General slow running on laptop

lionwing

New Member
Messages
4
My wife has had a Windows 8 laptop (basic spec for internet and other light use) for just over a year.

Recently it appears a little sluggish and not as "sharp" as it was when it was new.

I have done some basic maintenance (used CCleaner, clear temp files & dedrag'd he disk) but it still seems a little slow when starting programs or with just general browsing. Further I have checked what programs run at startup which is not excessive and nothing there gives in too much concern.

The only change I have made to the laptop in the last few months was to add a separate account for another family member. There now being two accounts on the laptop. My wife connects the slowing running to this other account although I am unsure.

Is there anything else I can do to investigate this and return the laptop to smoother running?

Thank you
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8
Some things you could do:

Run disk cleanup including clean system files. (right click your drive and click Properties)
Be sure all updates are installed and up to date.
Uninstall all unused programs.
Do full AV scan and check for malware (Malwarebytes Free)
Run sfc /scannow in the elevated command prompt.

It may be time to Refresh install Windows 8 and if you decide to do this, back up your personal files first.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
Thank you for the advice.

I have run the disk tools which got rid of a few GB's worth of junk. Just running AV and Malwarebytes now.

The AV is currently "Windows Defender". I was previously a user of AVG but felt it became to bloated and that the free version was just a huge advert for the full version! What AV would you recommend?

Many thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8
They will always try to get you to buy the full version even if it is not always necessary. If you feel you must have a 3rd party AV program, try Avast (Free)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8.1 Update 1 Pro 64bit
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pavillion H8-1202
    CPU
    I7-2600 @ 3.4 GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NIVDIA GeForce GT 520
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC656GR CODEC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster S22B350
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1080 32 bit color
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB
    Keyboard
    Razer Blackwidow Ultimate 2013
    Mouse
    Logitech M510
I'm not to precious about using third party AV software. I have always felt that the Microsoft (MSE & lately Windows Defender) have been adequate.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8
I'm not to precious about using third party AV software. I have always felt that the Microsoft (MSE & lately Windows Defender) have been adequate.

I agree, MS Defender which is the old Defender and MSE combined is fine. It is lightweight and very effective.

A few questions:
  1. System specs? Including boot drive type - regular or SSD?
  2. If you have a second drive, move your swap file to the second, non-OS drive
  3. A second user consumes a bit of hard drive space. How much space do you have left?
  4. Are there a lot of programs that you have allowed to run in the background so they can use Notifications?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Self Built
    CPU
    Intel I-7 860
    Motherboard
    Asus P7B
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia 580
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer (Primary), Asus (secondary), Sony TV (third)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Kingston 128GB SSD Windows 8 Boot Drive
    WD Black 1 TB (2 ea)
    WD Red 3 TB
    WD Black 500GB
    Keyboard
    MS 1000
    Mouse
    MS Flip
    Internet Speed
    Verizon FIOS 35/35
    Browser
    IE 11, Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari
    Antivirus
    Windows 8 Defender (MS Security Essentials)
1 question, the new user acct does it also seem slow
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    win8.1.1 enterprise
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hinze57
    CPU
    AMD FX 6100 6core 3.30gHz
    Motherboard
    gigibyte ga-78lmy-s2p
    Memory
    4gig ddr3
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radon hd5000 Series
    Sound Card
    onboard realtek hd
    Monitor(s) Displays
    19" viewsonic/ 22"Samsung
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    128gig ssd Kingston
    80gig WD 10000 rpm spinner
    Case
    micro
    Keyboard
    microsoft curve 200
    Mouse
    Logitech wireless M215
    Internet Speed
    high speed 20
    Browser
    ie 11
    Antivirus
    windows defender
    Other Info
    updated enterprise apr 2/14
Thanks for the replies.

System specs below;

HP 655 Laptop, AMD E2-1800, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 15.6" HD LED, DVDRW, AMD HD7340, Webcam, Bluetooth, Windows 8 64bit

The laptop boots from the HDD.

The number of startup programs has been reduced with very little running in the background. (I'm at work now but can publish a list of these when I get home).

There is around 220 / 230 GB of free space on the drive.

The new user account, for my son, seems to have the same problem. A little sluggish. An example of this on both accounts. With a right click on a desktop item (say to delete) the "circle" spins for a few seconds before the menu appears.

Regards

 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win8
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