Suddenly lagging laptop

[maplegrower]

I forgot to mention, always according to the XTU, apparently Thermal Throttling is always on. This despite the fact that "package temperature" hovers around 32 degrees Celsius.

[mdklassen]

I didn't see anything about you trying a different disk-drive, just in case the current disk-drive is having "transient" problems, i.e., requiring several attempts to read/write some sectors, which greatly increases the elapsed-time to complete each I/O request.

> I have been routinely checking perfomance data with Task Manager. 

Start Task Manager.

Click to the "Performance" tab.

Near the bottom of the window, click "Resource Monitor".

Close Task Manager.

The Resource Monitor gives much more detail about which tasks are consuming the most CPU,

and which tasks are doing the most disk I/O.

> Thermal Throttling is always on ...

That would explain why your CPU is so slow.

Is there anything in BIOS SETUP to "reset" or "cancel" or "disable" Thermal Throttling?

Or, to change the temperature-level at which the motherboard activates it?

[maplegrower]

Thanks for your assistance!

Indeed I never swaped my disk-drive and unfortunately I don't have one I could readily do that with. Nevertheless, given the succesful tests I did on the drive and the apparently throttled CPU wouldn't that suggest for me to look elsewhere for the problem? Is there any other programs you can suggest that can do any further tests on my disk-drive?

As for Resource Monitor vs Task Manager. Indeed, sometimes I would use Resource and also Performance managers. However, there never seems to be a problem with any particular task/app hording all my CPU usage. It's the overall CPU usage which just doesn't want to breach that 20-22% mark.

Regarding the BIOS, I accessed the BIOS via Windows 10 "Advanced Startup", however there's nothing there that allows me to modulate anything about the Processor. My options in that Bios screen are incredibly limited other than just changing time and date and a few other seemingly insignficant parameters. No mention of any Temp or anything of the sort. Could it be I'm not accessing the right BIOS Setup screen? The only option I considered was was exiting the BIOS Setup via the "Load Setup Defaults". I read online that some people have had troubles after doing so. Do you suggest that could possibly reset something vis-a-vis my CPU issue?

Just a recall (if it's at all relevant): I have already updated my BIOS which, obviously, did not resolve my issue...

Thanks again for your help!

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply. 

All HP computers go with tattooed BIOS which provide limited options to safeguard the computer. 

As you have you already done a system test and it has passed. 

Whenever there is lag in performance, check which application is causing the lag in task manager. 

To improve the performance on your computer, make sure all Windows updates are installed and run HP Support Assistant regularly to keep all the drivers updated. 

Have you tried installing the graphics driver from Intel website directly?

Hope this helped. 

If the information I've provided was helpful,

Please give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Accepted Solution" and "Kudos" buttons,

That’ll help us and others see that we’ve got the answers!

Good Luck.

[mdklassen]

>  Is there any other programs you can suggest that can do any further tests on my disk-drive?

From an administrative-level command-line, try:    CHKDSK C:  /R

to force CHKDSK to check _every_ sector on the disk-drive.  This could take hours, depending on the capacity of the disk-drive.   Also, if you watch it,  it might "slow-down" when "hitting a speed-bump" (so to speak).

But, the "throttling" is where you should FIRST look.  It limits the speed of the CPU, to try to limit the heat generated.

If you right-mouse-click on "Computer" and choose "Properties", what is the rated speed of the CPU, and what is the current speed?

[maplegrower]

Chimney_83,

Yes I have looked into the task manager, however, no invdivual taks are hogging my CPU. Rather, it is the CPU which is being throttled for some reason. Windows is up to date as are drivers. 

I have already intalled Intel's driver utility and indeed it said that an update for Graphics was available but I did not install it because it is a generic driver which may not be customed for my PC. I should however mention that I had also succesfully updated my Graphics driver via HP's Software and Driver downloads page for my model however, it did not resolve my issue.

Thanks!

[maplegrower]

mdklassen,

I agree, the CPU throttling is my primary concern and has been the focus of my attention. I will perform the disk check you suggest via command prompt at a later date if nothing else seems to work...

-This is what "properties" reads when right-clicking in "This PC":

-I'll also add this from my XTU Monitor if it can help. Note thermal throttling in yellow, indicating a warning. Also, I'm not sure what it indicates exactly, but Max Core Frequency is set at 0,50 Ghz and I'm not sure if that's normal given the specs of my CPU. I can't help but to notice that this indicated value is just about 22% of my CPU's max frequency. 22% seems to be just where my CPU usage is blocked according to my own monitoring on Task Manager.

[mdklassen]

>  Max Core Frequency is set at 0,50 Ghz and I'm not sure if that's normal given the specs of my CPU.

> I can't help but to notice that this indicated value is just about 22% of my CPU's max frequency.

Google-search for "download free SPECCY".

Download it, install it, and run it, to get output like:

At this moment, each of my CPUs is running at about 1600 Mhz, rather than 3200 Mhz, because the CPU is basically "idle", other than showing this web-page, and running the "Windows Snipping Tool".

What do you see on your system?

[maplegrower]

Mine is at 0,50 GHZ (499 MHz) as if blocked there. Since installing Speccy, following your suggestion, I have checked it several times and the CPU is always at about the same: 499.0 MHz

This seems to correspond to the Max Frequency indicated in XTU.

[Chimney_83]

Thanks for the reply. I would not be able to comment on 3rd party utility report. 

To test your computer you can boot the computer to System diagnostics mode by tapping F2 on startup and run an Extensive test on the computer. If the test fails, please replace the failed component or contact our phone support for the service options. 

If the test passes, please perform a system recovery on the computer using the recovery kit created by you on your computer and check. (Clean reinstall of OS and not using the recovery manager on the computer.)

Keep me posted. 

If the information I've provided was helpful,

Please give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Accepted Solution" and "Kudos" buttons,

That’ll help us and others see that we’ve got the answers!

Good Luck.