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Windows Vista Laptop running slow

Discussion in 'Legacy Windows' started by PAUL SHILLAM, 2012/09/23.

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  1. 2012/10/03
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    FWIW, the free software program Autrouns will also show you everything that is starting up with Windows.

    I would suggest that you also run Autoruns just to make sure that nothing else is loading on startup.

    After you download the zipped folder for Autoruns on your desktop, right click the zipped folder and click Extract All. After the folder has been extracted open the regular folder. Run the autoruns.exe program by right clicking on it and selecting Run as Administrator. When you open the program click the Logon Tab and then highlight and uncheck the mcagent.exe process and the ScanToPCActivationApp.exe process that is present in the list. You should also uncheck any other entries that look suspicious.

    After thats done, reboot the laptop and see if there is any difference.
     
    Evan Omo,
    #21
  2. 2012/10/03
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Any better if you Replace McAfee with Microsoft Security Essentials, temporarily disable ScanToPCActivationApp.exe and the Sidebar.exe, then reboot?
     
    SpywareDr,
    #22


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  4. 2012/10/04
    PAUL SHILLAM Lifetime Subscription

    PAUL SHILLAM Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    ScanToPCActivation.exe is my HP scanner and I only got it a couple of weeks ago and I had the problems before that.
    I have stopped McAfee from starting, mcagent.exe was part of it and doesn't run now.
    Running 'whats my computer doing' can show nothing running but the CPU meter is going 75% to 95%
     
    PAUL SHILLAM,
    #23
  5. 2012/10/04
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    What does Task Manager show as using it? (Sort by the "CPU Usage" column).
     
    SpywareDr,
    #24
  6. 2012/10/04
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Then there is some program that is causing the CPU usage to increase. As SpywareDr said, task manager should show the process that is using the high CPU usage.
     
    Evan Omo,
    #25
  7. 2012/10/05
    PAUL SHILLAM Lifetime Subscription

    PAUL SHILLAM Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    With the CPU meter showing between 75% and 100% task manerger shows only 3 processes using the CPU.
    tskmgr using 02
    sidebar using 01
    dwn.exe using 02
     
    PAUL SHILLAM,
    #26
  8. 2012/10/05
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    Sounds like there's a problem with "CPU Meter ".

    What does Autoruns show?
     
    SpywareDr,
    #27
  9. 2012/10/05
    PAUL SHILLAM Lifetime Subscription

    PAUL SHILLAM Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    At the bottom of task manger it shows CPU Usage and that reflexs what the CPU meter is showing.
    Just another bit of information, when I run a Broadband speed test on the slow PC it comes back with a download speed of 5.2 mps. On my laptop I get a down load speed of 28 mps.
     
    PAUL SHILLAM,
    #28
  10. 2012/10/06
    PAUL SHILLAM Lifetime Subscription

    PAUL SHILLAM Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    More info', from when switched on from the time you enter your password till the time the laptop is ready to use (when the sidebar appears) is just under four minutes, this is twice as long as it used to be. What is it doing?
     
    PAUL SHILLAM,
    #29
  11. 2012/10/06
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    Can you upload a screenshot of the Autoruns Logon Tab so I can see what other programs are running on startup?

    Also click Start< Run and type msconfig and hit enter. The System Configuration Utility will open. Under Startup selection make sure it is on Normal Startup. When done click on OK. I need you to make that change since Autoruns will not show all running startup programs unless the setting in msconfig is set to Normal Startup.

    Please make that change in msconfig first before opening Autoruns as an administrator and taking that screenshot of the Logon Tab.
     
    Evan Omo,
    #30
  12. 2012/10/07
    PAUL SHILLAM Lifetime Subscription

    PAUL SHILLAM Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    How do I do a screenshot of autoruns?
     
    PAUL SHILLAM,
    #31
  13. 2012/10/07
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    The basic steps:
    1. Press [PrtScr].
    2. Open Paint, press [Ctrl][V].
    3. Press [Ctrl] and save it as a .jpg file.
      [*]Attach that .jpg file to your next response.
     
    SpywareDr,
    #32
  14. 2012/10/07
    PAUL SHILLAM Lifetime Subscription

    PAUL SHILLAM Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Autoruns is more than one page I did a screenshot but when I press Ctrl V it say autostart has stopped responding. I then open microsoft word and managed to get it into there but it does not let you save it as a jpg file. I then saved it as a word document but then could not see how to attach it to this post. Sorry for being so thick.
     
    PAUL SHILLAM,
    #33
  15. 2012/10/07
    Evan Omo

    Evan Omo Computer Support Technician Staff

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    After you take the screenshot, open Microsoft Paint and paste the screenshot there. Then in Paint click File< Save and save it as a .jpg image.

    To upload the image on Windowsbbs, follow these steps:

     
    Evan Omo,
    #34
  16. 2012/10/08
    PAUL SHILLAM Lifetime Subscription

    PAUL SHILLAM Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Sorry but we don't have Microsoft Paint on either of our laptops.
     
    PAUL SHILLAM,
    #35
  17. 2012/10/08
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    In Windows 7, click the Start button, type in mspaint and press [Enter].

    In Windows XP, click Start > Run, type in mspaint and press [Enter].
     
    SpywareDr,
    #36
  18. 2012/10/08
    PAUL SHILLAM Lifetime Subscription

    PAUL SHILLAM Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    Attached is Autoruns.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

    PAUL SHILLAM,
    #37
  19. 2012/10/08
    Arie

    Arie Administrator Administrator Staff

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    Like other have suggested before: Get rid of McAfee and replace it with MSE.

    But I'd do as Stave suggested and start with a fresh install (without McAfee of course)
     
    Arie,
    #38
  20. 2012/10/08
    SpywareDr

    SpywareDr SuperGeek WindowsBBS Team Member

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    I agree, with both MSE and start over.

    Before you do however, which program(s) are using the CPU the most?

    Press [Ctrl][Shift][Esc] to load Task Manager, click the Performance tab, click the Resource Monitor button (at the bottom), scroll to the right until you find the CPU column, click it a couple of times so that the highest usage is at the top, then watch for a bit. Which programs are using the CPU the most?
     
    SpywareDr,
    #39
  21. 2012/10/09
    PAUL SHILLAM Lifetime Subscription

    PAUL SHILLAM Well-Known Member Thread Starter

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    perfmon.exe average CPU 1.5
    dwm.exe 0.9
    sidebar.exe 0.33
    mcshield.exe 0.15


    Earlier in the cleanup process I took McAfee out but it didn't make any difference so I put it back.
     
    PAUL SHILLAM,
    #40
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