Windows 7 Speed & Performance Harshly Fell

[ishmael9100]

Hey everyone. While using my PC today Windows 7's performance and speed harshly fell for no reason what so ever. I wasn't downloading anything, running any scans, defragmenting, nothing. It was just normal use of the Internet and sorting out my Media Libraries. Another thing I have noticed is that some features are not working for example, you know when you minimize a Window you usually see the Window drop onto the taskbar? That doesnt happen for me. It just disappears. Also, you know when you open a program and it fades in from the background? That doesn't happen either. Whats happening? Have any ideas what could be wrong? And sorry I made this post so long. Thanks!!

 

[Petey7]

What AV program do you use? It sounds like something got past it. I recommend downloading the free version of MalwareBytes (MBAM). After you get it installed, up date it (which might take a while), then do a quick scan. MBAM is usually good at finding stuff that slips past other AVs.

 

[JMH]

Hey everyone. While using my PC today Windows 7's performance and speed harshly fell for no reason what so ever. I wasn't downloading anything, running any scans, defragmenting, nothing. It was just normal use of the Internet and sorting out my Media Libraries. Another thing I have noticed is that some features are not working for example, you know when you minimize a Window you usually see the Window drop onto the taskbar? That doesnt happen for me. It just disappears. Also, you know when you open a program and it fades in from the background? That doesn't happen either. Whats happening? Have any ideas what could be wrong? And sorry I made this post so long. Thanks!!

Ishmael Hi and welcome

It seems like you are having two distinct problems.

First the internet slowdown, and second the window minimize. Lets work on the internet first

Are you running "homegroup" for networking? On some systems homegroup has connectivity issues. It uses a newer IPv6 and some older hardware has intermittent fits with it.

You can test that by creating a net network connection using "workgroup". If it works (and I think it might) you can disable the IPv6 and even remove the "homegroup"


Let us know if you need further assistance with this.

Jan

 

[Solarstarshines]

cntrl alt del go to process and end the program process then try running in administrator that might be a fix but just temporarly

basicly this is a methode i used when i notice a program failed to load because some reason windows had it in the process but it never went through or something else kept it from running but doing that should let you restart the program and use it corectly

 

[ishmael9100]

Thanks for replying! The AV I use is avast! 5. Also, I use SUPERantispyware for spyware. I've tried MBAM before and it wasn't going so well for me. It took a really long time to update. So I didn't bother. I will give it another shot though. Do you recommend any good AV that can be used with avast? Thanks.

 

[Petey7]

Once MBAM updates (which does take a long time the first time around) it is a good on-demand scanner. I scan with it about once a week to make sure nothing got past MSE. I wouldn't recommend using another real-time AV at the same time as avast!.

 

[ishmael9100]

Hey everyone. While using my PC today Windows 7's performance and speed harshly fell for no reason what so ever. I wasn't downloading anything, running any scans, defragmenting, nothing. It was just normal use of the Internet and sorting out my Media Libraries. Another thing I have noticed is that some features are not working for example, you know when you minimize a Window you usually see the Window drop onto the taskbar? That doesnt happen for me. It just disappears. Also, you know when you open a program and it fades in from the background? That doesn't happen either. Whats happening? Have any ideas what could be wrong? And sorry I made this post so long. Thanks!!

Ishmael Hi and welcome

It seems like you are having two distinct problems.

First the internet slowdown, and second the window minimize. Lets work on the internet first

Are you running "homegroup" for networking? On some systems homegroup has connectivity issues. It uses a newer IPv6 and some older hardware has intermittent fits with it.

You can test that by creating a net network connection using "workgroup". If it works (and I think it might) you can disable the IPv6 and even remove the "homegroup"


Let us know if you need further assistance with this.

Jan

I don't use any Homegroups for networking.

 

[ishmael9100]

Once MBAM updates (which does take a long time the first time around) it is a good on-demand scanner. I scan with it about once a week to make sure nothing got past MSE. I wouldn't recommend using another real-time AV at the same time as avast!.

Okay, thanks for the advice! I will give it a shot.

 

[ishmael9100]

Petey7 - Suprisingly, it took less than 10 seconds to download. Should I run a full scan or quick?

 

[Petey7]

Quick scan should be fine. If it doesn't find anything you can try a full scan.

 

[ishmael9100]

Quick scan should be fine. If it doesn't find anything you can try a full scan.

Thanks! One quick question. This may be a really stupid question but please bare with me, how do I mark a thread as "Solved" ?

 

[Petey7]

Click the red triangle in the upper-right corner of one of the post on the thread, write solved and click send. I wouldn't go calling this one solved until we make sure we've found the actually problem.

 

[ishmael9100]

I wasn't going to mark this one as solved yet, I was going to mark one of my previous threads as solved. Thanks for your help

 

[karlsnooks]

Let us know the results of running Malware Bytes and also how long the scan took--this will help us know if your system is corrupted by a version of malware which circumvents malware bytes.

 

[ishmael9100]

Let us know the results of running Malware Bytes and also how long the scan took--this will help us know if your system is corrupted by a version of malware which circumvents malware bytes.

Here is the LOG file:

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.46
www.malwarebytes.org
Database version: 4372
Windows 6.1.7600
Internet Explorer 8.0.7600.16385
30/07/2010 23:14:22
mbam-log-2010-07-30 (23-14-22).txt
Scan type: Full scan (C:\|)
Objects scanned: 329455
Time elapsed: 1 hour(s), 2 minute(s), 18 second(s)
Memory Processes Infected: 0
Memory Modules Infected: 0
Registry Keys Infected: 0
Registry Values Infected: 0
Registry Data Items Infected: 0
Folders Infected: 0
Files Infected: 0
Memory Processes Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Memory Modules Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Registry Keys Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Registry Values Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Registry Data Items Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Folders Infected:
(No malicious items detected)
Files Infected:
(No malicious items detected)



Nothing harmful to my system was detected,

 

[ishmael9100]

And somehow I have noticed a dramatic increase of speed in Windows 7 after the scan. Maybe MBAM scared the little pieces of Malware off my system

Everything seems back to normal at the moment. I will keep you guys updated on whats going on and if it happends again.

 

[Petey7]

Definitely sounds odd. Well, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Let us know in 24-36 hours if things are still running fine. As soon as a problem reappears, feel free to let us know.

 

[gregrocker]

Avast has a boot scan which is actually the deepest scan an AV can do since it is from Boot where infections have no place to hide as they do in a running OS or even Safe Mode.

Let's rule out hardware first: Run memtest86 CD scan for 5-6 passes, then test your HD using maker's full CD diag/repair scan: Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

Next run sfc /scannow to check system file integrity,.

Then check the Event Viewer>Admin view to google repeat errors to solution. In Advanced Tools accessed by clicking through the WEI score at Control Panel>System, check Performance log and Generate a System Health Report.

During these steps, watch closely the performance and report back any changes you notice from normal.

 

[ishmael9100]

Avast has a boot scan which is actually the deepest scan an AV can do since it is from Boot where infections have no place to hide as they do in a running OS or even Safe Mode.

Let's rule out hardware first: Run memtest86 CD scan for 5-6 passes, then test your HD using maker's full CD diag/repair scan: Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.

Next run sfc /scannow to check system file integrity,.

Then check the Event Viewer>Admin view to google repeat errors to solution. In Advanced Tools accessed by clicking through the WEI score at Control Panel>System, check Performance log and Generate a System Health Report.

During these steps, watch closely the performance and report back any changes you notice from normal.

I haven't ran the avast! scan yet but I have ran the memtest86 and it said that there were no errors. I couldn't find any Dell HD diagnostics. sfc.exe didn't do anything and in Advanced Tools, 3 problems were found.

Performance issues

-Drivers are interfering with Windows resuming from sleep mode.
-Programs are interfering with Windows entering sleep mode.
-Performance can be improved by changing visual settings.

Those were the only 3 I found. I clicked on "View performance details in Event Log" and there were lots of "Warnings" and "Errors" and only a few "Criticals" what do I do about those? Everything in the system health report passed. Nothing was wrong except that the Security Center wasn't detecting an active AV when I use avast! What should I do about that? I am going to run the avast! Bootscan and report back what happends.

 

[gregrocker]

You have a Western Digital Hard drive so use Data Lifeguard full CD scan. I use GWScan which is a version of Data Lifeguard that works on almost all models: Gateway Support Drivers & Downloads It unzips to C:Cabs where you can find ISO to burn to CD using ImgBurn.

It appears your Display driver is causing Sleep issues which makes it a strong suspect for other performance issues. Install the latest Win7 display driver from the Dell Support Downloads webpage for your tag number on bottom of laptop. Then test your performance and see if it goes to Sleep and wakes up correctly.

I would also make sure you have the latest chipset and sound drivers for your Dell. Is it an upgrade install from Vista, or did Win7 come with the machine?

Troubleshooting is an intuitive process that becomes clearer as you Google and study each error to understand it more. Start with the Critical errors, then Errors. If you have specific questions, ask back here.