Win 7 Upgrade=EXTREMELY SLOW COMPUTER

gregrocker said:

This is where the bloatware is really insidious - it has even worse effects when you remove it as it clogs the registry, damages system files, and generally creates whole new ways to corrupt your OS. With Vista it was enough to tip them over most of the time.

The solution back then would have been to borrow a clean Vista DVD and format install. It will activate with your license. Instead your bloatware-ruined Vista was a timebomb ready to explode with an in-place Upgrade of Win7, as it has.

Doing the needed clean install now with Win7 is not too late, it is the beginning.

Exactly right - the NV52 should be able to run Win7 no problem, even my Netbook can manage it with fine. You need a clean install to get rid of all the crapware that Gateway have put on it. Just uninstalling the programs will leave even more of a mess.

Codify said:

gregrocker said:

This is where the bloatware is really insidious - it has even worse effects when you remove it as it clogs the registry, damages system files, and generally creates whole new ways to corrupt your OS. With Vista it was enough to tip them over most of the time.

The solution back then would have been to borrow a clean Vista DVD and format install. It will activate with your license. Instead your bloatware-ruined Vista was a timebomb ready to explode with an in-place Upgrade of Win7, as it has.

Doing the needed clean install now with Win7 is not too late, it is the beginning.

Exactly right - the NV52 should be able to run Win7 no problem, even my Netbook can manage it with fine. You need a clean install to get rid of all the crapware that Gateway have put on it. Just uninstalling the programs will leave even more of a mess.

I think I did get rid of a lot of it and have defragged and optimized as well everything else I can think of. My biggest issue is like on Youtube or Break or any vidoe site for that matter that the video is choppy and lags alot. My Internet is hardwired and 25MBPS so I think it is just the drivers IDK, my XP machine wireless internet does much better.

Another option might be to burn a Linux liveCD and boot off of that .. that would show you if the machine is OK or not.

Have a look at the latest Mint release .. Main Page - Linux Mint ..
or the latest Ubuntu .. Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu

Thanks for the Input!

I appreciate you enthusiasm and you seem to be right on many levels but you left out one VERY important yet glaring detail. You my friend are far right of the knowledge curve when it comes to computers. I however am the average user, the millions of people who were told BY A COMMERCIAL THAT GUARANTEED EASE OF ACCESS TO WINDOWS 7, JUST UPGRADE IT IS EASY, NO ISSUES!!!!!!!!!! No less here I am with many issues and a simple search of this site will show countless people with similar issues.

It should not be this hard nor complicated on brand new software for the average user, it just shouldn't and you know it. Apple has none of these issues, NONE, they just work and work right.


Now with that said and to end arguing I will copy your text and try to get started, my biggest issue would be swapping out the hard drive, I can do it physically but how do I get the basic stuff over? It really is beyond me and again I am the AVERAGE COMPUTER USER, I AM THE MASS MARKET, Apple, gets it, Mircorsoft does not.


Again thank you for your post, very ineligent and thorough but I Shouldn't have to do any of that.

madmanjohn said:

I saw this and had to post- I own a computer shop and we specialize in computers for the theaterical and entertainment industry that run lighting, sound and video equipment for everything from bars and nightclubs to jumbotrons for major sports arenas.

Right now I have 2 nv52's thats are the best laptops for the money ive seen in over 10 years of being in this business. heres a few tips.

1st of all- anyone that migrates from vista to windows 7 is already starting out wrong. since theres no politically correct way to speak of vista without the word cluster in it somewhere and since im a lic MSDN rep. i figured i would explain why.

first of all NEVER delete bloatware- use a smart uninstaller found in some software such as Yamicsoft xp-vista-win7 manager to remove unwanted programs, ensuring you get all the pieces left behind, old dll's, folders, and registry entries.

Vista had more layers of hidden folders than any other operating system and more sub levels of security and program folders in the "user" folders that served various purposes for no real good reason.

truth of the matter is- the only stuff that shows up in the windows "old" folder after a migrate is the remaining stuff windows allows you to see. theres about 20gb of garbage that will come with it and the only thing it will do is make windows indexing work overtime.= and confuse the already confused software and the user trying to run it.

a fully installed version of 7 with ms office 2007 on a drive in a nv52 with hibernation, and system restore disabled with all the updates takes less than 14gb of drive space, i know this cause i have set up and sold 5 and own 2.

heres the tips for getting the most out of an nv52 and ive tried several things that did not work.

1. before you change the drive or start installing 7, go to the gateway website and download and install the latest bios version- this is important since there were several changes- your not going to see any changes on the screen, but there were several functionality changes. it makes a difference.

2. scrap the 320gb 5400rpm drive and start with a 500gb 7200rpm drive. ( this is the single, best cost-efficient upgrade you can do for ANY computer- in my world- 5400rpm or lower drives simply do not exist)the stock drive in this computer is a seagate momentus 5400.5 which i believe but do not quote me with a 2mb onboard cache. the first thing we do here with any new laptop is upgrade any hard drive to a 7200 if possible. the seagate 7200 rpm 500gb drive- sorry no model # handy, is the single fastest motorized notebook drive in existence at this time and also sports a 8mb onboard cache. rumor has it they also have a version with a 16mb onboard cache out soon if not already.

3. install windows 7 (preferably 64 bit- this rig comes stock with 4gb ram) and let it get all the microsoft drivers it can except for ethernet and wireless- you will see that you will not get a chipset driver- this rig is native ahci and the latest ahci drivers are already built into windows 7. however it will grab thier version of the ati video driver, which dows not matter- it will upgrade clean later on.

4. go to microsoft downloads and install the Direct x end-user update. this is critical as the the nv52 uses the rs780 northbridge and sb700 southbridge and this will update all the 3d engines within the operating system, which is mission critical to video work of any kind. its critical to update the onboard dx BEFORE YOU INSTALL THE VIDEO AND AUDIO DRIVERS. these drivers run on the dx engine.

5. go to the ati driversite and install ALL the listed drivers for the rs780-sb700 series-
heres your link for 32 bit win 7.
Drivers & Support | GAME.AMD.COM

6. NOW go to gateway support and install every windows 7 driver there EXCEPT THE VIDEO DRIVERS. YOU WILL HAVE TO DO THIS EVEN IF YOU DO A MIGRATION FROM XP OR VISTA.

7. install the rest of your software and have fun.

8. right click on screen, go to "personalize/screen saver/power options" and select the HIGH PERFORMANCE option in the power options. this is in the dropdown located on the lower right. and let it run full up on wall power and configure the battery power accordingly to your uses. this will allow you full cpu and chipset power at all times.

this unit only seems to be able to run about an hour and a half on battery power. sorry

at this point, this computer should keep up with any 4gb dual core desktop made- in its cpu class. if you do not follow this religiously it will not. the biggest mistake most people make when installing an operating system is not knowing what order to install stuff in or where to look. the second biggest mistake is believeing 90% of the crap you see online thats says things like "you have 10 zillion bad registry entries" or even better- " get the latest driver updates for your computer-click here" if this is how you install an os then theres your trouble. not getting all the proper windows updates does not help and only the serious gamers know about the DX engine. its not the most well covered subject in microsoft history. (but then again what is?)

do yourself a favor- learn how to do this right and stop crying when things dont go right. start here if all else fails. download astra 32 ASTRA32 - Advanced System Information Tool

run it and find out exactly what the hell hardware is in the box- THEN GO BACK TO THAT MANUFACTURERS SITE and get their most recent driver for windows 7. if you still have an issue then go to the COMPUTER manufacturers site and get THEIR most updated drivers. if you still have an issue then call the manufacturer and beat your head against the wall for a while, or dive deeper and find out why.WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS READ READ READ! and NEVER NEVER NEVER TRUST A "DRIVER DETECTIVE" OR ANY SUCH DEVICE IF YOU CAN HELP IT- THE INFORMATION IS EASILY ACCESSIBLE-LEARN HOW TO USE IT. even the driver detectors and "smart scan"s at most chipset manufacturers fail sometimes, usually more often than not.


in the case of the nv52, the ethernet and audio are conexant and the chipset is all amd / ati- those are the most critical- it could have any one of 2 different webcams and three different touchpads, the alps or synaptics and any one of 5 different wireless modems. INSTALLING THE WRONG DRIVER WILL NOT HURT ANYTHING- it merely just wont run the device- then move on to the next one till you get the right one. when you find it use a clean uninstaller to remove the others.

the ONLY issue i have run into with the nv52, is the power from the usb ports and the audio. and i know its not just one unit, all 5 ive encountered have the same problem.

first of all conexant analog audio sucks and realtek aint no better. i wish someone would of used a high quality audio decoder such as cmedia instead but that would of made it cost more.

the usb ports lack enough current to effectively power a good outboard usb audio source- however the HDMI audio is pretty good, depending on how you will use your laptop.

most of what i wrote here applies to ANY CLEAN INSTALL OF WINDOWS 7. if your running any other windows operating system the same rules apply, merely substitute your OS and computer manufacturer in place of win 7 and gateway, except of course that vista still sucks badly and always will. that unfortunately will never change.

good luck- any problems feel free to pm me.

EDIT- One more thing i forgot to mention-NEVER UNINSTALL NORTON ANYTHING WITHOUT DOWNLOADING THEIR OWN UNINSTALLER TOOL- YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO REBOOT AND YOU WILL DEFINITELY CORRUPT EXISTING WINDOWS SYSTEM FILES IF YOU DO- THATS A PROVEN FACT.

[QUOTE=madmanjohn;447991]

first of all NEVER delete bloatware- use a smart uninstaller found in some software such as Yamicsoft xp-vista-win7 manager to remove unwanted programs, ensuring you get all the pieces left behind, old dll's, folders, and registry entries.[quote]
Most 'smart uninstallers' are bloatware trash themselves - best option when you buy a new computer is to wipe it and install a fresh virgin copy of the OS

madmanjohn said:

2. scrap the 320gb 5400rpm drive and start with a 500gb 7200rpm drive. ( this is the single, best cost-efficient upgrade you can do for ANY computer... the first thing we do here with any new laptop is upgrade any hard drive to a 7200 if possible.

That's also an excellent way to kill your battery life - there's a good reason why even high-end laptop manufacturers have shied away from 7200rpm drives, the increased power draw simply isn't worth it for a device that runs on batteries.

madmanjohn said:

this unit only seems to be able to run about an hour and a half on battery power. sorry

Hmm, I wonder why

madmanjohn said:

4. go to microsoft downloads and install the Direct x end-user update. this is critical as the the nv52 uses the rs780 northbridge and sb700 southbridge and this will update all the 3d engines within the operating system, which is mission critical to video work of any kind. its critical to update the onboard dx BEFORE YOU INSTALL THE VIDEO AND AUDIO DRIVERS. these drivers run on the dx engine.

Dear oh dear - this is such nonsense, in so many ways. Graphics drivers do not 'run on the dx engine', nor does the southbridge or northbridge require or care about directx. Besides, the directx end-user update available from microsoft does not have a more recent version than that shipped with Windows 7.

My computer REALLY slows down when uploading pics to facebook and for some reason Itunes slows it way down.

Windows7inMiami said:

for some reason Itunes slows it way down.

The reason being that iTunes is a bloated piece of crapware.

At least turn off the Crappleware in msconfig Startup listings (Quicktime, etc).

Anything other than MS listings and your AV in the msconfig Startup list is a freeloader on your RAM at all times, instead of when you click on them which is when most should run.