Sluggish Pc

I have been putting off starting this thread. I have been thinking I must be doing something wrong. I have used the following to check for malware and they all report my PC is clean: COMODO Internet Security; Malwarebytes ANTI-MALWARE; SUPERAntiSpyware. I have cleaned it with Advanced SystemCare and CCleaner. I have defragged using Smart Defrag. Prior to using all these applications I checked I had the latest version and that they were all up-to-date.

Despite doing all of these things, my PC is really sluggish. It has been this way ever since I upgraded it from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10. This PC is relatively new. It came pre-installed with Windows 8.1. Until I upgraded to Windows 10 it worked like a dream. It now feels like computers used to do with very little RAM and I would say Windows 3.1 was quicker than what I am currently dealing with.

I am at a loss as to what else I can try to do with it to make it run well again.

 

Basically the same answers as given here today:
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/index....-sluggish-after-installing-windows-10.311481/

 

I forgot to add two points:
1. Defragging on any OS from Win 7 onwards is not much needed and will generally not result in any meaningful benefit, and the inbuilt defrag tool is sufficient.
2. If your system hard drive or any drive is an SSD then you should not defrag it at all, ie never defrag an SSD.

Carrying out regular cache cleaning with CCleaner Slim is a good habit.

 

But too much cache cleaning will slow the machine down, some caches are there for good reason.

 

CCleaner > Cleaner in its default settings doesn't remove anything that is needed for the system to function optimally. It's never been responsible for slowing any of my systems over about 14-15 years or dozens of systems I help maintain.

 

Fine, but that doesn't mean that others use your, or CCleaners', default settings. Removing certain caches will slow down a PC, especially (noticeably) for those that have an older/slower CPU, HDD, or internet connection.

"Works for me" is a particularly useless type of comment without the system specs and specific settings used.

"CCleaner in its default settings" is very different to "Carrying out regular cache cleaning with CCleaner Slim is a good habit."

The latter - "regular cache cleaning" - (as CCleaner can easily, if not by 'default' - it's one of the setup options) could easily be a contributory factor for a large number of users not getting any feel good factor following a reboot after a cleanup with CCleaner.

 

Cleaner installs in its default settings automatically. There are no options to change how it cleans when installing it. A user would have to proactively change those settings themselves after install.
I've not seen CCleaner > Cleaner in its default settings cause any problems on any system running anything from XP with very old hardware and slow DSL up to Win 10. And no system I've helped maintain, and given advice to the user to maintain, has ever resulted in a user come back to me and said 'Max something's gone wrong since you/I used CCleaner!' And that's a lot of years and lot of systems.
But I appreciate your viewpoint and will bear it in mind.

 

"regular cache cleaning" <- cached data is there for a reason, whether you understand it or not, it's there in case the data can be reused, instead of downloading (which includes CPU + HDD time) fresh data every time you open/refresh the same page. Only the changed data needs refreshing.

If you meant temp/dross files that are not likely to be to be ever used again, you should have stated so.

 

An external HDD which isn't quite right or has a driver issue will cause slowdowns. Sometimes quite significant ones.

 

Yup, internal ones too: http://winhlp.com/node/10

Pointless throwing random software suggestions around until we know the hardware details, OS and some screenshots (TaskMan/Resource Monitor/Reliability report... ), maybe some logs/MSInfo32 will also be needed at some stage..

 

Hi my friend , your hdd is full of data , you could follow this

http://www.windowscentral.com/5-tips-free-hard-drive-space-windows-10-pc#slide2

cleaning up your hdd , let us know about your's computer specifications

Download this tool

http://majorgeeks.com/Speccy_d6358.html

follow the process :

from left column choose
Summary ( wait 30 seconds until report generated )

from bar menu select :

File
Save as Text file

choose desktop as saving location

follow this process to post your machine type report

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=86880

 

I am sick of all the glitches Windows 10 causes. I am now mainly using an old laptop with Vista and it works a lot better. Today I decided to do some work for tomorrow on my newer laptop with Win 10 on it. I am using ShutUp 10 which is supposed to stop automatic updates. Even if there are updates they should install when you restart or shutdown. The laptop I was on has just started updating whilst I was working. I hope I've not lost my last hour's worth of work.

 

O&O Shut Up 10 and other similar programs deal with Privacy issues. Nothing to do with Win 10 updating.
You can manage updates easily in Win 10. Yes it will download them but you can schedule a restart for installation.
You haven't described any actual steps you've taken regarding start ups, services etc to reduce the sluggishness of that system.

 

I have done what you advised in post #2. I have also run checks on this hard drive as recommended in another thread. I loathe Win 10. It feels as good as the stupid games we played using the TV in the early 1980s. I have 3 PCs. Fortunately one didn't qualify for updating to Win 10. That's my oldest PC, in fact it's about 9 years old and runs Vista. The two that I updated to Win 10 are just awful. The worst one is the one where the PC is only a year old and had Win 8.1 on it. I though that would be the one wheer I had no problems but it is the worst. I have a PC that's about 4 years old and had Win 7 on it and that is bad but not as bad as my newest PC.

I really regret changing because they both worked fine until I upgraded to Win 10. The one I'm having the most issues with would probably not work as badly if it was full of malware.

 

Unless you detail step by step what you actually did, then anyone is blind to it.
If a system was in good order at the time of the free upgrade from Win 7 and 8 to Win10, then most users have had no problems.
If you installed and configured O&O Shut Up 10 to the first two levels of recommendations, then your system would have been faster and smoother. But without sitting in front of it and analysing it, no one can tell you with certainty what is causing your issues.

 

I asked for advice. It was given. I followed it. I have said it has made no difference. I have nothing else to report. If you can offer no further help I do not expect you to help further but perhaps somebody else may.

 

I have no idea from anything you posted whether you analysed start up programs using either CCleaner, or Process Explorer or Microsoft Autoruns, and whether you made any changes based on that. I have no idea what changes, if any, you made to Services.
Without knowing any of that in detail would prevent anyone helping you. But if it feels better just repeating that Win10 is crap, then so be it.

 

Sounds like you have been a little unlucky Mark, as the vast majority of Win 10 upgrades do go smoothly and users are happy with it. However you do have the option either to reset or to refresh from within Win 10, no installation disk required. A reset gives you a clean install, a refresh does the same but preserves your files. Both remove any third party software you may have installed. These features are available in Settings > Update and Security > Recovery. You should consider these options as they may offer the quickest and most satisfactory solution to your problems but you can also insure against a reset failing by imaging your system first, which you should have done before upgrading.

 

I think I have been. In many ways I do like Win 10 over 8.1. I know coincidences happen but when things are happening to two PCs after upgrading at least I have to consider its Win 10. In many ways its hard to know how to describe the issues I have experienced. It is a bit like when your car starts to develop a fault and the best you can tell the mechanic at that point is driving your car doesn't feel right.

I get no error messages that I can cite. Anyway there is not point continuing the litany of vague symptoms.

I had started to wonder if I should try doing this. I'm pleased you've told me which is which. I shall attempt the reset.

That's a minor inconvenience if the reset makes things function smoothly.

I did and you kindly guided me through that process, but for the avoidance of doubt, I believe you're recommending imaging my system again because of changes that will have been made since the upgrade.

 

No, it's 1 TB and I've hardly used any of it up.

 

It's just to ensure, whatever may happen, that you still have a working system available, even if it's not entirely satisfactory. But as you have said you already have an image of the system you upgraded it's not so vital.

 

Earthling, I do not think my PC is infected with malware. I do suspect my problems are probably settings not being optimal and different software not getting along. However, for the purposes of belts and braces, would either a reset or refresh get rid of any malware?

 

I just don't know enough about how a reset works to be definite about that Mark. It reinstalls a clean Windows image which I believe it obtains by download from Microsoft's servers, so that will definitely be clean. It also effectively removes any other software that may be present and which may contain malware so so far so good. However if there are other partitions on the computer being reset it's possible they could still house malware and I suspect that a rootkit might survive too. You would need your machine checked out by the malware experts here to be certain it is currently clean. However unless you have reason to suspect malware might be present if it were mine I would skip all that right now and get on with the reset. Nothing you have said would indicate malware being present.

 

I, too, don't think I've got a malware problem. I've done a bit of research and the option that's probably best for me, Refresh, isn't a clean install so there's no guarantee it'd clean an infected PC. I haven't attempted the Refresh mainly due to family and work commitments. It's half-term next week so I'm hoping to find time then. On one 'tutorial' I read it said a Refresh takes all of 5 minutes. Well, I know it isn't going to be that straightforward for me: nothing with PCs ever is.

 

I can throw a little light on Reset and Refresh now. My laptop had already lost its camera and bluetooth functionality and suddenly lost its ethernet adapter too - no sign of any of them in device manager. Wondering if this somehow was Win 10 related I hit the Refresh button. As you rightly say Refresh is not a clean install, and in fact as far as I could see it didn't do much at all other than remove all my software, so I then went the whole hog and grabbed the media creation tool and did a proper clean install. Throughout all this the system retained its Activated status so if a clean install is what you really want it's easily and safely done this way. It didn't fix my hardware problems though

 

I think I'd like to do a Reset although I don't think my problem is as severe as yours. Everything works but just at an aggravatingly slow rate. I'm reluctant to do Reset because what I've read makes it sound like doom and gloom. Effectively everything goes and you end up with what is effectively a factory new PC. So then you have to get everything back you had before. Remembering I'm an IT ignoramus, by "media creation tool" do you mean the image you made prior to install. As Win10 was upgraded over the Net I don't have an disks. CDs, DVDs or anything with which a clean install of Windows can be done as with previous versions.

 

Microsoft offer a Win 10 ISO, the Media Creation Tool, with which you can either upgrade a computer or do a clean install.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

You do need to give some prior thought to how you are going to get back to a fully working system, especially where costly licences may be involved, but the process itself is a doddle, especially if you choose the flash drive method rather than DVD.