Computer Suddenly Super Slow

[cornemuse]

My computer suddenly went really slow on me, I cant figure out what I might have done to change anything. Only thing was upgrading virus stuff/signatures?, (with 360 Total sec). Copying files (iso's mainly), between internal sata connected hdd's is now not much faster than usb copying.
Also, using DVDShrink, I get the "out of memory etc" & it shuts down. That has not happened for 2-3 years, started all at once.
Viewing Task Manager, it shows 40-60% usage of Shrink & remaining (minus 1-2%) 60-40% as system idle process.
I dont know where to look! I un-installed 360 (& unplugged cat5 cable!), 360 does/did wierd things sometimes.

Any ideas where to look?? I'm at a loss.

-corne-

[KarMa]

Are you actually out of RAM? You still on Windows XP with 4GB of RAM? Once you run out of RAM windows will start putting stuff on your HDD as a virtual RAM which will drag your system to a crawl.

[october262]

My computer suddenly went really slow on me, I cant figure out what I might have done to change anything. Only thing was upgrading virus stuff/signatures?, (with 360 Total sec). Copying files (iso's mainly), between internal sata connected hdd's is now not much faster than usb copying.
Also, using DVDShrink, I get the "out of memory etc" & it shuts down. That has not happened for 2-3 years, started all at once.
Viewing Task Manager, it shows 40-60% usage of Shrink & remaining (minus 1-2%) 60-40% as system idle process.
I dont know where to look! I un-installed 360 (& unplugged cat5 cable!), 360 does/did wierd things sometimes.

Any ideas where to look?? I'm at a loss.

-corne-

right click on your HDD and click properties - tools - run both error checking and
optimize and defragment drive

[aedipuss]

open a command prompt and type in this wmic diskdrive get model,status

it may be a failing hard drive.

[Super Warrior]

Just do what i do: Back-up any files you want to keep and then nuke it all and start over. Aka: Fresh O.S Reinstall and software drivers. Then if the problem persists? Maybe your SSD or HDD is going out. Maybe do one of those online speed tests to check it? If your SSD or HDD is running slow as all hell compared to most other drives? It may be time to replace it.

[TimA-C]

Bring up the Task manager (Right-click on taskbar and select option from pop-up menu), have you got any processes either hogging the CPU or tying up the hdd? If you're running Win10 then you could be suffering from the latest round of updates being unpacked in the background?

[ProWo]

On Windows:
open a command console (cmd):
sfc /scannow (repairs necessary system files)
chkdsk C: /F (checks and repairs your system drive)

Go offline and disable your extern antivirus application (just for testing).
Restart in safe mode (just for testing).

[cornemuse]

Ya'll brought up some good things to consider. What I over-looked!! I'll start checking, , ,

-c-

[Super Warrior]

Ya'll brought up some good things to consider. What I over-looked!! I'll start checking, , ,

-c-

A few years back i tried McaFee and, it slowed things to a crawl and did other weird stuff.

Now? I don't even bother to install an antivirus program. I just make sure to keep my important files backed up regularly and if something happens? It's easy to just flush everything at a moment's notice, and reinstall Win10 to a fresh state. That's better than any antivirus program out there.

The beauty of Windows 10 also, is it's completely free to download and install to USB drive, direct from Microsoft. If you have a spare 8GB USB drive lying around, you just install it to that. And then you can reinstall windows 10 from that USB drive whenever you want, as many times as you want (and then you just need to keep your computer's drivers disc handy, to reinstall needed drivers for graphics, wireless, etc).

What is your computer hardware specs also? Cpu? Storage? Ram? O.S? etc.

[cornemuse]

Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2
OS Version: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 3, 32 bit
Processor: AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor, x86 Family 16 Model 6 Stepping 2
Processor Count: 1
RAM: 3327 Mb
Graphics Card: ASUS EAH6450 Series, 1024 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 152617 MB, Free - 136727 MB;
Motherboard: ECS, NFORCE6100 PM
Antivirus: None (<<<<---- now!)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Thing is, as I said above, it worked perfectly for several years & I havent changed anything, one day I turned it on and it was at snail speed.
As I said = Viewing Task Manager, it shows 40-60% usage of Shrink & remaining (minus 1-2%) 60-40% as system idle process.

[october262]

Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.2
OS Version: Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 3, 32 bit
Processor: AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor, x86 Family 16 Model 6 Stepping 2
Processor Count: 1
RAM: 3327 Mb
Graphics Card: ASUS EAH6450 Series, 1024 Mb
Hard Drives: C: Total - 152617 MB, Free - 136727 MB;
Motherboard: ECS, NFORCE6100 PM
Antivirus: None (<<<<---- now!)
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Thing is, as I said above, it worked perfectly for several years & I havent changed anything, one day I turned it on and it was at snail speed.
As I said = Viewing Task Manager, it shows 40-60% usage of Shrink & remaining (minus 1-2%) 60-40% as system idle process.

try turning off your computer, and remove the button cell battery on the motherboard to reset the bios
then reinstall the button cell battery and power on your computer and let it boot up.
see if it's still slow.

[ProWo]

Run Msconfig, set Diagnostic Startup, Restart. It's faster now?
After this test you have to reenable Normal Startup in Msconfig.
http://www.netsquirrel.com/msconfig/msconfig_xp.html

[zing269]

Check that your cpu heatsink is still making good contact and is dust free. I had a similar issue when the crappy Intel push-pin heatsink broke free and the chip throttled itself so it wouldn't burn up.

[TimA-C]

Hey, "Super" Warrior, just like to say that i think you're a bit of an idiot if you're running a Windows PC that's connected to the internet (or to a network that's connected to the internet) and not running any Internet security. (Unless you just mean that you're not running any additional internet security 'cos, you know, Windows has had it's own built in Defender internet security for some years now . . . ?) How many other PCs have been infected by malware running unopposed on your PC? How many Denial-Of-Service attacks has your PC been a part of? How many bloomin' spam messages have been sent out from your skanky PC? How many illegal downloads have been shared from your PC? etc. etc. etc.

Not all Security programs are the same. Deciding not to run one at all just because McAfee sucks is just short-sighted lunacy IMHO. Just as with human viruses, you need a fairly high percentage of protected PCs in order to reach useful levels of herd immunity.

[jagabo]

Make sure your drives haven't fallen out of DMA mode to PIO mode.

[jollyjohn]

CCleaner, CleanMyPC. Windows re-install or install backup image if you have it.

[cornemuse]

I had 360 TotSec antivirus installed. It had a (part of it) = QHWatchdog.exe or qhactivedefense.exe (one or the other) that was taking 50%+ mem usage ALL the time. I disabled 360 but still used the 50%. Uninstalled 360 & it finally went away. Un-plugged inet permanently. Funny thing, only get this issue on this one computer, , , ,
Anyways, comp works ok now, , ,

[Clockwork]

Make sure your drives haven't fallen out of DMA mode to PIO mode.

I laughed....good one.

[aedipuss]

Make sure your drives haven't fallen out of DMA mode to PIO mode.

I laughed....good one.

yeah a good one that was what winXP timeframe?

[jagabo]

cornemuse says he's running XP on an XP era computer.

[cornemuse]

cornemuse says he's running XP on an XP era computer.

Another thing, I've found DVDShrink works better with XP pro 32 than with XP 64.