How can I breath new life into my pc

[gregrocker]

What advice to you have for getting an ssd. I dont know much about them besides they are really fast. How will I know if it is compatible with my laptop. and which stores do you recommend getting one. I ask cause I typically use amazon for everything

Amazon is fine. Recently we saw first quality 120gb SSD at Tiger Direct for $49, also seeing 240gb for under $100 now. This is a great upgrade and better idea for doing the Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

 

[bigboi972]

I have a much lower-spec Laptop than yours, also an HP, a 4 year old Pavilion Dv7, Dual Core AMD. I think you may have some problem that is affecting the performance, not connected with what appears to be a very good spec laptop. Last year I removed all the HP bloatware, as said in this Thread previously. I reinstalled Windows 7/64 and it now flies.

I think you may have to take a look at other issues, malware or overheating. Might be a silly question, but how do you use it? Laptops should not be called laptops IMHO, they are best used on a hard flat surface so that air can circulate under them. Have you tried taking a look underneath? Maybe the vents are blocked by dust, I strip ours every year and clean out the dust.

Just a few suggestions, I really think that laptop should be faster than you say it is.

I could not agree more with what you are saying. I think it should be way faster than what it is. In a moment here I will try to record a video showing my issues with it. I may wait and do a clean install first my girlfriend is giving me her 1tb hard drive and I need to get all my stuff off of it . Now as far as how im using it I never have sat it on my lap it is very heavy so that would be very uncomfortable. I have an expandable battery pack attached to it which came from hp not 3rd party. It elevates the computer high off the flat surface its on so its heavily ventilated. As of now I have done malware search on my computer because I downloaded some on accident recently but I have been having these issues before that incident. I will do a virus scan here in a moment

 

[andrew129260]

I have a much lower-spec Laptop than yours, also an HP, a 4 year old Pavilion Dv7, Dual Core AMD. I think you may have some problem that is affecting the performance, not connected with what appears to be a very good spec laptop. Last year I removed all the HP bloatware, as said in this Thread previously. I reinstalled Windows 7/64 and it now flies.

I think you may have to take a look at other issues, malware or overheating. Might be a silly question, but how do you use it? Laptops should not be called laptops IMHO, they are best used on a hard flat surface so that air can circulate under them. Have you tried taking a look underneath? Maybe the vents are blocked by dust, I strip ours every year and clean out the dust.

Just a few suggestions, I really think that laptop should be faster than you say it is.

I agree. Malware may be present.

 

[bigboi972]

I have a much lower-spec Laptop than yours, also an HP, a 4 year old Pavilion Dv7, Dual Core AMD. I think you may have some problem that is affecting the performance, not connected with what appears to be a very good spec laptop. Last year I removed all the HP bloatware, as said in this Thread previously. I reinstalled Windows 7/64 and it now flies.

I think you may have to take a look at other issues, malware or overheating. Might be a silly question, but how do you use it? Laptops should not be called laptops IMHO, they are best used on a hard flat surface so that air can circulate under them. Have you tried taking a look underneath? Maybe the vents are blocked by dust, I strip ours every year and clean out the dust.

Just a few suggestions, I really think that laptop should be faster than you say it is.

I agree. Malware may be present.

I scanned my pc with malware bytes is that the correct piece of software to scan for malware

 

[bigboi972]

As of today I have done a clean install and I am still having the same issues.

 

[gregrocker]

Same hard drive? Test it and all hardware from Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 .

You can install CrystalDiskInfo - Software info to read the hardware status, copy and report back.

Then Test RAM with Memtest86+ for 7 passes or overnight to stress it. How much RAM is detected at Control Panel>System?

What have you done to check for overheating? Install Core Temp to monitor temps in system tray.

 

[dperecky]

Just wondering what's the story with the computer RAM front?

RAM is pretty inexpensive these days.... at least compared to what it used to be.

 

[AddRAM]

Max out the ram, install an 120GB SSD, clean install windows, it`ll be the best it can be.

 

[bigboi972]

Just wondering what's the story with the computer RAM front?

RAM is pretty inexpensive these days.... at least compared to what it used to be.

what do you mean by computer ram front ?

 

[bigboi972]

Same hard drive? Test it and all hardware from Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7 .

You can install CrystalDiskInfo - Software info to read the hardware status, copy and report back.

Then Test RAM with Memtest86+ for 7 passes or overnight to stress it. How much RAM is detected at Control Panel>System?

What have you done to check for overheating? Install Core Temp to monitor temps in system tray.

I will get started on this tomorrow thanks everyone for your assistance

 

[Pete4]

I'm not clear about one thing: is OP PC sluggish in general use or only when running 3D animations? If it's sluggish in general use, then there is something wrong, which should be corrected first (HD errors, overheating etc etc). If it's 3D animation that brings it down to it's knees, then not much can be done as it is pretty computing intensive task, possibly increasing RAM and getting SSD (which could be used in future new computer BTW) should speed things up for now.

 

[bigboi972]

I'm not clear about one thing: is OP PC sluggish in general use or only when running 3D animations? If it's sluggish in general use, then there is something wrong, which should be corrected first (HD errors, overheating etc etc). If it's 3D animation that brings it down to it's knees, then not much can be done as it is pretty computing intensive task, possibly increasing RAM and getting SSD (which could be used in future new computer BTW) should speed things up for now.

sluggish in general. So far as of now sense I have had time to play with it sense the clean install programs are running smoother sense nothing is on it which is great. Before the clean install when I attempted to play dota 2 it would freeze when loading the match, and would be sluggish when in game it seems to be working a little better and their is minimal freezing when loading a match. I was also using zbrush today and typically if I left an application open and came back to try to use it 30 minutes later it would freeze and become unresponsive for a moment. After the moment of unresponsiveness it would then begin to become sluggish until I reboot windows for example. Brush strokes being delayed and not being displayed when drawn ect. As far as more general use it seems to be fine. Chrome is loading fine and responsive. It still becomes unresponsive at random moments still but its still more responsive than it was before the clean install examples. Actually loading webpages without freezing first for about 5 seconds opening much quicker. Programs still take forever to open is that because of my cpu speed ? Other than that so far its just more enjoyable to be online knowing that chrome is not going to lock up for 5 seconds at every click. Every other issue seems to be the same when running other programs as far as slow speeds go

 

[bigboi972]

I'm not clear about one thing: is OP PC sluggish in general use or only when running 3D animations? If it's sluggish in general use, then there is something wrong, which should be corrected first (HD errors, overheating etc etc). If it's 3D animation that brings it down to it's knees, then not much can be done as it is pretty computing intensive task, possibly increasing RAM and getting SSD (which could be used in future new computer BTW) should speed things up for now.

Please note that over heating has always been an issue with this laptop it gets so hot I have a deskfan blowing on it just to keep it cool. I have blown out the air vents constantly. I have never opened it to clean it I am scared I will break it. But heating issues is a big problem with this model. That could be my overall problem. I also wanted to know if I change my screen resolution will it make things go smoother. my external monitor is running at 1152x648 instead of the max 1920x1080. I asked because when play games and it seems to help

 

[gregrocker]

We dont'' want to guess as the actual overheating situation, we want to know exactly. So install Core Temp to configure it to run in the System tray so you can monitor temps and see how close they are to the max shown for your CPU.

If you have severe overheating and know your vents are clean, then you'll need to decide if it's worth undergoing the huge project to disassemble it to repaste the CPU heat sink. This is an extremely difficult and risky project so really should only be undertaken as a last resort before junking the PC, but its also a fascinating tech project and if successful can result in new life for the laptop. One I repasted several years ago that's now 10 years old is still running Win7 fast and cool. But there are such hurdles as a tiny plastic piece the heft of a fingernail that holds the keyboard ribbon cable in place which snapped requiring replacement with something I made.

Perhaps you have a tech friend who would want to help you with this. I find it too expensive to do at a shop unless you get real lucky, since the trouble is worth more than the remaining value of the PC. But if it works, what is the value of the PC lasting another few years? It all has to be taken into account.

 

[badger906]

going to go against the grain! get your mac NOW!
when it comes to laptops im very very much a mac person. I have the last version they made in the white unibody chassis. its 4 years old, all ive done to it is add another 2gb of ram so its maxed at 4 and shoved in a solid state hard drive.

4 years on and my mac is just as the day I got the ram and ssd!
secondly the battery time you get is amazing on mac os yet if I boot and run windows 7 it goes from 8 hours to 2 and a half hours!!

I often consider getting a new mac, and then I come to the conclusion mines still great!! sadly its battery is on its last legs and only lasts about 4 hours.. and keeps telling me it needs replacing.. but fpr £40 I can get a new one lol!!

sorry guys dont mean to be an os traitor =p

 

[Layback Bear]

Stop the presses. New information from post #33.

Please note that over heating has always been an issue with this laptop it gets so hot I have a deskfan blowing on it just to keep it cool.

This would look good in post #1 two days ago.

I wouldn't do anything to that laptop until the temp problem is corrected. I presume that you have been measuring the temps by touch.

From Greg's post #34. Please complete Greg's recommendation.

We dont'' want to guess as the actual overheating situation, we want to know exactly. So install Core Temp

 

[Pete4]

If it was my computer this is what I would do:
1. check HD for errors: right click Computer/c: drive /properties/ tools/ error checking - full scan
2. download HWmonitor (I always use portable version, without installer for every program I can find). We are looking at CPU, HD and graphic temperatures, plus fan speed, if it shows. Not sure about your CPU, but most will throttle at around 90-105C, so we want temperatures bellow that, HD should be below 55-60C and graphic card should be bellow 100C. If any of those parameters are out of whack then you concentrate on that component. Also verify internal fan is blowing air at least when CPU or GPU are under load and getting into 80-90C range. If the heat is the main culprit for slowdowns then good cooling pad could help. But you should really open the bottom and clean dust from inside. Not sure about your particular model, but most laptops are very easy, few screws it's all it takes and there are plenty of videos on you tube to help. Lower resolution will help, especially with playing games, but I think your computer may have some problems that need to be addressed first and once that's done you should be fine at 1080p, except maybe for some more demanding games.

 

[Indianatone]

going to go against the grain! get your mac NOW!
when it comes to laptops im very very much a mac person. I have the last version they made in the white unibody chassis. its 4 years old, all ive done to it is add another 2gb of ram so its maxed at 4 and shoved in a solid state hard drive.

4 years on and my mac is just as the day I got the ram and ssd!
secondly the battery time you get is amazing on mac os yet if I boot and run windows 7 it goes from 8 hours to 2 and a half hours!!

I often consider getting a new mac, and then I come to the conclusion mines still great!! sadly its battery is on its last legs and only lasts about 4 hours.. and keeps telling me it needs replacing.. but fpr £40 I can get a new one lol!!

sorry guys dont mean to be an os traitor =p

Traitor !!! MAC's have hardware failures too you know.

 

[gregrocker]

My Core i5 8gb laptop costs $400 and runs better than any $2000 MAC. It is all about the install.

MACS are status bling. PC's are workhorses.

 

[bigboi972]

My Core i5 8gb laptop costs $400 and runs better than any $2000 MAC. It is all about the install.

MACS are status bling. PC's are workhorses.

what kind of pc do you have ?