Desktop is TOO slow

[nabz0r Veteran]

Hi,

 

As the title says, my desktop is WAY too slow when I start it, it takes at least 10 to 15 minutes before it it's usable. I use Windows 10 and everything is updated.

How can I check what the problem is? Or if it is hardware or software problem? Thanks in advanced!

 

Specs:

cpu: i7

ram: 12gb

gpu: 1060 3gb

win10

[xendrome]

Start by unplugging any accessories, USB devices. Then, where is it slow, once you login? What is running on Startup, disable all of that CTRL-SHIFT-ESCAPE Startup tab.

[LaP]

What is the HDD? This boot time could be normal with a 5400 rpm HDD and lot of services installed

[nabz0r Veteran]

There is no USB connected to it except mouse and keyboard. Before I even log in, it's way too slow and I have to wait a couple of minutes for login windows to comes up. The only thing that is auto-starting is ESET AV, nothing else.

[Elliot B.]

2 minutes ago, LaP said:

What is the HDD? This boot time could be normal with a 5400 rpm HDD and lot of services installed

I think this sounds more like Windows is waiting for something that's "stuck".

[LaP]

8 minutes ago, Elliot B. said:

I think this sounds more like Windows is waiting for something that's "stuck".

Well windows is always stuck on boot time with a slow *** HDD if you got lot of things installed like a development db, development web server, etc ... if those are set to boot with windows and you have a slow HDD 10 minutes before you can use the PC sounds perfectly right to me. It's probably not his case but who knows.

[seeprime]

The motherboard firmware may need to be updated, and the settings optimized for faster boot. Also, if you're not using an SSD you're giving away 2/3 of your systems performance. 

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

Could be a memory issue. Try running memtest for a few hours...

 

Edit: something else I thought of, is it only slow while booting up, or also slow to opening programs and such?

[Som]

personally i would do a hard drive test, seagate seatools usually does the job

[nabz0r Veteran]

My HDD is WD 250gb.
No, there is nothing development stuff installed on this machine. A couple of weeks ago I did test my HDD but found nothing but haven't tested RAM.

 

Could it be my that my motherboard has an older bios version?

MB: RAMPAGE III EXTREME

SMBIOSBIOSVersion
1102 (latest bios version 1502 from late 2011)

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

8 minutes ago, nabz0r said:

My HDD is WD 250gb.
No, there is nothing development stuff installed on this machine. A couple of weeks ago I did test my HDD but found nothing but haven't tested RAM.

 

Could it be my that my motherboard has an older bios version?

MB: RAMPAGE III EXTREME

SMBIOSBIOSVersion
1102 (latest bios version 1502 from late 2011)

that 250GB a 5400rpm or 7500?

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

Open Task Manager, go to the startup tab and disable anything starting you don't need to.

 

More than anything if you upgraded to an SSD it would probably feel like a whole new machine. Even new machines with hard drives just feel so slow after using an SSD based machine.

[nabz0r Veteran]

15 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said:

that 250GB a 5400rpm or 7500?

How can I see this?

8 minutes ago, InsaneNutter said:

Open Task Manager, go to the startup tab and disable anything starting you don't need to.

 

More than anything if you upgraded to an SSD it would probably feel like a whole new machine. Even new machines with hard drives just feel so slow after using an SSD based machine.

There is nothing starting up with windows except my antivirus ESET. I have plans to replace the HDD but this might take some time.

Edited February 26, 2018 by nabz0r

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

12 minutes ago, nabz0r said:

There is nothing starting up with windows except my antivirus ESET. I have plans to replace the HDD but this might take some time.

What about if you open msconfig, go to services, then hide all Microsoft services?

 

 

You might well have loads of random third party services installed by various applications which are causing some issues.

 

If you decide to disable some services don't disable them from msconfig, open "services.msc" and disable the desired service like that.

[Rippleman]

1 hour ago, LaP said:

What is the HDD? This boot time could be normal with a 5400 rpm HDD and lot of services installed

" it takes at least 10 to 15 minutes before it it's usable" 

 

I REALLY doubt ANY consumer system has ever had this long of a "normal" boot time. 

[satukoro]

What does the "Performance" tab say in the top right corner after clicking on "Disk 0"?

[andrefreitas404]

Had a user friday night complaining his laptop was slow when booting. HD was stuck at 100% usage. Don't know if it's the same.

 

Check on task manager if there's another user logged in on your computer even after you restart the computer. He had another legit user that logged in automatically on the computer and caused the issue of the HD being stuck at 100%.

 

What I did was disable the following:

 

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027599/windows-10-automatically-finish-setting-up-pc-after-update-restart

 

Speed up the Windows sign-in process by following these steps to automatically sign in and set up your PC after an update or restart. We'll then lock your device to help keep your account and personal info safe. Do one of the following, depending on which version of Windows 10 you have installed:

 

For Windows 10 (Version 1709), select the Start  button, select Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options, then make sure Use my sign in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update or restart is turned on.

For previous versions of Windows 10, select the Start  button, select Settings > Update & security  > Window Update  > Advanced options, then select the check box next to Use my sign in info to automatically finish setting up my device after an update.

 

Note: This option isn’t available if your device is joined to a domain, or if work or email policies are applied to your device by your organization.

 

This was very noticeable on a mechanical HD. No more issues after that.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

42 minutes ago, nabz0r said:

How can I see this?

There is nothing starting up with windows except my antivirus ESET. I have plans to replace the HDD but this might take some time.

we're just looking for a hard drive model b/c we all suspect that you have a really slow hard drive causing long boot times.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

^ yeah far too many OEMs are still putting 5400rpm drives in; they're horrible for boot drives anymore. I personally wouldn't use less than a 7200rpm drive for boot; preferably a SSD if able.

[Mindovermaster Global Moderator]

What they said above...

 

Can physically check the HDD. Unless you never opened your case?

 

In that case, could be dust contamination... (unlikely, but always a factor)

[+Warwagon MVC]

You could always check the event viewer "Right click on start and select "Event viewer" then check the Application and system logs. Check under software to see if you have any Red WMI errors.

[nabz0r Veteran]

Here as you can there is not a lot of stuff running.

 

And the disk performance.

 

Honestly, my disk is more than 8 years old so it might be the disk that is too slow and can't keep up with the system. Anyway, if I want to replace my disk, I don't want to reinstall everything, is there any easy way to copy windows to another disk? I think I have an SSD lying around so I am gonna use that instead.

 

[+Warwagon MVC]

13 minutes ago, nabz0r said:

Here as you can there is not a lot of stuff running.

 

And the disk performance.

 

Honestly, my disk is more than 8 years old so it might be the disk that is too slow and can't keep up with the system. Anyway, if I want to replace my disk, I don't want to reinstall everything, is there any easy way to copy windows to another disk? I think I have an SSD lying around so I am gonna use that instead.

 

Yes, you can use cloning software to clone it to an SSD, as long as you have an SSD that is large enough to accommodate the "Space used" on your current HDD. I woul also make sure you have plenty of space left over after you clone. It will be good enough to test short term, but long term you will want a good amount of space left after the clone as to not stress the drive write-wise. I personally use True image, but I've heard good things about macrium reflect and clonezilla.

 

Once cloned successful and booted into the SSD for the first time, i'd open up a command prompt and run "winsat formal". Which will rebenchmark your system and optimize windows to that (an) SSD.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

5 minutes ago, nabz0r said:

And the disk performance.

 

Honestly, my disk is more than 8 years old so it might be the disk that is too slow and can't keep up with the system. Anyway, if I want to replace my disk, I don't want to reinstall everything, is there any easy way to copy windows to another disk? I think I have an SSD lying around so I am gonna use that instead.

 

yeah that drive is definitely bottlenecking you, not bad for an 8yr old drive though

Warwagon is correct, any cloning software should work for you as long as the HDD/SDD you're cloning to is as big or bigger than the files on the drive you're cloning from.

[bledd]

Get an SSD.
 

You will kick yourself for not moving to SSDs when Vista came out.

 

The only place HDDs belong now are in a NAS.