Windows (SOLVED) Windows 7 running extremely slow

I have installed a fresh win7 on very old PC (Athlon64 2GB RAM etc).
After few days when tried to boot it up, it become extremely slow.
By extremely I mean like 2 hours to get to desktop, another 2 hours to open window explorer....
Mouse cursor runs fine, only system is not responding accordingly...

What could cause it? I know that's very little info, but thought you guys came up with this in the past so wanted to ask.
Obviously I couldn't even open task manager or event viewer, didn't want to spend a week on it

All was done is installation of win7 64 bit, office, firefox, symantec endpoint.

Anyone know what could cause it?

 

That's probably your offender, in this instance.

 

Failing HDD? Try running it though HDTune whilst connected up to another rig.

 

ram.... a lack of is where I would be starting.

I am finding more and more that 2gb of ram isnt enough to run windows 7 these days and have had to increase it in a few computers I have installed onto recently.

 

A fresh install shouldn't use more than about a gig of RAM when idling but I reckon that could be your issue, just like above. If you're constantly swapping files in and out of your RAM and page file, it'll crawl, even on SSDs.

 

IMA go with a faulty hard drive

Sent from my Nexus 5

 

Thanks guys for your input.
Thing is it's happening in my mum's PC who lives 1000* miles from me, so only thing I can do is use teamviewer. I was visiting her few weeks ago and reinstalled that PC. After couple of days, when I already left, it started to be so slow.

So I asked my mum to spend few days and install teamviewer on it so I could try and uninstall Symantec for start. If I have a chance I will run some HDD tests.
I'm not excluding RAM - it could be it as well. but unfortunately cannot do anything with it right now.

 

Don't agree with the RAM on a fresh install, I've done plenty of re-installs for people with only 2gb and it's fine (until they install all their stuff). It might not be to the speeds we're all used to but not hours to open explorer etc

To me it's HDD or at least a dodgy cable.

Hat's ready to eat if it is the RAM

 

After few days my mum managed to install teamviewer on it, so I had a chance to see what that could be.

And?
Answer is.. Symantec
That was a first thing I uninstalled under safemode and rebooted that PC.
I rebooted quickly and OS was fast. Apparently Symantec didn't like my system.

Now, question is why? Why the hell was it slowing it down so heavily?

 

Ithankyou

Borked install, quite possibly - have you tried a reinstall?

 

No I haven't. Left it on windows forewall just for now

 

Hi,

I am Chetan Savade from Symantec Technical Support Team.

Could you confirm the SEP client version. I think problem might be due to OLD SEP client version.
2GB RAM is sufficient for client OS.

Perform a full scan as well to make just to make sure system is not infected.

Best Regards,
Chetan

 

I've found Symantec to as bad as having a virus I thought it was widely know that Symantec slows thing down to a craw , unless it's changed drastically I wouldn't let near any of my rigs, tbh even if it had changed I still wouldn't

 

I would just run a copy of Avira on it. RAM cope with that and its better than nothing.

 

Tried Symantec's modern software last year on an old PC with 4Gigs and a newer one with 8, their packages just seem to prefer fibre connections and PCs which are always on, if you turn your PC off at night, you load it up again the next day and it hammers Liveupdate. At least, that was the cause of slowdown on the PCs I used.

Shame, because Endpoint seems like a good idea.