Acer Aspire ES 15 Series super slow

moonweez

Thanks topcat. I thought about that after Jack suggested getting rid of any other antivirus programs. I was looking for AVG specifically because I had that at one point. I'll go ahead do away with CC as well.

moonweez

Back to slowing and freezing for the past 2 days :-(   Took me 10 minutes just to post this.

JackE

Scroll down thru the list of processes to see what's consuming most of the disk usage. Jack E/NJ

topcat7736

Hi moonweez,

Perhaps there was an update which started the processes again. So, let's try turning them off:

Hold the Windows key down and press X. When a box opens find Command Prompt (Admin) and left click on it. (If asked, answer yes to allow the program to make changes to your machine).

When the prompt appears inside the black box, type or copy the following lines, one at a time,  and then enter or return after each one.

net stop superfetch
net stop sysmain

The disk speed should die down to under 10% again. Once things quiet down, can we look at the startup tab to see what's being loaded?

There might also be a bad disk driver.

moonweez

JackE, All processes are 0 to .2 at the moment. It's the next morning and things opened up and are working fairly quickly. And Disk is back down to 1%. I can't be 100% sure but seems like slowing/freezing happens at night(?)  I'm shutting it down while at work today and will check it tonight. No sense in bringing it to work with me. It never acts up there.

topcat7736

Forget doing my last post. We know it's one of the two causing the problem.

I can't remember if the problem was Sysmain or Superfetch, but you can check for both and permanently turn them  off   (you'll only find one in the list) by doing the following:

1) Press Windows + R, type: “services.msc” without the quotes and press Enter.
2) In the Windows Service window, scroll down searching for Sysmain or Superfetch, then double-left-click on it
3) Left click Service Status Stop (if it's running) 
4) Switch Startup Type to Manual or Disabled from the Startup type drop-down menu
5) Press OK
6) X the page

Do a Ctrl-shift-Esc to enter the Task Manager and see if the disk usage is dropping toward 0.

moonweez

topcat, Stopped Superfetch and disabled. Rebooted. Opened only Task Manager and Disk  cycled from 50/60-100% for about 15 minutes.
Jack, Windows Modules Installer Worker had the highest disk usage followed by System. Now about 10 minutes later, Disk is back down to 0-3%

topcat7736

moonweez,
There you are. You disappeared leaving me and your broken computer behind!
I want you to also turn off Windows Search and the Background Intelligent Transfer Service. Do them as above. First STOP them and then switch them to Manual or Disabled. That should take care of the problem. After they're off, type winver in the search box on the lower left of your screen, run the winver command and tell me what version of windows you're running. 
Al

JackE

moonweez

I don't think anything's wrong with your system right now. Transient high CPU & disk usage is normal from time to time on almost all Win10 machines. It's when usage gets progressively worse and more prolonged is when you should be concerned. I'm really not seeing that now from your descriptions. Jack E/NJ 

kalidogg

I'm having this same problem. Would an increase in RAM or change to a SSD help?

kalidogg

Also, is it possible to change the graphics card in that laptop?

JackE

kalidogg

No, software usage is not a hardware RAM or SSD issue. And no, the graphics adapter is actually a chip soldered to the mainboard. Jack E/NJ

topcat7736

Hi kalidogg,

A SSD is much faster than a mechanical drive and so you might not see the 100% problem. But, the 100% problem is the hidden running background programs and they are still present with the SSD. You can turn off a few Windows 10 items, which cause the slowness, and not need to worry any longer.

As for the SSD, it is wise to change mechanical drives into SSD's before the mechanical ones fail. The mechanical drive lifespan is typically 3-5 years so insure you always have your things fully backed up and stored in a safe place and move up to a SSD if you can afford it. Today, Samsung 860's are the way to go and have superior software to migrate your current drive to their SSD's.

No changing graphic cards in laptops because there aren't any...there is a GPU soldered to your motherboard. You could add a HDMI port to a USB port and drive an external monitor but you can't upgrade the GPU. The other alternative is buy a laptop which has the graphics you desire.

To correct your 100% disk problem, do the following:
1) Press Windows + R, type: “services.msc” without the quotes and press Enter.
Do the following searches one at a time until you do the one causing your 100% disk problem then undo the others. I've put them in order of the most common problem ones.
2) In the Windows Service window, scroll down searching for ...Superfetch .... Sysmain.....Windows Search...Background Intelligent Transfer Service, then double-left-click on it
3) Left click Service Status Stop (if it's running) 
4) Switch Startup Type to Manual or Disabled from the Startup type drop-down menu 
5) Press OK 
6) X the page
Do a Ctrl-shift-Esc to enter the Task Manager and see if the disk usage is dropping toward 0.
Al

moonweez

Al, running Windows version 1803 (OS Build 17134.472)

topcat7736

Did turning off search or BITS make any difference?

topcat7736

moonweez, Did turning off search or BITS make any difference?

moonweez

Maybe, I watched Task Manager while Vivaldi was loading, Disk went pretty quickly from 100% to 5%. The pattern has been it takes a couple of days to slow/freeze again, but I don't think Disk usage has dropped that quickly in the past. Hopefully that's a very good sign. Thanks. I'll confirm for sure in a couple of days.

moonweez

Do you know how to do away with a PIN or password for Sign-in?

topcat7736

@moonweez Only for you. LOL
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3100057/how-to-remove-your-login-password-from-windows-10.html

topcat7736

@moonweez
@kalidogg

Because we turned off the BITS, Windows will no longer go to the internet looking for updates during start ups. (This may have been causing your main startup problem). So, you will need to manually check for updates at least once/week. As Microsoft likes to release updates on Tuesday's, any day other than Tuesday is when you should schedule your checking to be done.

1) Windows key plus X
2) Left click Settings
3) Left click Update & Security
4) Left click Check for updates

Al