Slow Running Windows 7 Computer

[hlewton]

Something weird is happening to my Win 7 professional machine and it just recently started happening. It is running extremely slow at times and those times are, so far, upon first booting it up. If I restart then it seems to be running normally and I have no clue as to why.

Here is what has happened so far. Upon first booting after the computer has been off for a few hours programs like Outlook take a lot longer to open. The CCleaner program that normally runs in 1.8 to 8 seconds takes over 8 minutes to complete. After letting it complete all programs then ran fast as they usually do without rebooting. I have run a full scan with Windows essentials anti-virus program. I have run Malawarebytes and Spybot. None of these programs find any viruses. I have done a "chkdsk /r" and still have no idea what could be causing this slow down. I have checked all start up programs using Autostart program viewer and do not see anything I would be comfortable removing.

The fellow who builds my computers suggested I remove the last MS update to see if that made any difference and it didn’t so I reinstalled it.

Any ideas what I could look for and do to make this computer run as it should on the first boot up of it in the mornings?

Thanks

[HansV]

Have you checked the Processes tab of the Task Manager to see if there are processes that use a lot of CPU power? Make sure that you click "Show processes from all users". You can sort the list by CPU usage.

[Rudi]

It it is recent, and the mystery remains...go back to a previous restore point.

[hlewton]

Have you checked the Processes tab of the Task Manager to see if there are processes that use a lot of CPU power? Make sure that you click "Show processes from all users". You can sort the list by CPU usage.

Thanks I will check that out the next time it happens.

[hlewton]

It it is recent, and the mystery remains...go back to a previous restore point.

I thought of that and may have to give it a try. The only problem is I am not sure exactly when this started happening.

[viking33]

It it is recent, and the mystery remains...go back to a previous restore point.

I thought of that and may have to give it a try. The only problem is I am not sure exactly when this started happening.

Set a new Restore Point. Reboot, then go back to Restore Points and check the list of possible points that may be near where the slowdown occurred.
Do the restore to one of them, if still the same you can either pick another point or go back the point you just created. Try and buy other points, hope you hit it correctly. You always have the option to return.

[hlewton]

It it is recent, and the mystery remains...go back to a previous restore point.

I thought of that and may have to give it a try. The only problem is I am not sure exactly when this started happening.

Good suggestion. Thanks.

[hlewton]

After turning on the computer I checked the CPU usage and in my opinion it was nil. It looked similar yesterday when I checked it while the machine was running "correctly" or at least running and responding very fast as I am used to, except for a few percentage points in the CPU usage. So I tried programs again and Outlook opened very slowly. I closed it and opened and ran CCleaner. Again it ran very, very slowly, over 8 minutes to complete again. While CCleanes was running I once more checked the CPU usage and it still was not showing anything I'd say was out of the normal. There were no CPU usages using up a lot of the CPU. The largest one was System Idle Process at 87 and the next highest was IAStorDataMgrSvc.exe*32 at 12. 70 some processes running most all of them at 0 CPU usage including CCleaner and a total of only 9 to 11 % usage listed at the bottom of that Task Manager window with 25% Physical memory listed as well and this was all while CCleaner was slowly running. Again after almost 9 minutes when CCleaner completed running the computer ran fast again as it always used to. In case it is important when I checked the CPU usage yesterday after the machine was running correctly and after CCleaner had completed its CUP usage ranged from 2 to around 7 % and 24% physical memory so I am assuming running CCleaner did account for the differences I saw but don't think those differences are unreasonable. But I must ask, are they unreasonable? It may also be important to note that before I ran CCleaner today the CPU usage and Physical memory numbers were almost the same as when CCleaner was running. And even now as I am typing this the CPU usage is around 13% and goes as low as 4% but the computer is running fine. I'm confused but I hope someone here isn't.

I understand about using past restore points and I checked I have some that date back to Mar. 3, 2015 and they are all listed as "Critical Updates." If I restore the computer to these points one at a time it will take 12 days unless there are any suggestions on how to speed up this process. It seems that after I make any change, even if it is just rebooting, the machine works fine until it sits in the off position over night. By that I mean the machine is shut off. So I am wondering why this would be and if there is anything I can do to make the machine act up and run slowly immediately after any restore point is used. Is it possible to fool it into thinking it has been powered off for more than a few hours? I did let it stay off for about 2 hours but apparently that wasn't enough to make it run slowly.

[HansV]

If the slowness only occurs when you run CCleaner, I wouldn't worry about it. Go and make a cup of coffee or tea while it's churning away.

[hlewton]

If the slowness only occurs when you run CCleaner, I wouldn't worry about it. Go and make a cup of coffee or tea while it's churning away.

LOL Unfortunately that isn't the case. Outlook and a couple other programs that I have tried also open more slowly but I can't honestly say I am sure once they are open that they run slower. I am going to have to take note of that and see what actually happens once they are open.

I am trying a couple more things as we speak. I created a rescue disk from an anti-virus company and ran it in the safe mode. It did find and eliminate 1 risk. Not sure what it was. As we speak I am also running in the safe mode a full virus scan with MS Essentials that is installed on the machine. I will run Malawarebytes and Spybot's Search and Destroy while still in the safe mode and see if any of this helps.

[hlewton]

I’d like to understand this but I don’t. Once I tell all it may seem like a virus threat was the culprit but even though I failed to note what threat it was I have my doubts about it being the cause of my original problem. If there are any thoughts I’d sure like to hear them.

I have no way of explaining this but over the years I have used computers I have solved a few problems just by making the computer boot to the safe mode and then immediately making it reboot normally. Unfortunately that is not the steps I took this time. I booted to the safe mode, ran a rescue disk created by a Vipre anti-virus program which is not the anti-virus program this computer is running. It is MS Security Essentials and was installed by the builder. Before doing the safe mode I had run a full scan with MS Security Essentials, Malawarebytes, and Search and Destroy and they all found no viruses or threats. After running the Vipre rescue in the safe mode and it removing 1 threat I also ran MS Security Essentials, Malawarebytes, and Search and Destroy again while still in the safe mode. Again they found nothing.

I rebooted normally and everything ran fine as I kind of knew it would since it was an immediate reboot. So I turned the machine off and have tested it the last two days after it was off all night. The problem always seemed to occur upon the first boot up in the morning after being off all night but the last two days of testing seems to indicate that something I did in the above paragraph may have corrected the problem. I only wish I had taken it one step at a time because I do like answers especially when getting desired results.

So seeing how I didn’t take it one step at a time and knowing over the years booting to the Safe Mode has, in itself, solved a few problems for me I don’t know if that was the solution or if the one threat that Vipre Rescue removed could have been the problem. In any case I am keeping my fingers crossed that the problem is solved permanently.

Again, any thoughts would be appreciated.

[HansV]

I'm afraid it's impossible - for me at least - to know what really caused the problem and what solved it. Sorry!

[hlewton]

I'm afraid it's impossible - for me at least - to know what really caused the problem and what solved it. Sorry!

Just curious, have you experienced what I mentioned about solving some problems just by booting to the Safe Mode and doing nothing else except then booting normally?

[HansV]

No, I've never used that method...

[hlewton]

OK, thanks Hans.

[Rudi]

Glad it is resolved.

Re. your experience with the steps you took to resolve it... I suggest that if you run into other issues that need solving in the future, do the following:
- Plan your troubleshooting; esp. if you have multiple solution "theories"
- Then apply each theory individually to see if it resolves the issue (remember to reboot after each theory if needed)
- Document the working theory for future reference

[hlewton]

Glad it is resolved.

Re. your experience with the steps you took to resolve it... I suggest that if you run into other issues that need solving in the future, do the following:
- Plan your troubleshooting; esp. if you have multiple solution "theories"
- Then apply each theory individually to see if it resolves the issue (remember to reboot after each theory if needed)
- Document the working theory for future reference

Thanks Rudi I usually do just that but since in this case I had to wait over night to really test out any results since even just a restart seemed to clear the problem I just did a few steps together. I guess I could have taken an extra day to try to solve it by only booting to the Safe Mode and exiting it without doing anything else but I just got impatient and was concerned that I may have to try all the restore points (12 of them) individually and I really didn't want to do that. I know I conscientiously made the decision to do the multiple steps knowing if anything actually worked I wouldn't be able to put a finger on it but went ahead anyway with little confidence that the problem would actually be fixed. I'm still hoping what I have seen the last two mornings will continue.

[PJ_in_FL]

The speed of the hard drives can change the speed of the computer significantly.

Your description doesn't include what storage systems you use (rotating media, SSD, etc.), but if you are still using rotating media, then running a SMART utility may tell you if you have a drive that's starting to have problems.

[hlewton]

The speed of the hard drives can change the speed of the computer significantly.

Your description doesn't include what storage systems you use (rotating media, SSD, etc.), but if you are still using rotating media, then running a SMART utility may tell you if you have a drive that's starting to have problems.

Thanks for that thought but I certainly hope not since it is not even a year old yet. I'm not familiar with what a SMART utility means but I may run it by the fellow who builds computers for me. He can attach remotely and maybe check that out if I get the problem again.

[hlewton]

Well I wanted to revisit this because the computer still runs slow and it's not just Ccleaner that runs slowly. I have checked the CPU usage using the Task Manager when it is running slow and it shows nothing out of the ordinary as far as I can tell. The strange thing, and what I to mention again, is that if after the original boot up in the morning if I immediately reboot the machine everything runs super fast as it always did before this problem occurred. Any thoughts on why a reboot would make the computer run as it should? What could a reboot accomplish that the original boot up does not?

Thanks.