Solved Windows 7 x64 installs and runs slowly

I am trying to upgrade my wife's computer to Windows 7 x64 from Windows Vista x32. It has run great for the past 3 years using Vista 32bit.



The system shows it should run x64 bit no problems. I've already run the Windows 7 Upgrade adviser that also says I should have no problems. However when I try to install it the setup runs extremely slow. After installation completes it continues to run slow to the point that even the mouse pointer jumps.


I can post the specs here if need be otherwise they are the ones that I have listed.

I am installing with the official Windows 7 x64 SP1 DVD.

I have installed it on the said computer and then took the HDD out and booted to it using my computer which is currently running 7 x64.... No problems it ran like a dream. I then reinstalled it in her comp and still it ran so slow as to be unusable.

The HDD is connected to SATA slot 1. The RAM is installed in the primary RAM slots as per the Motherboard user's guide says. I've tried it with all USB I/O device unplugged as well with no change.

The main reason for the upgrade is to be able to use the full 6 GB of RAM installed.

I would Check your ram.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/715-memory-diagnostics-tool.html?ltr=M
Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
How to use memtest:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html

While I am checking the RAM let me pose this question:

If there was a problem with the RAM wouldn't the issue show up while running Vista 32bit?

Or would the issue not show up b/c with 32bit it does not use the sector of RAM that is corrupted while with 64bit it uses the sector of RAM that is corrupted?

I'd think if the RAM was OK on Vista, it should be OK on Windows 7, but of course it can go bad at any time.

A few questions:

How many hard drives in this PC?

Are you choosing to delete all partitions during the installation process?

Do you currently have 3 sticks of RAM installed?

Are you using the drivers issued by the Win7 installer and quickly updated via optional Windows Updates?

If so you might want to try the factory chipset after setting a restore point, as it may be needed in this case.

I'd also check for any newer drivers in optional Updates.

Also work through these troubleshooting steps to try to gather clues as to the problem.

There is only one HDD.

Yes there is 3 sticks of RAM.

And I am deleting all partitions during a clean install.

As I said before I can install it (though it takes several hours) on this comp move the HDD to another comp and it runs smoothly.

I am using the drivers installed by windows 7 with the exception of the newest drivers I have found for individual pieces of hardware each researched especially for use with Windows 7 64bit.

I hate to say this but just because you install a 64 bit system does not mean it will use all the memory. It`s all about what the motherboard can support. Do you have your motherboard specs and how much memory will it support ?

Motherboard supports up to 24GB of memory with up to 4GB x 6 slots.

I'm not 100% but up to this point I'm pretty sure that memory is not the issue.

Memtest86+ has not given any errors either.

Beowerd said:

I am using the drivers installed by windows 7 with the exception of the newest drivers I have found for individual pieces of hardware each researched especially for use with Windows 7 64bit.

Click to expand...

Did you run with the drivers given by installer and optional Updates before changing out drivers to those you "researched?"

This is not XP. Win7 is driver-complete in the installer and via optional Updates. If it doesn't use manufacturer's drivers it may be because these are not optimal for Win7. So it is best to run with what Win7 gives you before changing any out based solely on performance.

The problem happens before I get a chance to install any drivers except the windows 7 drivers. After I had exhausted the windows 7 drivers was when I thought I would try to find other drivers from the manufacturers for WIn7 64bit

I'm going to take today off and try again tomorrow.. sometimes a break from a problem helps me think.

Ok, So I reinstalled and here is the issue a little more specifically up to this point:


It installed ok .. about an hour.. however after installation and especially after I installed MSE and Firefox 8.0 .. (as that is all I have installed at this point.) it runs extremely slow.. to the point that it locks up. After the first reboot (which took about 10 mins) I can't shut it down or even get task manager to open up. I can't open up the start menu or do anything. It is quite weird.

Any thoughts up to this point.

still searching the forums for any other posts that seem to be having the same issues.. at least those that have been solved.

Obviously you need to either roll back via System Restore or uninstall the programs after which install the problem begins.

Then install them one at a time to see which causes the problem.

You can use Avast instead of MSE if necessary. And IE9 instead of Firefox.

um Question ... Seeing as how it locks up immediately after boot-up would it be better to reinstall first then just not install those programs?

I might ought to note that when going into safe mode it locks up after loading the driver CLASSPNP.SYS


which it is loading from the windows\system32\drivers folder

Roll back using System Restore to before the problem began, check performance then.

Could we please have the full system specs. Maker/home built, CPU maker and model, Video card installed, HDD.

If this is on a Intel chipset MB are you using the main SATA ports and not the add on ports from Marvel (if there are any add on ports). Are you using AHCI or do you have the MB set to IDE.

When you say it takes 1 hour to install Win 7 on a clean HDD that to me is a very long time. Which to me means the CPU is fairly slow.
Have you checked what the temps are for the CPU and RAM.
If this is on a notebook are you using or have you download any drivers for that notebook from the makers website. Some notebooks need special drivers/software for the system to run correctly. They are included with the makers version of the OS but are not included in a normal retail OS disk.

Just grabbing at straws here.

edwar said:

Could we please have the full system specs. Maker/home built, CPU maker and model, Video card installed, HDD.

Click to expand...

Ok First, Edwar, Thank you for trying to help 2nd If you read the entire post it should answer most of your questions. 3rd if you click on "My System Specs" under my name then you will have the rest of the information you are looking for. For the questions not answered yes it is AHCI. Temps are in tolerances.

Now I tried system restore 2 times with it locking up I left it sit both times. The second time however when I came back to it the whole system was powered down even the LEDs on my fans were off for those that want to know. I hit the power button and it came back on to where it was as if it had not been turned off. (still locked up BTW)

So I did another clean install... This time I timed it at approx. 1hr 15 mins. give or take a minute. I did not install any other program and just let it sit on the desktop for about 30 mins or so. Here is where I stand. still at the initial problem:

Only 1.02GB of RAM is being used, however the CPU usage is crazy. 4 out of 8 cores are running at minimum while the other 4 cores jumping anywhere from nil to max. (note screenshot*)

The highest process is svchost at 74,000 (note screenshot* number 2) which is not bad considering the machine I'm typing this on is much higher with no problems.

*I had to take screenshots with my phone b/c paint kept locking up on me.*

Have any of you ever seen this before? I can not find any post that says the same thing or I'm not asking the right questions.

LOL this is nerve wracking but it is kinda nice to have a real computer problem for a change. and greg thanks for your help so far on this. I really appreciate it, As does my wife.


One more thing I, when i tried to end the paint process it wouldn't end. Paint is not the only program that has done this. Before I did the last reinstall firefox did the same thing: after going into "not responding" I clicked the end process on it and it did not end at all though it shows up red in the resource monitor.

New update:

I figured out the power setting was putting the comp to sleep after 30 mins. so apparently that is why the comp powered down after the second restore attempt. I have since set it to not power down/ sleep at all.

I restarted with diagnostic startup. Here is the results after opening paint, Task manager and resource monitor.


The cores spike high when any program is opened but then settle back down. I'm considering starting up services till I get the "unusable" condition just not sure which services to start with.


This still seems high to me considering on my other machine I have been running Firefox with about 10+ tabs for about a week and some other programs and MMORPGs off and on and the cores on that I7 3.07 Ghz barely bump at all.

All pieces of the puzzle I guess.

For those interested.. still a no go though I am considering that a BIOS flash may do the trick. So after I attain enough information and possibly a little more advice and training I may find out.

If you flash the BIOS do it from Windows which is safest, and set Sleep and Hibernate to Never.

I would also work through these troubleshooting steps to test the hardware, comb logs for repeat error clues, utilize System Resources and achieve a clean boot.

If these fail to tame the problem I would get a baseline clean reinstall following these steps to get a perfect reinstall based on thousands we've helped with here: Clean Reinstall steps

ok so I am not going to flash the BIOS as it seems to have the latest version available.

I'm going to try the steps you listed greg and see what turns up.