windows 7 64bit workstation ,suddenly started being slow and unresponsive

0

Well the full title should be something like:

  • slow - all applications will take for ever to load.
  • unresponsive at times (pressing `ALT+CTRL+DEL1 sometimes does not bring up the blue screen from which I can open the system manager - and posts an error message about being unable to respond to the ALT-CTRL-DEL request!)
  • sometimes after rebooting only a black background and the mouse pointer will show up.

This happened today. yesterday things worked fine. and I am not sure what could be wrong.

what I have tried (And has failed):

  • removed all usb devices -apart from kb and mouse- attached on the pc and did a power cycle (power off , then on).
  • unplugged internal SATA cable from both ends and RAM DIMMS and replugged them.
  • did a restore point to a date last week, when everything was fine.
  • tried to both in safe mode but even in safe mode booting is SLOW.

I really do not know what to make of this. The whole PC is not very old - approximately 1 year old. What could be wrong here?

Also, if I am to check the event viewer which parts should I pay attention to? I ask because I have never needed and never used the event viewer before. Thank you.

nass

Posted 2015-01-14T21:15:24.480

Reputation: 310

sounds like windows is waiting on I/o from your hdd – Ramhound – 2015-01-14T21:22:50.247

@Ramhound I am running a chkdsk now.. – nass – 2015-01-14T21:29:43.217

virus scan picking up anything? – Foosh – 2015-01-14T21:32:19.880

I had a similar problem for a while. Windows got slower and slower. Turned out be be a failing disk (Smart errors "Reallocated Sector Count" on the c: drive). Now I have a new drive :/ Might be time to check yours ... How can I read my hard drive's SMART status in Windows 7?

– DavidPostill – 2015-01-14T21:33:32.647

@Foosh not automatically but I haven't attempted a deep scan. In the current state it would not complete in my lifetime :P – nass – 2015-01-14T21:33:48.883

Echoing what @DavidPostill is saying, you might want to burn yourself a linux live cd and look at the disk health in more detail than what chkdsk can give you. Disk Utility is brilliant for this

– Foosh – 2015-01-14T21:37:33.537

1Chkdsk indicates a problem with the filesysystem and while a failing filesysystem can indicate a hardware problem that's not always he case. Use tools to check the health of the drive, by using the firmware of the drive itself, chkdsk can't do that – Ramhound – 2015-01-14T22:18:54.647

@Foosh does disk utility provide other tools apart from S.M.A.R.T. status , short and long tests ? – nass – 2015-01-15T00:23:06.570

Depends on the HDD manufacturer, some of them provide some tools (that may run under Windows, or need to boot from them) that can do HDD testing. Or you can use some 3rd party tool (eg. SpinRite) – Darius – 2015-01-15T04:17:30.040

No, it only gives you the smart status for the most part. I will echo what @Darius mentioned with using SpinRite. It's definitely worth it if you know there are some sector problems. – Foosh – 2015-01-15T20:11:19.943

@Darius @foosh thank you. do you know of a similar to spinrite utility that is natively available in linux? – nass – 2015-01-16T01:14:39.603

@nass unfortunately not to my knowledge. That thing is a thing of its own as it doesn't care about file system and simply the bits on the sector. They do offer 30 days full refund if you are not happy / believe it is not working, so nothing to lose really if you want to try it out. Sorry I can't help any further. Good luck with it. Maybe try different SATA cable (or SATA port)? – Darius – 2015-01-16T01:25:10.857

Answers

1

First, check the cooling. Second - use a LiveFS CD of a linux and do full memtest. If it's still no sign of problem - check your cables and disk. I'd recommend to use Ashampoo HDD Control 3 under Windows 7 64bit - I'm using it myself.

Alexey Vesnin

Posted 2015-01-14T21:15:24.480

Reputation: 565

Asked: 2015-01-14T21:15:24.480

Viewed: 191 times

Active: 2015-01-14T22:04:08.047