Windows had detected your computer is running slow...

[tradervic]

"Your desktop has been changed to basic."

I have contacted Microsoft (at least through a couple of minor sites) which just amounted to a pass around. On one I got a link to a discussion Microsoft's help forum. Mostly it was people finding workarounds and particular triggers that could be avoided. Others could find no particular triggers and all of the posters seemed to have tons of RAM and computing power.

I've read some of the relevant threads on this forum and I get the same impression. There really is just nothing that is to be found that corrects this situation. There is one common denominator. All the users had multiple monitors. I have eight monitors. I use them for online stock trading. I don't use any high speed calculations, and the computer does virtually nothing all day except update pricing info. The CPU usage runs well under 10% and I have 16GB of RAM that usually sits around 5GB.

Under these conditions if I open a couple of browser windows I get a 'Windows has detected your computer is running slow' popup. Then 'You desktop has been changed to Basic'. That's a most annoying thing for Microsoft to do. From reading the Microsoft help forum, reading this forum and searching around I cannot find any solution anywhere. And since Microsoft seems deadest on ignoring the problem and don't provide a fix. This is perplexing. From my reading this problem has been expressed for several years now.

So to end this rant, I suppose I am asking one last time if there exists a solution to this problem somewhere. I wanted to change to Windows 8 but my firmware needs updating. The computer is six months old. I'm not sure if that actually means hardware or if software could update the system. But really I shouldn't have to. It is clear that something needs to be updated and changed in the OS and Microsoft seems to be intent on ignoring it.

Are there any suggestions from anyone here besides not starting certain programs and running your desktop in basic mode?

The best suggestion would be if someone had the ear of Microsoft and you could get them to fix the problem. That would be the solution.

 

[mohavepc]

Might not be a software issue. You said it happens when you open a couple of browsers on your 8 monitors. I am assuming you have a great graphics card but what we don't know is what type, brand wattage is your PSU. I have experienced this issue of going to windows basic with my current pc when I mounted a total of 4 monitors but still had my 600 watt PSU. I haven't upgraded my PSU yet but once I removed 2 of the monitors the problem vanished. Sounds like it is possibly a wattage issue but that's just a hunch.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

tradervic,
Welcome to SF. Please completely fill out your spec's as this is always a good way to have other offer advice. You have 8 monitors.....lol that would be a wall of images and if you do please post some pictures of that. I fact maybe some more details and pictures inside the rig could also help. Heat as well as the PSU are coming to mind.

 

[tradervic]

I have two graphics cards. Both XFX Radeon HD 6870. Power supply is Antec 750. Computer is only six months old.

 

[mohavepc]

8 HD monitors? with a mix of HDMI, DVI and Vid? Personally I would opt for 1000 watt or better. something like this CORSAIR AX1200i 1200W Digital ATX12V v2.31 and EPS 2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS PLATINUM Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply - Newegg.com
Also heat could be an issue, especially on the graphics cards. Is the case a HAF design?
As much info as possible on your system specs within your profile will eliminate many questions including the ones you might feel as dumb.

 

[tradervic]

tradervic,
Welcome to SF. Please completely fill out your spec's as this is always a good way to have other offer advice. You have 8 monitors.....lol that would be a wall of images and if you do please post some pictures of that. I fact maybe some more details and pictures inside the rig could also help. Heat as well as the PSU are coming to mind.

I filled out some more specs. I include some photos. I include the high definition so it would be clearer to see. There are six monitors but I have eight hooked up now. I have also changed the cooling sink on the CPU to one much larger because the noise was just too much. I also replaced the original heat sinks on the two video cards with larger sinks so they would be quieter too. I got the computer from the store and it howled like a banshee.

 

[tradervic]

Insufficient power supply. That's a suggestion that has never come up. Should have probably been the first. How would I check and how would it relate to Microsoft's message?

 

[mohavepc]

A quick check would be to run as is until the message appears then disconnect a monitor or three and retry. If you get down to 4 monitors then it might not be a power issue. A harder and more money fix would be to either have the current PSU tested (many good shops have a PSU tester) or get a larger PSU 1200 watt or the like and see if that solves it. The reason I feel it is power related is if the PSU is not multiple railed with dedicated leads to the Vid cards you can pull the power down to all the other components as the graphics demands increase. (8 monitors+ 2 graphics cards= high demand in my book). You wouldn't think a browser would be a high graphic demand but look a web pages these days. Far cry from the text based browsers of yesteryear. Even this forum is a far cry from a BBS.

The message that your system is running slow could be related to power sapping from other components including memory, Processor and/or Hard drives.

 

[tradervic]

That is a good suggestion. I will definitely check that out. Very good. Thank you very much.

 

[mohavepc]

Your welcome

 

[linnemeyerhere]

Here's pictures of my very similar FX rig. My i7 is shown in my spec's.

 

[mohavepc]

Hey Linnemeyerhere: I see you are running a PSU Ultra X4 modular 1050 watt 80% silver rating & APC 1200 RS
from Seasonic. Hows the Decibel's on that one? Last Seasonic I found sounded like a turbo on a porche.

 

[linnemeyerhere]

The Seasonic is in the FX system pictured above that rig is drop dead silent considering all the fans and cooling just amazing. It was my main build in the Styker case and I placed it all in the Corsair 400 case. The 1050 watt X4 Ultra in in my current primary 3770k i7 desktop, I own 3 Ultra's a X3 650, X4 750 and the X4 1050 they all have worked flawlessly. In a perfect world if I wasn't building on a budget and always hunting for deals I would have all rigs running Seasonic's but Ultra is to my knowledge the only PSU that offers a lifetime warranty but that doesn't mean their the best.........

 

[gregrocker]

Power Supply Calculator

In addition to the hardware experts' advice, I'd definitely trim the visual effects at least to where the changes aren't visible, which is to turn off animations, sliding, fading, dragging intact and selection rectangle, from Optimize Windows 7 - Windows 7 Forums.

The next jump is to turn off Desktop Composition but that reverts to ugly WIn2000 theme which I would not put up with, while turning off Aero doesn't really save resources in the long run. So the edits which give you most savings while being least noticeable visually are listed above.

 

[tradervic]

Good suggestion. I switched off animations and it does seem to help. It's funny though. Sometimes I will get a computer running slow at startup but the computer won't switch to basic. And sometimes I can open a dozen browser windows before getting the message. And sometimes I can just restart Aero then open a few more browsers before Windows reverts to basic. I keep all my regular programs open as well when I am opening the browsers. So generally I'd have to say those settings definitely changed the environment so I have more flexibility before I get the slow computer message.

Thanks. Very helpful. I thought I had tried that before and I didn't notice anything at all. Now I do. Thanks again.

 

[gregrocker]

Not just animations, the others are resource hogs and not noticeable visually if you turn them off too.