Windows 10 desktop slow - More RAM or what?

[ExtraSlow]

I feel like we had this discussion last year maybe, but I didn't find it, and I like starting new threads.

Situation: Family desktop computer, main use, web browsing. Specs Win10 pro, 2x4GB RAM, i3 6100 processor. Lenovo branded, so whatever bloatware that entails.

This desktop is shared with 5 users working inside one Windows account, but each inside their own google/chrome account.
We have SpiderOak running 24/7 in the background for our backups, plus usually a few instances of chrome, each with a few tabs open.

This is a low-spec system, with low performance requirements, which should be a good match, but shit runs SLOOOWWWW. like it can take up to 20 seconds for a new tab to open in chrome. Obviously a fresh restart helps, but not that much, and not for very long.

So, what are the "best practices" for keeping things snappy? I could always buy more RAM, but when I check the resource monitor, there's always a couple GB free, so it doesn't seem like that's the issue. Plus I'm a cheapass.

[speedog]

I don't think RAM is the issue here as I've got an ancient Frankenstein box running W10 and it certainly is not as slow as yours.

[Kobe]

It's chrome and having a shitload of browsers open

Ctrl + alt + Delete

Go to Task manager

Check whats making it slow



I really need to start closing my chrome tabs too. I randomly just close all of them then start fresh.

Only have 5 tabs right now not sure why it says 34 open

It's Ram or GPU most likely, u can save files and format (Don't forget %appdata%) or see whats taking the most processing space.

[firebane]

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I feel like we had this discussion last year maybe, but I didn't find it, and I like starting new threads.

Situation: Family desktop computer, main use, web browsing. Specs Win10 pro, 2x4GB RAM, i3 6100 processor. Lenovo branded, so whatever bloatware that entails.

This desktop is shared with 5 users working inside one Windows account, but each inside their own google/chrome account.
We have SpiderOak running 24/7 in the background for our backups, plus usually a few instances of chrome, each with a few tabs open.

This is a low-spec system, with low performance requirements, which should be a good match, but shit runs SLOOOWWWW. like it can take up to 20 seconds for a new tab to open in chrome. Obviously a fresh restart helps, but not that much, and not for very long.

So, what are the "best practices" for keeping things snappy? I could always buy more RAM, but when I check the resource monitor, there's always a couple GB free, so it doesn't seem like that's the issue. Plus I'm a cheapass.

Figure out what drive you have for a primary. Speccy can help with this. Systems like this have a tendency to put a low speed drive in them to save money.

Also I find with Win 10 16gb of ram is a good balance point, but start with the hard drive.

[ExtraSlow]

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Figure out what drive you have for a primary.

Mine is a WD Blue it looks like, this what what I found:

WD Blue
Model WD5000AZLX
Interface SATA 6.0Gb/s
Capacity 500GB
RPM 7200 RPM
Cache 32MB

[revelations]

Assuming no bugs, and its much slower than last year - your HDD is crapping out. You need to run several repair tasks to deal with it.

What version of W10 does your system have? Ill bet its something like 1809. Many of the HDD related issues also cause update corruption.

[sabad66]

A lot of these lower spec machines got fucked with the intel vulnerability (meltdown and spectre). My understanding is that the fix they pushed out ended up reducing performance of these processors by up to 25%

If you want to keep the system, I’d upgrade to an SSD which should help. Should be lots of deals for SSDs coming up next week, I’m sure you could find a 500GB for < $100

More ram likely won’t be a noticeable difference.

[ExtraSlow]

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Assuming no bugs, and its much slower than last year - your HDD is crapping out. You need to run several repair tasks to deal with it.

What version of W10 does your system have? Ill bet its something like 1809. Many of the HDD related issues also cause update corruption.

W10 Version 1909, which is apparently current?
Swapping in an SSD does seem like it would be a good idea, and probaly lots of sales coming. But here's a stupid question, how do I clone this one to that one?

[colsankey]

Samsung makes a disk clone, so do a few other companies, but none are coming to mind.

It's a bit more work, but if you are already thinking windows is slow, a fresh install gives you a real good feeling for if its a bad OS or not. And you can use a usb cable to.move all your important files over from the old drive.

[ExtraSlow]

Don't think I have a code for a fresh install. This one was from factory.

[Kobe]

SDD def helps..

If your on windows 10 u don't need a CD to format you can google.

it's only if you delete the hidden? drive with the windows file on it is when you need a CD

[arcticcat522]

My laptop was painfully slow. Ended up deleting 7gb from the recycling box and it sped back up to like new....prob. Not going to help you, but figured I'd mention it.

[ricosuave]

Use Brave as your browser as well...

https://brave.com/

[firebane]

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Use Brave as your browser as well...

https://brave.com/

Firefox and uBlock is all you need. No need for another "browser"

[colsankey]

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Don't think I have a code for a fresh install. This one was from factory.

Windows registers your code differently now. Swapping the hard drive should still allow it to preregister after install.

[revelations]

samsung cloning ops seem to work well - but i much prefer (assuming most of your things are on the cloud) a clean install to an SSD.

You can DL a Windows 10, USB key installer for free direct from MS.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/soft...load/windows10

[sabad66]

Any new ssd should come with cloning software. I usually put the new drive into an enclosure, clone existing drive onto new one, then replace the drive. But if it’s a desktop there should be a free slot to run both drives at the same time so you can clone without needing an enclosure

[suntan]

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Firefox and uBlock is all you need. No need for another "browser"

Brave is Chromium, the base rendering engine used by Chrome, except without all the Google spyware.

Firefox has been crap for a while now.

[Kobe]

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Any new ssd should come with cloning software. I usually put the new drive into an enclosure, clone existing drive onto new one, then replace the drive. But if it’s a desktop there should be a free slot to run both drives at the same time so you can clone without needing an enclosure

I've purchased 2 SSD hard drive and neither came with software.

I've always used Mini Partition wizard - https://www.partitionwizard.com/ it's free and super easy to use (Youtube has tutorials if you need in case you are scared you will screw it up..

Just had to buy one of those sata adapters for $15-$20 as well

https://www.amazon.ca/StarTech-com-S...4624032&sr=8-1

Edit: I'm assuming clone the disk and then format the new one, i'm assuming this is the easiest way but there is prob other ways.

A regular hard drive lasts around 3-5 years before it goes out and SSD will last much longer + the quickness to start your desktop/laptop after is A++++ 20-30 seconds vs 4-5 minutes. I purchased 250GB SSD and just put all downloaded files on an external drive.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Samsung Magician is free regardless if you buy a Samsung drive, about 3 clicks and a drop down menu and you can clone the drive, swap the SATA cables (or change the boot order in the BIOS) and you're done. No real computer knowledge required.

Just buy any decent SSD from Crucial or Samsung in the size you need and you're good to go - everything is so cheap right now there is no point buying the off-brands.