Windows 7 has been out for almost a year, and the PCs you
bought right after its release may be slowing down now. User complaints are
minimal when new PCs are rolled out. They start up quickly, and programs seem
to open in a snap. But over time, users begin to notice that their systems are
slower or hang up more and more often. While the possible causes of system
slowdown are endless, this article identifies 10 common troubleshooting areas
you should examine before you consider drastic steps such as reformatting and
reimaging or buying new computers.
1: Processor
overheating
Chipmakers have recently been working to make processors
more efficient, which means they generate less heat. Nonetheless, some modern
processors still generate a lot of heat. That's why all processors require some
sort of cooling element, typically a fan of some type. A system's Thermal
Design Point (TDP) rating indicates, in watts, how much heat it can safely
dissipate without exceeding the maximum temperature for the chip. When the
processor temperature goes over spec, the system can slow down or run erratically
(lock up) or may simply reboot. The processor fan may fail for several reasons:
·
Dust is preventing the fan from spinning
smoothly.
·
The fan motor has failed.
·
The fan bearings are loose and jiggling.
Often, you can tell if there is a fan problem by listening
and/or touching the computer. A fan that has loose bearings starts jiggling and
vibrates the case, making a characteristic noise. As time goes by, the sounds
and vibrations will become so prominent that you'll change the fan out just to
regain some peace and quiet.
You don't always need to replace the fan. If it is covered
with dust, you can often spray away the dust with compressed air. But even
though you might get the fan running again, its life span has likely been
reduced because of the overwork. You should keep an extra fan in reserve in
case of failure.
Processors may also overheat because the heat sink is not
properly placed above the processor or the thermal paste is not of good quality
or was applied incorrectly (or not at all) when the system was built. This is
more likely to be a problem with home-built systems but can happen with
commercially manufactured ones as well. The paste can break down over time, and
you may need to reapply it.
Case design is another element that can contribute to or
help prevent overheating. Cases with extra fans, better vents, and adequate
room inside for good airflow may cost more but can provide superior cooling
performance. Small cases that squeeze components together can cause overheating.
For this reason, laptops with powerful processors are prone to overheating.
Tip
Another common reason for processor overheating is
overclocking. Until heat begins to take its toll, overclocking does allow for
significant performance improvements. Because processor overclocking can really
cook a processor, most dedicated overclockers do not use regular processor
fans. Instead, they use complex -- and expensive -- water-cooling systems. For
more information on overclocking, check out overclockers.com.
Overheating can also be caused by the external temperature
(that is, the temperature in the room). Computers no longer have to be kept in
cold rooms as they did in the early days of computing, but if the room
temperature goes above 80, you may find your computers exhibiting the symptoms
of overheating. If the temperature is uncomfortable for you, it's probably too
high for your computers. Adequate ventilation is also important.
Most computers today have an option to display the CPU
temperature in the BIOS. There are also a number of utilities that will track
the temperature of your processor and case, such as Core Temp. If you want to
look for other such utilities, check out TechRepublic's software library and
use the search term "temperature."
2: Bad RAM
Several situations can lead to RAM-related performance
problems with a particular machine:
·
RAM timing is slower than optimal machine spec.
·
RAM has minor flaws that appear only on detailed
testing.
·
RAM is overheating.
·
There is insufficient RAM.
In the old days of Fast Page RAM, buying new RAM for your
computer was a simple affair. You just needed to know what speed your
motherboard supported and the maximum each slot would take. Today, there are
many types and speeds of RAM, and the better motherboards may be tolerant of
using RAM that does not match the motherboard's maximum specs. For example,
your motherboard may support PC133 RAM but will still work with PC100 RAM. But
be aware that you may see performance decreases if you install RAM that is
slower than the maximum spec. Some motherboards will even allow you to mix
speeds but will default to the slowest RAM installed.
Minor flaws in RAM chips can lead to system slowdowns and
instability. The least expensive chips often have minor flaws that will cause
your system to slow down or Blue Screen intermittently. Although built-in
mechanisms may allow the system to keep working, there is a performance hit
when it has to deal with flawed RAM chips.
In the past, no one worried about RAM chips getting hot,
because they didn't seem to generate much heat. But that's changed with newer
RAM types, especially SDRAM. To check for overheating, open your computer's
case, power down, and pull the plug out. Ground yourself and touch the plastic
on one of your RAM chips. Ouch! They get pretty hot. If you find that your RAM
chips are overheating, you should consider buying a separate fan to cool your
memory. If your motherboard doesn't support a RAM fan, you might be able to get
enough additional cooling by installing a fan card that plugs in to a PCI slot.
Of course, one common reason for poor performance that's
related to RAM is simply not having enough of it. Modern operating systems such
as Windows 7 and today's resource-hungry applications, combined with our increasing
tendency toward extreme multitasking, result in a need for more RAM. The
minimal specified system requirements may not cut it if you're doing lots of
multimedia or running other memory-intensive applications. 32-bit Windows is
limited to using 4 GB of RAM, but 64-bit Windows 7 can handle from 8 to 192 GB,
depending on the edition. If your system allows, adding more RAM can often
increase performance.
3: Hard disk issues
Traditional hard drives are mechanical devices that
eventually wear out. There are many signs of imminent failure before a hard
disk finally gives up. Some of these signs include:
·
Slow access times on the affected drive.
·
An increasing number of bad sectors when running
scandisk and chkdsk.
·
Unexplained Blue Screens.
·
Intermittent boot failures.
·
An "Imminent Hard Disk Failure"
warning.
Detecting a failing hard disk can be tricky because the
early signs are subtle. Experienced computer professionals can often hear a
change in the normal disk spin. After the disk deteriorates further, you'll see
the system slow to a crawl. Write processes will take a long time as the system
tries to find good blocks to write to. (This will occur if you're using a
robust file system such as NTFS; other file systems will likely Blue Screen the
computer.)
When you notice the system slowing down, run scandisk or
chkdsk, depending on your operating system. If you notice a bad sector where a
good sector existed earlier, that's a clue that the disk is going bad. Back up
the data on the disk and prepare for it to fail soon. Make sure you have a
spare disk ready so you can replace it when it fails or replace the disk as
soon as you notice the early signs of failure.
Disk noise and scandisk/chkdsk are your best indicators for
identifying a failing drive that's leading to a system slowdown. However, if
you are managing a system remotely, or you can't take the system down for a
full chkdsk/R, you can use tools that monitor disk health, such as Executive
Software's DiskAlert.
You may also get a warning message from SMART hard drives
that failure is imminent. Sometimes, you'll get these warnings when the hard
drive is fine, due to problems with the hard drive device driver, the chipset
driver, or the way the BIOS interfaces with the drive. Check for newer versions
of the drivers and BIOS firmware.
Even if it's operating properly, your hard disk may be a
bottleneck that's slowing down the rest of your system. See the next item for
more information on what you can do about that.
4: Disk type and interface
Once upon a time, buying a hard drive to work with your
system was easy. Today, things are more complicated, with many types of drives
available, offering differing levels of performance. Most modern motherboards
will support more than one type.
For best performance, you may want to dump the old IDE PATA
type drives and upgrade to SATA, which comes in several speeds from 1.5 Gb/s to 6 Gb/s. Obviously, the
faster drives will also be more expensive. Some new computers also have eSATA
connectors for attaching a SATA drive externally. Other options for attaching
drives externally include USB and Firewire/IEEE 1394.
Slowdowns may be caused by installing programs or often-used
files on slow external drives. If you must use external drives for such files,
go with the latest version, such as USB 3.0 (which is up to four times faster
than USB 2.0) or Firewire 800. If you don't have ports to support the faster
version, you can install a card to add support.
New Solid State Drives (SSDs), which generally connect via
SATA, can often provide better performance than other drive types, but cost
much more per GB of storage space. Windows 7 includes support for TRIM, which
optimizes SSD performance. SCSI drives are still around, too, notably in the
form of Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) with super fast access times -- but they're
expensive and noisy and used primarily for servers.
5: BIOS settings
One frequently ignored cause of system slowdown is the
machine's BIOS settings. Most people accept the BIOS settings as they were
configured in the factory and leave them as is. However, slowdowns may occur if
the BIOS settings do not match the optimal machine configuration. Often, you
can improve machine performance by researching your motherboard's optimal BIOS
settings, which may not be the same as the factory defaults.
There is no centralized database of optimal BIOS settings,
but you can employ a search engine such as Google or Bing and use your
motherboard name and BIOS as keywords to find the correct settings.
