Why is my Win10 PC running so slow?

Hello

My Windows 10 (x64) laptop is running very slow. How do I find out why?

Background:
- I have loads of disk space 315GB is free (on a 512GB solid state disk)
- My Windows Task Manager doesn't seem too busy (usually at c. 10 to 20%)
- Hardware:
- Model: Samsung Series 7 Ultra Notebook 13.3" screen
- RAM: 6GB
- Processor: Intel Car i5-3337U CPU @1.80GHx

- I have tried running MalwareBytes & SuperAntispyware, but they found nothing.
- My antivirus is BitDefender Total Security (latest version, updated, running on Autopilot. Manual system scan found nothing bad.)
- I have run all the Windows Updates
- I have no games installed, but I have about 20 or so applications (e.g. MS Office365)
- I re-installed everything about 1 year ago.

Here is the specification for my hardware:

Samsung Series 7 Ultra Notebook 128GB SSD 13.3" [laptop]
RAM: 6GB DDR3 System Memory at 1600MHz
Hard drive: SSD drive 512GB mSATA Samsung
Model: NP740U3E-S04UK

RAM: 6GB DDR3 System Memory at 1600MHz (on BD 2GB + 4GB x 1)
Hard drive: SSD drive 512GB mSATA Samsung
Processor: Intel Core i5 - 3337U (1.8GHz up to 2.7GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)
Chipset: Intel HM76 Express (motherboard??!)

Many thanks

J

Hi
No, I don't think booting is particularly slow.
But basically everything I do once booted seems slow.
e.g.
Open Opera browser (defaulting to a page on my C: drive) takes 9 secs , instead of <2secs
Open ms Excel takes 8 or 8 secs instead of < 3
Even if I click on Start button then Setting [the gear icon] takes about 3 or 4 seconds, whereas it used to be <1
I have tried to kill of almost everything from the startup sequence.
Firefox takes 12 seconds to open just an HTML file on my C: drive

It started about 2 or 3 weeks ago. It may be getting worse.

Internet access seems to be extremely laggy.
Firefox takes 10 seconds, once already open to open Google
> Does this occur on mains power, battery, or both?
Both

> CPU clock throttling - have you modified your power plan?
Yes. To stop screen going dim and bright for no reason.

> Page file usage - have you modified any parameters?
I'm not sure.

Here is a screenshot whilst opera is opening to a page on my C: drive:


Cheers

J

I wonder if virus definitions are being updated or if a virus scan is running. Typically, those start after the PC has been powered on.

Also, if you have Google Chrome installed, when opened, does it seem quicker than Opera?

PS And here is a screenshot of my Task Manager after c. 5mins of inactivity:

> your task manager screenshot 3 mins or so after logon would be a helpful reference.
Done
> I wonder what is using the rest of your CPU time?
I have no idea. But CPU is almost never at more than 50%. Even whilst opening Opera it never goes about c.43%. Although how many Cores do I have? Task Manager only seems to be showing one of them.





> If you look at your Update History, is there anything significant around the time this started?
I have no idea. Various Updates have been installed lately.
> CPU clock: try this (Speccy):

Sorry I don't understand. Do you want me to download an app called Speccy?
OK I have installed Speccy



> Was the screen simply dimming when PC not in use?
Yes it was getting brighter and dimmer randomly for no obvious reason, whilst plugged into the mains.
> Turning to your disk: what do you see by way of transfer rate if you copy a large file back to the disk or to an external drive?
Sorry I don't know how to test that. If I can think of a way I shall revert later.

> Please post a screenshot of your power plan.




> Boot to Safe Mode. Do you note any change?
I'm not 100% sure how to do that. Do I hit F8 while booting?
Thanks

J

teecuptech said:

I wonder if virus definitions are being updated or if a virus scan is running. Typically, those start after the PC has been powered on. Also, if you have Google Chrome installed, when opened, does it seem quicker than Opera?

Possibly. However there is not very much sign of BitDefender taking up much CPU time. No, Google Chrome is just as slow as Opera (both opening just an HTML file on my C: drive).
J

PS I did try and stop one of the Windows Updates because it stopped me from being able to change which application opened images.

But here is a screenshot of my Windows Updates history: