Slow processing

[walkerboh_rumor]

Hello! I've recently started having issues where my computer processes everything super slowly! I have a huge computer, and this just should not happen, so I'm hoping somebody can help tell me why it's doing this.

I'm not sure exactly what information you might need, so I'm attaching what I can think of :help:

[HystericalParoxysm]

The fact that you have a boatload of useless stuff running on startup has a lot to do with it. Probably 70-90% of the processes you have running don't need to be.

Start > Run > type "msconfig" and hit Enter. Switch to the "startup" tab (that's your second screenshot) and uncheck all the stuff like printer crap, Adobe stuff, etc. - if it doesn't absolutely need to be running and is an updater or otherwise something you use rarely, it can just run when needed, rather than all the time.

[walkerboh_rumor]

If I use Adobe daily, will it still be okay to remove it? This just means it won't automatically start when the computer comes on, yes? I'm not sure, other than the items you listed specifically, what is needed and what isn't.

Thank you so much for replying!!

[HystericalParoxysm]

Programs can still run when you need them - you just don't need them on all the time unless you actually use them all the time - for instance, I have mine running Skype automatically because I want it on all the time.

If you can get another screenshot of that panel, with the first column and "command" column expanded out, I can tell you what things can be disabled - it's hard to tell for sure with just parts of the names and not the whole file path.

[walkerboh_rumor]

Thank you so much for all your help. Here is the image. Please let me know if this is what you needed!

[ellacharmed]

Strictly speaking, you only need security (firewall+antivirus) and keyboard/mouse utilities to be loaded on startup.
Plus others that you want to auto-start, of course, like HP's preference for Skype. Even then, the keyboard/mouse utilities are also not necessary if you don't utilize the features of the program included with the keyboard/mouse drivers.

You have a lot of non-essentials in there.
Norton Ghost is a syncing/doing backups on-the-fly? Are you still actively using this application? If some application is indexing or backing up every single change on the PC, that may explain the lags you're reporting.

What about HDD? Amount of Free Space left and % of defragmentation?
I would first uninstall all stuff I don't actively use, then clean up the Startup list. Use CCleaner to clean out temp and Recycle Bin, Registry, etc.
Ensure System Restore is only set to my OS drive and Program Files drive, indexing is turned off if I have a separate tool to do backups or don't do searches in Windows Explorer.
Then defrag.

[walkerboh_rumor]

Hello!

I apologize for taking so long to respond!

My C drive can never be defragmented because it's a non-moving drive (I think it's called a solid-state drive?). My computer was sent to me with a certain backup process already working: I have a C, D, E and F drive; Norton Ghost automatically backs the C drive to my D drive, my D drive to my E Drive and my E drive to my F drive (my employer set it up this way himself).


My drives are as follows:

C: 148 GB total 94 GB used, 54 GB free
D: 931 GB total 59 GB used, 872 GB free
E: 1.81 TB total 139 GB used, 1.68 TB free
F: 1.81 TB total 989 GB used, 903 GB free

[ellacharmed]

Let's clarify something first before I address that Backup methodology: Is this still a workstation used for work, or you've brought it home to be your own Personal Computer? Can we make changes to it, I mean?

If it's now your own Personal Computer for your own personal use, do you need that sort of redundacy or do you want to make use of the HDD space for your data? :)
The amount of used data differs in each drive, so I'm wondering what sort of backup methodology the waterfall effect had - incremental, differential, full, mirror?

And is it setup to run at night during idle time, or each time some changes is made, it triggers that waterfall of backup process immediately in real-time?

[walkerboh_rumor]

This computer is still a workstation, but I am free to make changes as I see fit. I do want to keep a back-up of my C and D drives (although D is a backup for C, it also has other information that I need backed up). The E and F Drives can be reworked (though I am fearful of doing this because of my lack of understanding).

The backups start at 3am each morning.

I'm afraid I don't know how to respond to the incremental, differential, full or mirror issue, because I don't understand them...


Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!! :)

[ellacharmed]

backup methodology
:giggler: Hee, I was reading this page (http://www.backupschedule.net/databackup/databackupmethods.html), from a Google search, to refresh my memory on the methodologies, not that I remembered them off the top of my head or anything.
Only you can decide which methodology best suits your needs. Plus, if you have to be compliant to company's IT and Audit Policies and such, there's that to consider as well. What does your IT dept have to say about this? Or is this a small, BYOE-type (Be Your Own Everything) shop? (I don't mind being my own IT Tech guy, but I hate being my own HR Advocate. :lol: It's hell to negotiate a raise.)

Other than Drive C, are all those Local Drives or Networked to the offsite HDDs/Partitions in the office, which you access remotely? If they are Local, I doubt the usefulness of all those backups while they are still in your PC. :)
If the PC goes haywire or there's a fire (or a Natural disaster like earthquakes, floods, etc), the Local HDD backups are of not much use.
Just doing backups is no use if the recovery process is not tested or even proven by a test drill or something.

backup applications
Norton Ghost has been deprecated since 2009, and no further updates are forthcoming. It also most likely don't support some of Windows 7 features, going by just its age and the period when development for it stopped.
I would suggest using a different backup software. There are lots of freewares and versions with corporate licensing, that I'm sure handle Windows 7 features and multi-threaded, multi-core processors better than Norton Ghost.

Depending on what you want to do, there are
- dedicated mirror-ing backups and sync-ing of files/folders (FreeFileSync, etc)
- image creator and restorers, plus other backup & recovery methods (Easeus, Paragon, Comodo, etc).
Windows 7 itself has a backup/restore feature, though not as robust. I think it lack an incremental/differential backup method, or something. There's a reason why I stopped using the built-in one I believe, but I can't remember.

As usual, not all applications are created equal. Some of them have more robust feature set and more reliable on the backup, but not the recovery (or vice versa). So pros and cons in all. It also depends on which app's GUI you like the best or which proves to troublesome to navigate.

system startup
Have you disabled all or most of the unneeded stuff from the Startup? If in doubt, disable one at a time, reboot and use PC as per normal for a few days. If you don't miss it, then it can stay off. Most need not be started at boot-time, anyway. They'll trigger just fine as and when needed.
Then, repeat the process for all the rest.

If the system cannot boot after disabling anything, boot into Safe mode and reinstate the entry.

[walkerboh_rumor]

Wow... I think I found my problem :">

My backup files were not replacing each other...they were just adding to a HUGE collection! So I went through and deleted all of them except the first of each month (just in case). That cleared up a HUGE amount of space.
I also spoke to my ISP people and they are going to hook me up with a second modem since we have so much stuff on one (PS3, X-Box 360, 3 computers...etc) Hahahaha!

[ellacharmed]

That took care of the space, sure (which is not what you seek help for in any case). But not the lags, though? And the fact that you're still using an outdated program with an overzealous backup schedule...
Plus, what does a second modem got to do with lags on one machine that has 24GB RAM and an SSD? :)