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I have had this laptop since early last year, specs are:

CPU: Intel Core i3-3110M CPU @ 2.40GHz
RAM: 4.00 GB (3.88 GB usable)
System: 64-bit-OS, x64-based processor
OS: Windows 8.1

So yeah, not a very bad laptop either. However, recently it has suddenly being really slow sometimes, and even making any program crash or stop responding, including firefox, games, file explorer, MS Paint, task manager... LITERALLY everything.

My task manager looks like this, so is probably the issue:

http://i.imgur.com/W4V4XLz.png

As you can see, my Memory and disk usage is very high. What can I do about this? Nothing really is using much memory at all, I don't see how 90% of my 4gb ram is being used.

What can I do to help my PC be fine again?

Here is the resource manager memory tab

http://i.imgur.com/sLGyrrl.png

RAMAP:

http://i.imgur.com/PzPa49H.png

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  • I can barely make out your screen shot, but it doesn't appear that you selected the option to display processes from all users. Find that option and enable it. Jun 8, 2015 at 19:30
  • @CareyGregory I am the only user
    – Matthew
    Jun 8, 2015 at 19:44
  • @Matthew No, Modern operating systems have a number of system user accounts that are used to limit permissions of various processes and restrict the potential damage that can be done if a security bug is found and exploited. Many Windows processes run as SYSTEM, LOCAL SERVICE, NETWORK SERVICE, and several other internal accounts, even if you only have one "user" account (for yourself). Jun 8, 2015 at 19:52
  • @DarthAndroid Posted a RAMMAP above or here i.imgur.com/PzPa49H.png
    – Matthew
    Jun 8, 2015 at 20:11
  • There we go. Your Non-Paged Pool is almost half your memory-- It shouldn't be. This is memory used by the kernel and drivers that can't be paged out to disk - Large Non-Paged Pools are often related to a memory leak of some sort in a driver. Jun 8, 2015 at 20:15

3 Answers 3

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Your disk is maxed out because your system did not shut down properly, and now the disk has to be checked for corruption. This will max out disk usage until the check is complete.

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    This doesn't explain why programs are crashing, and checkdsk should finish within an hour or less depending on disk size. Jun 8, 2015 at 19:29
  • @CareyGregory I'm just going by the image he posted - checkdsk is maxing out the drive. Jun 8, 2015 at 19:40
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you might have some background tasks running for some of the software Clean up your PC with different options, and once its done, it will be faster than before.

  1. Dont keep huge files on desktop (this takes up ram space. Pressing refresh doesnt have any effect on the RAM shrinking). Just maintain simple links to files
  2. Clean up background tasks. Goto -> ctrl+R -> run "msconfig" -> uncheck the box at the startup tab which u think are not required. (Ex: google hangout, skype, google talk, etc, which starts in background and is not required for normal operations and other softwares start tasks)
  3. To adjust all visual effects for best performance:

    Open Performance Information and Tools by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, and then clicking Control Panel. In the search box, type Performance Information and Tools, and then, in the list of results, click Performance Information and Tools.

    Click Adjust visual effects. Administrator permission required If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

    Click the Visual Effects tab, click Adjust for best performance, and then click OK. (For a less drastic option, select Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer.)

  4. Defrag at times..
  5. Restart regularly.

  6. One imp note: while installing some software tools, they usually come with some unnecessary add-on utility. be careful while installing and "uncheck" these installation, which arent useful. (one Ex: is the browser tool bar for some apps/plugins)

Edited: Beautiful explanation on the slowing down of PC, programs, etc: https://askleo.com/why_is_my_machine_slowing_down/

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    Windows automatically defragments itself since at least Windows 7. You do not need to do this manually. The size of files on your desktop does not affect RAM usage (The desktop is just a folder, like any other) Jun 8, 2015 at 19:20
  • 2
    #1 is wrong, #4 is unnecessary, and #5 is also unnecessary. Jun 8, 2015 at 19:27
  • I agree to other conventions. (#4 is unnecessary in win 7/8) , #5 is unnecessary if u have well known softwares. Others might be leaky or faulty and over period of time, it might take up more space if not restarted , However, there seems to be agreement on the files in desktop and few others.. -- superuser.com/questions/30710/… Jun 8, 2015 at 19:30
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You should post some better internal info > Like Speccy, which offers specs, temperature, SMART, etc... more than a simple task manager screenshot.

Alternatively, there are basic things you can do to diagnose/fix a slow computer. Here's a list of tutorials, programs, etc... you should checkout.

~ CCleaner
~ Remove known junk using Revo

~ WinKey+R services.msc and/or taskschd.msc
* Remove/disable unnecessary and reoccurring tasks.
* Remove/disable unwanted services. Do not mess with anything you're uncertain about. Only the obvious ones that are related to adware, crapware, or utilities you've knowingly removed in the past but may still be lingering.

~ You can't use msconfig with Win 8 so instead go to the "Startup" tab available now in the task manager. Disable excessive/unwanted startup progs from there.

Did you manually run chkdsk? Whether manually or automatically, it's happening for a reason. HDD failure can absolutely cause "crashes" and a dramatic decrease in performance so I suggest running a (bootable) HDD diagnostic tool like the following:

HDDRegen, HDAT2, MHDD, SpinRite, Hiren's BootCD, etc.. which may or may not fix the "slow" issue entirely, that depends on the severity though. Regardless, running one of them will offer more info.

Otherwise, if you don't want to make a simple bootable diagnostic tool you can post the results of CrystalDiskInfo

EDIT: Dude, in your photo of ResMon you're running OSBuddy (a video game?), MalwareBytes (a scan?), Skype, FireFox and you're wondering about why your RAM has high usage? Skype, by default installation, starts on starup. You should change that using above suggestions. MBAM shouldn't be running 100% of the time in my opinion, then again I don't need AntiVirus software.

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  • I am trying the Revo thing now. After I installed it and ran the exe in the download folder, it took a good 5-7 mins for the installation to even prompt me (As in, asking me if I want to install this)
    – Matthew
    Jun 8, 2015 at 19:54
  • Revo is 1/15 things I suggested. Have you tried anything else beyond that? Revo individually isn't going to solve anything so I recommend trying more before posting the same symptoms.
    – user431052
    Jun 8, 2015 at 20:07
  • P.S. Specifically the suggestions that are native to windows, ie: taskschd.msc, startup tab, sfc, or portable progs. Seeing as how they aren't as demanding as Revo (which shouldn't actually be a big deal) and as result may run faster than 3rd party progs. Given the extreme amount of time that Revo took to load, I'm leaning towards some HDD related issue. So I strongly consider diagnosing that first.
    – user431052
    Jun 8, 2015 at 20:18
  • Another user suggested I download "RAMMAP" and he found "Your Non-Paged Pool is almost half your memory-- It shouldn't be. This is memory used by the kernel and drivers that can't be paged out to disk - Large Non-Paged Pools are often related to a memory leak of some sort in a driver." And he is looking into what I can do about this.
    – Matthew
    Jun 8, 2015 at 20:24
  • i.imgur.com/PzPa49H.png
    – Matthew
    Jun 8, 2015 at 20:25

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