Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2015 November 15

= November 15 =

Slow running Win 7 laptop
I am having troubles with my ≈4.5 year old Toshiba Windows 7 laptop, almost randomly, running 'slow' and even 'locking up'.

This is possibly due to my bad habit of running several browser windows with multiple tabs in each.

• I also usually hibernate the laptop after use and only reboot it after days of use. (or when it won't respond!)

• Right now Task Manager says I'm running about
 * -120 processes. (Is that excessive?)
 * - 81% physical memory,
 * - CPU 10%

• Laptop config is: I sometimes seem to be using a lot of memory like 95% for not doing much. Irregularly the usage seems to go right up ↑ for no obvious reason. Sometimes when I kill a few browsers tbas it will drop ↓ abruptly and the laptop become responsive again, but sometimes I can't even close a browser, without a significant wait! • Any suggestions? 220  of  Borg 17:45, 15 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit (service pack 1)
 * Intel i3-2310m Processor (quad core)
 * 4Gb RAM
 * 750 Gb HDD (55% free)
 * Geforce 315M video
 * The number of processes and memory use are not remarkably high. Which browser do you user? When the laptop freezes is it actively using the hard drive? Ruslik_ Zero 20:04, 15 November 2015 (UTC)
 * When was the last time you cleaned the dust out of it? Over the years I've seen a number of people complaining about issues with laptops where it turned out the entire thing was crammed full of dust, causing overheating, which causes the system to run slowly and/or crash. --71.119.131.184 (talk) 21:27, 15 November 2015 (UTC)

I'm on my tablet now so no quick access to more PC info. -220  of  Borg 23:45, 15 November 2015 (UTC)
 * The browser I was using at the time was Chrome. I sometimes switch to Firefox (usually after a 'crash'). The laptop was repaired about 15 months ago, HDD replaced after dying after about 2.5(?) years usage.
 * • They did include a note about dust, but IIRC that was standard practice. I have been watching the temperature gauge (cpu temp?), and it seems to indicate correct temperature. Doesn't seem to happen while playing games, makes me suspect a browser issue. I have checked the inlets & exhaust are clear, but haven't opened it up to check. Now it is well out of warranty, so likely a good idea
 * • I have previously received a warning about the HDD thrashing, perhaps I got ripped off with the replacement HDD? My window experience index dropped from 5.6 to 5.1 after repair, and last night I ran the test again and it dropped to 4.9!
 * • I have an SD card that I think is configured to be used as cache memory, maybe that's a problem. No, that's been disabled.


 * I would reboot more often (at least daily). That clears out old processes wasting CPU time.  (See if you notice it being faster right after a reboot.)  StuRat (talk) 17:45, 16 November 2015 (UTC)


 * Not generally necessary. My 6 GB RAM Vista box currently has uptime of 380 hours and runs perfectly well. I probably reboot less than once evert 6 months.   My 1 GB Windows 7 netbook regularly runs slowly and is automatically rebooted twice a week to free up memory.  So - if you have enough, a reboot is not really necessary.--Phil Holmes (talk) 18:28, 16 November 2015 (UTC)


 * The RAM is only part of the story. If one of your processes has a memory leak (which seems quite common in Windows from my experience), it will soon fill your RAM, no matter how much you have.  You may just be lucky enough not to have any memory leaks. StuRat (talk) 06:11, 17 November 2015 (UTC)


 * interestingly, I actually had a forced reboot via a BSOD about 12 hours ago. Makes me concerned about the HDD as that's the sort of thing that happened last time it 'died'. It does reduce the memory usage, but there still seems to be peculiar spikes in that. I may have to post a screenshot so you can see what I mean. 220  of  Borg 02:44, 17 November 2015 (UTC)


 * I'm hesitant to say that 4GB of RAM isn't really enough in this age of software bloat, but that's the only real problem I see with the setup. Have you considered purchasing more RAM? FrameDrag (talk) 20:23, 16 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Money is very tight right now. I have lots of RAM, just not laptop type! What would another 4GB cost? 220  of  Borg 02:44, 17 November 2015 (UTC)

• Any ideas about the magically dropping Windows experience figure? 220  of  Borg 02:44, 17 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Recently on my laptop I found a windows update hanging and causing a memory leak, leading to all the symptoms you describe. It wasn't easy to find but the utility I found at processhacker.sourceforge.net helped. Sandman1142 (talk) 08:39, 17 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Updates? That's something I haven't done recently. 220  of  Borg 11:39, 17 November 2015 (UTC)

It does seem to be quicker after a reboot. One symptom I didn't mention is that when I click on things like volume control as I did today, or save a picture on the web, it sometimes seems to take an extraordinary amount of time for the PC to respond, for a dialogue box to appear for example, like 60 seconds. 220  of  Borg 00:07, 20 November 2015 (UTC)
 * , I have had a revelatory experience. The heavens opened and a mighty voice (I think it was William Henry Gates III)  'Spoke to Me.'  My path is now clear, I must upgrade to Windows 10! 220  of  Borg 04:34, 20 November 2015 (UTC)