I can't stand this any more, please help!!

[yanks0826]

I know it is difficult to remedy my issue with basic information, so here is a quick run down on my situation:

My computer specs are listed in my profile.

I recently upgraded to W7 with a clean install. There are times when my laptop is choppy, very slow. I scroll down, and it skips and takes forever. Then there are times when it runs nice and smooth. Why is that?

Every time I run task manager to see what is running, most of the time the resource hogging up is either IE or Firefox.

Please, I need some pointers on how to get this thing running smooth, all the time.

Thanks

 

[Barman58]

From your specs you should not be having any issues running Windows 7 on your hardware.
The next time that you have the issue If you can take a snip of the Task manager, showing as much detail as you can, (show processes from all users), and upload it here by use of the paperclip icon.

This should allow us to diagnose better where the bottleneck is

 

[yanks0826]

It's running a little choppy now, so here is a quick snapshot:

 

[Jonathan_King]

What anti-virus are you using?

 

[Barman58]

Well there does not seem anything out of place there that is stressing the cpu more than I would expect.

On initial install it is normal for the system to perform various housekeeping tasks such as indexing and setting the superfetch cache, although this is not showing here.

I assume that you have the latest drivers installed for all your hardware - you may want to check with the laptop's download site to ensure that there are no new drivers for your model as there is a lot of activity with drivers since the official release, with changes happening daily.

The other thing to try is to leave the laptop switched on for an hour or two when not being used to allow the OS to fully complete the initial setups - these may not show when you check as they are designed to stop when they detect user activity

 

[yanks0826]

Actually, since this was a new install, I didn't install an AV, yet. But, I usually use Avast.

 

[yanks0826]

Well there does not seem anything out of place there that is stressing the cpu more than I would expect.

On initial install it is normal for the system to perform various housekeeping tasks such as indexing and setting the superfetch cache, although this is not showing here.

I assume that you have the latest drivers installed for all your hardware - you may want to check with the laptop's download site to ensure that there are no new drivers for your model as there is a lot of activity with drivers since the official release, with changes happening daily.

The other thing to try is to leave the laptop switched on for an hour or two when not being used to allow the OS to fully complete the initial setups - these may not show when you check as they are designed to stop when they detect user activity

I didn't know that Windows uses inactivity to complete/repair operating systems. That's news to me. So, can I place the unit in sleep/hibernate mode for it to complete the setups?

As for the driver updates, I used Windows update to install my drivers, so I have to assume they are updated. I went to ATI website, and what I have installed is the latest.

 

[Win7User512]

I doubt it is one of your browsers. They are using more RAM than that on my machine right now.

How recent was this install? You don't have antivirus protection installed yet?

 

[Barman58]

The system has to be active for the setups to happen rather than in sleep or hibernate. I normally switch off the sleep function on any new install, switch off the monitor, and allow the system to run overnight.

The other question I would ask is does the issue only occur after sleep or hibernate - if so you may need to check the system drivers as this is a common issue with new installs.

generally with drivers I would check with the system manufacturer's website - Dell is normally very good in this respect - the actual manufacturer will often have newer drivers available than windows update

 

[yanks0826]

I installed W7 just last week, then I reinstalled it again because it was so choppy. But now, as I type this message, my computer is flying great. It has its moments. One minute it is running awesome, like right now, and another minute it bogs down. Argh.

 

[yanks0826]

The system has to be active for the setups to happen rather than in sleep or hibernate. I normally switch off the sleep function on any new install, switch off the monitor, and allow the system to run overnight.

The other question I would ask is does the issue only occur after sleep or hibernate - if so you may need to check the system drivers as this is a common issue with new installs.

generally with drivers I would check with the system manufacturer's website - Dell is normally very good in this respect - the actual manufacturer will often have newer drivers available than windows update

I normally don't put my laptop in sleep mode, I shut it down when done using it.

As for the drivers, what hardware should I check new drivers for? Display, processor? Any others, BIOS?

 

[Barman58]

As for drivers I would regularly check on the Dell site for the system - but the ones I would always look out for are the graphics and System or Motherboard, these are the most likely to cause stuttering performance

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

 

[hamunaptrah]

I know it is difficult to remedy my issue with basic information, so here is a quick run down on my situation:

My computer specs are listed in my profile.

I recently upgraded to W7 with a clean install. There are times when my laptop is choppy, very slow. I scroll down, and it skips and takes forever. Then there are times when it runs nice and smooth. Why is that?

Every time I run task manager to see what is running, most of the time the resource hogging up is either IE or Firefox.

Please, I need some pointers on how to get this thing running smooth, all the time.

Thanks

Did you try reducing video resolution to see if it smooths out?
How much onboard memory do you have and what percent use is the Task Manager showing?
Did you upgrade your video driver after installing 7?

 

[yanks0826]

Man, right now my PC is flying like a champ. So, I did some digging, I ended up in the task scheduler, and I scrolled down to the active tasks and 29 things pop up. Some things start up after start up, some every 10 days, etc. Do I need all of these? Or, if you check yours, and let me know the ones I should keep, and I can delete the others. I noticed when I first start up my computer and shortly thereafter is when my PC runs rather slow.

 

[Jacee]

Download Process Explorer Process Explorer
When your computer starts acting 'choppy', see what process is running that could be the possible cause.

 

[Hakon]

Sounds very basic...but what power plan are you using? High performance, balanced or power saver? also, are you sure it dosen't happen when you unplug it ?

 

[djfirestorm]

Another question, when it starts going choppy...has been on a while, or does it do it shortly after windows is done starting up. I may be going to wrong dircection...but it is possibly your laptop is overheating. Try everest ultimate and check your temps. You can also run a stability test...but do that when you are running smooth...and if it starts chopping...its a hardware malfunction (usually memory) or overheating. So things I would check: heat, memory, and video driver...sometimes the wrong driver for video cards work but it can would make it choppy.

 

[sygnus21]

Some things start up after start up, some every 10 days, etc. Do I need all of these? Or, if you check yours, and let me know the ones I should keep, and I can delete the others. I noticed when I first start up my computer and shortly thereafter is when my PC runs rather slow.

You'll have to determine which items you want/need to be started, and for those that don't need to be started, such as rarely used items, you can move them to another folder, than start them as needed. I usually create a folder in "All Programs" called "Startup Holds" then put the program shortcuts that I rarely use or don't need to run at startup in there. Likewise you could just remove the programs you don't need.

Just a thought.

 

[torrentg]

Hi.

Type system information into the start menu search box. Hit enter. Use Ctrl+S on the opened screen to save the .nfo file.

Rar or zip the saved file and attach to a post using the paperclip. I will have a look and tell you things to do.

 

[kegobeer]

Dell has not listed the 1521 on its Windows 7 compatibility chart. They also have not released any Windows 7 drivers. Whatever drivers Windows automatically installed are not 100% compatible and are, in my humble opinion, the reason for your problems. The only thing I suggest is installing all of the available Vista drivers listed on the Dell website for your laptop; use compatibility mode if things don't want to install.