Low cpu and RAM usage, but very slow PC!!?

Question

CPU: i7
Memory: 4GB DDR3
HDD: 500GB
VGA: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
OS: Windows 7
The CPU usage of my system is not exceeding 30%, but the system is running very slow, in both wise...running any application, or opening any file!!!
The memory usage is below 2GB most of the time, I have Norton 360, it shows no threats of any kind after several scans, and almost had none but few cookies before. Malwarebytes, Sby-bot, Ad-Aware and several other softwares (All of them have been uninstalled) showed no threat at all!!!
Root-kit scanners and others have been used individually, without showing any threat at all as well!!
System Event viewer showing no error but few that saying....."Yahoo Messenger ...error .....Firefox ...error .....etc." All of these errors are normal since I'm using windows 7.
Bottom line, everything is working perfectly, nothing seems suspicious, CPU idle time is 70% and above, but the system is so bad.
In the case of installing fresh WIndows, updating and installing all the software's that is currently in my system, the system will be running smoothly and perfectly, but after a month or so, it will starts to go down gradually. (all the software's I'm using are normal video & sound players, a couple of games, nothing abnormal).
Temp files and history for the Windows and browsers are totally cleaned. All of the 4 partitions are de-fragmented and cleaned, prefetch files are cleaned as will......all the necessary steps for any maintenance have been done.........but the only question that has to be answered........WHY IS IT SLOW?!?!?!?!?

Answer 1

its due to temporary files in your drive. empty all temp folders and see the magic.

Norton also makes you pc slow

Answer 2

This is a broad question, so forgive me if my answer doesn't specifically address your problem. CPU is the motor for processing instructions on your system. If you request that an application or a driver needs to be loaded at startup an instruction is sent. RAM is very quickly accessed storage area for files, applications, etc. With those simplified explanations of what each does there is a whole host of things that could be going on if you are seeing over usage on either. Can you describe any of the symptoms? You're system configuration should handle most productivity based applications. If you are running high end multimedia or video applications I would consult recommended hardware configurations from the manufacturer. Let me know if you have any details to add to the specific problem and I might be able to offer a specific solution. MO

Answer 3

Cpu Running Slow

Answer 4

If you're using an i7, 30% cpu average usage is way too high; this should be around 5%. Something is going on.



You can use window's Task Manager to see what's running, specially the top hogs for memory and cpu usage (you can sort the list). This will give you clues on who's eating that 30% processor time.



Sometimes, if you have a 64 bit system (typical for windows 7) and use 32 bit programs, they mess things up a bit in terms of performance, specially if they run in the background. Go to start>computer>(right click) properties to check if you have a 64 bit system. Check if your big programs like Norton are the 64 bit versions.



Try disabling Norton 360 and see if it goes faster. I got out of a Symantec product years ago because it was a resource hog, specially if it thinks that something is wrong (that was years ago so I don't know about their current products).



Check this article: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-things-you-can-do-to-boost-pc-performance/2712?tag=content;siu-container.



I also use freeware (try download.com) Glary Utilities, Hijack This and WinPatrol to clean the registry, detect hidden files, check programs that run on startup and others. Careful, these popular programs are small but powerful. I'd back up the registry before I use these. Refer to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756



Good luck!

Answer 5

people in the know will tell you that Norton is too intrusive to have in your PC, it has a tendency to slow your PC down. I would not install Norton any of my PC's, even it were free. Speaking of free, there many free antivirus programs that will do the job for you. I use Avira. other's use AVG. doesn't matter. No anti virus software can guaranty you won't get a virus, so why pay for one.

You should also check your start up list to see how many programs are loading and running in the backround, that don't need to be. shutting them down will speed things up too. and last run defrag on your hard drive.



Personally, I could care less about any points. I just try to do my best in helping people with computer problems and no, I don't profess to be an expert on PC. Maybe you should contact M.I.T., if you want an expert. Sorry to have taken up so much of your personal time.

Answer 6

Hardware things that can make a pc go slow.



1) anything in the standard explorer POLLing loop. Explorer has to do

...a round robin checking all connected devices including anything that

...shows as an icon in my_computer eg cd/hd/mappeddisk/sdcard/usbstick

...Any unresponsive device will Totally clobber the system by up to 95%

...without showing up in the task manager which is a poor mans performance

... tool. Typically Mapped Drives, faulty cd drives, bad usb devices.

2) a hard drive with slow sectors. Sometimes hardware just keeps waiting

...due to excessive timeout loops. Most hard drive manufacturers have

...non destructive test tools ready for download.

3) something network based, unfortunately excessive timeout loops

.... are everywhere so we cant pin it down, a bad cable or badly fitted

....cable can do it. A wireless chipset incompatible with router chipset

...can do it.

4) There has been a whiff of some graphics chipsets having cumulative

...slowing down effects depending on what software has been running

...on them but that is reset each restart.

5) poor power saving settings can keep turning off hard drives, so it is not

....helpful to have a 2nd or 3rd drive that sees little or no activity, constantly

....sleeping and waking.



Software reasons

5) an excessively large registry. space for the registry can be altered.

6) excessive automatic updates.

7) although filing system these days can cope with large numbers of files.

...it is fair to say that large numbers of files in one single folder should be

... avoided. This is mostly the reason why Temporary Internet Folders needs

...emptying often. Its also why the folders exist inside Temporary Internet

...folder, to help keep large quantities of files in one folder to a minimum.

... so this rule applies to Any system folder. It is worth stating here that

.... the microsoft way of emptying temporary internet folders

.... DOES NOT WORK properly. Choose the view contents option and

.... delete them manually. Some AV's know about this and provide a useful

...option to do this for you. So use it!

...make use of the Advanced Internet options and TICK the box that says

...empty temporary internet folders on exit. That always helps a bit.

8) two incompatible pieces of software. One is usually an AV, check

...on your AV's website for incompatibilities, and on the microsoft site too



and finally dont forget i3/i5/i7 processors are made to SAVE BATTERY life

and dont run at full pelt until cores are stressed.

check and adjust bios settings for turbo boost accordingly.

Answer 7

Studying IT in College:



-If both your CPU and RAM usage are low its more than likely your hard drive that's slowing you down check your hard drive indicator on the front of your pc if its flashing fast or solid its likely its fully loaded hence the slow down in your system.



-The problem could be Norton as myself used this and it reduced my gaming rig to a snails pace and I recommend AVG as its free and low powered. Also check in task manager for suspicious processes and ensure you do a full virus scan.

Answer 8

A lot of antivirus and anti malware softwares! These will scan every time when you open any software which can make pc slow. Try lowering some setting in your antivirus.

Answer 9

The only thing I can think of now is that your hard disk is terribly slow. Starting an application or opening a file are both tasks that require hard disk access. Maybe look into upgrading that.







(And if you want better answers, keep this in mind when you're asking questions:

- Nobody wants to read a wall of text (you've got two of them);

- Nobody wants to read bad grammar or spelling;

- Nobody wants to read ALL CAPS RAGE;

- Nobody wants to read a lot of punctuation, especially exclamation marks. We know that you're frustrated, but that's still not a reason to go completely crazy with the exclamation marks.



You'll get more answers and more straightforward ones if you keep these things in mind when you ask your questions. Really.)

Answer 10

1

Answer 11

My problem was Windows Updates..i installed them and everything has backed to normal

Answer 12

try to open msconfig. you can find it on/

start>search bar type"msconfig" hit enter

then you can see some checked box/

try to uncheck the "Load startup items" if it is checked/

else if the selected circle (dot) is on the Normal Startup change it to Selected Startup

then do the steps above. the restart the pc. hope this helps

Answer 13

get it to the service center

they might be able to understand the problem better

also if there is some kind of hardware problem and it is within warranty then they might replace it

Answer 14

It may be due to lot of auto start softwares.

Answer 15

use quick heal total security instead of norton

Answer 16

reinstall your OS