My laptop has gotten very slow

[Anne__Burns]

Hello,

 

for some reason my laptop has become very slow, I followed the thread to self treat a slow machine but it didn't help too much. May I please get assistance ?

 

Anne

 

Btw, I truly apologize for leaving a thread unanswered. I forgot to click on the follow this thread button. I just assumed that my thread was on the back burner when I did not hear back right away and then I just thought I had worn out my welcome. I hope that is not so. 

[CWB]

hmmm ...

your processor is running at 1.65GHz ...

the ram speed and a couple of other factors (such as shared video ram) affect performance .

by today's standards for the average "load" on a laptop it is on the slow side .

shutting down all but the essential services and programs will help .

 

a couple of the others here can mention which programs to run in order for us to "see" what is running in the background , how much the swap file is being used , etc .

 

an example of a "slow" processor is a friend's machine i had two weeks ago ... it was/is a toshiba with the same speed processor .

man , you wouldn't believe the "cutesy" stuff she had on it .

there were a lot of programs running in the background that did not need to be running .

i pared down the running programs to the bare essentials and using "revo uninstaller" to remove the superfluous fluff , still , it was a bit slow .

the antivirus was the next target on the hit list ; it was AVG (which i had installed a couple of years ago) .

nonetheless , avg has changed and it is not what it used to be for "lean" ...

i un-installed avg (using the clean up/out tool from their site) and installed "avast" .

the performance increase was noticeable .

 

to be honest in this thread , for the sake of "no stone unturned" ; i cleaned up the registry .

(disclaimer : this is NOT for the novice or semi-experienced to attempt ... don't even think about it)

although the performance was notably better , it was still on the slow side .

it pretty much boils down to , as i like to say , "the wagon is loaded down and the horse is too small to pull it" .

[Firefox]

Hello

NOTE: If you are using the laptop on battery only, it will run slower to conserve battery power, due to speedstep technology. Try plugging in the laptop for faster speeds.

Please read the following and post back the 3 requested logs - Diagnostic Logs

(the three files should be CheckResults.txt, FRST.txt and Addition.txt)

Thank You,

Firefox

[Anne__Burns]

Hi Guys,

 

Message #1-

 

I run a pretty lean machine and I try not to use resource hog stuff. A good example would be Norton's Security Suite (boo hiss) or toolbars.

 

Message #2-

 

I will return and edit this post after I can include the diagnostic logs. I just wanted to get an answer back asap.Also, I keep the power usage tweaked to minimum usage and 98% of the time my machine is hooked to power (it's 100%)

 

Anne

 

See attached

 

 

FRST.txt

Addition.txt

CheckResults.txt

[CWB]

the obvious question ... have you made sure that the cpu cooling air path is clear ?

if the cpu is overheating it will fold back to protect itself .

 

have you set the windows "cpu min/max" to max = 100% ?

this would apply to both the battery and AC operation .

the "speed step" to the best of my knowledge and understanding is based upon detection of cpu loading .

the cpu will throttle itself back when it does not need to run "full tilt" ... however (based upon what i understand about it) the windows side can limit the max frequency .

also , while in control panel / all control panel items / power options / edit plan settings , check the "cpu cooling" setting that you are using in your present power scheme .

as an example , i use the "high performance mode" and set the cpu max speed for 100% on ac power and battery and set the "cooling" to "active" (in both power modes) .

 

i see that "NT reg optimizer" shows on the list ... all i can say is be careful ... it's like warm nitro .

[Anne__Burns]

Hello CWB,

 

I was away for the weekend and just got back and I am now ready to get back to business at hand.

 

I am attaching my control panel page because I don't know what to click on to check the "cpu cooling" setting.

 

Anne  

 

 

[CWB]

more coffee (mumble mumble mumble)

 

make sure that you can display the folders ....

go to the control panel and click on "folder options" .

a small "folder options" window will open .

under the general tab select "open each folder" and "double click to open ..." .

click "apply" .

select the "view" tab and if the "apply to all folders" is grayed out , you are good to go ... if not , click on it and then click on "apply" .

close these windows .

these settings allow one to see all the steps/windows involved in navigation individually and keeps one from "getting lost" (think hansel and gretel with none of those pesky birds) .

 

to the right of "high performance" (that you have selected) , click on "change plan settings" .

this will bring you to the "edit plan settings" page (for the high performance mode) make sure that "turn off display" and "put computer to sleep" are both *never* .

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

next , click on "change advanced power settings" ... a small window will open , it is labeled (tab) "advanced settings" .

scroll down through the list (it is short) until you see "processor power management" .

click on the "+" sign to expand that section .

expand the "minimum processor state" and set it to 5% .

expand "system cooling policy" and set it to "active" .

expand "maximum processor state" and set it to 100% .

go to the bottom tight and click "apply" then "ok" .

now , back out of where you are at ...

look at the "change plan" window for "high performance" ... click on save changes .

close all of the windows that are open .

the processor should now be capable of running in the rock-n-roll mode .

 

the max setting may already be correct ... but one needs to make sure .

[Anne__Burns]

CWB, You are saying my morning mantra...More coffee, mumble, mumble

 

I did all that you told me to do. Hopefully, that will do the trick. Thank you for your assistance

 

Anne