Increase performance W10 without hardware upgrade

stphnstevey

D_M_E wrote: »

Think part of the problem is the N3540 processor which I think is one of the Atom series.

Its an Intel Pentium N3540 (ie Intel Pentium N series), does the Atom series not have "Atom" in front of their name?

It seems to be better than the Intel Celeron processors of the time and the Intel Apollo Lake and Intel Cherry Trail series found in newer cheap machines. It is also Quad Core, which I think was the best at the time

EveryWhere

stphnstevey wrote: »

No need to be sorry, I have already been told I am not clear, so likely me lol

Its not quite that I am not interested in hardware, just I havent had time to do anything about it. I was hoping for any tweaks to speed things up. Its not that it is unbearably slow, just not always able to cope, but thats when I have 10+ tabs, Word, Excel, Windows Explorer and youtube music playing!!, which I realise are probably the reason

Task manager has 1GB for Chrome, although I culled the Chrome Extensions from around 15 to 5, as each extension seemed to use around 250MB according to the Chrome Task Manager. The Great Suspender has been working for me quite well, culls Chrome down to about 600MB and still allows me access to tabs suspended in 3-10 seconds, the longest being Gmail as it reloads

The next memory user used to be Avast (unfortunately cant remember exactly how much it generally used), but now its WD Anti-malware service at around 100MB and Malwarebytes 82MB

The rest all seem to be windows things, a long list but nothing above 30MB and most around a couple MB

I am running at around 60-70% RAM, 4GB

Its a HP G56-106SA XM667EA with Intel Pentium N3540 Quad Core, 1TB HDD, 4GB RAM purchased new in 2011 direct from HP.

I have replaced the screen after it cracked for unknown reason (not abuse as we generally take care of them, maybe overheated in bag after not turned off fully, unsure). No other modifications. That was via following a Youtube video, but I have done some minor other bits with desktops computers, like adding a new HDD drive, but that was luck rather than knowledge!

I am considering seeing if I can replace the DVD drive with the HDD drive and adding a SSD, plus maybe some secondhand RAM

Really? https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c02496905

HP seem to think that it is an AMD Athlon II P320.

that

grumpycrab wrote: »

Blimey, that's clever. Same as chkdsk or c: -> properties -> tools -> check ?

Very different than chkdsk, it gets the SMART status of the disk. If the disk is dying, it often shows up in SMART

stphnstevey

EveryWhere wrote: »

Really? https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c02496905

HP seem to think that it is an AMD Athlon II P320.

Yes, I checked the system settings (can't remember which one) and it listed CPU, RAM, GPU etc

I have struggled to find an example of the same specification online, but after a bit of searching previously and did find one

If you want me to try a setting or command again to confirm, then happy too

that

Start, via keyboard type system information and select it. You should get something like this

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.17134 Build 17134
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name DESKTOP
System Manufacturer SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
System Model 350V5C/351V5C/3540VC/3440VC
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU P09ABE.012.CP
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical

stphnstevey

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.17134 Build 17134
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
System Model HP 15 Notebook PC
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU N3540 @ 2.16GHz, 2159 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Insyde F.21, 16/07/2014
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 57.33
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
BaseBoard Model Not Available
BaseBoard Name Base Board
Platform Role Mobile
Secure Boot State On
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United Kingdom
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.17134.285"
Time Zone GMT Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.89 GB
Available Physical Memory 914 MB
Total Virtual Memory 7.52 GB
Available Virtual Memory 3.93 GB
Page File Space 3.63 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualisation-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and the device is not InstantGo, Un-allowed DMA-capable bus/device(s) detected, Disabled by policy, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualisation Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

EveryWhere

stphnstevey wrote: »

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.17134 Build 17134
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
System Model HP 15 Notebook PC
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU N3540 @ 2.16GHz, 2159 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Insyde F.21, 16/07/2014
SMBIOS Version 2.7
Embedded Controller Version 57.33
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
BaseBoard Model Not Available
BaseBoard Name Base Board
Platform Role Mobile
Secure Boot State On
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.17134.285"
Time Zone GMT Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.89 GB
Available Physical Memory 914 MB
Total Virtual Memory 7.52 GB
Available Virtual Memory 3.93 GB
Page File Space 3.63 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualisation-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and the device is not InstantGo, Un-allowed DMA-capable bus/device(s) detected, Disabled by policy, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualisation Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes

Your SKU is missing; https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c00033108

stphnstevey

K1W79EA#ABU

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-15-r110na-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Graphics-x/dp/B015NATJ2G
http://www.techdna.co.uk/products/HP-15-15%252dr110na.html

Yes, it is Purple :whistle: .......its my wifes!

EveryWhere

stphnstevey wrote: »

K1W79EA#ABU

https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-15-r110na-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Graphics-x/dp/B015NATJ2G
http://www.techdna.co.uk/products/HP-15-15%252dr110na.html

Yes, it is Purple :whistle: .......its my wifes!

Seriously. Stop the procrastination. The laptop is badly in need of a clean install of the OS to SSD and no HP Bloat. Especially if you have upgraded originally from Windows 8.1.

Otherwise the combination of HP bloat, your own bloat and the relatively slow mechanical HDD will contribute to poor performance.

It will take you no more than an hour to fit the drive and clean install Windows 10 to it, regardless of what you think.
What will take more time is perhaps restoring independent programs. But that doesn't need to be done all at once. So your wife can be at least using the laptop an hour later.
You'll need a £5 or so USB 3.0 caddy in which to place the old 1 TB HDD. That way your wife can have access to her data immediately.

EveryWhere

You are also a little behind in BIOS updates;

Current is F.45 Rev.A; https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/HP-15-Notebook-PC-series/7234951/model/7429489/swItemId/ob-214679-1

and there were many in between.

Version: F.44 Rev.A

Fixed in this release: - Provides the updated Intel MCU (Micro Code Update) to improve software compatibility.

Version: F.39 Rev.A

Fixed in this release: - Provides support for Microsoft Windows 10.
- Changes the reserved battery level to 10% capacity. This allows a system that has experienced a Critical Hibernation event to power on after the battery recharges the reserved battery level of at least 10% capacity.

Version: F.37 Rev.A

Fixed in this release: - Fixes an issue where the incorrect battery CT number is displayed in HP Battery Check of HP Support Asssistant.

Version: F.36 Rev.A

Fixed in this release: - Provides improved keyboard response.

Version: F.35 A

Fixed in this release: - Provides improved security of UEFI code and variables. HP strongly recommends promptly transitioning to this updated BIOS version which supersedes all previous releases.

Version: F.33 A

Fixed in this release: - Provides support for additional notebook models.

Version: F.24 A

Fixed in this release: - Fixes an intermittent issue where a DVD in the optical disc drive tray on the system does not run properly.