Slooow Laptop - any techies out there?

[Phoenix]

I have a Sony Vaio laptop, running Windows 7. A few days ago it suddenly started running slow, like anything up to a minute for responses from the keyboard etc. The hard drive is just running continuously, and seems to hog all the resouces.

I have tried everything I know to resolve it but without any success.  Reboot (obviously). Clear the cache (obviously). Disabled the Antivirus (AVG). Uninstalled the Antivirus. Installed a different antivirust (Avast). Gone back to a new install of AVG.

I tried a 'safe' start up. No problem with the hard drive (but the antivirus was 'passive' (Avast)). Normal boot up, usual problem.

I installed the latest version of Firefox. Nothing. I removed a few programs I no longer require. Nothing.

I've tried recovery. Odd thing here, it only seems to keep 1 recovery, the latest. No joy.

I've run msconfig, and ensured it's nothing from the startup programs.

I've got Task manager up, cant see anything obvious other than the strange phenomina that several identical tasks are showing up.For instance, there ar 15 occurances of 'Host process for windows Services', some are duplicated and ther are currently 3 entries for Firefox, all showing different memory usage.

Suddenly, usually several hours later, the hard drive light reverts to a normal flikker, and progress continues smoothly.

Until the next reboot. I'm at my wit's end.

Any ideas other than 'buy a new computer'. I'm reluctant to attempt a re-install of Windows, as it didn't come with a disk, and I somehow dont trust the 'backup' on the C drive partition.

[David]

1 minute ago, Phoenix said:

running Windows

There's your problem right there!

[Phoenix]

2 minutes ago, David said:

There's your problem right there!

Pheew!! Thanks for that. All my troubles are at an end.  Not.

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

Maybe a fresh windows install is needed, that tends to fix any performance issues I run in to if the obvious stuff doesn't work. Not ideal as you may lose some data though.

[SaintRam]

I assume you checked that the HDD wasn't corrupted or fragmented when you ran the safe start-up?

Too many background programs can cause slowness but I'd imagine you'd notice that on the task manager.

You should make sure your drivers are up to date, and that Windows is up to date.

If your computer is overheating it would also slow down the HDD. Might need to be cleaned, or a cooling stand if you don't already use one. A cheap one would give you immediate results if this is the cause.

Computer age is a factor but I don't think its that old, is it?

The one thing you don't want to hear is that your HDD could be dying. Not the most likely, but that's a possibility. Or some other hardware could be damaged, but most other things wouldn't cause HDD slowness. 

 

[Phoenix]

3 minutes ago, JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta said:

Maybe a fresh windows install is needed, that tends to fix any performance issues I run in to if the obvious stuff doesn't work. Not ideal as you may lose some data though.

I think that's my last resort. Sort of hope it doesn't come to that.

[Ashz09]

Without reading what your problem is run the following:-

CCleaner (Also scan for registry problems unless your on Windows 10 then don't).

Spyware Search and Destroy (My favorite been using it for 10+ years the other day I had 80 MS ping in games.. Ran this bad boy and went down to 28MS.. Got to love Spyware).

Run your Virus checker Avast is nice.

Download HWMonitor PRO this will show your computer temperatures which will be Live. Is anything overcooking? Mine are all around 20oc-30oc obviously this is really below the average. Check to see if their is any silly figures.

Try a fresh install if none of the above work. If it still doesn't work I'd get a new HDD or if you can SSD (Quite cheap now and stupidly efficient).

[mrdave85]

Did you install any Windows updates recently? 

I had a similar issue on a Toshiba laptop a few years ago, I restored to my settings pre-update, and downloaded/installed the updates again and that cleared the issues. 

[Phoenix]

3 minutes ago, SaintRam said:

I assume you checked that the HDD wasn't corrupted or fragmented when you ran the safe start-up?

Too many background programs can cause slowness but I'd imagine you'd notice that on the task manager.

You should make sure your drivers are up to date, and that Windows is up to date.

If your computer is overheating it would also slow down the HDD. Might need to be cleaned, or a cooling stand if you don't already use one. A cheap one would give you immediate results if this is the cause.

Computer age is a factor but I don't think its that old, is it?

The one thing you don't want to hear is that your HDD could be dying. Not the most likely, but that's a possibility. Or some other hardware could be damaged, but most other things wouldn't cause HDD slowness. 

 

Thanks. I realise that my original post was going to be long/complicated, so I missed out a couple of things.

Drivers are up to date. I use IObit Driver booster. Windows updates are up to date. I also have a little utility called 'Core Temp' which shows no abnormality with the temperature. I had an issue with this some montha ago, a build up of dust in the cooling vents! Hence the Utility.

I run defrag (again IObit's version) fairly frequently, and I ran a Disk check a couple of months ago but that needs re-addressing I guess.

The laptop is, to my surprise 4 1/2 yeas old. Built in Germany on order,they don't do them anymore. It's not been abused and I don't load dodgy programs (other than Windows) or visit dodgy websites (other that dcfcfans). It's almost as though some program is kicking off on boot up, runs for hours,then closes down. I shall persevere.

[Phoenix]

15 minutes ago, Ashz09 said:

Without reading what your problem is run the following:-

CCleaner (Also scan for registry problems unless your on Windows 10 then don't).

Spyware Search and Destroy (My favorite been using it for 10+ years the other day I had 80 MS ping in games.. Ran this bad boy and went down to 28MS.. Got to love Spyware).

Run your Virus checker Avast is nice.

Download HWMonitor PRO this will show your computer temperatures which will be Live. Is anything overcooking? Mine are all around 20oc-30oc obviously this is really below the average. Check to see if their is any silly figures.

Try a fresh install if none of the above work. If it still doesn't work I'd get a new HDD or if you can SSD (Quite cheap now and stupidly efficient).

Cheers for that. Again, I failed to mention that I run CCleaner regularly ( a favourite of mine), and also an anti-virus scan.

I will try the Spyware S & D, but apart from that, I've tried just about everything. See above re running temp. No problem there. Currently between 31-37 C

[Phoenix]

12 minutes ago, mrdave85 said:

Did you install any Windows updates recently? 

I had a similar issue on a Toshiba laptop a few years ago, I restored to my settings pre-update, and downloaded/installed the updates again and that cleared the issues. 

Yes. I had an issue a few weeks ago with this. As in my first post, there seems to be a problem that I never get more than 1 system backup, i.e. the latest. I have backed up to the previous version but I'm not sure it is a Windows uodate problem. Thanks anyway,

[SaintRam]

5 minutes ago, Phoenix said:

Thanks. I realise that my original post was going to be long/complicated, so I missed out a couple of things.

Drivers are up to date. I use IObit Driver booster. Windows updates are up to date. I also have a little utility called 'Core Temp' which shows no abnormality with the temperature. I had an issue with this some montha ago, a build up of dust in the cooling vents! Hence the Utility.

I run defrag (again IObit's version) fairly frequently, and I ran a Disk check a couple of months ago but that needs re-addressing I guess.

The laptop is, to my surprise 4 1/2 yeas old. Built in Germany on order,they don't do them anymore. It's not been abused and I don't load dodgy programs (other than Windows) or visit dodgy websites (other that dcfcfans). It's almost as though some program is kicking off on boot up, runs for hours,then closes down. I shall persevere.

It could simply be age then, which I know you don't want to hear. Once a computer hits 3 years the updated programs start to overwork the un-updated hardware and this isn't always represented in numbers you can check.

Based on your description of the problem, it sounds more like something is being overworked on start-up and the overworking is meaning its taking hours to 'complete' start-up.
 

[David]

1 hour ago, SaintRam said:

It could simply be age then, which I know you don't want to hear. Once a computer hits 3 years the updated programs start to overwork the un-updated hardware and this isn't always represented in numbers you can check.

Based on your description of the problem, it sounds more like something is being overworked on start-up and the overworking is meaning its taking hours to 'complete' start-up.
 

3 years? Is that all? Under the new consumer law Apple say they will make sure its fit for purpose for 6 years from sale date.

Dont intend to turn this into a Windows v Apple topic despite my first post in this thread, but 3 years is poor.

[JuanFloEvraTheCocu'sNesta]

1 hour ago, Phoenix said:

I think that's my last resort. Sort of hope it doesn't come to that.

I typically back up all my important stuff to an external hard drive do a full system wipe and windows install once a year. It is surprisingly easy to do and always ensures any crap that bloats out the system is purged on a regular basis.

[SaintRam]

9 minutes ago, David said:

3 years? Is that all? Under the new consumer law Apple say they will make sure its fit for purpose for 6 years from sale date.

Dont intend to turn this into a Windows v Apple topic despite my first post in this thread, but 3 years is poor.

Its not a default. Its just when some people have started to notice things. And its not usually windows related. More other programs. They get optimised in different ways etc. Also generally only occurs as early as that with cheap stuff.

Macs have the same problem, but they just have a long default service. You can get 6+ year son windows stuff too but depends who you buy it from. 

I have an old laptop kicking around my house that's 8 years old and it hasn't been affected but it isn't densely populated with software.

Was just pointing it out to OP that it is a possibility.
 

[therealhantsram]

It sounds like something has been installed that is shafting your machine. You could do a compete install of Windows, but before you do, try a system restore. 

Boot into safe mode, search for system restore in the Start menu, and then select a restore point from a time before the issue started. 

That ought to fix it. 

[RoyMac5]

I'd suggest you google for' hdd running at 100% and win7' and see what fixes are thrown up. There are instances of windows updates causing the problem. Mine was doing it following a win10 update. It was a case of trying a few tweeks to discover which stopped the 100% hdd but it has been sorted now.

[Phoenix]

Thanks for your replies, guys. I'm in the middle of a complete recovery from back-up discs made just after purchase, so I expect to be bombarded with 1000 Windows updates. 4 discs, so it's a very long process, fingers crossed.  (I'm on my desk-top PC at the mo, just in case you're wondering.

All my documents, music and pictures were backed up very recently, just the problem of re-loading all the programs I installed over 4 years.

[Sith Happens]

It sounds to me like the HDD is on its way out, really would try and back everything up while there is some sort of activity. A broken HDD doesn't mean a new laptop they are easy enough to swop out. And not that expensive to buy. 

[RoyMac5]

20 minutes ago, Phoenix said:

Thanks for your replies, guys. I'm in the middle of a complete recovery from back-up discs made just after purchase, so I expect to be bombarded with 1000 Windows updates. 4 discs, so it's a very long process, fingers crossed.  (I'm on my desk-top PC at the mo, just in case you're wondering.

All my documents, music and pictures were backed up very recently, just the problem of re-loading all the programs I installed over 4 years.

Ah, I guess I ought not to say that might not be necessary then, or that the Windows update when reloaded might cause the same problem. If it does google for fixes, some work for some but not others. A case of trial and error revolving around things like stopping certain services from running, changing your page file possibly and other small tweaks. I'd be more specific about which 'fix' solved my 100% disc useage problem but I can't remember!