Build Advice Computer being extremely slow and laggy

[Smellyhead]

Hey,

So recently my girlfriends computer has decided it no longer wants to run as normal. It has just randomly started going extremely slow in all tasks from word processing to games, internet browsing etc.

It has got slightly worse over the past 2 weeks to the point now where it's taking a good 3-5mins to load things. I'm no good at diagnosing computer things so thought I'd look here for some help. I'm not really sure what to tell you guys since it's just unbelievably slow, the computer is clean, no viruses etc, components are free from dust/hair.

Computer specs are;
i5 760 @ 2.8Ghz
Asus P55 motherboard
4GB RAM
1TB Samsung F3
ATI 4850
500w PSU

My first thought was HDD is faulty but rather than just blow money on new parts I'd see what you guys thoguht first.

Thanks.

[sakzzz]

1)Check the temperatures if everything is within a sensible region.
2) How sure are you about viruses? Download another antivirus & double check.
3) Check task manager for any dodgy applications running.
4) Run disc cleanup. Girls usually click a 1000 things etc and end up cacheing tons of GBs.
5) Before buying HDD, do a fresh install of the OS.
For the specs of that PC, it shouldnt be slow at all.

[GoodBytes]

Follow that sakzzz said.

Let me elaborate a bit more on some things,
- CPU is overheating, rendering the computer to throttle. Make sure that the temperatureare correct.

- Malware and viruses may be related. Remember that once a virus infection occurs, an anti-virus can only remove it, not fix the damage. The idea is that A/V prevents an infection by tell you in advance, before you open/execute the file. Use Microsoft Security Essential (detects viruses, and popular malware), and then after MalwareBytes (detects malware). Both are free. Remember that you can only have 1 A/V software at the time. So uninstall your current A/V before installing Microsoft Security Essential.


- Looking at the Task Manager, will help you see what's going on. You can also look at the resource monitor panel (Start > type: resource monitor). If you see the CPU spiking up, then it could be a program, look at what program consumes all the resources. If it's the HDD (you get form the resource monitor panel), see what is making the HDD busy. From there you can solve the problem by uninstall the program, of if its a malware, remove it.

[Dae314]

Yup Yup, run multiple different virus scanners. I like to run AVG, Avast, and Panda Cloud when I need to do a thorough sweep of the computer (I don't keep them there, just load them for scanning purposes), but you can use whatever you want.

You also want to check if your HDD is getting full.

You also want to check if you're running out of memory space.

Defrag and CCleaner is always good.

Also, download Soluto and configure it for her to kill unnecessary processes.

[Smellyhead]

Temps seem pretty reasonable CPU goes between 40-50 and GPU hovers around 80-90 (I know that's high but she only has two fans in the case.)

No viruses show up on MSE, AVG or Avast.

We defrag the computers regularly.

Task manager isn't showing out of the ordinary programs running, so not sure what to do now.

[GoodBytes]

Is the HDD light always active, or active a lot, when you try to do stuff?
Once program is loaded, is is fine when using it?

If so on either of the above, it HDD is dying.

[Smellyhead]

Originally Posted by GoodBytes

Is the HDD light always active, or active a lot, when you try to do stuff?
Once program is loaded, is is fine when using it?

If so on either of the above, it HDD is dying.

Currently the whole computer is slow and laggy now matter what program or thing you do on it.

Would that come under the same as above? Should I try a fresh install before trying a new HDD aswell?

[GoodBytes]

If you have an old HDD of reasonable speed you can spare. Try installing Windows on that. Else than that, backup everything, assume the HDD is broken, and format and re-install Windows.

[Victoria]

PC maintenance is very important for keeping the speed of your PC consistent.For PC maintenance do this:
Disk Defragmentation
Registry Defrag
Uninstalls all useless programs
disable all rarely used services.

[Timteo]

Hi,
This might help you with your particular problem. Download and install either Tuneup Utilities or System Mechanic (installing both would actually not be such a bad idea). Use the various tools from both softwares, ie you can us Tuneup to disable automatic start up of certain programs that are only needed on demand, thorughly clean up and defrag your HDD using System Mechanic...anyway, feedback if it makes any difference.

[Smellyhead]

Originally Posted by GoodBytes

If you have an old HDD of reasonable speed you can spare. Try installing Windows on that. Else than that, backup everything, assume the HDD is broken, and format and re-install Windows.

So I tried this on a new HDD but it's still slow. I did a fresh install on it and installed mohterboard drivers and GPU drivers etc and two games which would be played the most before but everything is still quite slow. There's some improvement but not the speed that should be there.

Any ideas on what could be the problem?

[GoodBytes]

Can you get AIDA64 (trial version is all you need), and go under Computer > Overclock (miss leading name). This section shows you the current clock speed of your CPU and GPU, and other info. Monitor your CPU when you put your computer under load. Does your CPU goes to it's maximum speed, or stay stuck or randomly goes down to it's minimum speed?

[mrbungle]

Gpu temps near 100?

Sort that for a start unless you mean under load lol

I had something similar once and a good old fashioned bios reset seemed to cure it.

[rollo]

The Gpu temps under load are fine for that series of card ( gpus can take 105 before they throttle)

I'd probably reset the bios then start checking the CPU speed under load.

I personally think a temp monitor on your board is broken and the CPU is over heating.

Have you checked that the CPU and Gpu fans are actually spinning? Leave side of case to check this.

[GoodBytes]

Originally Posted by rollo

I personally think a temp monitor on your board is broken and the CPU is over heating.

That, or the sensor is broken, and the CPU throttles, when temps are actually normal.