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- Typing Buffer suddenly VERY slow, whole computer suddenly VE...

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07-14-2018 04:56 PM
Major problem as of now: Computer is SO slow and typing buffer cannot come close to keeping up with me, making the desktop computer nearly unusable. This began about one week ago.
About 6 weeks ago I began getting a display error message indicating that my display had encountered a problem but has now recovered. This was immediately following a black screen of 10 seconds or so. This is a common problem with the AMD 6500 Radeon graphics module that came on my motherboard. (I don't have a separate video card.) I followed AMD's directions to the letter, but it didn't stop the problem. It just happens randomly.
About 2 weeks ago I d/l and installed a password manager program called LastPass. It didn't work well, so I uninstalled it about a week later. It still seems to be on board. I'm working on finding the pieces and getting rid of them.
This is a desktop computer we bought new in late 2014. It has Win 8.1, 64 bit, (every update installed), 16 gigs of DDRAM, a terabyte hard drive that is less than 25% used/full. I do regular defrag and maintenance. Bitdefender is the security program and firewall. I use Firefox and update with each update. I do not want to upgrade to Win 10 until these issues have been resolved (don't really want to upgrade to it at all).
Help, please?
Kathy on the OBX
Solved! Go to Solution.
Accepted Solutions
07-16-2018 06:01 PM
Attribute name Reallocated Sectors Count
Real value 24
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 10
Raw Value 0000000018
Status Good
There exist "spare" blocks on the disk-drive, that are not accessible to Windows.
When S.M.A.R.T. detects a "bad" block, it (logically, not physically) swaps-in one of those "spare" blocks, and "retires" the bad block.
The fact that S.M.A.R.T. has done it 24 times is a sign of an impending problem with the disk-drive.
While you still have access to your personal files on the Seagate disk-drive,
i.e., before the disk-drive COMPLETELY "crashes" on you:
* purchase a new Seagate disk-drive,
* download the SEATOOLS software from www.Seagate.com
* install it,
* connect the new disk-drive as a "secondary" disk-drive,
* run SEATOOLS to "clone" your existing Seagate disk-drive onto the brand-new Seagate disk-drive,
* shutdown,
* disconnect the old disk-drive,
* boot from the new disk-drive.
All your personal files, and installed programs, will be accessible.
07-14-2018 05:21 PM - edited 07-14-2018 05:23 PM
@KathyI, welcome to the forum.
This sounds like your computer needs to have a complete System Recovery. When a computer gets older, installing and uninstalling apps can cause a lot of residual data on the hard drive. Once this happens it will begin to run slowly. The best cure is to use the System Recovery media that you made when the computer was new. You should backup your personal data before doing this, however.
Here is a guide to help you with the Recovery.
Please click the Thumbs up + button if I have helped you and click Accept as Solution if your problem is solved.
I am not an HP Employee!!
Intelligence is God given. Wisdom is the sum of our mistakes!!
07-15-2018 01:03 AM
@KathyI wrote:1. Major problem as of now: Computer is SO slow and typing buffer cannot come close to keeping up with me, making the desktop computer nearly unusable. This began about one week ago.
2. About 6 weeks ago I began getting a display error message indicating that my display had encountered a problem but has now recovered. This was immediately following a black screen of 10 seconds or so.
3. About 2 weeks ago I d/l and installed a password manager program called LastPass. It didn't work well, so I uninstalled it about a week later. It still seems to be on board. I'm working on finding the pieces and getting rid of them.
4. This desktop computer has ... a terabyte hard drive
1. Measure, measure, measure. Open the Windows Task Manager, and select the "Performance" tab.
Tell us what percentage of the processor, the RAM, and the Network are being used.
At the bottom of that "Performance" tab, click to launch Resource Monitor.
Use it to "drill-down" to see what percentage of time that the disk-drive is "busy", and what filenames are being processed.
2. No comment, other than a "failing" disk-drive, or failing RAM, might have caused the problem.
Reboot, and launch the built-in HP Hardware Diagnostics, and test the RAM and the disk-drive.
Tell us whether it gave a "pass" or a "fail".
3. Have you tried using "System Restore" to rollback your system to a date/time before you installed LastPass?
4. Google-search for "download free SPECCY".
Download, install, and run it.
Expand its "Storage" section.
Expand the "SMART" --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T. -- section to show, in detail, the "health" of the disk-drive.
Tell us what is reported.
-----------
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07-16-2018 09:41 AM
Hello mdklassen, Dean.
Thanks for replying! I began doing the things you asked but have not finished all the tasks yet. Here is what I've done, plus some additional info.
Problem 2: The display error message is due to a timeout issue, according to AMD. Since I posted here, I have done a couple more things they suggested to try and solve the problem. One was to change my timeout to never timeout on Win 8.1. The other was to install a generic MS graphics driver. I just did these things moments ago so don't know if they work yet or not.
Problem 3: LastPass program installation and removal. Program sucked. After I uninstalled it using Win/LastPass uninstall, it was still a working program! I manually found all the associated files I could and deleted them. It no longer appears anywhere on the HD and is not working. I think I'm rid of it all. I hope.
Problem 1: Slowness and Typing Buffer problem.
A. I opened Task Manager and here are the values you asked for:
Processor - 2%-4% used
RAM - 2.1-15.2 GB (14%) used
Network - 8.0 R=0-8.0
Speed 1.65 GHz (max 3.5 GHz)
Processes 65
Threads 1022
B. I opened Resource Monitor and looked for what % of time disk drive is busy, and what file names are being processed. I couldn't find the % busy and the file names kept changing, being added and removed, very quickly. There were tabs for CPU and for Disk. Is the Disk tab the one I'm to look at? I tried to screen shot it but that didn't work either. Where does it tell me what % of the time the disk drive has been busy?
Problem 3: I have not used System Restore...yet. I admit to not saving restore points nearly as often as I should. My last one saved may be from quite a long time ago. (eek) Plus, I'd like to fix these problems and learn from that.
I appreciate your help!
Will go now and run some of the other things you asked me to do.
Thanks!
Kathy
PS I am not a Student, as it says under my name. Been a very long time since I was a student. LOL
07-16-2018 09:49 AM
>
B. I opened Resource Monitor and looked for what % of time disk drive is busy, and what file names are being processed. I couldn't find the % busy
Look in the "heading" for the "Disk" section. Or, look at the graphs on the right of the window.
> the file names kept changing, being added and removed, very quickly.
Was it a virus-scan that was processing through many files, checking each one of them, without incident?
> Problem 3: I have not used System Restore...yet. I admit to not saving restore points nearly as often as I should. My last one saved may be from quite a long time ago. (eek)
If System Restore is enabled, then it automatically has been taking checkpoints.
Also, Windows Update takes a checkpoint, just before applying any updates.
> PS I am not a Student, as it says under my name. Been a very long time since I was a student. LOL
This forum borrows titles taken from academia, e.g. Student / Tutor / Assistant Professor / Associate Professor / Dean / Provost, as your "ranking" increases.
-----------
Welcome to this forum.
Please click the purple/white "Thumbs Up" icon for every response that is helpful.
Also, please click "Accept As Solution" for the best response.
07-16-2018 09:51 AM
Hi Old_geekster,
Thank you for your suggestion. I am going to try to solve the problems I'm having before doing a system restore or system recovery. I know that installing and uninstalling programs does sometimes leave bits and pieces of them on the hard drive. And that in time, that can make the computer run slow. However, I think that would be a result of a large accumulation of garbage left on the hard drive, and I'm pretty sure that's not the case here. A very small percentage of my hard drive is in use and I'm pretty fanatical about maintenance and keeping it clean. I even defrag when it says I don't need to, and I do see that files have been moved together afterward. Also, this slowness happened literally overnight, so that wouldn't make it logical that it's the result of a slow, long-term accumulation of garbage. I am choosing to go the long route - actually working through the tedium of discovering what the problem(s) really is/are and what to do to solve it/them. That's how I learned most of what I know about computers. Again, I do appreciate your suggestion. 🙂
Kathy, another old geekster
07-16-2018 09:57 AM
> I know that installing and uninstalling programs does sometimes leave bits and pieces of them on the hard drive.
> And that in time, that can make the computer run slow.
Having "orphan" files stored on the disk-drive does not slow down your computer.
However, if you open Task Manager, and see that those files are active processes, that can slow down your computer.
> I even defrag when it says I don't need to,
The Windows Disk Defragmenter runs once a week -- by default, early each Wednesday.
So, you don't need to defragment a recently-defragmented disk-drive.
> Also, this slowness happened literally overnight,
Power-off your computer.
Power-on your computer, and immediately start tapping the ESC key, until a menu appears.
Select from the menu to launch the HP Hardware Diagnotics.
Run the tests against the disk-drive.
Or, Google-search for "download free SPECCY".
Download, install, and run it.
Expand its "Storage" section.
Expand the "SMART" section.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T.
SMART has been monitoring the "health" of your disk-drive, at over 20 measurement points.
What does SMART report?
-----------
Welcome to this forum.
Please click the purple/white "Thumbs Up" icon for every response that is helpful.
Also, please click "Accept As Solution" for the best response.
07-16-2018 01:03 PM - edited 07-16-2018 01:18 PM
Hi again mdklassen,
That reply was to the other fellow who suggested that I just do a complete System Recovery. I was explaining to him why I don't want to do that at this point. 🙂
OK. More testing results for you:
1. Yes, I think a scan may have been running yesterday when I checked the Resource Monitor. Today I made sure there wasn't one running.
2. Today's Resource Monitor> Disk info:
"Processes with Disk Activity"
Image PID Read B/sec Write B/Sec
System 0 0 14703
explorer.exe 4 8 2760
firefox 0 0 blank
Disk Activity: 32 KB/sec Disk I/O, 0-2% Highest Active Time
17 System files are listed
3 firefox files are listed
I/O Priority: Normal (on all)
10 System Files listed as running in background (just says SYSTEM, not what sys files)
3. Results of running HP Hardware Diagnostics:
Ran Quick Test
Processor- Passed
Wireless Module check - Passed
Hard drive SMART check - Passed
Hard drive Short DST check - Passed (took 43 minutes)
Memory Quick check - Passed 15 GB (took 43 minutes for above and this)
4. Results of SPECCY:
Let me know if there is info on other tabs you want to see please. And thank you!
SUMMARY TAB:
Operating System
Windows 8.1 64-bit
CPU
AMD A8-6500 64 °C
Richland 32nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 798MHz (11-11-12-28)
Motherboard
MSI 2AE0 (P0) 37 °C
Graphics
S24C570 (1920x1080@64Hz)
ATI Microsoft Basic Display Adapter (HP)
Storage
1863GB Seagate ST2000DM 001-1CH164 SATA Disk Device (SATA ) 34 °C
931GB Western Digital WD My Passport 0820 USB Device (USB (SATA) ) 34 °C
Optical Drives
hp DVD-RAM SW830
Audio
IDT High Definition Audio CODEC
STORAGE:
Storage
Hard drives
ST2000DM 001-1CH164 SATA Disk Device
Manufacturer Seagate
Heads 16
Cylinders 243,201
Tracks 62,016,255
Sectors 3,907,024,065
SATA type SATA-III 6.0Gb/s
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ACS2
Serial Number Z1E7MKMS
Firmware Version Number HP34
LBA Size 48-bit LBA
Power On Count 1816 times
Power On Time 1040.6 days
Speed 7200 RPM
Features S.M.A.R.T., APM, NCQ
Max. Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Used Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Interface SATA
Capacity 1863 GB
Real size 2,000,398,934,016 bytes
RAID Type None
S.M.A.R.T
Status Warning
Temperature 34 °C
Temperature Range OK (less than 50 °C)
S.M.A.R.T attributes
01
Attribute name Read Error Rate
Real value 0
Current 109
Worst 99
Threshold 6
Raw Value 0001581690
Status Good
03
Attribute name Spin-Up Time
Real value 0 ms
Current 96
Worst 96
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
04
Attribute name Start/Stop Count
Real value 1,818
Current 99
Worst 99
Threshold 20
Raw Value 000000071A
Status Good
05
Attribute name Reallocated Sectors Count
Real value 24
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 10
Raw Value 0000000018
Status Good
07
Attribute name Seek Error Rate
Real value 0
Current 87
Worst 60
Threshold 30
Raw Value 001CC093E2
Status Good
09
Attribute name Power-On Hours (POH)
Real value 1040d 15h
Current 72
Worst 72
Threshold 0
Raw Value 000000618F
Status Good
0A
Attribute name Spin Retry Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 97
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
0C
Attribute name Device Power Cycle Count
Real value 1,816
Current 99
Worst 99
Threshold 20
Raw Value 0000000718
Status Good
B4
Attribute name Reserved Block Count
Real value 1,348,116,461
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 00505A9FED
Status Good
B7
Attribute name SATA Downshift Error Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
B8
Attribute name End-to-End error / IOEDC
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 97
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
BB
Attribute name Reported Uncorrectable Errors
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
BC
Attribute name Command Timeout
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
BD
Attribute name High Fly Writes (WDC)
Real value 8
Current 92
Worst 92
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000008
Status Good
BE
Attribute name Airflow Temperature
Real value 34 °C
Current 66
Worst 57
Threshold 45
Raw Value 0023200022
Status Good
BF
Attribute name G-sense error rate
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
C0
Attribute name Power-off Retract Count
Real value 57
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000039
Status Good
C1
Attribute name Load/Unload Cycle Count
Real value 98,118
Current 51
Worst 51
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000017F46
Status Good
C2
Attribute name Temperature
Real value 34 °C
Current 34
Worst 43
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000022
Status Good
C4
Attribute name Reallocation Event Count
Real value 24
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 36
Raw Value 0000000018
Status Good
C5
Attribute name Current Pending Sector Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
C6
Attribute name Uncorrectable Sector Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
C7
Attribute name UltraDMA CRC Error Count
Real value 0
Current 200
Worst 200
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
Partition 0
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #0
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number 32FC5A76
Size 1022 MB
Used Space 377 MB (36%)
Free Space 645 MB (64%)
Partition 1
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #1
Size 360 MB
Partition 2
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #2
Disk Letter C:
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number E0307229
Size 1846 GB
Used Space 140 GB (7%)
Free Space 1706 GB (93%)
Partition 3
Partition ID Disk #0, Partition #3
Disk Letter 😧
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number 7C954B4A
Size 15.3 GB
Used Space 14.5 GB (94%)
Free Space 828 MB (6%)
WD My Passport 0820 USB Device
Manufacturer Western Digital
Heads 16
Cylinders 121,597
Tracks 31,007,235
Sectors 1,953,455,805
SATA type SATA-III 6.0Gb/s
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ACS2
Serial Number Z1E7MKMS
Firmware Version Number HP34
LBA Size 48-bit LBA
Power On Count 1816 times
Power On Time 1040.6 days
Speed 7200 RPM
Features S.M.A.R.T., APM, NCQ
Max. Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Used Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Interface USB (SATA)
Capacity 931 GB
Real size 1,000,170,586,112 bytes
RAID Type None
S.M.A.R.T
Status Warning
Temperature 34 °C
Temperature Range OK (less than 50 °C)
S.M.A.R.T attributes
01
Attribute name Read Error Rate
Real value 0
Current 109
Worst 99
Threshold 6
Raw Value 0001584D08
Status Good
03
Attribute name Spin-Up Time
Real value 0 ms
Current 96
Worst 96
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
04
Attribute name Start/Stop Count
Real value 1,818
Current 99
Worst 99
Threshold 20
Raw Value 000000071A
Status Good
05
Attribute name Reallocated Sectors Count
Real value 24
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 10
Raw Value 0000000018
Status Good
07
Attribute name Seek Error Rate
Real value 0
Current 87
Worst 60
Threshold 30
Raw Value 001CC09414
Status Good
09
Attribute name Power-On Hours (POH)
Real value 1040d 15h
Current 72
Worst 72
Threshold 0
Raw Value 000000618F
Status Good
0A
Attribute name Spin Retry Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 97
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
0C
Attribute name Device Power Cycle Count
Real value 1,816
Current 99
Worst 99
Threshold 20
Raw Value 0000000718
Status Good
B4
Attribute name Reserved Block Count
Real value 1,348,125,245
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 00505AC23D
Status Good
B7
Attribute name SATA Downshift Error Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
B8
Attribute name End-to-End error / IOEDC
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 97
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
BB
Attribute name Reported Uncorrectable Errors
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
BC
Attribute name Command Timeout
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
BD
Attribute name High Fly Writes (WDC)
Real value 8
Current 92
Worst 92
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000008
Status Good
BE
Attribute name Airflow Temperature
Real value 34 °C
Current 66
Worst 57
Threshold 45
Raw Value 0023200022
Status Good
BF
Attribute name G-sense error rate
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
C0
Attribute name Power-off Retract Count
Real value 57
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000039
Status Good
C1
Attribute name Load/Unload Cycle Count
Real value 98,118
Current 51
Worst 51
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000017F46
Status Good
C2
Attribute name Temperature
Real value 34 °C
Current 34
Worst 43
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000022
Status Good
C4
Attribute name Reallocation Event Count
Real value 24
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 36
Raw Value 0000000018
Status Good
C5
Attribute name Current Pending Sector Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
C6
Attribute name Uncorrectable Sector Count
Real value 0
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
C7
Attribute name UltraDMA CRC Error Count
Real value 0
Current 200
Worst 200
Threshold 0
Raw Value 0000000000
Status Good
Partition 0
Partition ID Disk #1, Partition #0
Disk Letter I:
File System NTFS
Volume Serial Number 1AEA6007
Size 931 GB
Used Space 330 GB (35%)
Free Space 601 GB (65%)
GRAPHICS:
Graphics
Monitor
Name S24C570 on Microsoft Basic Display Adapter
Current Resolution 1536x864 pixels
Work Resolution 1429x864 pixels
State Enabled, Primary
Monitor Width 1920
Monitor Height 1080
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 64 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
ATI Microsoft Basic Display Adapter
Manufacturer ATI
Model Microsoft Basic Display Adapter
Device ID 1002-990E
Subvendor HP (103C)
Current Performance Level Level 0
GPU Clock 0.0 MHz
Driver version 6.3.9600.16384
Count of performance levels : 1
Level 1 - "Perf Level 0"
CPU:
CPU
AMD A8-6500
Cores 4
Threads 4
Name AMD A8-6500
Code Name Richland
Package Socket FM2 (904)
Technology 32nm
Specification AMD A8-6500 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
Family F
Extended Family 15
Model 3
Extended Model 13
Stepping 1
Revision RL-A1
Instructions MMX (+), SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A, AMD 64, NX, VMX, AES, AVX, FMA3, FMA4
Virtualization Supported, Disabled
Hyperthreading Not supported
Fan Speed 2139 RPM
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Stock Core Speed 3500 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 100 MHz
Average Temperature 64 °C
Caches
L1 Data Cache Size 4 x 16 KBytes
L1 Instructions Cache Size 2 x 64 KBytes
L2 Unified Cache Size 2 x 2048 KBytes
Cores
Core 0
Core Speed 1696.6 MHz
Multiplier x 17.0
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Temperature 64 °C
Threads APIC ID: 0
Core 1
Core Speed 1696.6 MHz
Multiplier x 17.0
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Temperature 64 °C
Threads APIC ID: 1
Core 2
Core Speed 1696.6 MHz
Multiplier x 17.0
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Temperature 64 °C
Threads APIC ID: 2
Core 3
Core Speed 1696.6 MHz
Multiplier x 17.0
Bus Speed 99.8 MHz
Temperature 64 °C
Threads APIC ID: 3
07-16-2018 06:01 PM
Attribute name Reallocated Sectors Count
Real value 24
Current 100
Worst 100
Threshold 10
Raw Value 0000000018
Status Good
There exist "spare" blocks on the disk-drive, that are not accessible to Windows.
When S.M.A.R.T. detects a "bad" block, it (logically, not physically) swaps-in one of those "spare" blocks, and "retires" the bad block.
The fact that S.M.A.R.T. has done it 24 times is a sign of an impending problem with the disk-drive.
While you still have access to your personal files on the Seagate disk-drive,
i.e., before the disk-drive COMPLETELY "crashes" on you:
* purchase a new Seagate disk-drive,
* download the SEATOOLS software from www.Seagate.com
* install it,
* connect the new disk-drive as a "secondary" disk-drive,
* run SEATOOLS to "clone" your existing Seagate disk-drive onto the brand-new Seagate disk-drive,
* shutdown,
* disconnect the old disk-drive,
* boot from the new disk-drive.
All your personal files, and installed programs, will be accessible.
07-16-2018 09:41 PM
Hi mdklassen,
Thank you for the great explanation and direction. I have an external hard drive (Western Digital, 1 terabyte) that backs up my Seagate hard drive daily. I'll do a full backup to make sure everything is there. Then I guess get a new hard drive and install it.
Are you, then, saying that you believe this is the crux of all of the computer problems I'm having? Even though the slowdown was sudden, literally overnight?
So that's it? We are done?
Thank you.
Kathy