would keep in a dropbox don't usually have any effect on the speed of their computer. Storing files locally does not slow your computer down, it just takes up space.

    As for for turning things off, I would need to see a list or a screenshot of your startup programs and also of your enabled services to really tell you what should or shouldn't be shut off. Shutting down the wrong items can slow your machine down or cause errors just as well as letting the wrong things run.

    The bottom line is that if you try all the software and configuration solutions you can think of to no avail it might be time to consider hardware issues.
     
    nytegeek, Sep 28, 2015
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