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7 Posts
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19538
August 6th, 2012 19:00
Computer running INCREDIBLY slow
I have an Alienware Aurora desktop, overclocked (by Dell) to 3.9 GHZ quad core, GTX580, and 8 Gigs of Ram. Today, when I got home from work, my computer was running VERY slowly. I cannot system restore (I've tried this on several previous occasions) because I get error messages, and when I reboot my computer runs fine for a while, then starts to run so slowly that it literally takes several minutes to open internet explorer. When I click on a new webpage, it takes even longer to load. Opening My Computer took me about 15 seconds. I've scanned with Malwarebytes, Bitdefender and Microsoft Security Suite, and they've detected nothing. I've changed nothing since yesterday, and the highest processor/memory-consuming item open in task manager is explorer.exe. What could be the problem here? I'm not opening multiple processes or trying to even play games; I'm just trying to open ANYTHING and it's taking literally MINUTES for each process. Any help would be great, as I feel like running into a wall if I call tech support (they simply say "oh yes, is virus" and ask me to pay 249.99 for more help).
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17.4K Posts
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August 6th, 2012 19:00
Install CPUID HW-Monitor and measure temps at idle and max gaming.
Sounds like something might be over-heating and throttling back.
Run Dell Diags from F12 boot menu. Look for problems.
Remove all over-clocks.
If still nothing showing bad ... clean install Windows and drivers.
mamosley2
7 Posts
0
August 6th, 2012 20:00
I'm with you up until the overclocks... If the overclocks were the problem, would CPUID HW-Monitor not catch that? I have absolutely no idea how to overclock, much less how to un-overclock, so I'm really hoping that's not the issue. Also, I downloaded the CPUID software, any idea what temperatures I should be looking for as "bad"?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17.4K Posts
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August 6th, 2012 20:00
40c is good.
Run full surface Confidence Test (download from WD or Seagate). Dell Diags also has a little HDD test.
Are you sure you don't want to just have a qualified local computer tech. take a look at it?
mamosley2
7 Posts
0
August 6th, 2012 20:00
Latest update: A few minutes after my last post I put my computer into sleep mode, then re-woke it as this "crash" only seems to happen a few minutes after either rebooting or taking computer out of sleep mode. Sure enough, after about five minutes of operation, my computer simply froze. I couldn't do anything this time. However, while frozen, I could hear my computer make a noise, sounded like the hard drive attempting to access something, about every three seconds like clockwork. I rebooted, and am simply waiting for the next crash. All four of my cores are running around 40 degrees celsius. Is this hot? Is my hard drive failing?
mamosley2
7 Posts
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August 7th, 2012 06:00
I was unable to find any "full surface confidnce test" you listed, but did analyze the disk through F12 when rebooting.
I'd love to have a qualified local computer tech take a look at it, but I'm a bit short on cash right now and can't afford to pay someone $60 an hour to see what's wrong. If it's my hard drive, I'll gladly replace it, but I want to be sure first. The diagnostics I used with F12 just rebooted my computer, and I wasn't able to see what the results were of the test.
NataliaatAW
2 Intern
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835 Posts
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August 7th, 2012 15:00
Is the system booting into windows? or is it not booting at all at this point?
mamosley2
7 Posts
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August 7th, 2012 16:00
It is still booting to Windows. Recently, it hasn't done anything wrong at all. However, four times last night it made that noise I referenced above approximately every three seconds, during the sound there was a "stutter" of sorts that stopped all activity on the machine. For instance, if I was moving my mouse across the screen when it made the noise, it would "skip" for an instance. During this time, EVERYTHING took forever to open.
NataliaatAW
2 Intern
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835 Posts
0
August 14th, 2012 11:00
Hi, I apologize I didn't see this before. Try AlienAutopsy to check your computer, also, scan your system for any viruses.
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
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56.9K Posts
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August 14th, 2012 16:00
mamosley2,
Two simple test -
(1) Turn the system off. Disconnect the system from the router, network, whatever. Turn the system on. Test the basic functionality of windows. Does it lock up?
(2) Restart the system, press F8 and boot into Safemode. It will look funny but just leave it running. Perform minor functions like opening and closing notepad, wordpad, calculator. Does it lock up?