Notebook Slow

Hi,
I have purchased a second hand Notebook which has windows 7 start installed.
I have deleted photo & the rubbish left behind i think its still slow.

I can click on the chrome icon and after say 1 minute the web browser opens.
I have also noticed that when i click on shutdown it can hang where i need to click force shutdown etc.
I have run the following but no issues found etc.

CCleaner
Malwarebytes
Wise Disc Cleaner.
There are also some items in the notebook that i wont use like Coreldraw etc but i thought i will leave them untill i ask here.

Thanks very much if you can advise something more powerfull for a deep clean out etc.

 

Any more 'cleaning' wont solve those issues. I suggest you look at the system start ups first of all. You can see them in CCleaner > Tools > Start Up but a more detailed view will show in Microsoft Autoruns
Also it wont hurt to run sfc /scannow via an administrator command prompt:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb...l-to-repair-missing-or-corrupted-system-files

Verifying the state of the hard drive via ChkDsk is also worth doing
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/2641432/check-your-hard-disk-for-errors-in-windows-7

 

Also run the System and Resource monitors in Win 7 as described here:
http://www.howtogeek.com/164484/10-useful-system-tools-hidden-in-windows/

 

Morning,
I cleaned as mentioned above & also removed some programmes that i wont use.
I have then carried out these steps.

Click Start type msconfig in the search box and press Enter
Configure Selective Startup options
On the General tab, choose Selective Startup
Uncheck Load Startup Items
Select the Services tab
Check Hide all Microsoft services (important you do this before step 5
Click Disable all
Click on OK
Click Restart.

I am happy now that it seems to run much better etc without being clunky .
I assume that now i put a check in one of the boxes and run it until one triggers the slow running of the notebook ?

 

Sorry hit the button to quick.
Running in the background are some 249 updates & at 48% so maybe this is the issue as wednesday it was fine.

I will keep you posted.

Many thanks

 

Ensuring Windows Updates are current and up to date would always be the first thing to do with a newly purchased second hand system.

 

Please can I ask for help installing the many updates the previous owner didn't bother with.

Basically notebook has downloaded 209 updates.
Bible message to say updates available, click here.
If which is what I've done BUT it's stuck in update 90
Let's say after installing update 50 notebook needs to be restarted etc to take affect, I received no pop up message advising me if this hence maybe why stuck in update 90.
I then restarted the notebook but upon the way in I seen messsge on screen saying installing updates etc, but then failed see attached image.

Can you advise how I can delete updates that were downloaded and start fresh.
Meaning then only to download a certain amount should I need to restart etc etc.
Once done then select a few more to download & install.

Many thanks.
I might get to use it one day.

 

Only install updates - chronologically as listed in WU - in small blocks of say 12-15.
In the situation you are in, the earliest updates MUST be done FIRST as later updates may well (some will) depend on the earlier updates.
When you have restarted, go back to WU and choose updates from the bottom (oldest) in the list and ONLY highlight 12-15 at a time at most.

 

I cant even find the page in windows of which to select etcc

 

Windows Update > Check For Updates > then you have to wait till that is finished, then in the final list start selecting them from the bottom of the list.

 

Ok,
So i clicked on Check for updates some 35 minutes ago and still looking.
Ive decided to restartt the Note Book,now it hanging on shutting down.

This time when i come in if it takes so long to check before i can select from the list like you mention what is a different way as lookng for 35 minutes obviously aint going to work this way

 

There is no other way of doing it. You have to wait for the list of available updates to appear however long it takes. There is no alternative.
If necessary re your point about shut down, do a forced shut down by holding the power key down until the system shuts down.
Leave it for a couple of minutes, then restart and log on again, go to Windows Update, get it to check for updates, put it aside for as long as it takes till it finished.
Leave it plugged in to the power with the cable.

 

I'm now in the page where it shows, Select the updates you want to install.
The option is NAME or FILE SIZE

How is it possible to see by DATE.
These dates are all I've the place because of the only 2 options above.
Seeing the date is only there if you click on one and with so same that isn't possible.

 

Each available update should have a tick box to select it, and the bottom of the list is the oldest. Go from bottom up.

 

Kind of correct.
It depends on how the list is sorted.
To sort you only have NAME & SIZE.
Either will give you random dates all over the place.
No option to sort by date.

 

Just install the updates from the bottom of the list in small batches, restart and check they were applied then carry on up the list.

 

Ok,
But i thought you date order ?

Anyway that is what i have been doing up untill a point were after i select say 10 then click on install updates nothing happens anymore.

I am down to only now having to install 51 out of the 209
Any idea why it doesnt want to play ball.

Thank

 

I suggest you run Wise Disk Cleaner in its default settings. Restart your system and try those updates again. If they still don't run then try the Windows Update Troubleshooter for Windows 7 from here:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb...68-021e32467565/windows-update-troubleshooter

 

Hi
Thanks for the advice.
I've now installed all 209 updates.
I'm just running my cleaning tools whilst I'm at it.

Is there anything you can advise to clean etc so it's smooth fast etc.

 

Cleaning mostly doesn't make any difference to the speed of a system, unless of course the hard drive is almost full then accessing it for programs can be slow. So keep the main Hard Drive less than 75% full. Having Wise Disk Cleaner and using it weekly will keep unneeded data off. But RAM and the strength of the processor is more important. If the system is a 32 bit have at least 4gb of ram, if it's a 64 bit system 6-8gb of RAM is better.

 

Morning,
There are only a few things on this NoteBook.
I do notice the main speed issue is when i click say Google Icon to load the page or when im looking on the interent.
I am looking into ram but do you know if the win 7 starter that is installed can be overwritten just in case there is a fault that side.
I have the Microsoft label / bar code on the notebook but no disc etc.

Also just clicking on an incon you see ther arrow icon circle around and around for a while as opposed to just opening its software,with me ?

 

That notebook should have recovery options that allow you to simply reinstall Windows 7 and if it had a product key on that sticker that's what you might need to input. If you use a factory restore it will load everything that was on it when first shipped and you will also need to run those 2-300 updates again.
As far as slowness you need to look at post #2 and #3

 

If the notebook runs Windows 7 Starter

the hardware specs are low, slow CPU, and no more than 1 or 2GB of RAM can be installed.
It will always be slow.

You'd probably get a faster user experience if you swapped out Windows 7 Starter for a lightweight linux distro.

 

Max Turner,
I have ordered a 2Gb stick of RAM which i will swap for the current 1Gb stick in use.
This should help,i dont plan of using it as a main pc etc as i only need it to run 2 pieces of software that i own.

Currently i have it in some pieces awaiting the RaAM to arrive.
I will then see how it performs and read #2 & #3 again.

Thanks

 

If the system only has one RAM slot, then yes you would need one 2gb stick. But scanning it at http://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/systemscanner will show a report of what slots there are. If it's 2 RAM slots then you only need one more 1gb stick

 

Yes 1 slot hence removing the 1 x 1gb and swapping it for 1 x 2gb
Crucial did not have anything to say.
I have have purchased the ram and awaiting it to arrive.

 

The purpose of the Crucial scanner is for users who don't want to physically open up their desktop, laptop or netbook and don't already know their hardware specs. The scanner tells you that information in less than a minute, so it has lots of useful information that most users don't already know.

 

Memory now installed and 2Gb is shown.

Regarding the Recovery option when i start i do see a message advising to press F11
Looking at that windows certificate i do see a product key.
I dont wish to install those 200+ updates again so am i correct in thinking if i press F11 when i restart it will just overwrite a fresh clean win 7,just in case anything was corrupt or damaged etc ?

Do you suggest i do steps in post #2 & #3 BEFORE or AFTER the F11 process ?

Thanks

 

If you do a restore to factory settings, which is what that recovery option will most likely be, it will be a recovery to Win 7 at that date of release, so yes you will have to go through Windows Update again if you do that. You can check what the recovery option is on the website of the manufacturer for that system and model.
Posts 2 and 3 were for you to investigate its slowness right now, in its current state.
I suggest you simply wait until you have installed the 2gb stick of new RAM when it arrives, test the system and decide then if further troubleshooting is needed.

 

My post above shows memory arrived and installed.

 

So now you can monitor how it performs. If it still seems especially slow, have a look at start ups in post 2

 

Hi,
I have done this and was all ok run sfc /scannow run sfc /scannow
I then did the second one you advised & noticed a difference straight away ChkDsk

I did notice on the screen before it restarted 44 reparse records processed but other than that fine.
I am now going to take a look at the below.
http://www.howtogeek.com/74523/how-to-disable-startup-programs-in-windows/

http://www.howtogeek.com/164484/10-useful-system-tools-hidden-in-windows/

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/microsoft_autoruns.html

 

Morning,
I do notice a difference when i enable/disable the start up section.

Can you look at my current set up as i was doing this from another source,so i can then have it like a default setting but then allow me to check/uncheck a start up item.
Then i can follow this page http://www.howtogeek.com/74523/how-to-disable-startup-programs-in-windows/

 

It's only the start ups that are worth looking at. AVG is fine but I don't know what 'Atomic' is and whether it is needed - probably not.
As far as Services are concerned, if it were me I would just follow the Black Viper 'safe' configuration for Windows 7
http://www.blackviper.com/service-c...dows-7-service-pack-1-service-configurations/

The main issue is whether you can use the notebook without real slowness. If you can, don't spend any more time on it.

 

I was looking if the settings in general start up & services were correct,as im sure i removed a tick etc.

That link you advise is too much for me to take in.
Please look at the images and advise ref the tick on say selective or normal start up.

 

Leave start up at normal and merely disable those not needed. It is as simple as that. Try not to complicate it and remember the final point - is it slow now? No? Then don't spend any more time on it, it's not of any benefit.

 

So,
General = Normal start up.
Start up = check or un-check items

An item that will be unchecked will have to be manually click on to run correct.

 

OK - programs that do not need to launch at boot, which is everything mostly bar security like an AV program or a 3rd party software firewall (which you don't have), can be launched manually just like when you launch a web browser, at any time. They do NOT need to be in the start up menu.
As far as the Black Viper site, if it's too complicated for you, forget it. It wont make a huge difference anyway.