computer insanely slow, help!

excuse me, this is the only forum i really post on where people still reply

100%cpu usage like alll the time
reformat???

it is going insanely slow, very sure due to norton
and of course i cant disable norton
it is a $150 computer i got off new egg that came with a fake copy of windows
what is the closest i can get to a reformat without needing to reinstall a copy of windows (which i do not have)

also can anyone recommend me a cheap complete laptop that can handle simple browsing AND norton antivirus
this has two gigs of ram and 64gig hard drive, i figured it should be able to handle interneting just fine, but i guess im wrong

Two GB of RAM on Windows 7 will be the bare minimum. I sell a lot of refurbished laptops, and the ones with 2GB of RAM are the entry level ones. A $150 laptop can be had with 4GB of RAM and a larger hard drive without a problem. A 2GB machine is going to be like a Dell Latitude D630- it'll do the job, but there won't be much "left over" in terms of capacity.

Check to see what you have right now. Often, you can upgrade the RAM in there. Then, run a MalwareBytes scan, and you should be in better shape. Newegg usually has pretty good stuff, but I've never bought a refurbished PC (I of course use my own!), but I'm sorry to hear that.

Anyways, I'd try MalwareBytes, and posting your system model and basic specs here. You may just need a cheap little part....

one thing you might be having issues with is your hard drive...you MIGHT be almost full (ie using your swap file)...sometimes that can make the CPU run 100%...easiest thing is to do CRTL ALT Delete and start the task manager...click on processes tab and lets see what is running and how much memory it is taking up.

Take a screenshot or 2 and lets see what is running...do the same with the programs tab in the task manager. You might be running A TON of crap you don't need.

Oh. and GET NORTON THE F off your computer...it will suck your memory dry. Use AVG, Malwarebytes or avast...they are all FREE and KICK THE SH%^ out of Norton.

We also need to see if your hard drive needs cleaning and defragging as well.

Final thing is to know how much ram you have installed....let's see if you even have enough.

i was able to uninstall norton, and while it is no longer unsusable,it is still obscenely slow.
http://i.imgur.com/kzxd4WP.jpg
90/115gigs are free on the harddrive
i dont have a bunch of tabs open or addons added
pretty sure it was the norton
http://i.imgur.com/akBZLLR.jpg

can i reformat this bizzzysnatch?

Ubuntu will cure the problem.

Download Ubuntu Desktop | Download | Ubuntu


http://i1207.photobucket.com/albums/...psf7hcxbai.png

Ditch Norton. Malwarebytes is good. Make sure you get the real thing. Here is the link to the program.. https://downloads.malwarebytes.org/file/mbam_current/

The next program to use would be Spybot Search and Destroy, you can download the file here...
Download Spybot + AV 2.4 Software at SecurityWonks.net

Download and use these programs and I think you will find your computer will perform better.

Check to make sure there are no other Users logged on. I see that you user only shows 14 process running but it has a total of 46. You may have a ghost user running spyware or something. Get into Safe Mode and delete all users cept admin. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Depending on your needs Ubuntu or other Linux operating system in place of Windows solves all problems not having to do with actual physical issues, ie bad ram, hard drive.

I test and sell computers and computer parts. I test the computer using Ubuntu on a usb stick or cd/dvd. If you down load a copy of the Ubuntu iso and I recommend you get the 32bit version, it will give you the option of installing or testing Ubuntu on your computer.

Here is one of many links for Ubuntu on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_4Kh5kE3xA


What this does for me is do a fairly good test on all the working parts of a computer including wifi, on line operating, video etc. I do this in the "Try Ubuntu without installing"

Good luck Mike

main issue I see is you only have 2gb of RAM....THAT is a HUGE problem. 2gb will get you up and running, but then you open Chrome, Word, outlook etc...you are toast.

Not sure why you have 4 chrome.exe running....that is 4 instances of chrome running which make little sense as you should only have 1. Close and reopen chrome and see if all those goes away. I stop and reload all my tabs on Firefox every so often...but then again I typically have 1.5GB of tabs running in just Firefox daily.....this is why I don't screw around and have 16gb of ram.

Norton was your #1 issue certainly...especially with only 2gb of ram.

Get one of the free antivirus we mentioned, download and run malewarebytes (I actually also typically run spybot search and destroy....also free) to get rid of any malware/spyware, and ABOVE ALL, get at least 4gb TOTAL ram installed (assuming yours can run that, it should)....it is CHEAP, Stupidly cheap. Also easy to install most likely...even if you did it yourself.

With all due respect to everyone who is suggesting Ubuntu...is it NOT an OS for the average user. Most people just want to fire their computer up and run Word, Excel, Outlook etc....they want to play games sometimes...all these things are not the same with Linux (not even close) as with a Windows machine, hell even a MAC (and no I do not particularly like Mac's). Linux is certainly good at what it does...but the average user just needs a Windows machine....and in this case Win 7 is a great OS to work with. He just needs more memory and probably some cleaning out of some crap on his machine.

Ubuntu isn't your solution either. You have 2GB of RAM- that's just not enough for Unity (The graphical manager behind Ubuntu).

If that was a Newegg machine, it's probably a Dell OptiPlex. They should all support 4GB of RAM. Do that first- you won't have the power to do much else otherwise. RAM is cheap, and if that's a 745 or 755, you should be able to use the really cheap 1GB sticks.

Linux is a great OS. I have it on all but two of the machine that I use. When those machines are replaced, they'll go Linux. That'll be a while though, and it's certainly not a move for the faint of heart. I'm very knowledgeable and experienced with computers- that's a must for Linux. Most times it does what you need just fine, but there isn't much support behind it for when there are issues. I love Linux, but I wouldn't recommend it for the OP.

Your CPU should be good enough. But, you're at 71% RAM usage. That's way too high. Boost it to 4GB, and she'll run like an entirely different computer.

I couldn't edit the post:
it is a dell laditude D630 laptop
I can just pop it open and throw in a stick of ram with very little know-how regarding computers? plug and play, it will just make itself work??

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bluemeate

I couldn't edit the post:
it is a dell laditude D630 laptop
I can just pop it open and throw in a stick of ram with very little know-how regarding computers? plug and play, it will just make itself work??

---

In general YES you can...it is harder than a desktop for sure, but not really hard. There should be a youtube video on it (might as well see it done)...and yes it will be plug and play. You will only have 2 slots instead of 4 for a desktop....this unit will only support a MAX of 4gn of ram....you will need to get 2 sticks of 2gb EACH. The only issue I saw is that you can only get to 1 stick from the back...the other is under the keyboard. I would NOT try this unless you are comfortable doing it (ie not a beginner). Just take it somewhere cna get it installed...a computer shop, not Best Buy (they will jack you on price).

This will get you up and online with some basic computing...but this laptop is NOT going to be a desktop replacement, run a bunch of games etc...it just isn't that kinda of horse....but it will certainly do the basics once you get 4gb of ram installed.

the morons that sold people that 1gb of ram was sufficient should have their asses kicked.

The D623/D630 is annoying. One slot is under the keyboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaeKW4kVRA0

hmmm it deleted the post before my most recent. annoying.

what I would really like to do is reformat the computer. no one ever answered whether I could reformat without the install disk. also my copy of windows isnt valid so Idk what the effect of that will be.

every time I boot up. there is an option to system restore. can I just hit this without encountering further problems.
typed offmy phone

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bluemeate

i was able to uninstall norton, and while it is no longer unsusable,it is still obscenely slow.
http://i.imgur.com/kzxd4WP.jpg
90/115gigs are free on the harddrive
i dont have a bunch of tabs open or addons added
pretty sure it was the norton
http://i.imgur.com/akBZLLR.jpg

can i reformat this bizzzysnatch?

---

in Windows Task Manager, pls click on : Show Processes from all Users

then show a pic of what comes up

u will have to enlargen that window to be able to fit all the stuff that comes up in a single pic

as mentioned:
hd is full
or u have a virus/malware

I posted previously that hd is and always has been mostly emptied.
also that 70% CPU usage was an anomaly
it has typically been at 100% cpu usage
I posted this all before but the post got deleted :/

so I just opened up show processes fr all users, and now its a huge list with that svchost.exe guy using upnmost the resources
(trying to install printer hardware to print my own passport photo to save $10bux charge from riteaide... spent 2+ he's trying to print this photo by now :/

once again can I hit that system restore button I've seen at bootup without owning the boot up disk and/or a legit copy of windows?

you can try this...will only work if the recovery partition is on there from Dell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LNIPkqsQy8

I posted previously that hd is and always has been mostly emptied.
also that 70% CPU usage was an anomaly
it has typically been at 100% cpu usage
I posted this all before but the post got deleted :/

so I just opened up show processes fr all users, and now its a huge list with that svchost.exe guy using upnmost the resources
(trying to install printer hardware to print my own passport photo to save $10bux charge from riteaide... spent 2+ he's trying to print this photo by now :/

once again can I hit that system restore button I've seen at bootup without owning the boot up disk and/or a legit copy of windows?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bluemeate

hmmm it deleted the post before my most recent. annoying.

what I would really like to do is reformat the computer. no one ever answered whether I could reformat without the install disk. also my copy of windows isnt valid so Idk what the effect of that will be.

every time I boot up. there is an option to system restore. can I just hit this without encountering further problems.
typed offmy phone

---

Yes. You can reformat the hard drive. This will leave your computer with a hard drive that is completely blank. You can download a linux disk or usb drive and use that to format the hard drive but you will need either a windows disk with a key, a linux disk, or cloning software with a hard drive from which to transfer the OS from.You would also have to install device drivers and any software that you considered important to keep and use.

It sounds like you are not so familiar with the ins and outs of an operating system install and if that computer has any significant value to you, you may want to consider formatting a computer on your own. Would you operate on your own dog if you were not familiar with operating on dogs (assuming of course that you liked the dog)?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bluemeate

I posted previously that hd is and always has been mostly emptied.
also that 70% CPU usage was an anomaly
it has typically been at 100% cpu usage
I posted this all before but the post got deleted :/

so I just opened up show processes fr all users, and now its a huge list with that svchost.exe guy using upnmost the resources
(trying to install printer hardware to print my own passport photo to save $10bux charge from riteaide... spent 2+ he's trying to print this photo by now :/

once again can I hit that system restore button I've seen at bootup without owning the boot up disk and/or a legit copy of windows?

---

Well the video I posted for you (assuming you spent the 4:30 to watch it), would tell you that IF the dell have the dell backup partition, then NO, you will not need the boot disk etc. If it does NOT have this partition, then you might can repair it using the tools they show you. If you want to completely WIPE and start over...them yes you have to have one or the other of those things (ie a legit copy of windows disk).

Remember, ANY files you need to save...like bookmarks, outlook mail files, pics etc...you need to backup BEFORE you do any of this stuff...it will be GONE otherwise.

Also, as a couple have mentioned...the Linux install is probably not something you want to try to tackle unless you know what you are doing (ie it is NOT WINDOWS). I know a fair amount and basically I said, no thanks...windows does all the stuff. There is a reason that most big box stores generally only sell Windows or Mac computers...

In Windows Task Manger under the processes tab, click show processes from all users.
See if one of them is svchost.exe using a lot of cpu cycles.
If it is, you'll need to do windows update which you won't be able to until you activate Windows.

My laptop had this issue, which was quite common until MS fixed it in the most recent windows update.
Svchost.exe was running high cpu usage and taking up over 2gb of ram at idle.

yeah. svchost is there using a bunch of data
i do not think i can upgrade because this copy of windows is not genuine, aparently.

well i dont have a copy of windows to reformat
STILL one time this computer did crash and it erased all my data, but was able to load up windows clean and fresh
so are you all sure i cant do the 'system restore' option?

it seems my options now are to reinstal using ubuntu or to add more ram? which do you all think would be the simplest route for me to go?

can anyone recomend a decent laptop for $400 or less? used is fine.
all i really need it for is internet browsing and watch a movie or youtube from time to time

For $400, I can recommend a lot of laptops! Just sitting from my desk, I can see 20 that would be plenty for your needs. Remember that I do refurbish laptops, so my advice comes from servicing them all.

I'd go for either an HP EliteBook or a Dell Latitude E-Series with a Core i5 or i7 CPU. I own a Latitude E4310 with an i5, and love it. Both of those classes of machine are very sound choices. I can't speak for your area, but the average price that I sell those for is around $200-225. If your budget is $400, you can get a new laptop for the money if you desire. I would recommend either a Toshiba or a Gateway/Acer. Now, I know what you're thinking. I'm not off my rocker- Gateway and Acer have really turned the ship around. The new ones are good machines, unlike their counterparts 5 years ago.

If you're not replacing the computer, adding RAM is a much better route. If done incorrectly, changing operating systems can wipe all of your data. Your photos, documents, and music- gone. Changing RAM won't do that.

ram is cheap and getting it installed if cheap.

If you already had a windows crash and then restored it without the disk, then um.....yeah...you can just reset to factory using the video I gave you. That would be no different than what you are wanting to do now....ie REINSTALL windows to the factory settings (remember what I said..back up your stuff to a thumb drive or it goes POOF with the broken copy of Windows).

BUT if you have $400 to spend...a new laptop, even in that price range, will SMOKE the one you currently have. Oh and it will have a legit copy of Windows...LOL

any netbooks for cheap that you all think would fit my needs, y'all have been super helpful

all the documents I care about have been backed up

If you get the message "this copy of windows is not genuine", all you need to do is enter the code on the certificate of authenticity. Hopefully when it was refurbished they put a new COA on the bottom with a windows 7 code.

go to Start>Control Panel>System and scroll to the bottom where it says "Windows activation". Click on "change product key" and enter the key on the COA.

Skip netbooks. They usually have lower end CPUs and less RAM than the larger ones. When I get home, I'll look and recommend you a basic new laptop.

An for the love of all that is holy...get a legit version of whatever OS your using. I find the folks who use the cracked,hacked, whatever copies tend to always have issues. There are ways to get legit versions without paying retail cost.

Also, the magic answer isn't always.."Switch from windows!". It works for some folks, others don't want to be bothered with all that. ;)

I have nothing else to add that is helpful. Our Resident Computer Experts have all spoken, and the only thing I can do to improve on their advice is this...

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...OjDI1gcJiMsabk
http://bangertees.com/products/square/17371307.png

:)

Good luck to ya!

Sirscrapalot - Headed to Goatpaloza. Yes it's a real thing. My wife is no longer allowed to plan our trips.

Lenovo Ideapad 500 15.6" Laptop - AMD A10-Series - 8GB Memory - 1TB Hard Drive Black Ideapad 500 - 80K4001MUS - Best Buy

Lenovo Laptop IdeaPad 100 80QQ00E6US Intel Core i5 5200U (2.20 GHz) 4 GB Memory 500 GB HDD Intel HD Graphics 5500 15.6" Windows 10 Home 64-bit - Newegg.com

Toshiba Satellite C55-C5270 15.6" Laptop LED Intel Core i3-4005U 1 TB HDD, 8GB, Windows 10, Black | Staples®

Dell Black 15.6" Inspiron i5551-1667BLK Laptop PC with Intel Pentium N3540 Processor, 4GB Memory, 500GB Hard Drive and Windows 8.1 - Walmart.com

Any of these would be a good choice for a new laptop. I own a refurbished, because I have faith in my own work (Obviously). But, that's the key for buying a refurbished computer- the company that does the refurbishing makes a world of difference.

Here is a website I use to look for deals. If you find one, print the ad and take it to the store. Many times, they are not advertised prices and the associates have to look for them, but I have always gotten the advertised price from the site.

Compare prices for retail store sales at SalesCircular

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bluemeate

hmmm it deleted the post before my most recent. annoying.

what I would really like to do is reformat the computer. no one ever answered whether I could reformat without the install disk. also my copy of windows isnt valid so Idk what the effect of that will be.

every time I boot up. there is an option to system restore. can I just hit this without encountering further problems.
typed offmy phone

---

No you may not reformat the HD, the OEM OS resides there as back up, installing an older version of Windows may not meet all your hardware driver requirements,

My HP laptop also had Windows OS back up in a hidden partition, I realise that hard drives have gotten bigger and less expensive over the years but what a waste of resources having your complete windows os backed up as a rescue copy. When I loaded Ubuntu onto my HP choose the OEM Manufactures option dedicating the whole hard drive to Linux.

XP became the best OS Microsoft ever put out and most people forgot how this came about, The supreme court on the Microsoft anti trust case as part of the sentencing prohibited MS from releasing another os for may years and the company while waiting for the ban to expire had no other option other that fix the bugs in XP as they became known.

MS does not win on merit they win on advertising dollars.

for all the people saying dell latitude 630s are junk or you need 4 gb of ram, you are sadly mistaken.

I have a dell lattitude e6540 and a 630. both work fine with me being a power user. the 630 may slow down a bit under heavy graphics or encoding but even the better machines will. hell I even used to game on it all the time including mmo type games that are resource hogs.

first things first. ditch 7 home / home premium and use 7 proffessional. home and home premium are bloated with crap you just dont need. they use way too much in resources. 7 pro will run slightly laggy on 256mb decent on 512mb and great with 2 gb of ram. you CAN upgrade but DO NOT NEED TO.

second norton basically is a virus in how it protects itself, uses resources, self repairs, etc. in fact to fully remove it, requires a special tool. it was written that way so actual viruses cant disable or delete it as easily. google norton removal tool.

comodo firewall & avast free edition. are my recomendation along with spybot search and destroy, malwarebytes and ad aware se as backup / monthly scan tools.

now as to multiple chrome.exe, this is because its how it was written to work. it creates a seperate process for each tab, flash, java script, etc so if one process quits responding you can kill it without killing whole browser. most newer browser do this or something simular. also chrome is written to be a massive ram hog in the name of speed because most new machines come with better specs. it will purposely eat your ram even if you upgrade it. switch browsers. I preffer firefox personally.

now as to question about the reformating, what your asking to do would be called a system restore. formatting always requires a system disk and key for windows 7.

If as you suspect it is a bad or pirated copy this is always the best option. also it gives you a clean copy without manufacturers bloatware meaning again faster.

now if you are truely intrested in trying to preserve the life of your 630, feel free to message me. I have been a computer tech of 14 1/2 years, am microsoft certified for repairs to win 7 among many other operating systems and am willing to help you out. I can provide the software you need to get moving and help you select suitable software for the machine you have to keep it purring along.

now for those suggesting ubuntu, shame on you. it was said above and i am inclined to agree the OP is not ready or currently knowledgeable enough to make the switch, and has desires to stay on windows 7 as I read it.

besides, if you know your *buntu flavors would know this is not as suitable as xubuntu which is the same thing, same support, just a much lighter GUI ( the thing you point and click at.). it can also run on 256mb ram and happy on 512mb.

If you insist the OP should change to linux give a suitable option. i run *buntu among other flavors on my machine I use for repairs / testing and personal machines as well as windows. *buntu is better documented than many but there are actual transition flavors targeted to this type of user requiring the extra help making the switch.

at least you however did suggest the live distro so the OP can at least try it first rather than hit a point of no return and figure out its too much...

you guys have been really really helpful and I have learned A LOT from you guys, beat thing I can do to give thanks is try and pass on the knowledge and lend my time to anyone else who may be suffering from these problems...

cuase y'all have sure helped me fix and understand my truck in the past, greatly appreciated

"If you insist the OP should change to linux give a suitable option. i run *buntu among other flavors on my machine I use for repairs / testing and personal machines as well as windows. *buntu is better documented than many but there are actual transition flavors targeted to this type of user requiring the extra help making the switch.

at least you however did suggest the live distro so the OP can at least try it first rather than hit a point of no return and figure out its too much...[/QUOTE]


A. I am not ashamed

B. It was my attempt to explain what I do with a computer that has no operating system or is not working as it should. I use one of the Linux operating systems that I have experience with and know what to expect. By using the live cd/usb and running the computer from it rather than the hard drive I am able to eliminate any problems associated with the hard drive and the programming contain in it. (I know that you, BC Repurposing are aware of what I have just outlined in this B section but others might not be).

C. I did not and do not insist that the thread stater change to Ubuntu or any other Linux operating system. For what I do both personally and with my business I do not like Windows and have many years of experience using Ubuntu so I am very comfortable with it and enjoy what I think are the many benefits.

D. My inclusion of a link to a video of Ubuntu was to give a basic exposure to Ubuntu in a way that is far better than any explanation I am able to.

E. I perceive that you have a preference to Windows and as certified, experienced computer tech I would think that you should. This is you main area so you will know far more that I and am far more qualified than I. My introduction to Ubuntu to the discussion is a reflection of what I do, test and sell used computer parts.

F. As far as which flavor of Linux to use for testing of computers I use what works best for the circumstances at the time. I often use a live disk of Ubuntu 12.10, 32bit because I used it for a long time and know what to expect and it works on most machines I have tried it on. Lately I have gone to the smaller Linux os and one that I have found to work well for me is Linux Lime.

G Its obvious that the thread starter does not have the experience needed to carry out some/most of the troubleshooting needed to get his laptop figured out. I hope the discussion of this thread motivates him and others to take some time to do some self education and experimenting. I know I enjoy the challenges of troubleshooting and repairing. I do not repair computers for others because this is not my area of interest and am able to get by with less education.

Its a challenge for me and I am certain others to communicate well in written form. We miss the signals given both verbally and visually that the written word does not always communicate. Sometimes we "read between the lines" only to be mislead by it. I will attempt to be clear I am not challenging BC Repurposing in any way and I restate it, he is obviously far more qualified in this area of computer repair than I. I wanted to show a direction I use in troubleshooting a computer, not repairing Windows operating system.

If the thread starter is interested I will offer the following: If you want 1gb or 2gb sticks of ram pm me with what is currently installed in the laptop and remind me of the exact make and model of the laptop. If I have something that will do the job I will send it to you no charge. There is an excellent change I have the ram on hand that will work for you.

73, Mike

There is no way that you can run Windows 7 feasibly on less than 1GB of RAM. Heck- XP struggles with that. To browse the Internet, 2GB is a bare minimum. I've serviced computers for almost 10 years now. It's just not possible anymore. My last laptop was a D630C- 4GB of RAM and a Core 2 Duo is the feasible lower limit for an average-use computer, but 2GB can be acceptable in certain cases.

Since OP suspects that his software is pirated, there is no guarantee that what's on the recovery partition, if there is one, is legitimate. If I had to place a bet, I'd say that it isn't legit (Assuming that partition is present).

You may be able to upgrade to Windows 10- you'd still not be genuine if you weren't before, but since the new OS would be coming straight from Microsoft, you'd likely have few problems. Windows 10 can run on 2GB of RAM, but again, it really needs 4.

I run Xubuntu on my home laptop. It has a first-gen i5 and had 2GB of RAM. That just wasn't enough, and Xubuntu is very light. I upgraded it to 6GB, and the difference is night and day. As I said, Linux isn't for the faint of heart though. It's like comparing a Mazda rotary to a small block Chevrolet- the designs are completely different.

/Rant

I may have come across harsh about the linux part. yes windows is bread and butter for me. I came into windows at 3.1 and have been there since with little bit of apple / mac and a bit more linux in the mix. to date I have used around 30 flavors and do have personal favorites. most are extremely difficult to use for beginners. slack and zenwalk for example.

because of lack of resources on the OPs machine I recommended moving to business type rather than home user windows. proffessional grade os have ALWAYS run much lighter. Just because micro$oft says you need a certain amount does not make it true.

win 7 pro can stream netflix and do light browsing on a 500 mhz processor and 256mb ram. does it do it quickly? no theres a second or two of lag doing things. does it do the job? definately.

there is alot more to speed than what processor or how much ram you got. most business class machines do best matching ram to processor on older stuff.

the old dinosaur mentioned above with a 500mhz cpu was a p2 hp vectra, I put 512 ram in it and it worked better than most new ones. the FSB, and component speeds matched beautifully and the fact it had equal ram to processor stopped bottle necks. this dinosaur could burnt a dvd and cd at same time while browsing web under older software and an older window version (2k pro).

xubuntu can actually run on 64mb of ram and a 500mhz processor if you are willing to strip away frills. it will leave you text only and you will need to have alot memorized but it works fine. this is the beauty of linux. you add and remove to suit yourself. linux can be built up to be even heavier and more bloated than the worst windows os.

this is why its important to base os choice by specs and not what a manufacturer wants or tells you to have. older lower spec machines simply cant handle the bloat so go lighter. in windows this means server or proffessional. average users can not tel difference between pro and home. server? definately you can tell.