Tools for a slow computer

[Giles]

hi all,

just wondering what your go-to's are when it comes to diagnosing and optimizing a 'slow' computer?

in the past i have used the combo of malwarebytes, adw cleaner, and ccleaner.

are there any new -- perhaps all-in-one -- solutions out there? it's been a while since i've gotten into this so i'm sure some things have improved.

i know d7 was popular at one time, but im not sure of that application's status anymore.

 

[Diggs]

I really have gotten away from "tune-ups" that may speed up a computer 10-15%. These days it's usually a SSD and/or N&P where the increase in speed is pronounced. I know that doesn't answer your question but nit-picking at the process or services list just isn't the way for me to go anymore.

 

[Giles]

I really have gotten away from "tune-ups" that may speed up a computer 10-15%. These days it's usually a SSD and/or N&P where the increase in speed is pronounced. I know that doesn't answer your question but nit-picking at the process or services list just isn't the way for me to go anymore.

I completely understand that. And that's the way things were "heading" last time I was doing break/fix. It was more effective to reformat or upgrade ram/HD. Tune-ups haven't been super effective, unless a computer was just loaded with tons of malware and a MB scan fixed it.

 

[alexsmith2709]

I dont have set tools as such, i diagnose the computer which will tell me what i need to do in order to speed it up. Most of the time its putting in an SSD as windows 10 doesnt run too well on a spinner. It might be that the hard drive is failing anyway and that is the cause of the slowness. It might be the RAM in which case replacing the HDD wont do anything.
I dont think any tech can just say i run X tool on every slow computer to fix it, thats what most customers think we do, but our skills and expertise come in actually diagnosing the cause. I look at the symptoms to give me a clue of where to start

 

[Kitten Kong]

As above, long ago are the days when a simple tune up fixed the vast majority of issues.

I'm doing more and more ssd drives and fresh installs.

I hardly if ever get any ram upgrades these days either. As the cost of ram and manufactures putting upwards of 4gb in a machine, makes it impossible to get clients wanting more ram.

I don't think I have done a ram upgrade at all this year.

 

[Galdorf]

I do work manually by using Autoruns

 

[alexsmith2709]

I don't think I have done a ram upgrade at all this year.

The only RAM upgrades i've done are for a business wanting maximum life out of their laptops so I've been upgrading to SSD and 8GB RAM as most only had 4GB.

 

[Mick]

Like most here, I prefer to do my own diagnosis (and I've ditched Ccleaner since it was taken over by Avast), but if you really are looking for recommendations, try Windows Tweaking AIO.

 

[glricht]

If the customer complains that that their PC is "slow", absolutely the first thing I do is to check the HDs. If one's going bad or running slow, then that must be addressed first. No software/setup fix is available to offset a bad HD.

 

[glennd]

hi all,

just wondering what your go-to's are when it comes to diagnosing and optimizing a 'slow' computer?

in the past i have used the combo of malwarebytes, adw cleaner, and ccleaner.

are there any new -- perhaps all-in-one -- solutions out there? it's been a while since i've gotten into this so i'm sure some things have improved.

i know d7 was popular at one time, but im not sure of that application's status anymore.

None of those tools will 'diagnose' a slow computer. At the end you're none the wiser and, if you're lucky, a few degrees faster. To 'diagnose' a slow computer you would be looking to find out what is slowing it down. It could be a dodgy hdd, runaway software, rogue spyware/virus/trojan/etc, just too much stuff going on, lack of ram causing constant page file thrashing, a machine that is totally inadequate for the required task, etc. It's usually not just one of these things but a combination.

If you really want to know: start by looking at the SMART stats, then look at cpu usage, disk usage and memory usage in Resource Monitor.

These days the most common issue is running windows 10 on a cheap and crappy $200 laptop with 2gb of ram while windows updates is running and slowly grinding their wd blue spinner into dust.

 

[Fred Claus]

In addition to what everyone else said, I also like D7x. While the tool is expensive, it's filled with help for these one off situations. If you have a problem with a print server, there is a tool for that. if need help resetting the DNS server, this program has a tool for that. Can you do it on your own? Sure you can, but D7x gives you a click and run option instead of having to know the command line code to do it.

 

[frase]

I use CrystalDiskInfo first off to diagnose drive health. If comes up bad, advise client options. Otherwise msconfig cmd is good to stop non essential programs etc from starting up at boot time.

 

[Porthos]

I use CrystalDiskInfo first off to diagnose drive health.

Same.

Otherwise msconfig cmd is good to stop non essential programs etc from starting up at boot time.

Just a minor technical note about MSCONFIG as quite a few users on various sites are using it as a Startup Manager. It is a Diagnostic Tool not a Startup Manager. If you're using it as a Startup Manager then you cannot use it as a Diagnostic Tool. There is also a known issue where some settings once changed cannot be restored by MSCONFIG

If you want a good free Startup Manager then I would recommend using Autoruns for Windows - TechNet

Autoruns can easily manage what starts up. Then that frees up your MSCONFIG program to be used for what it's really meant for as a Diagnostic Tool.

In Windows 10/8, things are a bit different. If you open msconfig or the System Configuration utility, under the Startup tab, you get to see this.



You have to click on the link to open the Task Manager. It is from the Task Manager interface that you can now disable, enable the startup items. You no longer need to open msconfig. Simply go ahead and open the Task Manager directly and manage your startup items under the Startup tab.

In Window 10 or Windows 8.1, to disable or manage startup programs, you have to open Task Manager and click on the Startup tab. Here you can see the list and right-click on any entry to Disable it.

 

[NviGate Systems]

I use Hard Disk Sentinel for diagnosis of HDD and SSD. The developer is very nice, if you run into an issue you can email him a log and he will reply.

There is also a DOS version which helps for older machines and ones where the drive is really bad.

HDS often picks up on SMART log anomalies that other tools ignore.

Also, when I diagnose a spinning drive, I look up the official specs and compare tests I performed under PE. If it's within a decent range, the drive likely is functioning normally, as in its designed to be horrible.

Not every disk is made equal. Lots of spinning drives are poor performance, they are built to a budget. Plus many OEM's test only the initial image. After a year or two of updates, new features (which often increase the data load from HDD) many Econo drives just can't keep up. A good quality drive can mitigate that.

As such, for most considerations, tune up is a waste of time. You will only get maybe 5-10% performance which will be nullified once the next app or update comes out.

Basically, if you monitor the HDD access, see where it spikes and lags. Look at the drive specs and see if Windows is simply demanding more than the drive can perform.

Windows 10 is not kind to drives or CPU's. It can heavily punish performance if these are sub par.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I believe that every technician should have their own "slow computer" procedures that continue to improve over time. I sometimes skip things on my procedure list if they don't apply but they are there as a reminder.

Just from memory and my memory isn't great but I don't have access to my procedure list from my current location, smart test, hard drive performance test..i like AS SSD benchmark because it has useful information on the top left corner like sata driver and partition alignment, power scheme, temps for thermal throttling, msconfig boot advance configuration settings, actual cpu mhz with something like cpu ID just in case some weird stuff is going down, running processes, autoruns, process monitor, passmark, defrag for non-ssd drives.

 

[Dave 1973]

Like several others have said I use Crystal Disk first, if HDD is OK I clean temp files with
Disk Clean or another temporary file cleaner ( Win 7 can create tons of temp files). I also check for duplicate versions of the same program that are installed. Turbo Tax is the biggest offender.
People buy and install a new version every year without removing the old version(s).
I've found PC's with 6 or 8 versions of Turbo Tax all trying to update at the same time (usually in Jan.). The machines were reduced to a crawl. You can safely delete old versions without losing the tax data. If none of that fixes it, and it doesn't have malware issues, then it's time for an SSD.

 

[Porthos]

then it's time for an SSD.

It is always time for a SSD.

 

[Joep]

I also always check the turbo button

 

[HFultzjr]

For me, slow computers mean ram upgrade, SSD, general cleanup of junk.
Also hope it has a decent processor.

 

[Porthos]

Also hope it has a decent processor.

There are some processors I won't even bother and recommend replacement. AMD E1 for example, There is no amount of ram or SSD combo that will that one.