Slow due to hard drive?

[metaguy]

Dell E6420 laptop | 64 bit | Intel i5-2520M CPU 2.50 GHz | 8 GB RAM | Win 7 Ultimate
On boot system is fast, but over time it slows especially opening apps. UPC usage is rarely over 40%, Memory rarely over 5 of 8 GB. Virtual memory 8000 to 12200 MB. Admittedly I have lots of startups - 11, but this has not affected speed in the past. Could the hard drive at 80% full be the problem?

 

[Megahertz07]

Yes, It can be a disk problem.
Schedule a check disk.
Open a cmd window and type chkdsk c: /f
It will say that the disk is in use and if you want to schedule to next boot = yes.

My wife's computer was getting slow on opening some data. Disk check found no errors but SMART fond some problems. I've replaced the HDD and it's normal again.
Downloading File /69241/CrystalDiskInfo7_6_1.zip - CrystalDiskInfo - OSDN

 

[metaguy]

I did run chkdsk on the reboot, but it gave no info as it didn't have the /f. I also ran it using the Tweaking app. See attachment.
Also, I'm not sure what the link you listed is for. Thanks.

 

[Megahertz07]

Check disk mainly looks for logical (software) problems, not physical (hardware).
Schedule a check disk.
Open a cmd window and type chkdsk c: /f
It will say that the disk is in use and if you want to schedule to next boot = yes.

Crystaldisk info shows the SMART of the disk (physical). It doesn't need to install. Just run it.

 

[metaguy]

As I stated before, I did run chkdsk on reboot but it did not show results. Attached is chkdsk from Bitdefender which states:
Usn Journal verification completed.
The master file table's (MFT) BITMAP attribute is incorrect.
The Volume Bitmap is incorrect.
Windows found problems with the file system.
Run CHKDSK with the /F (fix) option to correct these.


Also attached is from Crystaldisk. Don't know what it means.

 

[Megahertz07]

You're NOT following my instructions:
- Don't know how you ran check disk, but you did without the /f that is to FIX the problems.
- I gave you a link of a Crystal disk info and you post an image of Crystal disk Mark. Where did you get it?

Carefully read and do the instructions of post#2

 

[metaguy]

Megahertz07 - I appreciate your frustration with me, however I believe I have followed your instructions. Again I followed them. Only difference this time is I did the reboot to Safe mode. The scan completed and at the end there was a quick screen flash about system being clean, BUT I can not find a log. There is a file in prefetch- but can't open a .pf file. Also have the correct CrystalDiskInfo report. (see attachments). Thanks for staying with me.

 

[Megahertz07]

SMART doesn't report any problem.

Follow these steps to view the Check Disk (CHKDSK) results:

Open the Control Panel
Open Administrative Tools
Select Event Viewer.
In the Event Viewer expand the Windows Logs
Select the Application log.
Right Click the Application log and select Find
Type wininit in the box and click Find Next
In the middle pane click the Source/wininit line that is found.
In the south pane, you will see the complete log for the latest Check Disk (CHKDSK).

 

[metaguy]

All looks good.
Checking file system on C: The type of the file system is NTFS. Volume label is Windows. A disk check has been scheduled. Windows will now check the disk. CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)... 429824 file records processed. File verification completed. 1460 large file records processed. 0 bad file records processed. 2 EA records processed. 60 reparse records processed. CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)... 497040 index entries processed. Index verification completed. 0 unindexed files scanned. 0 unindexed files recovered. CHKDSK is verifying security descriptors (stage 3 of 3)... 429824 file SDs/SIDs processed. Cleaning up 15 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9. Cleaning up 15 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9. Cleaning up 15 unused security descriptors. Security descriptor verification completed. 33609 data files processed. CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal... 40565152 USN bytes processed. Usn Journal verification completed. Windows has checked the file system and found no problems. 300310871 KB total disk space. 258931056 KB in 267515 files. 148444 KB in 33610 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 550303 KB in use by the system. 65536 KB occupied by the log file. 40681068 KB available on disk. 4096 bytes in each allocation unit. 75077717 total allocation units on disk. 10170267 allocation units available on disk. Internal Info: 00 8f 06 00 4e 98 04 00 de 42 08 00 00 00 00 00 ....N....B...... 11 0c 00 00 3c 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....<........... 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................ Windows has finished checking your disk. Please wait while your computer restarts.



I'll watch pc for slowness and write back if needed. Thank you so much. I've learned a great deal from you. gw

 

[Megahertz07]

Check disk is OK (logical) and also SMART (hardware) is OK. So we can assume it's not a disk problem.

You said you feel it is slowing down.
What makes you feel it? (startup, opening programs)
Open Windows update page and Check for updates. Does it run forever?

 

[metaguy]

It usually slows down after being on for a fair amount of time. Right now 13 1/2 hr. and all okay. It's usually seen on opening programs - easy ones like solitaire or hearts - but right now it's ok. If this happens again should I start a new ticket?
Updates are good. Do you know of a way other than hiding to stop the 30+ language updates?

 

[Megahertz07]

Asked about WU because:
- Win updates runs at every start.
- There was an update that prevented WU to run properly and WU began to search forever slowing down the computer.
- Turn off recommended updates. There is a lot of trash and spyware.

On my computer, under services, WU is manual and on WU page is set to never check. I now install the monthly security only update.
MS releases SP2 for Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums

 

[metaguy]

Thanks for the advice. The email v ersion of your response did not include : MS releases SP2 for Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums FYI - When I clicked on it (online) it took me to your site: Attention: metaguy

Before starting a new thread please read and follow the instructions below.

• For Windows genuine and activation problems - Windows Genuine and Activation Issue Posting Instructions
• For Windows Update problems - Windows Update Posting Instructions

Please remember to start your own thread - Do not hijack somebody else's!!!

 

[Megahertz07]

Can you please explain your last post?