Software killing the hardware

[sunsetlover]

It's become a past-time watching the task manager religiously, especially with Win 7. Processes sometimes go amok, a svchost.exe just took 60% of my CPU and then disappeared. My chrome.exe processes range from 5% to 50% of CPU, depending on any given instant (usually courtesy of Yahoo ads).

My hard disk is already clicking sometimes, the fan is overworking, and I've used this laptop a grand total of less than 6 months.

It used to be that a computer was not "old" before 4-5 yrs had passed. Now one has to back up from Day 1.

any comments are welcome.

 

[Wenda]

It's become a past-time watching the task manager religiously, especially with Win 7. Processes sometimes go amok, a svchost.exe just took 60% of my CPU and then disappeared. My chrome.exe processes range from 5% to 50% of CPU, depending on any given instant (usually courtesy of Yahoo ads).

My hard disk is already clicking sometimes, the fan is overworking, and I've used this laptop a grand total of less than 6 months.

It used to be that a computer was not "old" before 4-5 yrs had passed. Now one has to back up from Day 1.

any comments are welcome.

Well, in my experience, it's been the other way around. Back in the 'nineties, machines would become obsolescent virtually overnight, and obsolete within six months. Now, I only buy/build a new machine every 3-5 years.

As for your task-manager-watching, what are your system specs? You can enter them into your profile, they'll then appear at the bottom of your posts, so you don't need to keep telling people if they are trying to help you with any issues.

Reason I ask, is because there's almost nothing that will even get this i7-2670QM quad-core with its 8 GB of
RAM to raise itself above 'idle-speed.


Wenda.

 

[FaberTech]

Two things that sound familiar to me are overworking fans indicate overheating which can cause hard disk failure. a clicking hard disk is a bad sign so i would back up your data immediately. but first get a can of compressed air and blow out all the vents in your laptop (if its a desktop open it up and do the same). then send your computer to the factory for replacement / repair. the more you run your system, the less likely you will be able to recover your data intact.

 

[gregrocker]

Are you using the corrupt factory preinstalled Win7 which no tech enthusiast would consider running? If so I'd suggest you shed the bloatware and duplicate utilties that interfere with Win7 to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 . Everything you need is in the blue link so read it carefully.

 

[sunsetlover]

Thank you all. Sorry I just saw your posts.

A lot of great info here, I'll get to some of these soon. In the meantime I'm backing up

Gregrocker, that's a great post. Yes I'm using the preinstalled Win 7, but I've eliminated almost all the HP bloatware. I go to msconfig and services.msc very frequently.

You mention about Google, I am using Chrome, and I stay signed in. Other than Gmail I'm not using any other apps I can think of right now.

I should mention that I also run SuperAntispyware and Malwarebytes once every couple of weeks.

For me the problem comes with browsing, certain sites "trigger" this overheating and clicking, such as, speedtest.net, Yahoo Finance, or even Yahoo Mail.

My main specs are: Presario notebook, AMD Athlon II P360 dual core, 4 GB RAM....yes a starter one, but should be able to handle browsing and simple tasks.

 

[Britton30]

If your laptop is still under warranty return it before it expires. As was said a clicking drive is a sign of impending failure. Use the machine on a hard surface so air can be drawn in through the vents.

 

[gregrocker]

You can also determine with certainty the condition of the HD by running the maker's HD Diagnostic
extended CD scan, followed by Disk Check.

My point was that you have the worst possible install of Win7 regardless if you Clean Up Factory Bloatware. So I would consider doing a perfect reinstall.