identify a background program to tell me why my pc is slow 1

[goldtooth]

There is something running in the background on my pc which 'freezes' the pc for over 5 minutes (the hard disk is whirring constantly). This happens at start-up, and will kick in later whenever it wants to. I have tried to detect the problem using Task Manager, but no joy. Is there a program which runs in the background and logs all activity, including memory, hard disk usage which will identify the program (if indeed it is a program) which is causing the problem?
I have a Mesh desktop with Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor, 4GB Ram. and a 500GB hard disk of which 300GB is free.
Help, please!
Thanks

 

[goombawaho]

Process Monitor
Process Explorer
I don't think logging is available in process explorer - it's real time.

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

 

[goldtooth]

Thanks. goombawaho. Now I've got to trawl through the output!

 

[kjv1611]

Another thing to consider is looking in the Windows Event log. It can be boring and tedius, but there are filter options, and sometimes you can find the issues there.

Also, it wouldn't hurt to check your startup items (easiest is probably MSCONFIG or using something like CCleaner, Glary Utilities, or one of the other startup control type programs to view the most obvious ones.

And you might be able to think about it (maybe not), but sometimes it could be... you just sent an email... or you just closed something a few seconds ago... that's worth considering.

Also, one culprit is often the AV scanner - see if your AV is running any type of scan that you can tell around that time - most of them have logging enabled by default, so you should be able to see when the scans start and stop right there, and see if they coincide with your slowness.

If you do file sharing, and have a file sharing app in the background, that could do it as well... say it's suddenly found more active downloads or uploads or whatever... that can make a difference ,assuming you have one running in the background.

Anything that is doing updates. For instance, Windows Updates will sometimes begin installing, and really stealing resources from anything and everything else running. I've seen times where I was doing something that should NOT be resource intensive, but the whole system would almost freeze up, and I had nothing else open.. Then I figured out shortly thereafter that it was a windows update installing. This one doesn't always happen, but it's another possibility to check/consider.



"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57