Acer Aspire E5-476G - Brand new computer, I7, super slow...

Hi, I bought my first I7 laptop, E5-476G, 6 months ago. I installed the norton anti virus that was part of the deal (first time for me). I was expecting it to be at least as responsive as my much older laptops. It works, it executes programs, but it is NOT RESPONSIVE. I have to wait each time i launch something, i have to wait when i do something as simple as clicking on a folder to open it... I was first surprised the hyperthreading was not activated by default. I went in the BIOS and activated it. I found out it was not sufficient. I typed in the MSCONFIG command and activated all the processors and rebooted. Speed was improved, responsiveness too, still clicking on a folder... is slow. When i go in the taskmanager, without anything being launched, everything is below 5% of activity. The laptop should be very definitely reactive. When i click on a folder it should be quick to respond... (it is on my other old lalptops !) I m starting to wonder if any hardware is faulty. The hardware store i bought it from installed some additional 4GB of memory. Could it be they gave me some cheap faulty ones ? I don't like the anti virus that was part of the deal. I have the feeling it sucks up too much ressources to my taste and it's a pain in the neck to setup and disable each of its features one by one...especially with a non responsive computer. Of course i ve done all the windows usual stuff to increase the computer speed. I have some true gain, but still each time i launch something or just click a folder, i have to wait... So i decided to restore it to factory settings. It should take something like 2 hours tops. It's been 48hours, and the status is painfully only at 45% ... my god ! What is this ! It's been 6 months i ve been struggling. I have quite some experience with laptops, hardware and software. If anyone has any idea of what could be wrong ? It is a new computer, only 6 months old, with an additional 4GB of memory. I m starting to think the 1TB hard disk could be faulty ? (HDD not SSD) Of course it is still under warranty. But i would like to have at least an idea of what's wrong. Thanks for any hint.

Accepted answers

Twinkle09

HI,
I can understand the issue you are going through I had the same problem with my new Acer laptop, from the very first day it was giving so much speed issues, I tried updating the windows still there was no difference. As it was still in warranty I took it to the Acer service center and changed its 1TB hard disk I would also suggest you the same until it is still in warranty, or afterward, you could face more issues in your work.
Thank you

All comments

brummyfan2

Hi,
First of all uninstall Norton AV with their removal tool(link), it will remove all traces of the program, it's pretty much useless IMHO, then use Windows Defender for security for the time being, then if you prefer any third party AV programs try one by one and choose one you like.
I don't think any hardware fault causes the problem,it's the slow HDD, try to get a M.2 SATA SSD( or possibly a NVMe SSD)to suit your budget and install, migrate your OS and the contents of HDD to it using MiniTool Partitition wizard free program, use the HDD for storage.
https://support.norton.com/sp/en/uk/home/current/solutions/v60392881
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/543114/m-2-slot-in-acer-aspire-e14-e5-476g-50wa
https://www.partitionwizard.com/
https://www.partitionwizard.com/help/migrate-os-to-ssd-hd.html

Twinkle09

HI,
I can understand the issue you are going through I had the same problem with my new Acer laptop, from the very first day it was giving so much speed issues, I tried updating the windows still there was no difference. As it was still in warranty I took it to the Acer service center and changed its 1TB hard disk I would also suggest you the same until it is still in warranty, or afterward, you could face more issues in your work.
Thank you

johnroy222

Thanks a lot for your answers. I ll try the warranty solution first. I bought this laptop abroad, so it may be tricky. I ll keep you informed of the outcome. Thanks again. Computers are great machines, arent they !

johnroy222

Hi,

Got a nasty reply from Acer : they wouldn't accept the International Traveler Warranty claim for the reason this laptop is not sold in europe ! (i bought the laptop in Singapore, 9 months ago only, and i m quite sure the hard disk from faulty from day one ! They want 40 euros just for a quotation ! (the price of the hard disk basically, and they wouldn't even restore the original installed windows !)

I m going to fix it myself, i ve successfully created a recovery disk using the windows tool (given the disk was faulty, i was surprised it would reach the end of the procedure, but it did). I might try a disk cloner as well. But i m not confident for the same reason (source disk being faulty).

First things first, got to buy a hard disk on amazon...it has to be an HDD 1 TB 2.5' (i don't need an SSD, still got bad ideas about long term reliability, and i don't mind taking a cup of coffee while my laptop is booting !), i still need to find out which rotational speed (5000 or 7000 rpm) and which sata transfer rate (3 or 6 GB/s ...). I ll keep you informed.

StevenGen

If you wont install an SSD then you just have to wait and have your coffee and add some cake to your coffee too! SSD's will improve your 'slowness' by 1000% as will more ram of PC3 14900 204pin. This laptop should be lighting fast with an i7. It might have a faulty ram, hdd or software, its most definitely 'not setup properly' very hard to tell without seeing it physically. Best is to systematically test and eliminate all hardware and software components and diagnose the computer that way, good luck.

johnroy222

Thanks for your input. You made me wonder. "lighting fast" ? I just checked some video on youtube. You get 2x, or maybe 3x, just for the booting comparison. I would be interested in "lighting fast" for normal use, but 2x or 3x, i m not sure i d see a difference for daily use. Plus i kept this idea in my mind that SSD don't last as long as HDD. And i prefer to change my hard drive every 10 years rather than every 5 years.

Regarding the "setup", i must confess, i just love this part when i get a new laptop. I always remove the unused software and services, and i have fun to try to optimize things for performance. For this I7, i ve learned a few new tricks. Like going in the MSCONF and activate all the processors and activate the hyperthreading in the bios. It does definitely give some nice boost ! (but not enough on my ACER I7, i definitely have an issue with the hard disk. I ve started to do some test on the memory, with no improvement up till now. So i ll stay focus on the hard disk for now.

On my other laptops i followed your advice. I ve added 4GB of memory. And i agree, it goes a bit faster (for not this much money so it is definitely worth it).

Usually i never have any issue with my computers. It's the first time i try an ACER, the first time i put a bit more money in an laptop, and the quality is awful. Cant believe they sell computers with faulty hard drive, not to mention they wouldn't repair it under the warranty when it's not even one year old ! My favourite computer is my 10 years old toshiba ! Still working fine ! I have a few lenovo. They re ok, they work fine, but speed is not their strongest asset ! I guess ACER is worse : they make I7 computers that are slower than my old lenovos !!!

The best solution, in my opinion, is to have 2 computers, this way when one gets busy, you switch to the other one !

I bought a new hd on amazon. As soon as i receive it, i install it in my ACER.

(did i mention ACER is baaaaaaad ?) :-)

Have a great day !

johnroy222

I eventually fixed my hard disk issue. I bought a new 1 TB hard disk on amazon (50 dollars). Made a recovery usb disk out of the old faulty disk, removed the faulty hard disk, put the new one, booted on the usb recovery disk... waited one day an half, to no avail. It remained stuck at tless than 20% (maybe i should have waited more !). I then decided to use an hard disk cloner device. It took the old night, but it went to the end of it. I then put the new hard disk in the laptop, and i had to do a chkdsk /F /R (almost two days !) and then a full factory reset (an other full day) to eventually have - at last - a decent working acer computer.

To make a long story short : don't buy acer computers, and don't rely on their International Traveller Warranty. (and be patient when you use the chkdsk command ! i couldn't believe i had to wait this long !)

jimfetterolf

Bought a new aspire, ran the google fiber speed test on, best I could get was 9.3mb. Old Lenovo 410 in same location ran at least 54mb. The aspire came with windows 10s. Is Microsoft slowing the system?

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