Slowness - My Computer is running slow

[IT_WinSec]

Symptoms

Slowness - My Computer is running slow 

Slowness is not an objective complaint. Different people perceive the slowness differently. For some people one computer may be very slow while for others it may be OK. 

Diagnosis

Slowness issues can be caused by both hardware and software problems.

HP computers have built-in hardware diagnostics components present in the BIOS/UEFI. To rule out a hardware failure, perform hardware diagnostics:

• Please, shutdown the computer using the power button (pressed and hold for a few seconds until PC powers off)
• Power the computer back on. As soon as you press the power-on button, immediately begin hitting the Esc button repeatedly (like tap-tap-tap) before any logo appears. This should open a HP Startup Menu
• Press F2 button from the keyboard to open System Diagnostics.
• Follow the on-screen instructions to perform System Test >> Quick test. This will check major hardware componets for issue (do it just in case). If there are no system checks/no quick tests, perform basic checks on the HDD (hard disk drive) and RAM check (memory check).
• Computer is slow 

Solution

# If a component appears to have failed based on the results, consider replacing it.

# If the issue is not hardware related, there’s a variety of steps you can take to improve performance on your computer and make it run faster.

• First off, check your hard drive space – you should have at least 15% free space available, preferably more for best performance. If you have a lot of large media files (movies, photos, music) stored on your hard drive, moving those to an external hard drive can help speed things up. Also empty your recycle bin to free up space. You may open and use Disk Clean-up to free disk space on your computer

• HP PCs - Downloading or updating software and drivers
• Defragment the hard drive (do NOT defrag if your computer has a solid state drive [SSD], because this can damage it)
• Run a virus scan and remove viruses/spyware/malware
• Close any apps you aren’t actively using, and try not to leave a lot of things open at once
• Use Task Manager to identify what is using the most system resources
• Uninstall any programs you definitely do not use but you think might be a bit high on resources. You can uninstall them from Control Panel > Programs and features
• HP Desktop PCs - Reduce heat inside the computer to prevent overheating
• Upgrade memory - add more RAM
• Consider HP Consumer Notebook PCs - Updating the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) (Windows)

These solutions are explained in detail, along with other helpful suggestions, in the following HP guided troubleshooter => http://hp.dezide.com/ts/start.jsp?guide=SlowComputerPerformance.net&as=true&section=social&sfs=forum

[dougsan2003]

All the steps dictated are in the HP system check.  They are the same steps the INADEQUATE, BACKWARDS HP techies run machines through.  One of the steps the techies run (proving their worthlessness) erased very important data which is taking me days to rebuild.  Not that it matters but the data was backed up and that data appears to be "missing". For this I pay $29.99 per month (forever) and get the same service as any person - with a in warranty or out of warranty machine!  Hope Xerox purchase goes well (this from a HP retiree!).

If HP has a slow system problem they should own up to it and fix the problem (more memory for the All-in-Ones would be one place to start.  After "HP techies" worked through my machine using their elbows rather than their fingers, Task Manager still shows CPU at 100% or close and Memory at 100% or close.  This tells their is some monster app running which is not showing up in Task Manager(? is this possible).

[Thomas19771]

I am not a expert but Yes I do believe that what @Dougsan2003 discribes as as a monster app running not in task manager is possible. 🙂 

[IT_WinSec]

@Thomas19771,

Such things are possible. They have existed from years and are called rootkits. This is a malicious software, difficult to remove.

Here is more information

-> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit

-> https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/intelligence/rootkits-malware

[Thomas19771]

Wow  rootkits are really bad. Thanks again for that little bit of info. I am lucky I haven't had that problem to deal with so far.