Laptops My Laptop runs like crap and I have no idea why

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raksrules

raksrules

Oracle
Ok so I have a pretty decent config laptop with dedicated graphics card and 6GB RAM and 640 GB HDD and such stuff. I know config is not everything and I am not very technically sound when it comes to laptops and configs.
This is the laptop I have..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00889O754?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00


It was bought like back in 2012. It does work well. No problems as such. But it runs like crap, super slow. The HDD light continuously blinks for the first 15 minutes for no reason. Getting to a usable state from boot takes 10+ minutes and I have almost nothing being loaded when it boots. I have done virus scan and malware bytes scan and nothing.

Biggest issue is firefox. I run 3 instances of firefox together with iMacro script running in all of them and in no time the used memory goes to 2GB+. Changing tabs is also a pain. I shift to another tab and it goes into not responding state and take few seconds to change tab. I have to shutdown firefox and restart like every 1 Hour to ensure that the memory used does not go very high. I have seen it hit as high as 2.7GB.

The OS installed is the original one with obviously all the sony crap but I am not sure if that is the culprit here. I do not even have the restore CDs anymore and I don't even need them since if I need to reinstall I want to do a clean junk free software install.

Anything else I can try before I go with final install ? Also any link to get copy of USB install of the OS along with ISO link or something (windows 7 only). I will keep the product key handy, it is original one. I am not keen on latest windows 10 or something.
 
How are the temps?
Do you regularly clean the insides? Cleaning the fan and heatsink might be helpful. Also if possible, buy a SSD. That alone should do the trick.
 
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rdst_1 said:
How are the temps?
Do you regularly clean the insides? Cleaning the fan and heatsink might be helpful. Also if possible, buy a SSD. That alone should do the trick.
Click to expand...

I have never cleaned it and done nothing. So you saying I should open it up and see if there is lot of dust along the air vent or something ? I will see if I can it over the weekend. As far as SSD is concerned, which would you suggest ? I have ZERO knowledge on SSDs and I have no idea even if it would be easy for me to just swap out the HDD and put a SSD and assuming I am able to get it done, which decent capacity SSD I should get ? I am in US so you can mention me about US stores and also with black friday a week away, I can surely keep checking if something comes up.
 
rdst_1 said:
How are the temps?
Do you regularly clean the insides? Cleaning the fan and heatsink might be helpful. Also if possible, buy a SSD. That alone should do the trick.
Click to expand...

Ok so I opened up the only compartment which was easily openable and I could see the battery, HDD and RAM inside. So now I know I can easily replace the HDD. So which SSD can I buy and do a clean install of Windows 7 ? Also I have few queries...

1. Can I just swap the 2.5" HDD with a SSD ? Or is there some separate connector or something I should know ?
2. Will the BIOS recognize it as SSD properly ?
3. If above two works, can I just download some ISO of x64 of Windows 7 (any legit source?) and make and use the Bootable USB to install the copy of window 7 on the new SSD ?
 
raksrules said:
Ok so I opened up the only compartment which was easily openable and I could see the battery, HDD and RAM inside. So now I know I can easily replace the HDD. So which SSD can I buy and do a clean install of Windows 7 ? Also I have few queries...

1. Can I just swap the 2.5" HDD with a SSD ? Or is there some separate connector or something I should know ?
2. Will the BIOS recognize it as SSD properly ?
3. If above two works, can I just download some ISO of x64 of Windows 7 (any legit source?) and make and use the Bootable USB to install the copy of window 7 on the new SSD ?
Click to expand...

Hi there, you're problem is not a rare one but the suggestions already posted above usually work.
w.r.t Q. 1&2
-yes, you can swap the hdd with an ssd as they both use sata ports (which i believe are backward compatible). the bios will recognize it like any other drive (the manufacturer firmware will take care of that).
-cleaning out the dust will help a lot with heating issues and prolonging the life of the components. if you're not feeling confident about what to do then youtube a video of it. there are tons of laptop maintenance videos and i'm sure you'll be able to find one specific to your laptop model.
-the biggest bottleneck seems to be the hdd. a reinstall of the os on your current hdd can be considered as a short term fix and should take care of the slow startup, incessant blinking (busy), etc.
-however, moving to an ssd should be considered as the more long term solution. if you're not ready to spend a lot on a new ssd then you can consider a laptop pulled ssd from ebay. they cost ~40% less than a new drive but come with no warranty. (i have one in my pc and it seems to work great).
w.r.t. Q. 3
-microsoft itself has an iso to bootable usb converter program listed on it's site for download. so just torrent a win 7 iso file (the source of the iso need not be legit, only the product key should be genuine -which you paid for when you bought the laptop), use the program to create a bootable usb and then enter your existing product key (should be on a sticker underneath the laptop) during installation and your all set.
 
As its Sony installed system I suggest u take backup of ur data, repartition ur hdd and then fresh install system. Keep 75-100gb for system only. Avoid keeping any personal data on that drive so that in case of emergency u can just restore system disk image and start using laptop without any system related issue in 15 mins flat. I do the same thing.

Scan ur hdd with hdtune or sentinal app to find any issue with hdd.

And lastly confirm cooling is proper by opening up laptop sometime.

Ur specs are decent so replacement to add is not really required though it will always give better performance.
 
First I would suggest to install Core Temp from here.
Now that you are troubleshooting, why leave temps behind?
If they appear normal then good and if not then we can proceed further.

Post your laptop temps here.
 
Attaching the screenshot of the temps. The current temp keeps varying all the time.
 

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Harpy.eagle said:
As its Sony installed system I suggest u take backup of ur data, repartition ur hdd and then fresh install system. Keep 75-100gb for system only. Avoid keeping any personal data on that drive so that in case of emergency u can just restore system disk image and start using laptop without any system related issue in 15 mins flat. I do the same thing.

Scan ur hdd with hdtune or sentinal app to find any issue with hdd.

And lastly confirm cooling is proper by opening up laptop sometime.

Ur specs are decent so replacement to add is not really required though it will always give better performance.
Click to expand...

What If I completely remove the stock HDD and use it as external HDD (using casing) and install a new SSD (Min 256 GB probably) and then install OS on that.
 
You can always do that. But what I meant is, replacing hdd isn't really required to get acceptable performance. Try to scan hdd first to find out whether hdd is really issue.

Fresh installing of system is highly recommended though if ur system is testing ur patience.

Backup windows activation information before formatting os drive.
 
Harpy.eagle said:
You can always do that. But what I meant is, replacing hdd isn't really required to get acceptable performance. Try to scan hdd first to find out whether hdd is really issue.

Fresh installing of system is highly recommended though if ur system is testing ur patience.

Backup windows activation information before formatting os drive.
Click to expand...


Yes I feel changing to SSD won't really mean I will magically start getting better performance. But I know that reinstalling clean OS with no bloatware will make sure I have a better system. Just that I am scared to do it so going through SSD route felt better so my original HDD is intact all the time.

Will SSD help me only in quick boot, faster access to files / opening program right ? Except this, it cannot resolve issues like firefox taking up 3 GB of memory or computer getting to usage state only after 10 minutes of booting ?
 
Are those idle temps? If they are, post on load temps.

SSD won't help here as you didn't have problem when the laptop was new, also even with 3GB of memory usage, you still have 3GB left.

Best option would be to back up data on external HDD (create an image if you're that paranoid about your HDD data), and re-install the OS.
 
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raksrules said:
What If I completely remove the stock HDD and use it as external HDD (using casing) and install a new SSD (Min 256 GB probably) and then install OS on that.
Click to expand...
Yes, this is possible.
reinstalling the os will bring your system performance close to what it was when new.
raksrules said:
Except this, it cannot resolve issues like firefox taking up 3 GB of memory or computer getting to usage state only after 10 minutes of booting ?
Click to expand...
the ssd won't fix issues with firefox's memory usage but it can def. solve the second problem i.e. in my personal experience it's near instant b/w the time the desktop shows and system is ready.
anyway, as someone else posted above, it's not needed given your specs.
 
I am now thinking of 2 things, which do not involve touching my current HDD's data at all.

1. Get a cheap 500GB or so HDD and start using that as primary one by installing the OS in it.
2. Get a 256 GB SSD (only option below $100 I believe) and install OS on that.

I am deliberating on which option to select. I know for many people changing OSes and reinstalling is a piece of cake but I am in no mood to fiddle with my existing HDD. I am ok spending some $$ getting a new HDD / SSD.
 
raksrules said:
I am now thinking of 2 things, which do not involve touching my current HDD's data at all.

1. Get a cheap 500GB or so HDD and start using that as primary one by installing the OS in it.
2. Get a 256 GB SSD (only option below $100 I believe) and install OS on that.

I am deliberating on which option to select. I know for many people changing OSes and reinstalling is a piece of cake but I am in no mood to fiddle with my existing HDD. I am ok spending some $$ getting a new HDD / SSD.
Click to expand...
Go for option 2
 
It looks like an aging HDD. Recommend you to replace it with SSD, you should receive a huge speed bump for now.
Also as others suggested, clean the heatsink, fan and inside with air blower. If you still face issues, repasting the thermal paste on CPU will help quite a bit.
 
It seems that there may be a problem with your Hard disk. Please Check if your Hard Disk has Bad Sectors. I suggest using a software like Hard Disk Sentinel. You can download the software on http://www.hdsentinel.com/ which help you to check the Health of your Hard Disk . Can you post your system information here so that I can try to diagnose what is the problem with your Laptop.

If you want to know your PC's system information .If your operating system is 32- or 64-bit you could click the Windows Start button-->Control Panel-->System and Security-->System. But in Windows 7 you can just hold down the Windows logo key and the Pause key or go to Start--> Run and type system information. In that you can also check for Hardware conflicts
 
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