009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
Posts: 523
|
Post by 009 on Apr 21, 2022 14:35:59 GMT -5
I don't think I used to have this problem a few months ago...
I have 16 GB of RAM installed in my PC with Windows 10, and I used to be able to open and close web pages quickly. Nowadays when I open a web page, the HDD starts spinning and it takes 5 seconds before the page is open and functional and the drive stops spinning (writing). The same thing happens when I close the web page -- the page closes slowly and the drive takes 5 seconds to close (erasing?). If I try to open another web page before the HDD stops spinning/closing my previously open web page, the second page that I'm opening flashes onscreen for a split second before closing on its own. My 16 GB RAM should handle any single web page handily, but it seems that my computer doesn't use it for that purpose. I've tried to research this and found that 32-bit Windows OSs have a 3+GB maximum memory usage limit regardless of the amount of installed RAM. Oddly, I checked my memory usage, and it's around the same amount. But I do have Win 10 64-bit OS, which is recognized when I check my "system" within the settings page. I suppose if the computer was always like this, I'd be OK with it, but it's annoying now, losing the zip. Anyone know how I can fix this?
|
|
krrf
Wholenote
Posts: 376
|
Post by krrf on Apr 21, 2022 16:30:03 GMT -5
Open Task Manager, if you don't have it expanded, click "more details" at the bottom. The column headers will show you what is probably killing performance. At a basic level, your computer needs adequate amounts of RAM, CPU, and storage to function well. The fact you mention you don't remember this happening a few months ago means you probably have some malware/bloatware on your system bogging it down.
|
|
009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
Posts: 523
|
Post by 009 on Apr 22, 2022 5:58:19 GMT -5
I've looked at this task manager previously... not easy to completely understand, but here are screenshots without and with an open web page. It seems that the memory is not being fully used. APP USE -- NO OPEN WEB PAGE  APP USE -- WITH OPEN WEB PAGE  MEMORY STATUS -- NO OPEN WEB PAGE  MEMORY STATUS -- WITH OPEN WEB PAGE  When I tried to research a solution, there was some mention of maybe needing to tweak the BIOS, but I didn't understand it. So much computer help assumes you already are familiar with this stuff (and if I really were, I likely wouldn't need the help). |
|
|
|
Post by orrk01 on Apr 22, 2022 6:39:27 GMT -5
As krrf suggested, "you probably have some malware/bloatware on your system bogging it down."
I have used 'Malwarebytes' software in the past to remove malware that was wreaking havoc on my computer. Download and install it (it should still be free for personal use) and run it. It might take care of the problem.
|
|
|
|
Post by Opie on Apr 22, 2022 6:55:31 GMT -5
Take it to someone who can check the hard drive, you may have one that's on it's way out.
|
|
krrf
Wholenote
Posts: 376
|
Post by krrf on Apr 22, 2022 8:06:09 GMT -5
|
|
009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
Posts: 523
|
Post by 009 on Apr 22, 2022 8:43:14 GMT -5
Thanks, all. I'll check these leads out and get back.
|
|
|
|
Post by modbus on Apr 22, 2022 11:28:55 GMT -5
I'm with Opie, your hard drive may be in trouble.
The easiest, quickest way to check is to open a command prompt from the start menu, and then type in:
wmic diskdrive get status
If the command returns anything other than "OK" you have a problem and further investigation is needed.
|
|
009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
Posts: 523
|
Post by 009 on Apr 22, 2022 11:52:16 GMT -5
I'm with Opie, your hard drive may be in trouble. The easiest, quickest way to check is to open a command prompt from the start menu, and then type in: wmic diskdrive get status If the command returns anything other than "OK" you have a problem and further investigation is needed. This suggestion was the easiest and quickest. Report = 7 "OK" in a vertical column. I'll continue to investigate. Thanks. PS - HDD "C" = 0 fragmentation, and Malwarebytes detected no problems. I'm going to research this BIOS thing more thoroughly. I thought I read that memory usage is allocated there. There's a chance that this is just the way things are.... |
|
|
|
Post by gato on Apr 22, 2022 15:31:39 GMT -5
As krrf suggested, "you probably have some malware/bloatware on your system bogging it down." I have used 'Malwarebytes' software in the past to remove malware that was wreaking havoc on my computer. Download and install it (it should still be free for personal use) and run it. It might take care of the problem. +1 on that there ^ |
|
|
|
Post by themaestro on Apr 22, 2022 17:20:23 GMT -5
It could be something like a large amount of old temporary files in your \Users\<your-username>\Appdata\Temp\ . This can also be be referenced or accessed as %TEMP%. Generally everything in this folder can be deleted without issue. I have seen thousands of files in this folder and it can slow things up as it wades through the folder looking to see if there might be any applicable files related to your application.
Another browser-specific thing would be to delete your browser cache and cookies. Usually you can delete all or go through and delete only cookies or cache that you know you don't need. You can usually get to this within your browser setup menu. Be aware that this can remove website login info (like this forum) and you would need to establish your login again.
|
|
009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
Posts: 523
|
Post by 009 on Apr 22, 2022 18:32:22 GMT -5
I use CCleaner frequently.
|
|
|
|
Post by funkykikuchiyo on Apr 23, 2022 13:44:58 GMT -5
Any improvements, 009?
I have a similar issue. 9 year old tower running Windows 10. When I check task manager, it never seems like anything is really munching up resources all that much, except on occasion Avast. I do the malwarebytes stuff, and it never finds anything. Hard disk seems okay. I have 8 GB RAM and have more on its way from Amazon just to see if it helps (maybe it uses virtual memory too soon or something?).
I kinda suspect that recent OS updates run all computers as though they have SSD instead of the old fashioned ones, and it is not being sensible with the older drives. I have nothing to back that up, though. It is just a hunch. It is partly based on what happened to a prior iPhone I had, where the ios updates were such that they went beyond what the hardware could handle and almost bricked itself a couple times.
|
|
009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
Posts: 523
|
Post by 009 on Apr 23, 2022 14:16:42 GMT -5
I haven't investigated any further yet; been outside weed-whacking and mowing the grass.... You mentioned Avast, and I noticed that I had a protected cookie of Avast.com. (CCleaner lets you protect selected cookies from being wiped out when running CCleaner.) I just had to look that up to see what Avast was; I faintly recall trying that once. I do not have it installed on my (12 yo) tower PC; I eliminated that Avast cookie, but I doubt there will be any difference in my operation.
I'm going to re-read the online info on this problem and memory allocation within BIOS. I doubt I'll understand all of it, but I think going into BIOS and simply looking / becoming familiar with it first is a good idea. I'll do one of those PC Backup / Restoration Points (whatever it's called) in case I screw things up.
|
|
|
|
Post by funkykikuchiyo on Apr 23, 2022 14:25:41 GMT -5
I'd try to verify that restoration points apply to the BIOS as well. The BIOS is sort of like an operating system before the rest of the operating system, so the restoration point might not go deep enough.
Maybe someone else here knows this off the top of their heads?
|
|
009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
Posts: 523
|
Post by 009 on Apr 23, 2022 14:27:52 GMT -5
I'll be sure to write down any / all BIOS tweaks in order, just in case.
|
|
009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
Posts: 523
|
Post by 009 on Apr 24, 2022 7:06:16 GMT -5
|
|
009
Wholenote
Take me to your leader!
Posts: 523
|
Post by 009 on Jun 28, 2022 7:51:48 GMT -5
Update: I never did dive into my BIOS, etc., fearing, at some level, of messing things up worse than they already were. Anyway, MS Edge got another update last week or so and now pages open and close much more quickly. There is still HDD writing as before, but much more abbreviated. I can live with it; the delays are minimal now.
|
|
