I have been working with Juliet from Safer-networking for the past week and she has referred me to What The Tech to see if someone can help me figure out what is going on with my computer. I noticed after a Windows update on 4/15/16 that my computer is very slow and laggy and the windows fade in and out very slowly. We have tried many things to fix the issues but to no avail. I am supplying a link to our conversations and work, at Juliet's suggestion, so that you may better understand what we have already done.
I started the computer in Safe Mode with networking. The window fade was gone but scrolling is still slow and choppy and files are very slow to load and open.
Each restart takes forever and I finally timed it. It take the computer 11 minutes to go from restart to the windows welcome page and then another minute to get to my desktop icons. Trying to get to the Advanced Boot page was also about 10 minutes and then at least a minute or so to toggle through each choice before getting to the Safe Mode with networking choice. No clue what is going on.
Skype seemed to load ok and stayed connected. I still have these little padlocks on most of the desktop icons folders. I can open everything so I don't know where they have come from or what they mean.
Would you still recommend I do the Clean Boot? If so, will it create any issues with the documents/photos/ITunes library that I have on the computer?
The first thing you need to do is backu8p anything you are not willing to lose. I recommend using a program like Macrium Reflect Free and do an image backup to an external USB hard drive. If not then copy all the files you don't want to lose to a large flash drive.
Doing a Clean Boot will not have any effect on your personal data so yes, please try that.
Also, check your RAM and hard drive for problems.
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.
You can do this on any computer that has a working CD Burner.
You can also use a Flash drive instead of a CD.
Download - Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7) *NEW!*.
Unzip and run Memtest86+ USB Installer.exe.
It will format the flash drive if you tell it to. I used a small, 16MB flash drive and it had 8.5GB left when done.
Boot the CD or Flash drive and run Memtest86+ 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. 7 Free Hard Drive Testing Programs Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp. Bootable Hard Drive Diagnostics
I am a very willing participant in troubleshooting my computer and happy to learn new things but I am timid about doing all of your suggestions without more detailed guidance. Should I do everything in the order that you have written? Is an image back up, using the program you suggest, the same as saving files on my external hard drive, the way I would normally save them?
Also, should I uninstall and delete the programs and logs that I now have on my computer from the work I did with Juliet on Safer-networking before doing any of this new stuff?
When you talk about the iso file, I am not officially nervous because I don't really know or understand the technology and don't want to screw anything up.
I do not want you to think I am whining…lol…I just need to be sure that I am not in over my head with all of this. Thanks so much for your input.
An image backup places a copy of your boot drive on an external drive. The reason for doing this is safety. If anything goes wrong whieltrying different ways to fix a problem, recovery is si9mple, just restore the image backup. That will put you right back where you were when the backup was made.
It's not the same as copying files to an external hard drive since the files do not include the operating system.
It would be a good idea to connect with Juliet again and ask her to guide you in removing any programs she had you install.
Testing memory and the hard drive will not hurt anything but may show if there is a hardware problem or not.
Use ImgBurn as described to make a bootable CD of MEMTEST86+. Follow the instructions.
Ditto for a hard drive test.
Read tyhrough the web sites and ask any questions you may have. I'll try to provide the answers.
I'll post here a tool that will remove tools and quarantine folders.
[external image: AFZxnZc.jpg] DelFix
Please download DelFix or from Here and save the file to your Desktop.
Double-click DelFix.exe to run the programme.
Place a checkmark next to the following items:
Activate UAC
Remove disinfection tools
Click the Run button.
– This will remove the specialised tools we used to disinfect your system. Any leftover logs, files, folders or tools remaining on your Desktop which were not removed can be deleted manually (right-click the file + delete).
I just posted to you on Safer-networking…lol. Thanks for having my back! I will run the above and get things cleaned up. Then I will attempt the suggestions that have been made to continue figuring things out. I feel a bit overwhelmed and over my head but am willing to give it a shot.
I downloaded and installed Macrium Reflect Free and have the external HD ready to go. I am not sure what to do with the box that asks if I want to create Rescue Media. I am also not sure of the window I am looking at, with the choices of Refresh, Clone of Image. I really want to be sure I am doing this correctly.
You can create Rescue Media now or do it after the backup is complete. It's purpose is to allow you to boot the rescue media to restore the backup image if your computer is messed up to the point it will no longer boot. You need to do it at some point.
Part of the issue I am having with my computer is not being able to watch videos as they are very choppy. I watched the first few minutes and although I can make out some of what he is saying, it is not clear. He is talking about doing an image back up of a test partition? Checking boxes, etc. Does that seem right?
Also, although I hit google to see how long the rescue and image back up will take, there doesn't seem to be a clear answer. Some people said days?? Does that seem right? What do we do if we have to use the computer while things are being back up? My guess is that we can't.
With the above question I had, am I correct to assume I am clicking on the Image button, not the Clone or Refresh buttons?
Heading to work but will be back later to give things a try. Thanks so much.
Allow about an hour for an average 1st time backup though it could take longer. It takes how ever long it takes, depends on how much has to be backed up.
Yes, use Image. Here are a couple screen captures that I hope will help.
Note that I have two hard drives and it's the 2nd one I would want to backup as it has Windows 10 on it. The 1st drive has Windwos XP Pro that I use for testing occasin=onally.
