very slow laptop?

rabialiones

i have asus laptop running windows 7
it is very slow and sluggish and constantly installing updates, nearly every time i switch it on , so i have to close down restart and then find it has to update.
any advice greatly appreciated
thanks

GunJack

change windows update settings to Check for but let you install them when you're ready, and install them !!

rabialiones

thanks, i have done that , any other ideas on how to speed it up

Knarf44

Uninstall any programs you no longer or rarely use.

Use Ccleaner to get rid of all the temp files.

Download and install the free version of Malwarebytes, update it then do a full scan. Delete what it finds.

Once you have done that look for a free version of a program called HD Tune, not the Pro version! Use it to scan your hard disk for bad blocks.

How much Ram is installed? When you open Ccleaner it wll show the basic specs of your laptop. Put that information in here.

Ultimately you can try all sorts of tweaks to make it run faster but if the hard disk has no bad blocks it will probably be easier and quicker to do a factory reset and start again. I assume your lapop still has its recovery partition or you made a set of recovery disks when originally prompted?

The only downside is assuming the laptop came with Win 7 SP1 installed there will be between 180 to 200 subsequent updates that will need to be downloaded and installed. Even if you only opt for critical updates there are likely to be well over 100 to make it fully secure.

Jivesinger

rabialiones wrote: »

i have asus laptop running windows 7
it is very slow and sluggish and constantly installing updates

I notice that latest update on my computer, outside the normal monthly patch cycle, is titled 'Update changes the currency symbol of Lithuania from the Lithuanian litas (Lt) to the euro (€) in Windows'.

I can't help thinking I could have risked waiting until next month for that one...

John_Gray

Jivesinger wrote: »

I notice that latest update on my computer, outside the normal monthly patch cycle, is titled 'Update changes the currency symbol of Lithuania from the Lithuanian litas (Lt) to the euro (€) in Windows'.

I can't help thinking I could have risked waiting until next month for that one...

I don't think Microsoft will check which country you happen to be at the moment, and for Lithuanians this will be Very Important!

JCDenton

I like to format my machine every year. It might be something worth looking into? Also while doing this you could replace the stock harddrive with an SSD?

rabialiones

Knarf44 wrote: »

Uninstall any programs you no longer or rarely use.

Use Ccleaner to get rid of all the temp files.

Download and install the free version of Malwarebytes, update it then do a full scan. Delete what it finds.

Once you have done that look for a free version of a program called HD Tune, not the Pro version! Use it to scan your hard disk for bad blocks



How much Ram is installed? When you open Ccleaner it wll show the basic specs of your laptop. Put that information in here.

Ultimately you can try all sorts of tweaks to make it run faster but if the hard disk has no bad blocks it will probably be easier and quicker to do a factory reset and start again. I assume your lapop still has its recovery partition or you made a set of recovery disks when originally prompted?

The only downside is assuming the laptop came with Win 7 SP1 installed there will be between 180 to 200 subsequent updates that will need to be downloaded and installed. Even if you only opt for critical updates there are likely to be well over 100 to make it fully secure.

thanks for your help , i have followed your advice and theres is some improvement
malwarebytes showed some files in red which i got rid of
Hd tune did not find any bad blocks.
however, i am still getting Acmon Error and Unresponsive plugin windows popping up
any idea on how to get rid of these . as these are playing a part in delay , especially the unresponsive plugin

pendragon_arther

JCDenton wrote: »

I like to format my machine every year. It might be something worth looking into?

I totally agree. Backup data and back to factory settings. It'll take about a day which is a lot faster than faffing about troubleshooting and it'll whizz.

rabialiones

just noticed , browsing is faster , but it is taking longer to start up and get onto desktop page

Knarf44

rabialiones wrote: »

thanks for your help , i have followed your advice and theres is some improvement
malwarebytes showed some files in red which i got rid of
Hd tune did not find any bad blocks.
however, i am still getting Acmon Error and Unresponsive plugin windows popping up
any idea on how to get rid of these . as these are playing a part in delay , especially the unresponsive plugin

The Acmon error seems to be a common problem on asus machines and the suggested cure seems to be to reinstall the Splendid video utility from the asus support site. However, I would strongly suggest you do a factory restore as it will revert the laptop back to the day you bought it including all the original drivers and utilities. Assuming you have a fast internet connection you should only take a day to get it updated again.

Obviously, you should save or backup any important data on the laptop first as the recovery will overwrite the existing installation.

Is the original recovery partition still in place? You can check by doing the following:

Click "Start" then in the search box type "Administrative Tools". On the right hand side find "Computer management" and click it to open it. On the left hand side find "Disk management" and click to open it. On my Asus I see 3 partitions under Disk 0, the first called "Healthy (Primary Partition)" at 21.49GB. That' s my factory restore partition. Is yours the same? Close all the windows when you are done.

If it is you are good to go, after saving any important stuff to an external drive or USB pen drive.

The procedure for using the recovery partition is:

Press F9 during Bootup
Press Enter to select Windows Setup
Select Language and click Next
Read the messages and click Next
Select an option and click Next

The options are "Recover Windows to first partition only" This deletes only the first partition (usually C: drive) and creates a new system partition or C: drive.

Or "Recover Windows to entire HD" This option deletes all partitions and creates a new system partition as drive C: (So only one partition).

Or "Recover Windows to entire HD with two partitions". This option deletes all partitions from your HD and creates two new partitions C: (25%) and (75%)

Personally, I would choose the last option, create two new partitions. After choosing follow the onscreen instructions to complete the recovery.

When it has finished and it boots to the desktop for the first time, you'll need to enter your wifi password to connect to the internet. Once you have a connection go to Windows Updates - to start the service and start downloading the numerous updates. It will take some time so you'll need to be patient.

Only after it reports no more critical or important updates should you consider installing other programs eg anti virus, Chrome or Firefox etc. You could use Ninite to do those - see https://ninite.com/