Windows 7: PC running very slow - ? something working away in the background

Hi guys, recently (past couple of months) my laptop seems to have something constantly running in the background [you can hear it ‘clicking away’ pretty much all the time] & it seems to be running at least 60% slower than normal - at times my typing is faster than it seems to be able to cope with [ie: when typing an email] and I'm not thaat fast - are there any obvious/likely culprits?

Presumably it could be that something is taking up a lot of capacity in the background, but I'm not a very 'techie' person [not at all, in fact :>], so if anyone could identify a possible reason, that would be much appreciated.


Cheers

Work through these Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 especially establishing a Clean boot, checking the logs for repeat errors, system resources for solutions to problems, test hardware. If you'll report back feedback we will have more steps.

Hi Ashfeld Welcome to Seven Forums

• Click on the task bar and start task manager or simply press Ctrl-Alt-Delete and start task manager.
• Click on the processes tab and take a snip with snipping tool or paint of all the processes running (Also show processes from all users).
• Post them in your next post Screenshots and Files - Upload and Post in Seven Forums

Edit: Forget mine. Follow Gregs good advice.

I think your idea is an excellent one, KoolKat. It reminds me that troubleshooting with the process explorer needs to be worked into the tutorial. Please proceed.

Thanks Greg.

Ashfeld do let us know the results of what we suggested.

Run AVG or another anti virus software. Also try CCleaner

AVG bloated crapware is recommended by no one here. Use Microsoft Security Essentials with the Windows 7 firewall. Use CCleaner sparingly.