Pavilion Dv7 running extremely slowly

[revnice1]

The machine only has Windows 7 Ult installed, nothing else. It takes 10 seconds to open Control Panel, 30 seconds to open System and another 15 seconds to open Device Manager. It's unusable.

Chkdsk finds no errors on the disk or file system but Disk I/O is at 100% under the Resource Manager and CPU is at 50% - both when the machine is doing nothing. 

I've removed the battery per HP support and held the Off/On button down but no change. Processes running vary from 29 - 35, only the disk I/O and CPU consumption are unusual.

The disk has been formatted and I've tried different versions of Windows, nothing works.

rev

[Great-Deku-Tree]

Hey @revnice1 ,

Welcome to the HP Forums!

I understand the CPU and Disk usage on your notebook is high.

While I wouldn't say a 30 second delay makes the notebook totally unusable, I would agree that it's certainly annoying.

Can you please tell me which exact dv7 notebook you have? For information on finding your product and model numbers click here: How Do I Find My Model Number or Product Number?

You may want to test your RAM. If there are bad "chunks" in your RAM your CPU can't pull as much info from the HDD to the RAM and will increase your overall CPU and HDD usage because it has less room to work. It's like a woodsmith trying to work on a small bench versus a large bench. Small benches need to be cleared frequently for new jobs where as a large bench can have multiple things going at once without clearing new space.

You can test your RAM by following this guide: Testing for Hardware Failures (Windows 7, Vista). If you want to run a bit more intensive test search MemTest86. Burn the ISO version and run a test for at least 4-5 passes, preferably overnight.

If possible, you could also increase the total amount of RAM in your notebook to increase performance, but I will need to wait until I know which notebook you have to see if this is an option.

While I await your reply try disabling the BITS service to free up your HDD usage:

1. Press Windows Key + R.
2. Type services.msc and click OK.
3. Look for Background Intelligent Transfer Service.
4. Right click it and select Properties.
5. Stop the service.
6. Change the Startup type drop down menu to Disabled.
7. Apply.
8. OK.

I would also suggest following this guide to increase your overall performance without adding extra RAM: Improving System Performance without Adding Memory (Windows 7). This is a very in-depth guide that goes through a lot of suggestions for increasing your overall performance and is easy to follow.

I look forward to your reply!

[revnice1]

Thanks -

>I understand the CPU and Disk usage on your notebook is high.

Yes, when the machine is doing nothing.

These are the numbers from the label, it doesn't say Serial Number and Product Number as shown in 'How to find my product number' video, so I'm hoping you can guess which is which.

There are two bar codes, the first one is labelled HP and to the right of the bar code is the number: 584037-001

Then comes the serial number for the operating system disk

Then there's another bar code with this number under it: 00196-272-919-808

and this number to the right of it: X16-96072

>While I wouldn't say a 30 second delay makes the notebook totally unusable

The Start menu should be dispalyed instantly, other Windows screens like Control Panel, nearly instantly. When there were programs on it, it would take two minutes or more to open Word and you could type a paragraph before the characters appeared in the document.  

>try disabling the BITS service to free up your HDD usage:

I will, and I'll run the other tests you mentioned but this is not a case of 'gee it's slow' there's something profoundly wrong with this machine. Bare bones Windows only, less than 45 processes running and 100% disk I/O!?

rev 

[Great-Deku-Tree]

Hey revnice1,

Please use the following steps to check the product number in the BIOS:

1. Turn on the computer by pressing the power button.
2. Immediately press the Esc key repeatedly until a startup menu appears.
3. Press the F1 key or select System Information from the Startup Menu.
4. View the identification numbers shown on the screen.

Do not post your serial number. Only the product number.

There are sometimes multiple labels with barcodes. The labels can be under the battery, on the bottom of the notebook, or under the service access door. The product number should be labeled as Product Number, P/N, Pro. No., or something along these lines. You may find the label on the bottom of the notebook has worn off and is illegible so the BIOS is your best option to find this information easily.

Please include this information in the reply with the results of the steps suggested in my previous post.

Thanks! 🙂

[revnice1]

memory test - PASSED

Hard drive test 'not installed' - I got the latest from the HP Hardware Diagnostics page but how do I install it?

rev

[Great-Deku-Tree]

Hey revnice1,

Please use the MemTest86 to run an extensive test on the RAM overnight. 

For the HDD test follow the steps in the guide posted previously for checking for the latest UEFI System Diagnostic. 

You should find the downloaded listed under Utility Tools. I can't provide a direct link to this until I know the actual notebook you have. If you have troubles finding the notebook model or product number there is an automated tool that can check this for you on the HP - Drivers & Downloads web page. You'll see it listed as "Detect my product."

Hope that helps!

[revnice1]

From the System Information: Product Number A3F79AV

Memory test PASSED, Hard drive test 'not installed'

rev

[revnice1]

Results of HP Diagnostics v5.5.0.0

Short DST Check: WARNING

Optimized DST Check: FAILED

Failure ID: U4P71-1L877V-QFPJWJ-61UW03

Product ID: A3F79AV

I was unable to return to the Main Menu to retreive the log file so I tried F2 again but the log file was blank.

[Great-Deku-Tree]

Hey revnice1,

The Failure ID you posted is missing 1 character in the first block so I cannot check the error code. I tried adding 0-9 and a-z in front but nothing populated an error.

What I can tell you is that in every instance of a failure being generated as a result of an HDD test has resulted in an HDD needing to be replaced. This doesn't mean the drive is not functional but indicates a failure will occur at some point.

Make sure your information is backed up and replace your HDD as soon as possible. 

You can see a list of compatible replacement hard drives and the steps to replace it on page 46 of the HP Pavilion dv7 Entertainment PC - Maintenance and Service Guide. You will also need the recovery DVDs to reinstall your operating system after replacing the drive. In some cases a copy of the recovery DVDs for your notebook will come with the replacement HDD when ordered over the phone with HP.

You can order replacement parts on the HP Part Surfer website, over the phone with HP Support, or on third party sites like Amazon, eBay, Newegg, etc...

If you wish to order by phone please call our technical support at 800-474-6836. If you live outside the US/Canada Region, please click the following link to get the support number for your region: Phone Assist Worldwide.

Thanks! 🙂

[revnice1 · Accepted solution]

Great Tree:

There were four blocks of 6 chars each: U4P7T1-1L877V-QFPJWJ-61UW03 - you're saying the first block should have 7 chars?

I guess it doesn't matter, failure or imminent failure is really all I need to know.

Thanks for your help!

rev