Slow PC question

ChrisR

ChrisR

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We have a "family" PC that is used for email and web only, but seems to be very slow. This is particularly so when it has just been woken from sleep; it behaves like a bad-tempered teenager in the morning, sulking and refusing to answer any questions... ie it takes ages to get anything started. Just now I woke it in order to find some configuration details, and it was 3 or 4 minutes before I could get Settings loaded to see what I needed. This also happens when I need to turn it off at night. I believe there are other aspects of "slow" but none I can report directly.

Although it is old (2012), it doesn't seem to me to be too badly specced:

Dell Inspiron 620ST
Intel Core i3-2120 @ 3.3 GHz, 3 MB
ST2320L screen (VGA, DVI, HDMI)
AMD Radeon HD6450 1GB DDR3 graphics
1 TB 7200 rpm SATA drive
8 GB memory (original spec was for 4 GB; not sure when it was upgraded)
Dell keyboard and mouse
DVD +/- RW drive, SD card reader
Slim tower

Bought with Win 7 but now running Win 10 64-bit

Settings suggests the disk has 916 GB capacity of which 665 GB is free and 251 GB used. Crashplan reports it's backing up 164 GB, so I guess 85 GB or thereabouts is "system". It's running Kaspersky Internet Security.

Now this doesn't bother me too much as my mid 2014 MacBook Pro still seems to be in reasonable shape (apart from the screen damaged by "stain-gate"). However SWMBO is getting rather annoyed, and suggests I should spend less on That Photography Stuff and more on sorting it out!

However, I thought it might be good idea to ask on here first. The questions I thought of include:

a) Is there any obvious weak point here that could be simply upgraded?

b) any tests I could do for problems that could be causing it to be slow?

c) If hardware changes are needed, would it be better to go for upgraded bits (maybe through a local computer place), or a new system?

I did look on Dell's online shop site (which seems to have a completely broken system for declining non-essential cookies, not to mention a fairly useless twitter response unit), and 16 GB systems seem few and far between, and very expensive (I have this general idea that more memory is better!). The shop seems to have become much more "take it or leave it", without the options from before where I could pick uprgades like more memory, different drives etc. On that basis, I left it.

I have read through the New PC Help thread several times, but the OP there is looking for something for photo editing, which isn't needed in this case.

So, any ideas?
 
Changing the HDD to an SSD will improve things dramatically. Avoid letting the computer sleep - Windows machines never do well with the ‘sleep’ function imo. Also - the built in win 10 antivirus is more than capable - your antivirus software is likely strangling your computer.
You’ll see a huge difference with an ssd and I’d recommend a clean install of win10 whist you’re at it. It’ll boot quick enough you won’t need to use the sleep function
 
My last laptop was a Dell and was crippled by their preloaded 'bloatware' programs. You probably have similar from there ongoing updates. Whilst it is an old machine, a clean install as suggested gettong rid of all that rubbish may make it usable again.

An SSD upgrade will help enormously too.

I'd never buy Dell again
 
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i3 with HDD will be slow with Win10, Plus it sounds like you have stuff running in the background (e.g. Crashplan) which will be hogging it's meagre resources.

SSD should make a nice difference.
 
All that's been said so far is right - SSD, fresh install, no AV - even when new it was never going to be a ball of fire.

You could speed it up by running a lightweight Linux instead, but the wife might not like an unfamiliar appearance. If you want to try it, download a 'live' .iso for something like Mint Mate and then either burn a DVD or create a bootable USB stick. You can run it as a trial from the media without having to install anything.
 
Thanks for the replies. Would it make sense to add a "small" SSD for the OS, and leave the SATA drive for data? A 512 GB SSD would be quite a bit more expensive (I guess... a while since I've looked).

Re bloatware... I guess it'd be a good idea to look through the startup stuff? I do remember cutting some stuff out, years ago, but there's probably a good bit still there.

How do I do a fresh install... I have no Win 10 media?
 
Have you tried slimming down the start up programs, getting rid of junk etc.
There are quite a few tips on the internet which may help, these are a couple of the simpler ones:

Tips to improve PC performance in Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to improve Windows PC performance if your device is running slowly.
support.microsoft.com support.microsoft.com

I have a laptop which my wife uses and, although it is not fast, is runs at an acceptable speed and it has a lower spec than your PC
 
Suvv said:
Have you tried slimming down the start up programs, getting rid of junk etc.
There are quite a few tips on the internet which may help, these are a couple of the simpler ones:

Tips to improve PC performance in Windows - Microsoft Support

Learn how to improve Windows PC performance if your device is running slowly.
support.microsoft.com support.microsoft.com

I have a laptop which my wife uses and, although it is not fast, is runs at an acceptable speed and it has a lower spec than your PC
Click to expand...
Thanks Kev, that looks very useful.
ancient_mariner said:
500gb SSD is about £45. Do a fresh install and add back as few programs as necessary.
Click to expand...
That's a lot cheaper than I thought, Toni!

I found a MS page on doing a fresh install. This bit was not very encouraging:

"By using the tool, you may lose your digital licences, digital content associated with applications or other digital entitlements for applications, which may affect your ability to use apps or app-related content that you paid for. For this reason, we don’t recommend using this tool on any PC where you wish to ensure that all of your applications and application-related content (including Microsoft applications such as Office) remain properly installed and licensed."

Guess I need to look a bit further, there's bound to be something on a fresh install that isn't completely ground zero!
 
Basically with a fresh install you'll need to reinstall all the software you use on that computer. The only time this is really problematic is if the business from whom you bought the software shuts down their activation server so that you can no longer activate the software. For example DXO have done this with some older packages (that are still fully functional). From the sound of things, you don't have anything special running on this machine, so it shouldn't be problematic. Keep the old HDD so that, if for any reason it doesn't work out, you can attempt to clone the OS across to the SSD.
 
We had similar problems with our old pc last year which had been upgraded from W7 to W10. I tried various routes to remove the junk but was finally successful with a W10 fresh install. I cannot remember the details of the process but it was quite simple and I kept all my data. I only reinstalled the programs we needed on that pc and all is now fine. Having installed ssds on our other pcs the improvement in speed was very noticeable.
 
Had a quick look at the Startup and it seems I've already been in there; over 80% of the items are disabled.

Having said we used the machine only for email (Thunderbird) and browsing (Edge, Explorer and Firefox), it is of course never as simple as that. There is a bunch of extra stuff, MS Office (a fairly ancient version), PDF stuff, Picasa and some other photo management stuff for the wife's pics, some Samsung Kies etc for the daughter's phone, even Google Earth for playing around (probably redundant). A lot of it's probably freely replaceable. Not sure about the ancient MS stuff though... I'll have another check when I can...
 
It's interesting no-one has suggested a new system!
 
ChrisR said:
It's interesting no-one has suggested a new system!
Click to expand...
A new system that’s poorly configured (ie with a load of bloat ware and av etc etc) will be sluggish and irritating to use. Regardless of how much money / resources you throw at it.
Your machine as the base specs with an ssd should be more than useable for what you’re trying to achieve
 
If you do have to go down the re-install route have a look at creating a W10 recovery drive, it is a bit easier than downloading ISO files etc etc

Create a recovery drive - Microsoft Support

Create a recovery drive so you can reinstall Windows 10 or Windows 11 in case you experience a major issue such as hardware failure.
support.microsoft.com support.microsoft.com
 
Do you have windows updates automatically installed?

Often, windows will download all the updates in the background after the machine has been switched off or sleeping for a while, slowing everything down until it's complete and ready to reboot. Try installing all the updates until there are none remaining, and see if that improves performance when the machine first starts.
 
petersmart said:
If you're only using it for what you said then I would say you could get away easily with a 250Gb SSD, and keep the 1Tb drive for Data and photos etc.
Click to expand...
It appears the design is such that only one drive can be installed (although I did find one dissenting opinion). So the 1 TB drive would have to come out, and I guess be replaced with a 512GB drive. I found a kit from Mr Memory that is supposedly specifically tailored to this model.

BTW it appears I upgraded the original 4 GB memory to 8 GB myself in 2017, presumably to attempt to speed it up then. I'm contemplating doing the storage upgrade myself but also getting prices from the local techy guys...
 
RIR said:
Try using these:

O&O ShutUp10++ – Free antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11

With the freeware O&O ShutUp10++, unwanted Windows 10 and 11 features can be disabled and the transfer of sensitive personal data onto Microsoft prevented.
www.oo-software.com www.oo-software.com

O&O App Buster removes Windows Apps you don’t want. Freeware.

O&O AppBuster gives you the control back over your Windows again! Now you decide which apps you want on your computer.
www.oo-software.com www.oo-software.com
Click to expand...
Thanks... are those safe to use?
 
Suvv said:
If you do have to go down the re-install route have a look at creating a W10 recovery drive, it is a bit easier than downloading ISO files etc etc

Create a recovery drive - Microsoft Support

Create a recovery drive so you can reinstall Windows 10 or Windows 11 in case you experience a major issue such as hardware failure.
support.microsoft.com support.microsoft.com
Click to expand...
Sounds like a good idea, and I found a web page telling me how to do this. However, would using it just lead to replacing some of the bloatware?

It looks like MS Office Home and Student 2010 is the only significant bit of licensed (pay for) software, other than Crashplan and Kaspersky. I managed to find the licence key for Office from the original system purchase (it was included), which quite pleased me!
 
JohnStewart said:
Do you have windows updates automatically installed?

Often, windows will download all the updates in the background after the machine has been switched off or sleeping for a while, slowing everything down until it's complete and ready to reboot. Try installing all the updates until there are none remaining, and see if that improves performance when the machine first starts.
Click to expand...
Yes, Windows updates install automatically... I don't think I could say whether performance slows notably near Patch Tuesday!

I did check Crashplan today, and changed the backup interval from every 15 minutes to every 3 hours. Might go down to once a day...
 
You can simply clone that whole hard drive onto an SSD drive.

I literally did it a couple of hours ago so i will go through what i did.

I put the SSD drive into a 2.5 inch external hard drive caddy thingy and plugged it into a USB slot.

I downloaded the free version of macrium reflect and installed that ( you need to give then your email and they send you a code )

I dont know how much you know about computers but im not that clued on and i managed to navigate how to clone the hard drive onto the SSD drive without any trouble.

After it was all done i removed the hard drive from the machine, removed the SSD from the caddy and put it into the computer.

And it worked perfectly, it was like nothing had happened and it was identical to using it yesterday.

Except one thing. Now its about 10 times more responsive and nicer to use.

However i was using USB 3.0. Your computer may only have USB 2.0 which is much slower to transfer the files and take a long time
 
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Soz, late to this thread - before drastic action have you checked windows updates, it sounds like you have an update that is failing to install and is tried again after every boot ?
 
Could be just a case of overheating, when was the last time you got rid of all internal dust build up?
 
fujilover said:
You can simply clone that whole hard drive onto an SSD drive.

I literally did it a couple of hours ago so i will go through what i did.

I put the SSD drive into a 2.5 inch external hard drive caddy thingy and plugged it into a USB slot.

I downloaded the free version of macrium reflect and installed that ( you need to give then your email and they send you a code )

I dont know how much you know about computers but im not that clued on and i managed to navigate how to clone the hard drive onto the SSD drive without any trouble.

After it was all done i removed the hard drive from the machine, removed the SSD from the caddy and put it into the computer.

And it worked perfectly, it was like nothing had happened and it was identical to using it yesterday.

Except one thing. Now its about 10 times more responsive and nicer to use.

However i was using USB 3.0. Your computer may only have USB 2.0 which is much slower to transfer the files and take a long time
Click to expand...

You may still need a clean install of Windows after doing this.
 
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Compuwight said:
Soz, late to this thread - before drastic action have you checked windows updates, it sounds like you have an update that is failing to install and is tried again after every boot ?
Click to expand...
Hadn't thought of this one... I think it's OK, but I'll have to check the list of updates, thanks.
realspeed said:
Could be just a case of overheating, when was the last time you got rid of all internal dust build up?
Click to expand...
Ahem, don't think I have! Will check, but don't tell my wife, it'll get added to the list! There was actually a period when the fan was rather noisy, but it seems to have quietened down now. I suppose I'd also better check it's actually working...

There's some really good stuff here, thanks everyone.
 
FWIW on the overheating side, my Dell XPS was throttling really badly under load after 6 years. Last year I replaced the thermal paste under the CPU heatsink and it's running hugely better, enough that I no longer need to replace it for a while longer. If the machine if old then the thermal paste has probably dried and no longer works effectively. Should be about a fiver for some decent stuff
 
Or you could simply install Linux Mint alongside it or on a flash drive as a plug in OS.
Linux Mint is a really excellent OS and uses much less space than Windows, but doesn't have quite as much versatility,
I have both installed and simply use the ones most suited to the job in hand.
 
I've recently added SSDs to both mine and my mother's Dell XPS (i7) machines of similar vintage.

I did a simple clone using Samsung drives and their software which is incredibly easy to use.

The performance of both has been transformed.

I also repurposed the old HDDs for additional storage.

As others have said, removing all software you don't use is also a good idea, as it checking to see what's loading on startup, and disabling/uninstalling as necessary. The tip about checking for updates is also a very good one.
 
ancient_mariner said:
FWIW on the overheating side, my Dell XPS was throttling really badly under load after 6 years. Last year I replaced the thermal paste under the CPU heatsink and it's running hugely better, enough that I no longer need to replace it for a while longer. If the machine if old then the thermal paste has probably dried and no longer works effectively. Should be about a fiver for some decent stuff
Click to expand...
Pretty sure it's not overheating, put in a temperature app and it's mostly in the 40s, paging through JPEGs as fast as I could only got it up to 58 degrees!
 
So I received a SSD Upgrade Kit from Mr Memory a couple of days ago. Yesterday I made a Windows Recovery Drive on a USB stick, and today I've started the process of replacing the drive. I was feeling quite confident at the start (I remembered that I had previously upgraded the memory from 4GB to 8GB myself). The cloning process is taking MUCH longer than I'd expected (about 90 minutes so far, and 31 minutes left of step 6 of 7), and as I wait... and wait... and wait, I can just feel my confidence ebbing away! However, having started this, I'll really have to wait in and finish it.
 
Well, I've done it! A few sticky moments; I couldn't work out how to get the 2.5" SSD to fit in the bracket obviously designed for 3.5" drives. Then I realised the strange piece of bent metal in the packaging was the 2-5 - 3.5 adaptor bracket! Then I spent an agonising 15 minutes or so trying to fit the tiny screws that hold the 2.5" drive to the bracket. Then, how the heck to reassemble all this stuff. I think I may have installed the drive a bit too far to the left in the bracket, but the cables seem to reach so it's OK, I guess.

Quick clean of some obvious dust inside. Cover on, reconnect the cables, cross fingers, press the power button, after a minute or so, realise I've been staring at the Windows lock screen for half a minute. Login, it's working, yeah!!!!

First: it's really responsive. Second: it's eerily quiet!

Thanks to everyone. I'll probably do the download fresh Win 10 thing, but not today, I need a walk in the sun to calm down!
 
Just to report on this: I continue to be amazed at the performance difference with the SSD rather than the old HD. Everything is just so much quicker and more responsive. Startup takes about 20 seconds rather than 2 minutes plus. Firefox on the Met Office site is nearly instant rather than agonising waits while Firefox checks all sorts of tings out. Maybe I had a sick HD, I'm not sure, but I would recommend a HD -> SSD upgrade to anyone now!

Thank you again for all the advice.
 
Just a follow-up on this... I now have a 1TB Seagate drive. I thought I would be able to put it in the caddy that was included, but it's a 3.5" drive. It's also very heavy. I'm not at all sure what to do with this; it presumably contains all sorts of information like saved passwords, browsing history etc.

So, can I re-use it, and if so how?

And if not, how can I over-write it, or otherwise destroy it?

(My sister told me they attempted to destroy a HDD from a NAS with a hammer and found it pretty much impossible to do; these things are built like tanks!)
 
Yes caddy will be fine, otherwise hammer and screwdriver are best to knacker it!
 
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