Windows 7/8.1 hang/lag

Toshiba Satellite A505 S6980.

Windows 7 was starting to have issues. It would hesitate/hang when I went to type something, open a browser window, right-clicking, selecting an email in Thunderbird, etc.

Task manager showed the disk going from 5% to 100% all the time, up and down, within the span of 10 seconds. Also, it was taking forever to start up.

Things I've tried in order to fix it:
1. Upgraded to Windows 8.1.
2. Ran chkdsk and other hard drive tools. All results good.
3. Ran memory tests and reseated the memory. Nothing bad reported, all RAM utilized.
4. Updated BIOS from 1.6 to 1.8.
5. Defrag via Windows AND Defraggler.
6. Deleted paging file, changed virtual memory allotments, allowed Windows to manage virtual memory.
7. Many other things I can't even remember from many forum posts.

The only thing I can think of is that I chose to keep my files when upgrading to
8.1, causing me to keep a bad driver...? But I've uninstalled most drivers and re-downloaded/reinstalled from Toshiba's website.

It's not horrible, but mostly just frustrating. Typing something one second, waiting the next second... Oh- and the cursor is blinking while the text is still not completing. Never seen that one before.

Any ideas?

Another tech, far wise than I, indicated going to device manufacturer, chipset manufacturer, etc. for the best update-to-date drivers. Toshiba, like Acer, should have the drivers that originally came with your laptop. Came with Windows 7, and moved to Windows 8. That would most certainly mean chipsets and devices drivers update time.

Thanks Roland. I neglected to mention that I did go to the Toshiba website and downloaded/installed all of the relevant drivers for my particular model. Many of their latest drivers were updated for Windows 7, but not Windows 8. For instance, their latest chipset drivers were from August of 2009... Same with most of the other drivers.

I suspect the HDD is the culprit. Chkdsk might not find anything wrong, but if you have a spare, try swapping it to see if speed improves.

Thanks, eatup. You could be right. It's one of the only things I haven't tried. I also ran Seagate's tools and came up clean, so I was really hoping to find other alternatives before replacing the drive (which I don't have, so I'd either have to replace the HDD with a SSD or just go for a new computer altogether). Thanks again.

This is a very common symptom with Toshiba HDD's. The same symptoms on mine, returned it and got a new replacement!

I doubt I'd get a replacement on a 6-7 year old drive, but I'm glad your problem was resolved easily. I'll try a couple of other hard drive tests to see I can get any more HDD-specific clues.

Shoot, even platter-clatter hard-drives are much cheaper than they were.

When you're broke, they're ALL expensive

I'll probably get flamed for this.... Linux is good for some things.

Try running Linux to see if it's your HD or not. First run it from a bootable USB (should be fine). Then if you have some room on your HD, install Linux to make it a dual-boot machine.

That way by comparing both Linux instances, you can isolate if the lag is the HD, or just your HD MS Window drivers.

dperecky said:

I'll probably get flamed for this.... Linux is good for some things.

Try running Linux to see if it's your HD or not. First run it from a bootable USB (should be fine). Then if you have some room on your HD, install Linux to make it a dual-boot machine.

That way by comparing both Linux instances, you can isolate if the lag is the HD, or just your HD MS Window drivers.

Click to expand...

You might get flamed, but it's a very good idea. I've never run Linux OR a dual boot system, but I don't believe it's rocket science, so I'll give it a spin. Anything I should be aware of before jumping in?

Read up a lot before diving in. Back up your data first. If you have a newer machine, your Bios may be UEFI..... a 'nice' configuration that comes as a surprise to most owners because the manufacturers omit this in their System Specs.

I Dual-Booted by shutting off UEFI. But these days I believe that it's not too hard. Brink makes many great tutorials here in Eightforums.

Popular Linux flavors are UBUNTU, Linux Mint.... and others.

Good Luck.

I'll absolutely read plenty before diving in. I depend on this computer for my living...

Oh... before all of that, Found some nice Window commands to try....

---Reset/Tunes Up Windows....
http://www.eightforums.com/general-...charms-doesnt-work-post470857.html#post470857

Make sure that all Windows Updates are installed.
From and Command Prompt (Admin) type sfc /scannow
If all corrupt system files are not fixed type Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Then run the sfc command again
It may appear to be frozen but let these command run their course.

dperecky said:

Oh... before all of that, Found some nice Window commands to try....

---Reset/Tunes Up Windows....
http://www.eightforums.com/general-...charms-doesnt-work-post470857.html#post470857

Make sure that all Windows Updates are installed.
From and Command Prompt (Admin) type sfc /scannow
If all corrupt system files are not fixed type Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Then run the sfc command again
It may appear to be frozen but let these command run their course.

Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that I had already run the sfc and Dism commands. But thanks!

My BIOS is legacy/non-UEFI. Any good tutorials around to install Ubuntu in a dual boot environment with Windows 8.1 already installed?

Ubuntu Forums

While it's nice to have an alternate.... I usually use Win7 on my laptop, or Win8.1 on my (new) tablet.