Sony vaio applications constantly crashing/sound lags

DonutV · 24 Mar 2012

Hey this is my first time on the forum so I'm not sure what I should start off by listing here. A few days ago my computer started acting a bit wonky, certain applications running slowly and eventually crashing. I assumed this was caused by some sort of Trojan or other virus and I scanned my computer with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and MSE. Nothing came up for MBAM but there were three issues with MSE, two I then rooting in some java app. I thought this was the issue but it continued. The computer starts up fine and I haven't had BSOD so far, but not application, even explorer browsers, freeze up within 30 seconds of use.
The issue with the sound lagging was just at first noticed with a few games I played. The announced messages would stutter for a minute even though it was a 3 second phrase.
I'm posting this from my phone because I'm running a chkdsk scan on my computer again, but nothing showed up the first time.
Anyone have any idea what I should do? Or provide info for to help?
Much thanks in advance.

DonutV · 24 Mar 2012

Some info about the pc:
-Windows 7 home premium SP1
-intel core 2 duo CPU p7450 @2.13GHz 2.13 GHz
-6GB ram
-64bit OS

DonutV · 24 Mar 2012

Anyone?

FerchogtX · 24 Mar 2012

Well... sounds complicated, it's really hard to "diagnose" your problem because you issues can come from several reasons... but let's get started.

Is your PC a Desktop or a Laptop? In either case, see if your PC is overheating, try programs like http://www.hwinfo.com/ to see if you have normal temps (something around 40 to 65 or 70 C° is something normal depending on your procesor) Sometimes, if a processor overheats can slowdown system performance, I've seen that on a couple of intel processors...

If you got some Vaio bloatware, you can uninstall it, most of the time that nasty pest is responsable of slowing down and causing problems with OM PC's, just uninstall whatever bloatware you don't even touch... (sometimes you may want to maintain stuff like keyboard enhacements and such...)

An online scan for viruses may help, just in case MSE doesn't find any (sometimes happen, een with paid AV sofware) you can try http://www.eset-la.com/online-scanner/run or http://www.bitdefender.com/scanner/online/free.html or http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner

Maybe your disk is too fragmented (depending since when you use your PC or when you purchased it) running a defragmenter may help improving speed.

By the other hand, if any of this solutions work, you can try factory restoration (in case you are using your original OEM Windows Pre-Install) or a Repair Install, this last will kepp your files, but reset windows to it's defaults (just in case you are not using your original OEM Pre-Install)

It's the best I have, I would reccomend that you fill all your system specs on your profile so we can help you more deeply

See ya!!!

DonutV · 25 Mar 2012

Thanks for the input. I did the online scans after a few MSE scans and nothing was found. The HDD was pretty fragmented and it helped a bit but the problem is still there. I hope this photo might help with figuring something out?
It's a laptop by the way.
VGN-FW560F/T | VAIO® FW Series Notebook PC | Sony | Sony Store USA

FerchogtX · 26 Mar 2012

Hum... I don't know if your PC is supposed to work like that, but seems that your SATA controller runs at half of the real speed... if your HDD and MoBo are supposed to be SATA II, then you should be rating 3.0 Gb/s intead of 1.5... check your BIOS to see if your controller is set properly (just list what you see there, it should be located at Hard Disk config subcategory or something like that depending on your BIOS)

Do you have more than one AV program running? If so, try disabling one, it's known that having more than one AV scanning your files in realtime can cause slowdowns and conflicts

Other stuff you may want to try could be changing your power plan from balanced to High Performance and see what happens.

See ya!!!

DonutV · 26 Mar 2012

I've only got MSE running. As for the BIOS part, not entirely sure how any of that works but I'll get on trying to figure it out.

DonutV · 26 Mar 2012

I have no idea on how to check my BIOS or what they are. Sorry, I'm not very good with computers.

marsmimar · 27 Mar 2012

Since this issue apparently began "a few days ago" according to your first post, does that mean your computer was working just fine prior to that? If yes, what were you doing "a few days ago" just before the problems began?

If you have a system restore point that goes back far enough, you could try restoring your Vaio to a date/time before the problems began. Use your computer for a while and see if the problem has been corrected.

System Restore

If you're still having issues after a system restore I'd check to make sure you don't have any damaged or corrupted system files. Run a System File Checker scan from an elevated command prompt (option two, this tutorial.) If problems are found, run the scan 3 times rebooting in between each scan.

SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker

DonutV · 27 Mar 2012

The problem with the system restore option is that the saved points somehow vanished and now I have no system restore dates only one that I created recently while this problem still exists. I'll have to do the system file check a few times then. I'll let you know what the results are. As for the BIOS, I still haven't figured out how to check to make sure they're up to date or correctly working with the controller.
As for what I was doing, it was the same stuff I usually do. I just watch movies, listen to music and play a game or two on my laptop. I'm very careful with what I download so in 100% sure there wasn't anything corrupted, and plus, I haven't installed anything recently, only uninstalled programs that I do not need/do not use anymore. I ran a few different virus scans just to make sure and I was correct that there was no malware or any viruses.