Source
r/techsupport•
sozza

Why is my computer so slow?

Hi reddit. I feel like this is a rather noobish question but I can't figure out why my computer is so slow.

It's a Toshiba satellite A500 17X running Windows 7, I have McAfee internet security that runs scans every now and then and brings up nothing, I don't download films or music (maybe the odd thing off of itunes, and I do have a fair bit of music that my friend gave me from an external hard drive).

It takes 10 minutes for my computer to be useable from turning it on. Everytime the computer shuts down it spends about 20 minutes configuring roughly 5 updates each time (once or twice a day).

I just thought this was standard computer behaviour, but I used other computers and saw that I could start using them the minute I turned them on! What's up with mine?

Edit: I also have no programs that start with start up. Nothing is (visibly) running when I start up, it's just slow.

Edit 2: Thank you everyone, several of your ideas helped me speed up my computer! (largely malware going under the radar and sneaky toshiba start up programs).

Posted Mar 26, 2012, 10:08 PM UTC · edited

727
RogueAngel•

That system has reasonably good specs, especially the 4GB RAM. You probably have some malware that slipped past McAfee.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: McAfee is a flaming piece of shit. I've seen 10+ infected "Protected by McAfee" systems in the past 12 months, at various sites. The "5 updates each time" sounds like a piece of malware that's making sure it's "current" before a power cycle.

You should run a Complete Scan with MBAM (Malware Bytes Anti-Malware) on it, see what that removes.

Also, semi-longshot, but your friend's external drive may have been infected with something in its AUTORUN.INF routines.

Let us know how the scan goes! :)

6
BirdWithBowtie•

Don't forget to add it's important to reboot into safe mode with networking before d/l MBAM and updates and running the scan.

2
RogueAngel•

Yep - that helps, good suggestion!

*Edit to add:

Safe Mode, Safe Mode with networking, does NOT guarantee a clean environment for removing malware -- but, it's better than a normal boot.

Curious? Google: Rootkit, Legacy Virus, Legacy Trojan, Legacy Malware.

2
sozzaOP•

Ok, I did not know this about McAfee! I'm downloading the anti-malware software you suggested now. Update: ran the scan, it found 7 pieces of malware which I deleted. I had no idea McAfee was so crap!

1
Decembermouse•

You likely have excess startup tasks running in the background. Open the Start Menu, and type: 'msconfig' without quotation marks then hit enter.

Go to the Startup tab, and click the "Startup Item" heading to alphabetize them. Every item in the list that has a checkmark is a program that is running in the background. This uses up RAM, making it unavailable for tasks you want to be running, and uses up CPU power as well. All these programs load from the hard drive into the RAM when you start up your computer, so this can take a while as well.

I can help you with getting rid of some of these. To make it easier to tell me what all's in the list, run HijackThis. Do a scan and save the log file. Paste the contents of the log file as a reply to my post here. Make sure you separate each item by two lines so reddit will make it look like a list and not a paragraph.

Other things you can do would be to run Disk Cleanup, which you can type into the Start Menu to find, and cleaning your hard drive of its junk files. Make sure to check every option available, after Disk Cleanup does its scan. All the little boxes. Then hit OK.

I also run CCleaner, by Piriform, which is a free program that does a better job than the Disk Cleanup utility that's built into Windows.

Auslogics Disk Defrag is what I use instead of the one built into Windows.

You could also be experiencing some slowness from outdated drivers but that wouldn't make the computer start up slowly. It would only cause slow game or video playback performance. If you want, you can try to update your video driver here by selecting your video card from the list. The GeForce GT 230M.

4
sozzaOP•

I did the msconfig and it made the world of difference! Thanks.

1
jeffreynya•

You're using McAfee Internet Security. Nothing left to say.

3
dustdustdust•

Well don't just do 'im like that. A recommendation?

1
jeffreynya•

Well for best performance I would use Microsoft Security Essentials. Its not the best really, but its not a system hog and does a decent job. So this with with openDNS for virus and malware is probably going to do you.

Run scans with Malwarebytes and Super Antispyware. Run Hitman Pro as well. http://www.surfright.nl/en

Also as mentioned. The BlackViper settings will help.

PC Decrapifier http://pcdecrapifier.com/. Gets rid of the crap that comes with your PC

Make sure you have all MS updates. Uninstall all un-needed apps that PC Decrapifier does not get.

Defraggler: http://www.piriform.com/defraggler Run this after you have deleted all apps you don't need and have cleaned out all temp files with CCleaner.

Stay out of the registry

Last but not least take make sure there is not a large buildup of dust inside the PC. You should have it looked at to make sure the fan can actually get rid of heat.

If all these things don't speed the PC up I would think about take it to a shop to have them take a look.

3
sozzaOP•

Thank you, these things are helping! I've now run a scan with malwarebytes and it's flagged up 7 things McAfee missed.

1
ScumbagInc•

Do you have any USB paraphernalia plugged into your laptop? USB hub? External HDD? Unplug them. Did it help? Then optimize start up. Click the start button. Then type msconfig. Click on it to open it. Then click the startup tab. Uncheck anything you do not want to launch at start up. Your laptop is going to be full of bloatware. I'm betting you have a shit-ton of Toshiba bullshit launching at start up.

1
sozzaOP•

Not any visible Toshiba stuff at start up, but I went on the msconfig and there is loads of it sneakily running as I start up! Thanks, I've unchecked it. I have no USB stuff attached apart from ocasionally my USB stick.

1
[deleted]•

After it takes so long to boot does it respond normally? Does it seem to "lag" whenever you try to open a program? If so, right click on "computer" and go to "properties". Once there click on "Device Manager" in the top right corner. Go down to "disk drives" and expand. Post what is listed there. I'm thinking that you might have a failing hard drive and would like to make sure that you download/burn/run the proper utility to test it.

1
sozzaOP•

The internet tended to crash a lot. I had a look at disk drives but it said it is working properly (the drive called Toshiba).

1
[deleted]•

If I recall correctly Toshiba drives use Drive Fitness Test, although Seatools should work as well. Although all of this is useless if you've already run a true HDD test.

1
bobroberts7441•

First remove any unnecessary autostart programs, the ones that run automatically when the computer boots up. Then visit Black Viper and disable any un-needed services. You could also upgrade to XP-Pro.

-1
sozzaOP•

Thanks, it's already starting to load things a bit faster. I'll have a look at the upgrade.

1
AttackTribble•

Upgrade to XP. :) I feel the same way.

-1
sozzaOP•

I had XP on my old computer and loved it! But Windows 7 is ok. I don't tend to bother with changing the OS, I just use my laptop for work and looking at cats on the internet.

1
AttackTribble•

Right now I'm working on two machines, one XP, one 7. For what I do, using XP is natural, 7 is a struggle.

1
[deleted]•

Your computer has a 5,400 rpm HDD, this is a relatively slow speed, but was pretty standard for laptops in the past several years. You may want to research an upgrade to SSD for faster boot times.

-4
ScumbagInc•

What kind of answer is this? His/her computer is running slow and your answer is "get a new hard drive?"

7
jbacon•

Higher RPM drives have much lower rotational latency, and as such are more performant in general. Since disk is nearly always the bottleneck in any computer, it's an excellent place to start.

The OP describes conditions where the disk is being hit hard, and cannot handle the load.

1
Zullwick•

The OP describes an issue where there is more serious issues at hand than the Hard Drive. 10 minutes is very excessive for the boot time. A good boot time on a 5400 RPM hard drive is under a minute. 1-2 minutes is decent. Beyond 2 minutes has some issues that should be ironed out.

1
[deleted]•

It's not a hard-drive but rather a solid state drive, it is probably the best upgrade potential besides RAM for his machine, in regards to boot time this may prove more fruitful for future use.

0
[deleted]•

Agreed, this is definitely the best performance upgrade that one can make to 99% of laptops out there.

That being said his ~10 minute boot time goes well beyond that of a 5400rpm drive.

1
sozzaOP•

Thank you, I'll look into it.

1