computer suddenly very slow. cpu usage <10%

[belseat]

My computer was running fine until yesterday. Today it takes over 20 mins to boot up and is too slow to use. I haven't really done anything out of the ordinary.
FYI windows 7 home premium 64bit
4GB RAM
Intel core 2 duo cpu t6600 @ 2.20GHz
Thanks

 

[Maguscreed]

First culprit in sudden slow down is generally malware.
They offer a free version of this tool and it's detection rate is very high.
Malwarebytes : Malwarebytes Anti-Malware removes malware including viruses, spyware, worms and trojans, plus it protects your computer

 

[belseat]

First culprit in sudden slow down is generally malware.
They offer a free version of this tool and it's detection rate is very high.
Malwarebytes : Malwarebytes Anti-Malware removes malware including viruses, spyware, worms and trojans, plus it protects your computer

I haven't checked for malware yet because it's so painful to try and do anything with my computer right now. When it's a malware issue, isn't CPU usage very high? My computer right now is showing next to 0% usage, and I can move the mouse around just fine. It's when I try and actually do something that is the problem. I'm trying to reboot, but it's been about 15 minutes that I've been waiting.

 

[belseat]

I just ran verifier.exe and am trying to reboot. It keeps failing to reboot and trying to reboot again. It gets to the 'starting windows' screen with the glowing windows logo and then rebooting again. HDD issue?

 

[richc46]

Does it boot better in safe mode? If it does we can probably solve the problem rather quickly.
If it does run the anti virus and malwarbytes in safe mode.
If negative, try a clean boot.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

 

[belseat]

now it wont boot up at all. it just goes to the 'starting windows' screen and then reboots itself. can't do a clean boot because i can't get to the start menu.

am i looking at a fried HDD? is there anyway to recover the data from the HDD?

 

[richc46]

This will only work with a software problem
Use Ubuntu Live CD to Backup Files from Your Dead Windows Computer - How-To Geek
Good for Seven, too.

 

[belseat]

i guess i'll have to wait until i have access to a computer with a CD drive. thanks for the help. i'll try this out and report back with news.

 

[belseat]

well, i can't even get it into safe mode boot now.
i push f8 when it's starting up, choose safe mode and then screen goes blank and fan hums along.

 

[gregrocker]

Work through these steps for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot

 

[karlsnooks]

belseat,
Do you have a Win 7 install DVD? Yes/No
Do you have a Win 7 System Repair Disc, made by Win 7? Yes/No

How many of the steps in Greg's tutorial have you managed to complete?

Please list precisely by step number.
Those steps must be performed in the sequence he gives.

 

[belseat]

belseat,
Do you have a Win 7 install DVD? Yes/No
Do you have a Win 7 System Repair Disc, made by Win 7? Yes/No

How many of the steps in Greg's tutorial have you managed to complete?

Please list precisely by step number.
Those steps must be performed in the sequence he gives.

i don't have the install DVD or the repair disc.
about to start going through the list now. will report back with anything remarkable.

thanks again for the help

 

[belseat]

1. First try booting into Safe Mode with Networking to install, update and run a full scan with Malwarebytes.

Same thing happens when i try to boot into safe mode. it shows the list of drivers it's loading and the list stops at "CLASSPNP.SYS"

 

[gregrocker]

Then you'll need to work with the boot disks until it will boot. Continue with the steps.

 

[belseat]

2. If Safe Mode is not working, download, burn to CD or write to flash stick, boot and run a full scan with Windows Defender Offline.

I got Windows Defender Offline loaded up on my USB flash stick. it booted up to do the quick scan. it finished the quick scan in about 12 minutes. no errors.

Then i tried to do a full scan. it got stuck at 50,000 items and about 32minutes time elapsed. the "Time elapsed" counter stopped moving, but the green bar animation kept going.
it was stuck there for about an hour, so i did a hard reset of the computer and now i've restarted the full scan. will update asap.
if it gets stuck again, i won't be able to try the other anti virus CDs as i don't have access to a computer with a CD/DVD drive

Edit: got stuck again at about 32 minutes with 220124 items scanned.

 

[karlsnooks]

sometimes caused by heat problems.
Point a fan at your computer and run the WDO full scan.

If still fails, then test ram:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html?ltr=R

 

[belseat]

sometimes caused by heat problems.
Point a fan at your computer and run the WDO full scan.

If still fails, then test ram:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html?ltr=R

i'm in an air conditioned room, but i tried the fan thing. no change.
running the ram memtest.
finished one pass with no errors. i don't think i'll have time to do all 7 passes. need to leave for the airport in 90 minutes.

what's the next option?

 

[karlsnooks]

I'll wait for your reply after you have run the 7 passes.

 

[gregrocker]

You can let memtest run while you're gone or asleep. The longer the better to stress the RAM.

 

[belseat]

ok. i got back from my trip. i managed to get windows defender offline to run a full scan. nothing found.
i ran memtest overnight. it completed 12 passes. still no luck.

i'm doing this now:
4. Once the System is clean if it won't start boot into System Recovery Options via the F8 menu or disk as shown in tutorial, run Startup Repair repeatedly up to 3 separate times with reboots in between each - no matter what it reports.

5. If you need an installer for your licensed version to boot to run Repairs or possible Clean Reinstall, download the latest official Win7 installer w/SP1 ISO, burn to DVD or write to flash stick using Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool.


i'm Downloading the win7 .iso