Dell Runs HD most of time and slows down computer 1

[Keyboy]

Greetings,

I am looking for some help to identify what id going on with my desktop. The last month I have faithfully installed all the MS Windows Vista updates. It seems that at the same time my desktop has experienced more and more slowdowns. I am referring to times when I open several windows in IE and everything freezes for a while. I have Norton Anti Virus and it says everything is OK. I ran Malwarebytes and it showed a few things that I allowed it to correct. I also ran SuperAntiSpyware and it found 32 tracking cookies that I let it delete. However, I can't seem to find what is going on. I look at Task Master and see a number of services that are hogs, but they change so fast I don't see one that is a big continuous user.

The HD is partitioned into 2 areas: Recovery 5.57 GB free of 9.99 GB and OS 298 GB free of 455 GB. So if doesn't look like things are getting too full.

I plan to run chkdsk /r later and see what transpires.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[guitarzan]

What model Dell? How much RAM do you have? You may be running out or RAM, causing the slowdowns.

 

[goombawaho]

Vista often behaved like that, which is one of the reasons it was hated. It just went out to lunch and the disk kept thrashing. The hard drive light NEVER turned off. It can be due to not enough memory or items that are running. Tell us how much memory you have as mentioned.

I would turn off the windows search service. Also, turn off the automatic defragmentation schedule.
Reboot and see what happens.

No improvement?? Get Process Explorer where you can view the disk activity and see what is hogging the disk activity. If you hover over an area of the disk graph it will show which process is using the disk.
Link

Process explorer will also show you if anything is hogging the CPU which could also be the reason for the slowdown.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Keyboy]

Greetings,

The desktop is a Dell Inspiron 530S. It has 3 GB Ram. Processor is Intel(R)Core(TM)2 Duo CPU @ 2.4 GHz.

I have turned off windows search and the automatic defrag. Things quieted dorn right away. It is interesting to note that the schedule to defrag the disk was once per week on Tuesday at 10 am. But it must have been active even though it was not scheduled. Very strange.
Now with only IE open in one window sp I could reply CPU usage is down to 12-14% and memory is 20-25%. The HD light has gone off for the first time in a long time.

Checkdsk found nothing wrong on either HD partition.

Just now I am looking at task manager and see CPU is up to 70% and memory usage is at 65%, and HD light is showing some activity.

Is there anything that you recommend in addition to what I have done?

 

[goombawaho]

More memory!! 3GB is not much, but I see your system can only handle 4GB max, so that's probably a waste trying to upgrade. I see some people saying 8GB is the max, but I'd be hesitant to take a chance. Crucial says 4GB is the max. Do you have a 64bit operating system. If not, then no need to upgrade.

I'd say that you target that machine for replacement in the next year. You're two operating systems behind already and that hardware is end-of-life.

Did you get Process Explorer?? What is hogging the CPU?

Use Autoruns to turn off everything that is not absolutely necessary. Be careful in what you uncheck. Look through services as well.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Keyboy]

Greetings,

I started running Norton Disk Doctor daily when I first reported this issue. Since then I have received the error message found in the attachment 2 times but not on every day. I am not sure which partition represents HD #2. Also I am not sure if this is a problem or not. If I click that I would like Norton to Repair the error, it says that I have to do a low level format.

Also, I have observed that twice while nothing is open, I get an error message saying that IE has stopped working. Then it asks if I want to collect data for Microsoft which I do and send it to them.

Any ideas what I should do?

Thanks for your help!

 

[goombawaho]

Rather than trusting Norton, I'd get and burn the Ultimate Boot CD Link. Lower on the page under MIRROR SITES. You have to burn it as a disc image not just burn TO disc. Boot to the CD. Run the hard drive manufacturer's diagnostic test - the short one to start with. You'll have to look in the BIOS to see which brand of hard drive you have. Something that starts like WD is a Western Digital. Something that starts ST is a Seagate. But, it could be a Hitachi, etc. so you'll have to Google the model number to be sure.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Keyboy]

Greetings,

I dl'ed the Ultimate Boot CD and ran both the short and long HD tests and both reported no problems. So I feel a lot better.

I apologize, I thought I replied to your question on what processes were running, however, I believe I previewed it and then didn't submit it.

I went back today and reran process explorer and can't find anything hogging memory and CPU like last time I ran it, and I can't recall exactly what was showing up then. I do recall it was something with dll loading and another item near the bottom on the list. I know that is not much help but the computer is doing much better thanks to your suggestions.

I will keep an eye on it and report back if the system performance falls off again. I haven't gotten the error message about Internet Explorer shutting down for 3 days so maybe it was a fluke?

I want to thank all of you that helped me in my time of need!

 

[goombawaho]

Right - so hard drive is not in danger of dieing (immediately). You have reduced some of the startup items. Not much more you can do unless you want to run AUTORUNS and post the results to see what else can be shut down.

Autoruns
Run the program (autoruns) - right click Run As Administrator, then check the following "filter options" under OPTIONS. This is to hide all Microsoft entries. Then press the REFRESH button or F5

Include Empty Locations
Verify Code Signatures
Hide Windows Entries



"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Keyboy]

Hi,

Thanks for the prompt reply. I will hold the autoruns test until later, so I can see if things have settled down for a longer period. Based on your comment about the HD when should I start looking for a new computer, or should I consider replacing the HD?

 

[goombawaho]

The hard drive could die any day or years from now. There is no real forecasting unless you get a SMART error, which would be a sign of a problem. But often that is too late to do anything about it.

Based on the age of the machine, I wouldn't replace the hard drive if it died. Just like not replacing the transmission on a car with 300,000 miles - not a good value proposition.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Keyboy]

Greetings,

Thanks for your excellent comments!

 

[Keyboy]

Greetings,

Just when I thought things were going well, the HD began its self bashing routine and everything slowed way dow. Process Explorer shows that DfrgNtfs.exe is hoggind up to 50% of the CPU, then explorer.exe with 24-26% and finally dwm.exe comes in second with 3-5%. How can I tame this beast?

Thanks for your help!

 

[goombawaho]

Defragmentation or boot optimization is running. See the following to snuff it.
Link

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.