Unsolved
6 Posts
0
4877
Inspiron 24-5459 AIO, very slow
I purchased this pc in Jan 17 to replace another that was tiresome to wait for during start up - frequently 15mins to be any use. This pc arrived and after initial set up had to be remotely reloaded by Dell to GB spec as every time I needed support (such as optical drive wouldn't burn) it directed me to Turkey. Fair play to Dell after many hours it was up, running and seemed ok. However, over the next couple of months it seemed to slow right down on start up and general use and now its worse than the one I changed it for. Conscious of not wanting to clog up the new pc I only put on essential software - MS office, Chrome, antivirus and that's about it. I have another pc for more intensive work and hence can keep this relatively 'clean'. I appreciate this is a bit late in the day but I work away and only now is the family really getting brassed off with this, verging on the point of chucking it out the window. I have an oldish Sony VAIO laptop running Win10 and it still starts very swiftly and never hangs. I've tried all sorts of clean downs but the Dell is still pants. Support assist often crashes or freezes but if it does finish anything it doesn't find any faults just file cleaning. I'm not really in a position to change the pc due to precarious work situation so I wonder if anyone can guide me to a solution. Would an SSD improve matters as I wonder if its a hardware issue. Expected better of a Dell pc having had many over the years but this one is pitiful.
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
April 3rd, 2019 08:00
I assume 8 GB of RAM and not 8 MB of RAM.
Yes a SSD would improve your performance a lot. Windows 10 tends to run poorly on mechanical HDDs (quite often showing 100 % Disk Usage in the Device Manager).
The Service Manual is available here:
https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/inspiron-24-5459-aio_service-manual_en-us.pdf
It is relatively easy to get into:
https://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/inspiron-24-5459
Get at least a 250 GB, preferably a 500 GB one for sufficient storage space.
Timpo
6 Posts
0
April 3rd, 2019 09:00
Thanks Philip.
Yes 8gb ram. I have noticed that the disk is often at 100% in task manager. Also I have many incidences of google tasks running. However ending them does not make any difference.
I'll look at changing the hard drive but my Sony is blisteringly quick at start up with mechanical HDD despite being much older and lower spec.
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
April 3rd, 2019 09:00
The 100 % Disk Usage is a common issue but does not show on all systems that have a mechanical drive at least not all the time... There are an array of software fixes for it such as Disabling Windows Search and Windows Indexing settings, these fixes also include disabling some settings regarding Caching in Google Chrome, but these are reported to work for some and not for others and in some cases work only temporary. Replacing the HDD with a SSD will offer a more lasting solution.
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
43.6K Posts
0
April 3rd, 2019 12:00
Which CPU do you have, i3, i5 or i7? An i3 is rather slow and pokey...
8 GB of RAM is a bit low for Win 10, which might account for some of the disk usage because the OS has to keep swapping files between RAM and HDD. And I bet it's only one single 8 GB module. With only a single module installed, RAM is running in "single channel" mode rather than in faster "dual channel" mode. If you decide to increase RAM, you'd need to install an identical 8 GB module to make it run in dual channel mode.
Have you looked to see how much "junk" is loading at boot? Open Task Manager and look at the Startup tab. How many things are loading and phoning home at boot looking for updates. Try disabling Dell SupportAssist and disabling Dell Update (if you have it). Do not disable anything unless you know exactly what it is and what it does because you could stop the PC from booting by disabling the wrong thing(s). And obviously don't disable your antiviral suite.
And reboot and immediately press F12. Look for the option to run the Diagnostics and run them, including RAM and extended hard drive tests. Be patient, this can take a while. Copy/post error message(s), if any...
Edit: Sorry, I missed that you have an i5 because that was only visible in your title on the Inspiron forum landing page, not after I opened this thread.
Timpo
6 Posts
0
April 4th, 2019 05:00
Cheers Ron - Ill check ram but i think its 2 x 4gb so will have to replace both.
Timpo
6 Posts
0
April 4th, 2019 07:00
Would you recommend upgrading RAM first or SSD?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
•
17K Posts
0
April 4th, 2019 09:00
8gb RAM is fine for your uses.
Definitely a SSD first. Most of these All-In-Ones can get really slow with just a spinning HDD (since they are really just low-end laptops inside).
bermuda40
25 Posts
0
April 4th, 2019 10:00
I changed out the Hdd to an SSD and my boot time went from about 90 seconds to just under 30.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
•
17K Posts
0
April 4th, 2019 11:00
Right ... 3 to 5 times faster. The SSD can also do much better IOPS (like off-the-scale better) .
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
43.6K Posts
0
April 4th, 2019 12:00
More likely 1x 8GB because it's cheaper and faster to install than 2x 4GB. :Wink:
You can always download a free copy of CPU-Z and look on its Memory tab. "Channel #" will be either single or dual. I'm betting it single...
Timpo
6 Posts
0
April 8th, 2019 01:00
Thanks - I'll have a look later this week.
Timpo
6 Posts
0
April 12th, 2019 03:00
Amazing improvement with Crucial SSD! Transformed the PC. Sadly I do have 2 x 4gb so the more expensive upgrade option but I'll see how it performs in the meantime. Cheers for the advice.