Unexplained, Unpredictable Windows 7 64-bit slowdown

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  1. Posts : 23
    Windows 10 Professional x64
       #1

    Good Morning,
    I'm filing this under 'Crash' because I don't know where else to put it. Here's the problem I began experiencing yesterday, and have not yet been able to find a solution for.

    I powered up my PC yesterday morning after it had been powered off for 4 days or so. Windows booted up fine, but everything Microsoft-related ran slowly. Windows Aero was dreadfully slow, taking 1-2 seconds for windows to fade in or minimize. When I would attempt to play a video in Windows Media Player, the video was slow, as was the sound, choppy, as if there was not enough memory to be running at full speed. I checked process memory consumption and processor usage, all were normal, and, as you will see from my specs below, I do not have memory issues. First I restarted, to no avail, then I thought perhaps my video drivers were corrupt, so I performed a clean install of the NVIDIA Drivers. This proved to do nothing to remedy the problem. I decided to run a video in Media Player Classic (the media player that comes with the Klite Codec Pack), and video was fine. I also found out later, that when I would play music on the Windows Media Player, it was still choppy and slow, like the audio with any video I would play was. The kicker is, I can still game. I decided to test the system by playing some 'Just Cause 2', which I have on maximum graphic quality settings. It ran just as well as it did before this happened (ran swimmingly). I'm at a total loss, as I said, it's everything Microsoft-related, anything third party runs fine. My hardware specs are listed below, does ANYONE have any ideas how to remedy this, short of a complete system reinstall?

    Hardware
    Motherboard: MSI Intel X58 LGA1366
    Processor: Intel Core I7 2.6 GHz
    RAM: Wintec 12GB Triple-Channel DDR3-1800MHz
    Video: 2x PCI-E 2.0 MSI NVIDIA GTX260 512MB in 16x SLI
    Hard Drives: System: 128GB OCZ SSD on SATA 3.0GB/s
    Secondary: File Drive 1: Seagate 500GB 7200RPM on SATA 3.0GB/s
    Tertiary: File Drive 2: WD External 2TB on USB 2.0
    O/S: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit, up-to-date as of 1/16/2012

    Thanks in advance,
    Avatar

    To Update, I have run restores, done virus/malware sweeps with several different programs: Malwarebytes, MSE, and TrendMicro House Call, to no avail.
    Last edited by Brink; 18 Jan 2012 at 12:43. Reason: merged
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  2. Posts : 627
    win 7 ( 64 bit)
       #2

    go to Command Prompt and run <sfc /scannow> This will find internal errors in the system.

    scrooge
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  3. Posts : 23
    Windows 10 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Forgive me, scrooge, I did try that, I neglected to list that in the things I have already attempted.

    thanks!
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #4

    askavatar said:
    Forgive me, scrooge, I did try that, I neglected to list that in the things I have already attempted.

    thanks!
    Have you made sure the computer is getting enough airflow? If there is dust in the system, you can see the behavior you are seeing. I had the same problem with my laptop a few months ago, and blowing the dust out increased the performance immensely.

    If blowing dust out does not help, run through the steps to Troubleshoot Application Conflicts by Performing a Clean Startup and determine if it is an application causing the computer to run slow. You may also want to look at the different methods to Optimize Windows 7.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 23
    Windows 10 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Hi WrithZiden,
    My machine has sufficient airflow when it is buttoned up, but being the motivated person that I am, the side panel has been off of the side of my case for a while now, so there is plenty of cooling, and I have cleaned the dust out of the heatsinks recently. Also, I have seen performance lags from dust build up in the past, but performance drain was across the board, not just in MS-based applications. As I mentioned above, Just Cause 2 at maximum graphics settings shows no decrease in performance.

    I will attempt a clean boot tonight and report back.

    Thanks,
    Avatar
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #6

    askavatar said:
    Hi WrithZiden,
    My machine has sufficient airflow when it is buttoned up, but being the motivated person that I am, the side panel has been off of the side of my case for a while now, so there is plenty of cooling, and I have cleaned the dust out of the heatsinks recently. Also, I have seen performance lags from dust build up in the past, but performance drain was across the board, not just in MS-based applications. As I mentioned above, Just Cause 2 at maximum graphics settings shows no decrease in performance.

    I will attempt a clean boot tonight and report back.

    Thanks,
    Avatar
    Yeah, I guess I missed that Just Cause 2 part. I do see that now and that third party programs run smoothly. Hopefully it is just an application conflict that is slowing Microsoft processes down. Let us know what you determine later.
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  7. Posts : 23
    Windows 10 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    I'm fast approaching a fresh system install. If the clean boot doesn't yield anything, then that's where I'm heading. I may install Windows 7 in a Virtual Box to see what happens, too.

    Thanks,
    Avatar
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 23
    Windows 10 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Well clean boot had no effect. I did reinstall windows, and was aghast to find that the problem was still present. That seems to make it a hardware issue of sorts. Anyone have any suggestions?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 11,269
    Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
       #9

    Have you tried resetting your BIOS to defaults to clear the CMOS? Note: If you have a RAID controller, backup any important data first since this will reset the controller and you will have to re-install Windows.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 23
    Windows 10 Professional x64
    Thread Starter
       #10

    I will give this a shot tonight after I return from work. Any ideas beyond that, Writh? Could it be my SSD?
      My Computer


 
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