Computer Running Slow

koberulz

Member
Recently, my computer has decided it's doing too much work, or something, and now it takes forever to do things that used to take...well, still a long time, but significantly less so.

Encoding a video in Adobe Media Encoder that previously took around two hours can now take as many as eight or nine. I also get error messages in Firefox about a script that's stopped running whenever I try to encode video with Firefox open, which used to happen only rarely. After Effects encodes are taking five minutes instead of one. RAM previews are taking absolutely forever to load.

I'm trying to edit video in Premiere Pro at the moment, and it won't even play properly. The audio works fine, but I'm getting only intermittent freeze-frames of the video and whenever I try to click on anything, it stops responding for half a second or so, but the clicking doesn't actually do anything even after it starts responding again. So the only way to get the video to stop is to kill Premiere through Task Manager.

Shutdown and boot-up times are ridiculously long. Trying to encode video with AME or VirtualDub makes the computer absolutely useless for anything else, where I used to be able to do low-intensity things if needed, albeit slower than usual. Programs seem to take significantly longer to open than previously.

I'm fairly sure it's not an issue with the Adobe software (I'm running CS6, if it matters): it happens elsewhere, it's just that CS is where I do most of my work, so that's where most of the examples come from.

System specs:
Vista Home Premium SP2
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz 2.66GHz
16GB RAM
64-bit OS
 

My Computer

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    a6530f Desktop
    CPU
    HP-PAVILION
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra3)
    Memory
    8 Gigs of Ram/DDR2 PC2-6400 MB/sec
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
    Sound Card
    Intergrated Realtex ALC888S Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG W40 series widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1600 X 900
    Hard Drives
    1 640 GB Sata transfer rating: 3.0 Gb/sec speed: 7200 RPM
    PSU
    300W
    Case
    Mid-Size ATX
    Keyboard
    HP Multimedia Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mouse 5000
    Other Info
    Processor: AMD Phenom X3 8450 Operating speed: Up to 2.1 GHz, Number of cores: 3, Socket: AM2+, Bus speed: 3600 MHz HT3 (clocked down to 2000 MHz)

    Modem: 56K WinModem/

    Supermulti: 16X DVD(+/-)R/RW 12X Ram (+/-)R DL Lightscribe SATA Drive

    Menory Card Reader: 15-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader

    Media Drive
You could try using or installing CCleaner to remove unwanted files.
Another software Clean Master removes all types of unwanted files,
which in turn decreases the time taken to boot up and close down
computer. I have certainly found them both beneficial.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Presario CQ5115 uk
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON Corp. Benicia (CPU 1)
    Memory
    8.0 GB DDR2 @ 399MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Viseo 230Ws (1920x1080@60Hz)
    Sound Card
    NVIDIA High Definition
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Packard bell
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080@60Hz
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD5000AAKS-65AB2
    WS Elements 107C USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    Toshiba External USB 3.0 USB Device
    PSU
    750Watt
    Case
    HP Presario CQ5115 uk
    Cooling
    Internal fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech K400r Wireless
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000
    Internet Speed
    Broadband 50M
If you know about when the problem started you could try a system restore
A system file check would be good as well
open cmd as an administrator and type sfc /scannow
Have you done any driver updates lately?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD
    1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp
    1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset.
    Only ever used a laptop.
    Also use USB Freeview TV Card
    Lenovo Docking Station
    External Speakers
    Other bits a pieces as needed
Hello I did not see that you ran a virus check. I would also download the free version of malwarebytes and run a full check also.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free - Windows 7 Help Forums
I've run Malwarebytes. It's clean.


You could try using or installing CCleaner to remove unwanted files.
Gave that a run. Seemed to speed up Premiere a bit, but AME is spending four and a half hours on what should, at most, be a three-hour encode. I've had to pause it just to use Firefox, and even then Firefox is sluggish at the moment.


If you know about when the problem started you could try a system restore
Don't have a clue, and it would've been ages ago anyway. I've been putting up with it for a while; it wasn't until Premiere utterly refused to work that I got around to doing anything about it.

Have you done any driver updates lately?
No.
 

My Computer

It maybe of interest, I tried Firefox as an alternative to Microsoft IE,
but it slowed my computer down considerably. Returned to MS IE.
It was suggested to use 360 Total Security as an Anti virus software,
it has since installed, speeded up my computer. I am not trying to
advertise 360 Total Securities only my personal view that may help
in your case.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Presario CQ5115 uk
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz
    Motherboard
    PEGATRON Corp. Benicia (CPU 1)
    Memory
    8.0 GB DDR2 @ 399MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Viseo 230Ws (1920x1080@60Hz)
    Sound Card
    NVIDIA High Definition
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Packard bell
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080@60Hz
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD5000AAKS-65AB2
    WS Elements 107C USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    Toshiba External USB 3.0 USB Device
    PSU
    750Watt
    Case
    HP Presario CQ5115 uk
    Cooling
    Internal fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech K400r Wireless
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 1000
    Internet Speed
    Broadband 50M
Encoding creates a tremendous number of temporary files.

I recommend that you go to Programs, Accessories, System Tools and run the Disk Cleanup utility. When it tells you how much it can clean up, make sure you check the boxes for temporary files and empty the recycle bin. Reboot.

After that, run the Windows Defragmenter. You can set it to run automatically at a scheduled time.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
Also be very careful when installing so called cleaners. when you decide to uninstall them they take extra things as well and you could have some new problems.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    a6530f Desktop
    CPU
    HP-PAVILION
    Motherboard
    M2N68-LA (Narra3)
    Memory
    8 Gigs of Ram/DDR2 PC2-6400 MB/sec
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
    Sound Card
    Intergrated Realtex ALC888S Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG W40 series widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1600 X 900
    Hard Drives
    1 640 GB Sata transfer rating: 3.0 Gb/sec speed: 7200 RPM
    PSU
    300W
    Case
    Mid-Size ATX
    Keyboard
    HP Multimedia Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Wireless Mouse 5000
    Other Info
    Processor: AMD Phenom X3 8450 Operating speed: Up to 2.1 GHz, Number of cores: 3, Socket: AM2+, Bus speed: 3600 MHz HT3 (clocked down to 2000 MHz)

    Modem: 56K WinModem/

    Supermulti: 16X DVD(+/-)R/RW 12X Ram (+/-)R DL Lightscribe SATA Drive

    Menory Card Reader: 15-in-1 Multimedia Card Reader

    Media Drive
Windows needs at least 15% of the hard drive free to function properly. Make sure that you have that much free. If removing temporary crap using ccleaner or disk cleanup doesn't free up enough you will have to move/remove other files. Keep in mind that adobe takes up a lot of space, videos take up a lot of space, and pictures and music can accumulate. If nothing else you can get an external hard drive and move personal files on there.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
Windows, installed programs etc have their own hard drive (500GB, 200GB free), I have a second hard drive for all my actual files (2TB, 83.7GB free at the moment because I have a lot of intermediate files from something I'm working on), plus a few external drives for other things.

Followed wither 3's advice, but used Auslogics Disk Defrag instead of the Windows one, which was recommended by someone else years ago. Ran a defrag and optimise, and it's 93% done after 38 hours.

I don't know if this is related, but the My Computer display and the display for my D: drive seem to have gotten connected somehow. I had My Computer as Tiles, grouped by Type, and D: as ungrouped Medium Icons, but then MC became ungrouped Medium Icons. Whenever I change it back to grouped Tiles, D: changes to grouped Tiles.

C: is still a List, exactly as it's always been. Some other folders seem to be grouping by type when they shouldn't be, and changing the way they display, but I'm not sure if there's any consistency to it.
 

My Computer

Please take a screenshot.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
I agree with Townsbg.

What I wanted you to do is run the Disk cleanup and defrag on your C: drive because that's where all the temporary files are created unless you've changed it in the particular program you're running. It sounds like you're doing those things on your 2 TB drive.

Probably the only thing I don't like about Vista is that is constantly changes the views for folders even if you go throught the procedure for specifying a particular view for a folder and like folder. It's easy to change by just clicking on Views in Windows Explorer and toggle through until you get the view you want.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
I ran Disk Cleanup on C:, and defragged every drive. Things are still as bad as they were when I initially posted. And I've deleted a bunch of things off D: last night, having finished with them, so that's back to 300GB of 2TB free.

I can toggle through the views, but whatever I do to My Computer gets done to the root of D: as well, and I want those two to be different.
 

My Computer

You didn't post a screenshot as requested.

This procedure may disable your anti-virus, so you might want to set a system restore point first-

Run msconfig.exe.

In Services, check the box to "hide all microsoft". Then click on "disable all" and Apply.

In Startup, click on "disable all" and then Apply.

Reboot. Is your system any faster?

If so, you might look in the Startup items to see if there's anything there that you don't need running in the background every time you startup and disable it. You can do the same thing in Services.

You should run msconfig.exe again as soon as your done and reset everything to the default and reboot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium 64 bit SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Cyberpower
    CPU
    Intel Quad CPU Q6700 2.67 GHZ
    Motherboard
    NVIDIA 780i
    Memory
    4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GTX 560 TI Twin Frozr
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster SB Audigy
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2436
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080p
    Hard Drives
    Samsung HD 105SI
    WDC WD20
    Case
    Apevia XJupiter
    Cooling
    air
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX 3200
    Mouse
    Logitech MX 600
    Internet Speed
    30 Mbps
Have you recently changed your codecs? Have you tried updating them? Keep in mind that video editing is very resource intensive. It takes a lot of space, ram, and processing power. I can't think of anything else you could be doing with your computer that would require more resources so perhaps you need to minimize what you are doing while compiling a video. Do you have a good graphics card?
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 8.1 Industry Pro x64
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavillion Elite HPE-250f
    CPU
    Intel i7 860 Quad core 2.8 ghz
    Memory
    8 gb
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 5770 1 gb ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Alienware 25 AW2521HF
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 &1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-pavilion-elite-hpe-250f/
  • Operating System
    Windows 2012 R2 Data center/Linux Mint
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Poweredge T140
    CPU
    i3 9100 3.6GHz, 8M cache, 4C/4T
    Memory
    8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC UDIMM
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    1 TB & 360 GB x2
    Other Info
    https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/productdetailstxn/poweredge-t140?~ck=bt
You didn't post a screenshot as requested.
I don't understand what you want a screenshot of. Changing the view setting for one folder also changes them for another (but not if they're open simultaneously in different windows; in that case it just reverts the changes once the windows are closed). How exactly they're displaying isn't the problem, it's the fact that they're both the same.

This procedure may disable your anti-virus, so you might want to set a system restore point first-
I can't do anything that involves rebooting the computer at this juncture, as I have encodes running, so I'll have to try this later.


Have you recently changed your codecs? Have you tried updating them?
No. I'm not even sure how to do that.

Keep in mind that video editing is very resource intensive. It takes a lot of space, ram, and processing power. I can't think of anything else you could be doing with your computer that would require more resources so perhaps you need to minimize what you are doing while compiling a video.
The problem is not "my computer runs slower than I would like when encoding", it's "my computer runs slower than it has done in the past while encoding", so what I'm doing while encoding isn't the problem. For the most part, I just leave it be and it's suddenly taking 2-3 times as long, but web browsing has also gone from "passable" to "impossible". It also took seven minutes to shut down last time I did so (which I believe was after the Disk Cleanup), so it's not just an encoding thing. That's just where it's most noticeable.

Do you have a good graphics card?
I have the same graphics card I had six months ago, so I doubt it's the issue, but in any event, it's a GeForce GTS 450.
 

My Computer

So...my computer shut itself down last night. When I booted up, I got a beeping noise vaguely resembling this, and a message saying the computer had shut down "due to a thermal event (overheating)".

Possibly related? There's a high of 22°C (72°F) today, so if it's overheating in this weather there's a serious issue...
 

My Computer

If my math is right 300GB free space on a 2 TB drive is only 15% free space. That would choke a system just doing anything much less video encoding. I like to keep my internal drive usage down to about 30%. Meaning near 70% free space when running the HD as one big C: as you get with OS preloaded.

Try moving stuff off until you have al least 50% free space on the internal HD.
You may also want to check your fan settings and perhaps blow the dust out of the case.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion m9515y
    CPU
    Phenom X4 9850
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Some Radeon Cheapie with 512 MB Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    750 GB SATA 3G
    2 SIIG Superspeed docks w/WD Caviar Black Sata II or III
The 2TB drive is just for data, it doesn't have any programs or operating systems installed on it. That's all on a 596GB drive, currently with 245GB free. Do I really need to be saving space on D: anyway? I would've thought only C: would be relevant for that.

How do I check my fan settings? I wasn't even aware they were a thing.
 

My Computer

The 2TB drive is just for data, it doesn't have any programs or operating systems installed on it. That's all on a 596GB drive, currently with 245GB free. Do I really need to be saving space on D: anyway? I would've thought only C: would be relevant for that.

Sorry. I didn't notice the D: .. before morning coffee

How do I check my fan settings? I wasn't even aware they were a thing.

Maybe someone familiar with that machine can say. Often there is a page in the BIOS setup with trigger temperatures and voltage settings to control when fans speed up. I've had machines where the fans were set to never speed up even when the CPU hit the shutdown temp. Needless to say they locked up often until I found the setting.

You could take a look at SpeedFan and see if your hardware is supported.
If not there are other hardware info tools that show the fan speeds. If they never speed up even though the CPU is getting hot then there's a problem. Either the settings or some other issue.

Also see CoreTemp for getting the temps and loads on CPU cores.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion m9515y
    CPU
    Phenom X4 9850
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Some Radeon Cheapie with 512 MB Ram
    Monitor(s) Displays
    CRT
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    750 GB SATA 3G
    2 SIIG Superspeed docks w/WD Caviar Black Sata II or III
Back
Top