Bl**dy PC's

DorsetDude

DorsetDude

Spud
Messages
7,018
Name
Keith
Edit My Images
Yes
Need to have a rant sorry.

Bought a desktop PC at the weekend. Medion, AMD processor, quad core, 4GB RAM , 1 TB hard disc, Windows 7 64 bit home premium to replace my 6 year old evesham steam driven one with XP on it.

The new one is *much* slower logging in to the desktop from power up than the old one. :bang:
I thought well at least Elements will now boot up rapidly and I'll hardly notice the blue splash screen with all the names on it. Wrong even that now takes longer.:bang:

In fact everything I run on it seems to be slower. click on a window title bar to drag it, 15 seconds later it decides to actually move the window. Dire.

What the hell is going on?!! Bloody Micros*ft bloatware! :razz:

:help:

thanks for listening.
 
It should be lightning quick cf. your old one.

Have a wee look at what's starting up and what you can get rid off (not sure if you can use the msconfig like in XP).

A wee blatt through with malawarebytes might help too.
 
A new machine you say. My money would be on something like nortons sucking the life out of it.
 
Yup, remove Norton or McAffee or any of that crap and install Microsoft Security Essentials instead, it's much less invasive and faster than all the others.

The issue with moving windows being slow sounds a bit like you might not have the graphics drivers installed, are all the fancy Aero effects (transparencies etc) working?
 
Mikesphotaes said:
It should be lightning quick cf. your old one.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly! :thinking:

Have a wee look at what's starting up and what you can get rid off (not sure if you can use the msconfig like in XP).

A wee blatt through with malawarebytes might help too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I had a look through the add remove programs and there didnt seem anything obvious to remove. I did remove "bulldog" internet security and replaced it with AVG free edition same as my old pc. Still as slow as b****cks though.

Will try the msconfig and malaware stuff when I get home.

Is 4Gb really not enough for machine like this then? Elements seemed to run more than acceptably on my old one. cant recall what Gb of ram I had in it though. Probably no more than 1 GB.

Oh and Windows Live Mail is rubbish as well, I want outlook express back!:'(
 
Last edited:
I just remembered this little program http://www.soluto.com/ it times how long your computer takes to boot and monitors everything that's starting up, you can then choose to disable the program or just delay it so at least your machine is responsive while it's starting.
 
howitzer said:
Yup, remove Norton or McAffee or any of that crap and install Microsoft Security Essentials instead, it's much less invasive and faster than all the others.
Click to expand...

Yep good idea that get rid of that Norton crap, but dont go on the internet.

I have just had someone bring their machine to me absolutely riddled with virus, malaware, etc because some 'EXPERT' told them to take Norton off of their machine and use Windows Sec Ess.

I ran Norton and found over 400 problems which have been sorted and they say the machine is running a lot faster and better that it ever has.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
AFC said:
Yep good idea that get rid of that Norton crap, but dont go on the internet.

I have just had someone bring their machine to me absolutely riddled with virus, malaware, etc because some 'EXPERT' told them to take Norton off of their machine and use Windows Sec Ess.

I ran Norton and found over 400 problems which have been sorted and they say the machine is running a lot faster and better that it ever has.
Click to expand...

That surprises me, I've never had any problems with it, It's stopped a couple of things and apart from that just sits there and asks to be updated once in a while, computer runs perfectly.
 
Medions are built using the crappest, cheapest components possible, bet you a tenner if you go into device manager and look through the list of hardware manufacturers assiciated with the components itll list makes such as, dums***crap DVD Drive, Mankygarbage Motherboard, Lada Riva Ram, Netto Network card.

Run a clean format and install, update the drivers and you'll be flying, 2 hours tops.
 
howitzer said:
That surprises me, I've never had any problems with it, It's stopped a couple of things and apart from that just sits there and asks to be updated once in a while, computer runs perfectly.
Click to expand...
same here had avg on all 3 of my comps runs slow and killed 1 of my comps 3 times in a month recentaly, so i use mse now and its working well no probs at all, and i have not heard one bad report from any where.
 
Hi Scott, I always say each to his own.

I am running Norton Internet Security 2011 on a SONY VAIO with Windows7 and it flies have been using Norton for many years and have never had any problems with machines running slow due to Norton.

I know there are people out there who will say that I'm mad - well those that know me definitely will :lol: - but if it works for you then who's to say its wrong.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Run a clean format and install, update the drivers and you'll be flying, 2 hours tops.
Click to expand...

Thanks again all. I'll try that soluto thing. Might take AVG off again then aswell. I left it just sat at a web page last night for about an hour and the hard disc was chuntering away every time I went back in the room to check on it. That really annoys me awell. Why should the disc be constantly accessed when nothings happening "on screen". Not saying it AVG doing that but most likely.

Format and re-install? Please, no. Dont think I have the windows disks to re install it anyway. But Id be tempted to go back to XP if I did reinstall I think.

Ive got 2 mates who both bought Medions and are more than happy with them so Im not worries about the components. We all work with computers all day so its not as if we are non computer savvy or anything. (Except me)
 
neil_g said:
have you contacted Medion yet?

note that if you go back to XP and its 32bit youll lose 1Gb memory.
Click to expand...

Not contacted medion, not sure what I'd say to them, "its running too slow?"

Never thought about the memory issue, good point, hmmm.
 
We bought a Medion a couple of years ago, and it's been fast and reliable. Not a hiccup.

Just a thought. I used AVG for years, but found that some malware was slipping through and switched to Avast. It seems to coexist with the W7 security software quite happily.
 
The indexing service is probably running, which will keep the disk chuntering away. However even that shouldn't slug the PC so drastically.

Wipe, re-install 7 from the original disk (not a "recovery" disk as that will install all the crapware as well).
 
Gary Coyle said:
dums***crap DVD Drive, Mankygarbage Motherboard, Lada Riva Ram, Netto Network card..
Click to expand...

That made me chuckle a bit. I have a Medion laptop that 4 or so years ago was pretty cheap. It's got a VIA motherboard and processor and as such is passively cooled - no noise at all and it stays cool to the touch. the only thing that's gone on it a year ago was the Samsung HD... and thats probably because at one point I was obsessed with reinstalling the OS every week. For a workhorse computer that cost next to nothing it's done me proud over the years, and since I never ever turn it off except to move it, I wouldn't be surprised if it lasts another 5 years - it's a very reliable and trustworthy machine. Yes they are cheap and often relatively low powered but compared to the likes of some of Dell or Acer ***** I've seen I don't think they're too shabby.

Back to the OP though, there's definitely a major fault with that computer. To hell with spending your own time diagnosing, punt it straight back to where you bought it. A machine should not run that poorly out of the box; and it's not your job to fix it.
 
Last edited:
arad85 said:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-use-the-resource-monitor-in-windows-7.html

and post back either screenshots or the names of processes that are consuming your resources.
Click to expand...

Hi this is a screenshot. Got firefox running with 8 tabs open, none of them doing anything 'live'.
Paint open.
Elements open to resize the desktop grab
And resource monitor open.

Does this help in any way?

Also downloaded Soluto but I could only remove about 4 programs which took me from 1.48 minutes boot to about 1.30

thanks all

ProcExp1.jpg
 
DorsetDude said:
Does this help in any way?
Click to expand...
Yup.. You don't look CPU bound, but something is hammering your disk drive every now and again. Can you open that and do another screenshot eith the disk tab open...
 
howitzer said:
I just remembered this little program http://www.soluto.com/ it times how long your computer takes to boot and monitors everything that's starting up, you can then choose to disable the program or just delay it so at least your machine is responsive while it's starting.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that link, seems to work easier than Startup Faster.

As for the OP, check it isn't set to stream video.
 
with 4Gb of DDR3 and a quad core that thing should be absolutely flying.

If the PC came pre-loaded with OS ans software my advice would be to format that drive completely also removing the recovery partition and then reinstall Win7 from a disk together with your drivers. Install only the software you need together with your chosen firewall. AV browser etc and configure it all to your choice.
If you try to sort out the mess thatsa been installed on the PC you'll never have a satisfactory PC .

If you don't fancy that at least turn off your Windows automatic updates and go into msconfig and untick all the software that is running in the background you don't need .

this is worth doing to speed up things at startup.

Start type msconfig hit enter select boot alter Timeout to 3 seconds Apply and hit ok
Then select start up folder and untick all the stuff you don't need at start up like Adobe , Java and Picassa HP printer stuff ,MS office, winzip .and apply that . If anything changes later you can simply go back and re-tick anything .
Adobe , Java and Picassa and various other common software is constantly looking to update or download plug-ins or something that hogs your resources especially at startup


the only things I have in my startup folder are Netgear WiFi and
rundll and ctfmon and less than 25 processes running in task manager.

I have just bought 2x HP Mini 110-3018 netbooks for the missus and me. They came with 69 processes running in the background ffs ? no wonder new PC's are slow.
 
Last edited:
arad85 said:
Yup.. You don't look CPU bound, but something is hammering your disk drive every now and again. Can you open that and do another screenshot eith the disk tab open...
Click to expand...

Ok, here it is, only firefox open with about 8 tabls again. Any thoughts?

ProcExp2.jpg


Many thanks.

I'll persever a bit longer before I think about reinstalls I think.
 
neil_g said:
hang on just noticed this.. its taking 1.30 to boot? sod that send it back to medion to sort out.
Click to expand...

yeah thats crazy isn't it ... but so typical of all the junk software thats pre loaded on PC's and netbooks these days .

Its a lot of work but I would format and reinstall from scratch then clone the drive as an instant backup/restore. At least that way you know whats running on the Pc is what you want
 
neil_g said:
my laptop is currently running 73 processes. doesnt mean its slow.

im more concerned with the process thats hammering the OPs disk.
Click to expand...

if you understand what rescources are being tied up by all those un necessary processes running in the background then you'll appreciate why the op's pc is running slow and taking 1.5 minutes to boot.

If you think its normal to have 70 processes running on your pc at any one time I would have to question why you would need all that ?
My main pc has just 25 when surfing and I have a prodigeous amount of software . The only difference is I understand how to configure my computer for optimum performance:thumbs:
 
DorsetDude said:
Ok, here it is, only firefox open with about 8 tabls again. Any thoughts?

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/5203/ProcExp2.jpg

Many thanks.

I'll persever a bit longer before I think about reinstalls I think.
Click to expand...

interesting.. are all of those processes staying in there for a long time? they should disapear once they stop using disk. at the moment on my desktop even with PS, LR, Dreamweaver and IE open ive only got 2 processes using disk time.

have you dumped a load of data onto the hard drive since getting it? i mean because youll have things like search indexing, auto defrag etc chugging through the data..
 
earleybird said:
If you think its normal to have 70 processes running on your pc at any one time I would have to question why you would need all that ?
Click to expand...

because thats what windows is loading along with software that im chosing to let auto load.

my point is, those 70 or so processes are using sod all resource. to assume that having more processes open at one time will slow your computer down is jumping the gun without understanding what those processes are.

earleybird said:
The only difference is I understand how to configure my computer for optimum performance:thumbs:
Click to expand...

shall i go suck some eggs while im at it..
 
Ok heres a shot a bit later after Id cooked some grub and made a cup of char, pc just sat there with firefox, elements and Paint open. No image open in elements

ProcExp3.jpg
 
That one looks OK now.

Have you got rid of surplus startups with your Soluto yet?
 
neil_g said:
my point is, those 70 or so processes are using sod all resource.
Click to expand...

its not the resources they are using just running in the background though is it !. Once the software has reported your pc useage to base and checked and downloaded any updates then the load on resources for that session subsides but the OP is asking about start up and thats where all these programs are scheduled to upload and download stuff every time you boot up which is slowing down the loading of windows.
Just having Norton and Windows updates on automatic will bring a pc to its knees if you are unaware of what it happening in the background.

You and I are obviously aware of this and can configure our pc's accordingly. The op and the vast majority of pc users are not aware and do not know how to optimise their pc's That is the subject of this thread as I understand it and we are clearly all trying to work to the same end in assisting the op and any other interested viewers of this thread.:thumbs:
 
Last edited:
DorsetDude said:
Ok heres a shot a bit later after Id cooked some grub and made a cup of char, pc just sat there with firefox, elements and Paint open. No image open in elements

ProcExp3.jpg
Click to expand...

OK.. This looks fine... What was the responsiveness like at this point? What was the CPU utilisation tab like?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top