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Author Topic: Slow Computer  (Read 1663 times)

Alan Klein

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Slow Computer
« on: March 10, 2020, 03:26:30 pm »

My Dell Windows 10 computer suddenly started working really slow:

When it start, the little circle goes about 4 times slower. 
When it shuts down, the little circle with the dots that go around about 6 times slower than normal.  It take 4 times longer to shut down until the power light goes out.
WIndow screens open and closes like in slow motion.
It's like the whole clock of the system suddenly was reduced tenfold.
It was working properly last night so it's not something that's been getting worse over time. 
It just happened today.  Everything was normal last night.

Ideas?

fdisilvestro

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2020, 03:37:34 pm »

Does it show any unusual activity in the task manager or in the resource monitor?

- Check disk for errors
- Check for malaware (i.e. Malawarebytes)
- Test the RAM
- If you have a recent restore point, try to restore the system

MattBurt

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2020, 05:53:08 pm »

Sounds like recent updates have caused performance and stability issues in some cases.
Maybe your system is one of the affected?
You might be able to go back to a restore point from before the offending update (than turn off automatic updates, at least for a while).
If not there will probably be an update-update issued to address that one pretty soon.

I experienced some issues with my PC while it updated this morning (black screen, no mouse input) but it seems to have gone back to normal now that it's done.
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Alan Klein

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2020, 07:04:36 pm »

How do I check to see which programs have updated rently?

fdisilvestro

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2020, 07:29:02 pm »

Go to Start -> Settings -> Windows update
then click on "View update history" (as shown in the attached image)

Alan Klein

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2020, 07:47:56 pm »

These are the windows updates in chrono order.  Not all are listed but the most recent was in Feb.  This problem started today.

How to you check for updates on apps other than Windows?

Alan Klein

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2020, 08:03:29 pm »

I notice my security update for windows was disabled.  Maybe I've preventing them.  SHould I click it on and allow updates?  Would that clear any viruses at this point?

fdisilvestro

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2020, 08:10:25 pm »

Most application will ask for confirmation before update, otherwise there is no easy way to know which applications have been updated, as far as I know.

You may try to:
- Boot in "safe mode" and check it the performance issues persist. If the computers works fine, then it could be a software related issue, so next step:

- Open Task manager, go to the Startup tab and try disabling the programs that start automatically,

- One option to determine if it is software related is to restore the computer to a previous restore point


If you are sure there is no malaware/virus and nothing solved the issue, you should not discard hardware / device failure, then:
- Back up all your files
- Check disk (including surface test)
- Check Ram

kers

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #8 on: March 10, 2020, 08:38:08 pm »

Maybe your harddisk is full?
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Alan Klein

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #9 on: March 10, 2020, 10:40:16 pm »

Maybe your harddisk is full?
I look good 49gb out of 229gb on C and 1.31gb out of 1.81 on D.

Alan Klein

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #10 on: March 10, 2020, 10:43:56 pm »

Most application will ask for confirmation before update, otherwise there is no easy way to know which applications have been updated, as far as I know.

You may try to:
- Boot in "safe mode" and check it the performance issues persist. If the computers works fine, then it could be a software related issue, so next step:

- Open Task manager, go to the Startup tab and try disabling the programs that start automatically,

- One option to determine if it is software related is to restore the computer to a previous restore point


If you are sure there is no malaware/virus and nothing solved the issue, you should not discard hardware / device failure, then:
- Back up all your files
- Check disk (including surface test)
- Check Ram

How do you look at and then restore to a previous restore point?  I'd like to see what changed between yesterday when it was good and today.

fdisilvestro

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #11 on: March 10, 2020, 11:04:52 pm »

Restore points do not tell you what changed, they are an image of the system at a specific point in time. If you have a recent restore point at a time where the machine was running well, you may restore to that state.

Open Control panel - > System and then select " Advanced system settings" on the left. It will open a new dialog, click on the "System protection" tab and you will see the option of "System restore" (see first image attached)
When you click on System restore it would usually recommend which restore point to use. (see second image attached)

Doug Gray

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #12 on: March 11, 2020, 12:21:14 am »

Francesco's advice is good. Hit ctrl-alt-delete and select task manager. You can see what programs are slowing things down, check memory usage, CPU usage over time, and so on. Very useful for tracking down stuff like this.
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Alan Klein

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #13 on: March 11, 2020, 08:47:40 am »

Restore points do not tell you what changed, they are an image of the system at a specific point in time. If you have a recent restore point at a time where the machine was running well, you may restore to that state.

Open Control panel - > System and then select " Advanced system settings" on the left. It will open a new dialog, click on the "System protection" tab and you will see the option of "System restore" (see first image attached)
When you click on System restore it would usually recommend which restore point to use. (see second image attached)

That worked.  There was only one restore point that show March 9, the day before the problem started. 

Apparently it didn't clear the files.  See advisory it gave me below.  But it's working normal now.  So I didn't want to go any further.  So I'm ignoring the advisory.  What do you think?
Thanks.

Alan Klein

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #14 on: March 11, 2020, 08:50:43 am »

Francesco's advice is good. Hit ctrl-alt-delete and select task manager. You can see what programs are slowing things down, check memory usage, CPU usage over time, and so on. Very useful for tracking down stuff like this.
I did check that before I restored and it seems normal.  Plenty of space in memory and the processor was run at maybe 2-3%.  The slow stuff was weird.  It was like a slow motion video where the window screen would zoom open.  SHutdown and startup would have the little circle dots moving at one tenth the speed.  Really weird.  Never seen anything like it.  Thanks for your help and everyone else too.

nirpat89

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #15 on: March 11, 2020, 09:05:36 am »

That worked.  There was only one restore point that show March 9, the day before the problem started. 

Apparently it didn't clear the files.  See advisory it gave me below.  But it's working normal now.  So I didn't want to go any further.  So I'm ignoring the advisory.  What do you think?
Thanks.

It didn't go back to the older restore point.  My guess is since it is working fine now, the slowdown was a one-shot deal related to the latest update.  Every once in a while when there is a major Windows 10 update, it takes a while when you shut the computer down  and start back up presumably doing some maintenance work related to the update.
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Alan Klein

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #16 on: March 11, 2020, 09:08:58 am »

It didn't go back to the older restore point.  My guess is since it is working fine now, the slowdown was a one-shot deal related to the latest update.  Every once in a while when there is a major Windows 10 update, it takes a while when you shut the computer down  and start back up presumably doing some maintenance work related to the update.
Minutes before i tried the restore, I had rebooted but it was still slow.  It was only after I did the restore, or apparent restore, that things got better.  Whatever it did seem to work.  So I'm going to leave it as it is and wait for the next Windows screwup.  Thanks for your help.  Appreciate it. 

smthopr

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #17 on: March 11, 2020, 12:48:13 pm »

I've created a few restore points on my Windows 10 workstation.

After a recent OS update, I began to have issues with Davinci Resolve software.  I went to restore to an older version of Windows... and all the restore points were gone, except a new one created just before the last update, which... still had issues.

Is there something I'm missing here about Windows restore points?  Have I saved them incorrectly?  Is there a setting somewhere that allows me to keep them after an auto update?
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MattBurt

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #18 on: March 11, 2020, 12:58:16 pm »

Glad to hear it is working better.
It sounds like you have Kapersky antivirus so that disables the built-in Windows antivirus which is expected and generally not a problem in this scenario.

I agree that Task Manager is a good way to see what is using resources at the moment so if it happens again that is worth a look. You can order the process in Task Manager by different columns by clicking on the column heading (a little triangle indicates ascending or descending order). So if CPU use is high you can order by CPU use and see the top users quickly that way.

As mentioned, it might have been just a one time thing during an update or maybe a deep antivirus scan that restarted again after you rebooted.
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Alan Klein

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Re: Slow Computer
« Reply #19 on: March 11, 2020, 02:28:03 pm »

Glad to hear it is working better.
It sounds like you have Kapersky antivirus so that disables the built-in Windows antivirus which is expected and generally not a problem in this scenario.

I agree that Task Manager is a good way to see what is using resources at the moment so if it happens again that is worth a look. You can order the process in Task Manager by different columns by clicking on the column heading (a little triangle indicates ascending or descending order). So if CPU use is high you can order by CPU use and see the top users quickly that way.

As mentioned, it might have been just a one time thing during an update or maybe a deep antivirus scan that restarted again after you rebooted.
Yes Windows Defender is disabled by Kaspersky.   I dislike Malwarebyte but that hadn't changed anything at the time.   I'm wondering I should restart it?

Talk manager did not show overuse of memory or processor even though certain things were operating like in a trance.   Glad it's gone.

As an aside I haven't had any viruses I'm aware of since installing Kaspersky about 5 years ago.   I've had Mcafee and Norton before that and always losing my computer.  The Russians seem to know what they're doing even if they're spying on me.

« Last Edit: March 11, 2020, 02:31:09 pm by Alan Klein »
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