Windows 7: Slow Performance, Slow Boot-up - Cause Undetermined!

Hello everyone,

I have done a lot of research on Google as well as on this forum to find a solution to my problem. Unfortunately, people who have posted on the forums have SIMILAR but not the exact problem as I have.

I would like to take this opportunity and explain exactly whats been going on, hoping it'll make it easier for you to determine the cause of this issue.

So, I have built my computer about a year ago. It was all fine until May 2010, when my computer started to show signs of slow performance, which means running programs started not to respond and the games I was playing was getting stuck from time to time. At that exact moment, if I tried to restart my computer... It would reboot very slowly, motherboard logo will be displayed about one or two seconds delayed and finally when it comes to 'Starting Windows', It always getting stuck there for about 3 to 4 minutes and then Windows Logo comes up. It takes 20-30 minutes until Windows is completely loaded. Even so, it is still slow. It is impossible to use the computer.

This doesn't always happen, its only sometimes. That is what confuses me because It is making it extremely difficult for me to determine a real cause, I cannot make a decision whether its a software or a hardware problem, if it is the hardware problem, which component is it? It seems that If i remove a memory chip or two, it goes back to normal and everything functions well. Eventually, It makes me think that its the memory chip that at fault.. but then it happens again and i take out video card, put it back again, its normal again... and if i insert HDD cable into a different SATA slot, it goes back to normal. And sometimes it doesn't really make a difference. Overall my hardware seems all right, so is O/S. I just cannot determine what is wrong and why it's happening sometimes, why not always - and WHY IS IT HAPPENING!!!??.

My Computer specs:
OS Windows 7 x64
CPU AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor 3.20 GHz
Motherboard GigaByte - MA790X-UD3P
Memory 4GB - Kingston - DDR2
Graphics Card(s) ATI Radeon 5700 Series
Hard Drives HITACHI ATA Device - 500GB
PSU Colorsit 600W

What I tried so far:

I have updated my BIOS. Resetted CMOS, taken out battery for more than 10 minutes. Re-formatted computer with 3 different Operating systems (Windows 7,WinXP,Ubuntu Linux). Installed motherboard drivers when the operating system installation was completed. Checked if everything is set up correctly in the BIOS.

No matter what I did, resolved my problem nor gave a conclusive determination. I beg for your forgiveness for the long text, however I am desperate. I would appreciate your time and help.



Kind Regards.

I wonder if it is a heat issue. Try testing your temps with Speedfan.

SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

You may also try a disk defragment, and make sure it has adequate free space (at least 10GB).

It could be bad RAM. Try running Memtest86+ for a few hours. My new build was behaving like that until I junked my brand new faulty RAM sticks and bought decent ones.

You can find Memtest here:

http://www.memtest.org/

Kingston backs their memory for life. Call their tech support to report how RAM affects this problem and they will help you troubleshoot it and probably RMA it.

Also run sfc /scannow from elevated CMD.

Run chkdsk /r and maker's full HD CD diag/repair scan.

Consider a Repair Install if all else fails.

Sounds like you've checked everything on the board, now what about the board itself? Do you have access to another board?

I think you should change and check your PSU (power supply). Probably when you have built your computer you have putted wrong PSU, in other words not compatable.

Thank you for your replies everyone. I appreciate your time.

I thought about that as well, but temperature seems all right. CPU Temperature is at 36 Celcius degres and System Temperature is at 40 celcius. Also I have tried a spare hard disk but same thing happened with that one as well.

I feel your pain mate. However, I did run a check with memtest, one chip at a time. The test didn't report any faults.


I have tried with another motherboard but looked like the spare motherboard was faulty itself lol It didn't show any sign of process while it was powered up.

I have selected my Powersupply with care and It is compatible with my system.


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Update: As I mentioned at my first forum post that this first started to happen on May, and the way the problem was resolved was when I removed all the components, including motherboard, and rebuilt it. It was working fine since but recently it started to slow down again. I have just finished rebuilding my computer and everything is working fine again, until when I don't know! This is what makes it mystical because If something is faulty, it wouldn't work at all. However, if i remove a components or even rebuild the computer, everything is okay again. Does anyone have any idea what might be the problem here? thanks

As suggested earlier I would try another mobo next as your description in OP about solving the issue by reseating memory or video card point to the mobo as the common denominator involved.

Did you stress test the memory overnight using memtest86 CD?

Did you watch the Event Viewer>Admin View and Performance-Diag. logs closely during the slowdown to see if repeat errors were logged that clue you to cause? I work through all repeat errors in these logs by Googling their text and id number.