sluggish computer win 8.1... do any of those "pc optimizer" things work or BAD idea

Spimothy Leary

Spimothy Leary

Well-Known Member
my home laptop has been getting progressively more and more sluggish. (I3 with 4gb ram, win 8, I have not upgraded to 8.1) I've been ignoring it because i'm really not that busy at home, but lately its really pissing me off...

I thought it was my norton because when checking task manager it was using up large amounts of rescources (like 25%) put in AVG a couple of days but its still slow...

Can anyone walk me through the process of trying to isolate what's killing my response time when browsing ?

I'm either a) going to fix this dam problem or b) sell the fawker and buy a new laptop. I could drop it off at the local shop, but its kind of a $69 and we'll fix it deal.. which seems like a waste if I can isolate it myself.

i'm generally computer literate and can usually isolate when this has happened on other machines in the past as in I just installed something, etc... but this is really pissing me off and its not my broadband, I did a speedtest last night with cable and its still lightening fast...

but on chrome, pages are loading slower than ever, new tabs opening slow, etc... I do have adblock installed but that's about it that can slow me down.

where should I start ?
 
I do not like Norton at all. It is a HOG.. Runs very heavy even when things are good. I use nothing but Kaspersky. It isn't the cheapest, but I believe it is the best.

Do a system restore back before you started seeing the drag. If things are running slow on Chrome, then you have an issue.
 
Spimothy Leary said:
my home laptop has been getting progressively more and more sluggish. (I3 with 4gb ram, win 8, I have not upgraded to 8.1) I've been ignoring it because i'm really not that busy at home, but lately its really pissing me off...

I thought it was my norton because when checking task manager it was using up large amounts of rescources (like 25%) put in AVG a couple of days but its still slow...

Can anyone walk me through the process of trying to isolate what's killing my response time when browsing ?

I'm either a) going to fix this dam problem or b) sell the fawker and buy a new laptop. I could drop it off at the local shop, but its kind of a $69 and we'll fix it deal.. which seems like a waste if I can isolate it myself.

i'm generally computer literate and can usually isolate when this has happened on other machines in the past as in I just installed something, etc... but this is really pissing me off and its not my broadband, I did a speedtest last night with cable and its still lightening fast...

but on chrome, pages are loading slower than ever, new tabs opening slow, etc... I do have adblock installed but that's about it that can slow me down.

where should I start ?
Click to expand...

Download Malwarebytes from Download.com. Do a full scan and see if it returns any results. Adware/malware/spyware can really slow down you computer.

Check your HDD and see if it is failing. You can do this through the DOS menu and do a system scan. Your hard drive may be on its last leg which would produce the symptoms you are describing.
 
Personally I would start over, save your pics., docs., and files. Reformat hard drive, reload windows 8.0 then upgrade to 8.1, 8.1 has windows defender a built in anti-virus, I've been using it for over a year and it works well. Saying that first I would try Greg's suggestion and try malwarebytes, I've seen it do wonders, if you get it straightened out upgrade to 8.1 and un-install AV programs.

Lou
 
X3 on Malwarebytes. I also have AVG. And, yes, as stated, Norton is s hog.

Based on your config, I would also look at your memory. 4GB with Win 8.1 is sketchy, imo. I have 16GB in an I7 machine and with a half dozen tabs open in Chrome, along with a few other programs running, I consume about 6GB of physical memory.

If it is memory starved, it will resort to page swaps and, the HD is now the slowest component in the machine. A 5400 RPM hard drive trying to page swap will definitely slow you down.

Take a look at your system monitors and they should tell you what your memory and HD are doing.


-Dave
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I did malware bytes, it found 8 things, there was a slight reduction in lag, I will re-scan when I get home and see if it finds anything new.
I think honestly it might be the 4gb that's holding me back, my work laptop has 6 and its running much faster.

I didn't upgrade to 8.1 because I heard its more of a hog than 8.0, perhaps I need to review that again.

I'm sure my adblock pro slows things down a bit, but i'd be hard pressed to dump adblock, It does a dam good job of keeping unwanted ad's away.

I will look further into what's tapping into my resources.

Is task manager the place I should be looking for the hog or should I be looking elsewhere.
 
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Yea. Memory is my guess. You should upgrade to 8.1. I find it better than 8.0. Malwarebytes is the answer to bloatware. You should run it again.

BTW: once you are in Task Manager (ctl-alt-del), go to the Performance tab. At the bottom of the dialog box you will see a link to Open Resource Monitor. That gives you everything and you can actually see which programs and services are using what resources.

Oh yea on the SSD. I am looking at some of the hybrids right now. SSD plus TB data storage.


-Dave
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ya task manager was my first (and only) stop when checking for resource hogs, that's when I noticed norton was chewing up 24% and dumped it. yet its only chewing up 3% on my work machine.

I was avoiding installing any optomizer type crap since I know from the past that people that have installed those types of programs that things got worse, not better. But I was hoping there might be a reliable 3rd party program out there that is not commercially advertised.

I know my mother installed mycleanpc and it was a friggen nightmare. Their advertisements are about as misleading as myfreecreditreport :willy_nilly:

i'll explore further into the resource monitor when I get home, I have it stuck in my head that there is a driver that's causing this, just wasn't sure how to go about isolating it.

I'm two episodes behind on better call saul so I can fawk with this while I mini-binge.
 
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None of the optimizer things do anything that you cannot do with the tools you already have. Malwarebytes is the best to find things. I don't remember if it it shows you orphaned links or not. You can also go into Chrome and cleanup your Temp History and Cookies.


-Dave
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Spimothy Leary said:
ya task manager was my first (and only) stop when checking for resource hogs, that's when I noticed norton was chewing up 24% and dumped it. yet its only chewing up 3% on my work machine.

I was avoiding installing any optomizer type crap since I know from the past that people that have installed those types of programs that things got worse, not better. But I was hoping there might be a reliable 3rd party program out there that is not commercially advertised.

I know my mother installed mycleanpc and it was a friggen nightmare. Their advertisements are about as misleading as myfreecreditreport :willy_nilly:

i'll explore further into the resource monitor when I get home, I have it stuck in my head that there is a driver that's causing this, just wasn't sure how to go about isolating it.

I'm two episodes behind on better call saul so I can fawk with this while I mini-binge.
Click to expand...

Did you scan the HD for errored sectors? This can cause it too.
 
haven't scanned the HD, yet

I think i'll start with chrome, clean up temps and cookies, maybe uninstall/reinstall.

then scan the HD, thanks for the reminder

I don't think defrag does much these days, I remember back in the win 3.11 days defragging was commonplace, I don't think i've ever done it on this machine
 
Defrag will help if your HD is pretty full. It will stack all the correct parts right next to each other which helps limit the speed it takes in finding all the parts it needs to load for what ever you are doing.
 
Not sure if it was mentioned or not but you should always scan with malewarebytes in safe mode. Otherwise you will never get all the infected files
 
Defrag absolutely works if, in fact, your HDD is fragmented. The analysis portion of the defrag will tell you if its bad or not.


-Dave
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ok, thx guys, disabled some plugins, defragged, scanned it, did a couple of re-boots, i'm much much faster when browsing, using about 50% of resources, much better.

for now I think I have the problem mostly licked !

not sure if i'm as fast as I was out of the box, but i'm pretty dam close.

edit: for example, its taking about 7 seconds now from the time I click the ebay Icon on my menu bar before it loads to the point where I can start typing in the search window. That is roughly half of what I was experiencing two days ago, I could easily count to 15 on Monday.

on my work machine, it takes about 4-5 seconds.
 
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If your machine will take more memory, it cures lots of ills. I have used Memory 4 Less over the years with good results. Also Crucial.com.


-Dave
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm considering that.. I think can upgrade for like $70 (should be a self install?) and it might make enough of a difference that I keep the machine another year or two. I figure by 2017 there will be some pretty slick machines out there for under $600.

Or I can just sell now for $200 and upgrade but the really nice upgrades (touch, I7, 8gb) still run $7-900. Certainly nicer machines than my entry level but a few second delay isn't enough to justify it. Not being a gamer/video editor/CAD user I don't see the need, actually its a little frustrating that I'd need more than 4gb to surf the dam web w/o headaches.
 
What you say is true. I kept my own machines until they would no longer upgrade. I have an old HP laptop with 2GB fixed memory that runs XP and cannot go any higher.

The machine I have now is a Toshiba 15" laptop that I picked up at Costco. It is 4 gen i7, meaning there are 8 CPUs. I don't think I have ever been over 25% utilization. It has 16GB of memory. I tend to keep a lot of things open, including streaming. I am also running a SQL server, a MySQL server and a php server. All at the same time and I am usually around 40% memory utilization. It also has a 1 TB HDD and that is the weak link. The boot up takes about 2 minutes where the HDD is just pegged and everything else is waiting. It also has a touch screen and it was $799.

For most people, I would configure an i3 (depending on the CPU model) or an i5 with 8GB memory with expansion space. You really need to make sure that you can upgrade the memory. My wife's machine was 4GB and not upgradable. It was also slow and it's now basically a brick. She only uses her Android tablet now. If you can get an SSD, or a hybrid, I would absolutely go that way, too.

Adding memory is a piece of cake. If you decide to go that way I can describe the process, but I think there are a ton of videos online that show the process. The only real issue is static. Ground yourself before you touch a memory stick. They come in pairs now, so don't let that throw you. Either of the 2 sites I referenced earlier will let you enter your machine and tell you the memory that will fit.

Easy upgrade that will transform your machine and make it last.


-Dave
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have a rule now, I don't ever spend more than $500 on a computer - mac or pc
You can always get a decent machine for $500
 
you would be amazed how much faster a ssd hard drive would be, i have them in all my pc's including laptops. lightening fast! nortons is a resource hog! I've used avast anti virus for years free version and works great! also use super anti spyware which is free and ccleaner. i run those 3 utilities daily and keeps them in top notch. a few days ago while on the computer, a spyware hacked in my pc and made changes to my screen and wth, so i ran super anti spyware and it fixed it
one word of caution, never defrag a ssd drive, it will distroy it.
 
FloridaLife said:
I have a rule now, I don't ever spend more than $500 on a computer - mac or pc
You can always get a decent machine for $500
Click to expand...
i build my own for just under $500, parts from tiger direct. much better than store bought, but also aware that not every one is pc savvy and not putting anyone down for it.
 
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