Why is my computer getting huge, random lag spikes?

[CarterRobinson]

So I have an HP Pavilion dv6t-7000 with:
-8 gigs of RAM
-Intel Core i7 Processor (2.10 GHz)
-Nvidia Geforce GT 650M 2GB
-Windows 7 64 bit

-580 gig Hard Drive (Over 200 gigs of space left)

And when I play bigger games like Skyrim, Portal 2, Just Cause 2, anything with moderately good graphics lags like crazy. When I first play, it's fine. I get well over 30 FPS. But then it randomly hits a 30-60 second point of 2 FPS, which is unplayable. This all started around Christmas time. It used to run Skyrim on max setting with literally no lag. But now has the 2 FPS lag issue when I know that my computer has the perfectly fine specs to run just about most games.

What could be the problem? I tried a lot of things, like Gamebooster, uninstalling a whole bunch of stuff, running Norton scans for viruses, but nothing seems to work. I had the "22 Find" virus thingy at one point, but I though I got rid of it somehow.

[AxshunJaxun]

Hey CarterRobinson, 

I'm sorry you're running into this graphics issue. First, you'll want to make sure your driver are up-to-date. I can provide you with direct link to the latest driver versions if you could let me know what your product number is. Here are the steps to find your product number. FN + ESC is the quickest way to pull it up. 

Also do you have Norton 360, Anti-Virus or Internet Securities that you're running scans with?

I'll keep an eye out for your reply

[Mord404]

I'm actually having the same problem, but playing less bigger games at the lowest graphic settings in an attempt to relieve my issues... My computer's product number is G9D74UA#ABA

[T4M]

it can be a lot of things , old drivers , viruses which did some damage to OS , overheating laptop which cuts performance , faulty HDD , and so on ..

[Mord404]

Well, I have no viruses, I'm pretty sure that my HDD is not faulty and I have no idea how to update my drivers....

[T4M]

Try this one:

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/download/driverResults.aspx/77326/en-uk

[Mord404]

I should have probably mentioned this earlier but, I don't have the same graphics card as original poster, my graphics card is Intel(R) HD Graphics

[T4M]

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=23885 assuming u have win7 x 64

[Mord404]

I own a Windows 8.1 64bit

To be more specific, my computer's specs are:

-4gigs of RAM

-Intel (R)PENTIUM(R) CPU N3520 @2.16GHz

-Windows 8.1 64bit 

-Intel(R) HD Graphics

-500 GB Hard Drive (over 400GB free)