22 replies to this topic

[55shazzie55]

Hi there,

As per the below thread, my laptop went from being really quick to agonisingly slow overnight! We did all the steps to make sure it wasn't an infection, which thankfully it wasn't, but it made no difference to the speed.

When the system is rebooted it takes about 15 to 20 minutes to load up before you can begin using it. It used to take no more than 3 minutes. Opening a program now takes over 2 minutes where it used to be instant, and so on.

Any further help would be greatly appreciated.

http://forums.whatth...howtopic=124370


Cheers, Sharon

Edited by 55shazzie55, 27 September 2012 - 08:52 PM.

[8210GUY]

I think we need to find out whats going on in the background, I suggest going to the Pit and run the test, you will need to sign up (or the results won't be saved), which is free, then when done post the URL (page address) of the results back here, then we can see more of whats going on, and what we can suggest.

[Ztruker]

It would also be a good idea to run the memory and hard drive tests:

Download Memtest86+ (you want the 2nd one Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip)). Unzip it then create a CD from the iso file using your CD burning software. There is a good freeware burner called ImgBurn which will do this easily.

DO NOT burn the .iso file directly to CD. It must be used as input to a program that knows what to do with it, like the one I mentioned above.

Boot the CD and run for at least 3 complete passes unless it shows errors sooner than that. An overnight run is even better.

Check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tools.
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.
Bootable Hard Drive Diagnostics

[55shazzie55]

Hi there and thanks for your help.

It took 7 attempts and a reboot before the pitstop went all the way through but here are the results:

http://pcpitstop.com...;report=Summary


I will try the next suggestion now.

Cheers Sharon

[55shazzie55]

Hi again, Unfortunately, I tried the other suggestions; ie Imgburn - never used the program before and am simply not sure of the exact steps required. I have WINRAR and extracted memtest to the desktop but really don't know where to go from there. I gave it a go but well, Next I clicked on the next suggested link which went to samsung but again, it wasn't clear exactly what I had to download and when I tried a few of the links they all just went to a seagate page with no download tools???? The last suggesstion wanted to open the laptop up which I am not going to do. So, safe to say I failed on all fronts Do you think it's worth me just getting a professional to look at it? Thanks Sharon

[8210GUY]

Right, looking at the spec it should not be running slow, there are 2 things that instantly stand out that will give you low speed (the feeling\cause of), that's your net, if your supposed to have a fast connection then you may need to check with your service if all is well, but that's a separate issue.

The hard drive is not the best, and possibly part of the issue here, but nothing I have seen suggests there is a problem as such, but that doesn't mean there isn't something starting to show up, but I am guessing it is a Samsung drive given it's made by them, and they don't offer much in the way of scans, not that I have tried personally anyway, so the best tool to use to check the drive is probably HD Tune (free version, link lower down the page under the comparison), install and run that to test the drive for error's, possibly best run overnight to save watching paint dry lol.

But I also noticed you have Avira installed, on some occasions a system just won't play nice with a system, this does not mean it's no good, Avira is well thought of, but if for some reason this is slowing you down, and\or you want to try something different, then m$ Essentials is highly recommended, and light on the system, so I suggest installing that, but wait until we try stopping a few other things first, and see if that helps, the easiest and safest way to do that, is to use WinPatrol (it's an extremely lightweight program), once installed launch it, then click on the start up tab, then highlight the following entries and select to disable them, this means if something you use stops working you can easily enable it again.
CyberLink MediaLibray Service (CLMLSvc.exe)
YouCam (YCMMirage.exe)
PowerDVD RC Service (PDVD10Serv.exe)
Apple Software (any)

There is probably a whole host of Samsung software that can be stopped as well, and maybe others, if you tell us what is listed under the start up tab we can suggest further ones to disable, but doing this does not uninstall it, all it does is stops it running at boot up, by blocking this booting should be faster, it also stops it running in the background, which should free up system resources, then if it's needed it will load whats needed when you launch the applicable program, if at this point you come across such an application failing to work, then we can go back and enable that specific process again.

The other thing you should do is defrag the hard drive, best way to do this (most effective anyway) is to pull your net, then boot to safe mode (tap F8 during boot to access this using the arrow keys), then set it running overnight, that way your not sat there waiting on it, then in the morning it should be long finished, then shut down and put your net back, then boot as normal and see if it made much of a difference, see if any of this helps, if it doesn't running the memory test suggested above is definitely worth doing, and certainly never hurts to run at any time to check if something doesn't feel right, but hope something here helps.

Edited by 8210GUY, 29 September 2012 - 07:42 AM.

[rshaffer61]

Here is more precise steps for Memtest. I am starting it from the imgburn instructions for you.




1. Download - Pre-Compiled Bootable ISO (.zip). If you prefer to use the USB version then use this link [url="http://HTTP:"//http://memtest.org/download/4.20/memtest86+-4.20.usb.installer.zip""]USB KEY[/url]
2. Unzip downloaded /memtest86+-4.20.iso.zip file.
3. Inside, you'll find /memtest86+-4.20.iso file.
4. Download, and install ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/
5. Insert blank CD into your CD drive.
6. Open ImgBurn, and click on Write image file to disc
7. Click on Browse for a file... icon:



8. Locate memtest86+-4.20.iso file, and click Open button.
9. Click on ImgBurn green arrow to start burning bootable memtest86 CD:



10. Once the CD is created, boot from it, and memtest will automatically start to run. You may have to change the boot sequence in your BIOS to make it work right.

To change Boot Sequence in your BIOS
Reboot the system and at the first post screen (where it is counting up memory) start tapping the DEL button
This will enter you into the Bios\Cmos area.
Find the Advanced area and click Enter
Look for Boot Sequence or Boot Options and highlight that click Enter
Now highlight the first drive and follow the directions on the bottom of the screen on how to modify it and change it to CDrom.
Change the second drive to the C or Main Drive
Once that is done then click F10 to Save and Exit
You will prompted to enter Y to verify Save and Exit. Click Y and the system will now reboot with the new settings.


The running program will look something like this depending on the size and number of ram modules installed:




It's recommended to run 5-6 passes. Each pass contains very same 8 tests.

This will show the progress of the test. It can take a while. Be patient, or leave it running overnight.



The following image is the test results area:



The most important item here is the “errors” line. If you see ANY errors, even one, most likely, you have bad RAM.

[55shazzie55]

Hi there, Thankyou so much for your help and suggestions but it seems that I now have a bigger problem in that the laptop now comes up with "windows failed to start" and now requires me to insert the installation disc which of course i don't where it is Not sure what to do now??? Thanks sharon

[Ztruker]

If you do not have a Windows 7 installation DVD, you can download a legal copy with SP1 integrated from here: Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River.

Make sure you get the same version you have, Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate and 32 or 64 bit. Note that Basic or Starter is not available.

I recommend using ImgBurn at 4X speed (or the slowest available) to create the DVD from the downloaded .iso file.

You can do this on any computer capable of burning a DVD.

For techies or folks who work on computers: Create Windows 7 Universal ISO With All Editions Selection On Install with ei.cfg Removal Utility.
This will fit on a 6GB flash drive or can be burned to a DVD.

[rshaffer61]

Did you run Memtest as it does not require windows to run.

[55shazzie55]

I did the steps as you so graciously provided, however, after some time, the laptop automaticaly ejected the cd. The information box said that this sometimes happen and to close it and hit ok. I did but then it said "error - layers don't match' or something similar. I left it there and went to bed. this morning when I opened the laptop the error above is what came next. As it's 1.30am I must get to bed but I will follow any/all suggestions again later today. I will also see if i can find the cd but I think its a recovery cd not an installation cd??? Thanks again for all your help, Sharon

[rshaffer61]

Start over with the test to get it to work.

[55shazzie55]

Yeah, finally I was able to complete the memtest runs (borrowed another laptop to burn the cd and thankyou for precise instructions) and voila, no errors!! I ran it 6 times too. Also, I was able to find my windows recovery cd that came with the laptop (will wonders never cease) and so proceeded to load and selected repair computer. It has now been sitting on the "select an operating system to repair" for about 4 hours now. The cursor stays in the circle mode and won't let me choose the "next" option which should take me to the "choose a recovery tool" screen. So once again, I am at an impasse. What to do now

[rshaffer61]

Check the recovery disk for scratches or dust. Since you have shown the cd drive is working with the hd and memtest tools I have to suspect it is the actual recovery disk is the issue.

[55shazzie55]

ok, no scratches and clear of dust... should i download the copy of one as suggested above?