What's changed recently in browsers or Windows to slow down my PC?!

[davesev]

I have a Core i7-4800Q CPU on a Dell Latitude E6540, it was almost maxed out in specs and price when I bought it, and has been as fast as any new computer until maybe a month or so ago... now I can't figure out why the frame rate has gotten so consistently low especially when using any browser.

The CPU is anywhere from 0 to 100% though the browser processes seems to be randomly spiking it... did something change in the browsers when it comes to CPU or GPU? Did Google or Intel or Microsoft suddenly turn off support for certain CPUs and GPUs?!

I don't want to have to upgrade my laptop (which is still in really nice condition) just to take a chance that it'll speed up the frame rate when using the browser or whatever... I really hate artificial upgrades if that's what it is.

I'm just not sure what to test or do at this point. I thought about upgrading to Windows 10 but that's still a gamble with drivers etc.

 

[iko22]

Hello davesev
Well, you could try a different browser and see if that delivers a different performance. or delete the browser cookies in your current browser, or check what add-ons the browser has installed. Browser add-ons are known to slow down performance.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

We would all like to think that our computer(s) would stay like we set them up on day one.... but, that's not the way it works.

Windows itself stores thousands of .tmp and .bak files, etc. on your hard drive, and most browsers are even worse. Just like a car, a computer needs regular maintenance. I've programmed my own computer, and the computers of my customers, to perform much of their needed maintenance automatically, on a daily basis.

I recently worked on a friends PC, that was really starting to slow down. I installed and ran "Super Anti Spyware" FREE, and ran a Quick Scan. It found and removed over 16,000 tracking cookies. When was the last time you did anything like that on your PC?

Browsers are really pack-rats...they save everything and never delete anything. It's up to you, to take out the trash. All the trash building up on your HD, make it take longer to load and service your programs. Clean out your History and Cookies on a regular basis. Most browsers will let you program them to delete temp files on exit.

After doing a complete Clean Up and Tune up on a customer's PC, I've heard comments like, "WOW, it didn't run that fast when it was new." (I do use several tweaks that will speed up a PC, especially Laptops.)

I see that you're not proud of your location, but if you're anywhere close to me, in Central FL, I'd be glad to give your little PC a Free Tune Up.

Good Luck,
TM
PS: One very important tool I use to keep my Own PC running like new, is "WinUtilities" (from YLComputing)
I tried the program and liked it so much that I bought it! I run it on my PC(s) at least once a week, usually right before I do a full C: drive backup. I use it to clean up the HD and then the Registry.
A bloated registry can really hurt your PC's performance.

 

[Megahertz07]

Do a cleanup with ccleaner.
Try to set Services - Windows update to manual and never check on WU page.

 

[TechnoMage2016]

Not wanting to ever dispute a "Seven Guru" but.....

Twice, over a several year period, I tried CCleaner, of different versions, and both times it rendered my PC NON-Bootable.
Only a Ghost Backup/Restore saved me.
So I won't let CCleaner anywhere near my PC. NONE of my customers use it either. Twice burned, thrice shy.

Unless a person is a very knowledgeable Windows GURU, CCleaner can be one very dangerous program.

I will use only "WinUtilities" which I know to be 100% SAFE.

Cheers Mates!
TechnoMage

 

[wither 2]

Then there's the Disk Cleanup utility in System Tools which does a nice job if one remembers to check the boxes for Temporary Files and Recycle Bin when it's first used.

Also, most browsers have utilities for cleaning out cookies, temporary internet files, etc.

 

[ShadouFox]

The CPU is anywhere from 0 to 100% though the browser processes seems to be randomly spiking it... did something change in the browsers when it comes to CPU or GPU? Did Google or Intel or Microsoft suddenly turn off support for certain CPUs and GPUs?!

What browsers? I had a similar problem not too long ago. Windows slowed way down. It turned out to be a bad extension for Pale Moon after installing the VCL media player. Pale Moon came back with a diagnostic saying this extension crashed on start-up. Disabling the damn thing didn't help. The only solution was to delete VCL.When VCL went away, so did my Pale Moon and Windows problems.

I don't want to have to upgrade my laptop (which is still in really nice condition) just to take a chance that it'll speed up the frame rate when using the browser or whatever... I really hate artificial upgrades if that's what it is.

I'm just not sure what to test or do at this point. I thought about upgrading to Windows 10 but that's still a gamble with drivers etc.

Did you try rolling back to when it was working correctly? I don't allow automatic updates even though Windows constantly complains, and I always check here to see if the latest updates cause problems before doing a manual install. I also have Avast (not shilling for Avast) clean-up and run that once a week to get rid of bad registry entries and shortcuts, clean out stale log files and such.

Windows-10 isn't an upgrade.

 

[Alejandro85]

The CPU is anywhere from 0 to 100% though the browser processes seems to be randomly spiking it... did something change in the browsers when it comes to CPU or GPU?

Most likely, no, nothing changed in the computer, but in the websites you're using. Since those are completely out of your control, if they change something to be "nicer" but more resource intensive, you'll see the impact if your hardware can no longer handle it.
Another frequent cause of problems are advertisements on web pages, for which an ad-blocker is a must these days. Ads are a common source of slowdonws and also security problems.

About the browser, if you update it frequently (or even worse, you set it to auto update) it can be changed in some way to consume more resources or some new feature has a performance impact. If your browser version is stable, it'll work in the very same way no matter what, an update always has some risk of newer problems, in addition to new features.

Did Google or Intel or Microsoft suddenly turn off support for certain CPUs and GPUs?!

No, and they even can't affect what you do in your computer (once again, unless you install a malicious update). Generally, updates include support for new hardware, but older one is still there (there is no reason at all to remove it). A CPU spike means high workload, not lack of drivers.

I don't want to have to upgrade my laptop (which is still in really nice condition) just to take a chance that it'll speed up the frame rate when using the browser or whatever... I really hate artificial upgrades if that's what it is.

I'm just not sure what to test or do at this point. I thought about upgrading to Windows 10 but that's still a gamble with drivers etc.

Take a look at what software did you update, new software, try another browser, if you've installed any Windows updates or any change like that. And that the webpages you're visiting aren't bloated.
Dowgrading to Windows 10 isn't going to be a big change, if at all, but about drivers, I would bet that you may have an easier time with them instead.

 

[user77777]

Hi davesev . I have often had this sort of thing when some great new feature is added to the AV . It just happened to me now again with my Avast . What is your AV ?
Try disabling it , and even uninstalling it . You can also try booting in Safe Mode , and see if that helps . If so , and it's not the AV , then you would need to just slowly eliminate each Startup Component , until you catch it .

 

[davesev]

The problem is random; just stuff starts running slow, the frame rate drops, the responsiveness is laggy... doesn't seem to have anything to do with the hard drive or internet, it seems to have to do with the video drivers or video hardware.

It's running like new right now (as usual), but the real problem is how difficult it seems to be to just identify what's actually causing the slowdown.

I could try all these tools or throw troubleshooting spaghetti at the wall, but I really need some sort of bloodhound way to start tracking down errors or events showing the problem or a trail to it.

I've tried going through Events and Services but that's difficult for me to navigate as I'm not a Windows tech expert so it takes a while for me to figure out what things mean and what to do next. Maybe that's the right path and I just need some guidance.

If anyone has tried tracking down this kind of thing (with the hint that it's probably video drivers or video hardware), let me know what I can do with what's by default installed in Windows (Event handler? PowerShell? WinUtils? Video driver software?), I'd prefer that over 3rd-party software or blindly trying to fix things.

I can leave detailed specs if you like. In the meantime, since I've seen Intel deprecate drivers for Windows 7 (like my USB 3 functionality), an upgrade to Windows 10 soon make fix everything. I'm ultimately worried I need to replace hardware but I'd like to identify which piece before just trying to replace things.

 

[Snick]

See what's running
Process Monitor - Windows Sysinternals
SysInternals Pro: Understanding Process Monitor

 

[wither 2]

Running DisK Cleanup, as I suggested earlier, especially to remove temporary files, typically helps a lot with the problem you're seeing. Don't know if you tried it. You're using a whole lot of disk space when streaming.

 

[RolandJS]

"..."WinUtilities" (from YLComputing) I tried the program and liked it so much that I bought it!..." TechnoMage2016
I did too, right after I read your post, I like the GUI-ness of the utilities.

 

[Snick]

Running DisK Cleanup, as I suggested earlier, especially to remove temporary files, typically helps a lot with the problem you're seeing. Don't know if you tried it. You're using a whole lot of disk space when streaming.

or
Disk Cleanup Very Low Disk
cleanmgr.exe /VERYLOWDISK
Cleanmgr - Delete Temp files - Windows CMD - SS64.com

 

[NoN]

MSE (Microsoft Security Essential) is known to slow down the system by analyzing files of folders when you open them and softwares you're using too, if you have set the real time protection.

I had recently to uninstall MSE and let "Windows Defender" integrated to Windows 7 (it activates itself when MSE is uninstalled) because i ran onto the same and even more troubles since Windows could'nt log on to system events and crashed with the Anti Malware Telemetry.

Check that maybe if using MSE (uninstall and check then reinstall if you need).

You can't uninstall MSE in Safe Mode and i had to be very patient to have access to Programs and Features

 

[Megahertz07]

Open WU (windows update) page and manually ask to check for updates. Does it run forever?

Did you disabled windows update as I instructed on post # 4?
set Services - Windows update to manual and never check on WU page.

 

[RolandJS]

Within Windows 7, you can leave MSE real protection off and then have Windows Defenders real protection on.

 

[NoN]

Within Windows 7, you can leave MSE real protection off and then have Windows Defenders real protection on.

Yes it can be seen like that...but since having two security softwares is not totally recommended...i also think when MSE is installed it does disabled automatically Windows defender

 

[davesev]

I was playing A Dark Room (JavaScript game) and noticed suddenly the frame rate was like cut in half... and everything is now running slow again. The only thing that seems to fix this is - randomness or a shutdown boot up.

It seems like my multi-core CPU shut off a core or throttled down the cycles, but I'm not seeing how to check that.

I can see this kind of info in CPU-Z for Android, but I'm not sure how to do this in Windows 7.

 

[Megahertz07]

You didn't answer my question:
Did you disabled windows update as I instructed on post # 4?
set Services - Windows update to manual and never check on WU page.