Aspire One Happy 2 and Windows 10, the machine runs sooo slowly,

PeterHodgson
PeterHodgson Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
Hi
I have a ZE6 Happy 2 upgraded to Windows 10, 2GB ram and a Lexar 120GB SSD. Device manager shows no issues with drivers, but the machine runs sooo slowly, especially on Chrome browsing and file copy/move/scan type operations. Graphics performance seems ok. I have tried network connection both ethernet and wireless, same result, slow browsing even though it's connected to a fast fibre router. Other devices on the same router get 60-70 mps.
I've done the usual stuff, unchecked almost everything through system properties/performance, tidied up using Toolwiz. I used AOMEI system clone to install the ssd rather than fresh install of Win10 because I don't have any original media and OEM coa key for Win7 doesn't seem to work with fresh install.
Any ideas, maybe a motherboard issue, or is it just that the N455 Atom is out of its depth ? 

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Answers

  • PeterHodgson
    PeterHodgson Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    BTW, Bios set to factory defaults, so D2D is on, AHCI is on, etc.
  • Leostat
    Leostat ACE Posts: 3,043 Pathfinder
    I think its just the Atom and the ram im afraid :( , you could try tweaking things like turning off the search indexer, and turning down the transparancy effects 
  • PeterHodgson
    PeterHodgson Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    BTW, Bios set to factory defaults, so D2D is on, AHCI is on, etc.
  • PeterHodgson
    PeterHodgson Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    As far as I know (I've got no documentation for the ZE6) 2GB is the max ram it will take. Only one slot. I would have thought though that even with 2GB and a SSD Win10 would have been usable. I guess it is usable, just.
  • PeterHodgson
    PeterHodgson Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    Is there a hardware test app for the Happy 2 so I could rule that out ? I've tested the ram without errors, and HDTune reports no errors on the SSD. No idea how to check out the motherboard. 
  • Leostat
    Leostat ACE Posts: 3,043 Pathfinder
    Not that i know of, in proc mon does it show it running at the 1.6ghz? Its also a single core / dual thread so that would hammer it if windows if doing other stuff like updates, or other programs in the background. Chrome is very heavy, you may get a bit more responiveness out of edge which is just chrome slimmed down or something like palemoon, or opra gx which lets you limit CPU / mem use
  • PeterHodgson
    PeterHodgson Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    Task manager / Performance / CPU shows 1.67GHz, 1 socket, 1 core, 2 logical processors. Just running Windows defender doing a full scan shows CPU at 98%
    Oh well, I could go back to Win 7 starter I suppose. That's what it shipped with so presumably the performance would be acceptable ? 
  • Leostat
    Leostat ACE Posts: 3,043 Pathfinder
    It looks like the chip is running to speed then so its just the "stuff" windows is doing in the background :( , win 7 may run better as there is less going on but its worth keeping in mind its no longer supported / things may just stop working!
  • PeterHodgson
    PeterHodgson Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    Ive updated the bios to the latest v1.15 (was 1.06). 
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,476 Trailblazer
    Use Resource Monitor to look at what tasks are using the most resources, look especially for anything that takes you over the physical memory limit.
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • PeterHodgson
    PeterHodgson Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    The BIOS update seems to have helped a bit. I think it's the best I can do without a hardware tester from Acer.
  • PeterHodgson
    PeterHodgson Member Posts: 19 Troubleshooter
    Ok, managed to source some Acer recovery cds on eBay, eventually managed to install them (windows 7) after install failed, but found a fix on MS forum, added the card reader, lan and video drivers manually, and hey presto, a reasonably quick machine again. So its not just windows 7, but Acers slimmed down version that allows the Happy 2 to run at a reasonable speed. Cloned the hdd as a recovery disk, jobs a good one.
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