Laptop very slow after installing new adblocker

[Data838]

Hi, I have a laptop (not the one I was talking about here https://pchelpforum.net/t/pc-downloa...5/#post-155837 ), which got slow with time. First I thought it was a virus and reset my laptop, even files, though it didn’t really solve the problem. It was working well right after switching it on after the reset, but when I started reinstalling my browser, software and files, it got slower again. One of the things I was using for a long time, was Adblocker for Firefox, but some days ago I replaced it with uBlock Origin. That day everything was working almost perfectly again and I thought the problem was solved. Though, next day when I started using my laptop, it was even slower than before. I don’t know if the new adblocker is the only problem or just a symptom for another issue, but maybe I still need to run the FRST scan and present you the data?

My laptop is ASUS X540Y. I thank you in advance for all your suggestions.

[Rustys]

So other can assist let get a speccy report.

[COLOR=rgb(243, 121, 52)]Do not forget to post the make and model of the PSU if this is a desktop.

Download then run Speccy (free) and post the resultant url for us, details here, this will provide us with information about your computer hardware + any software that you have installed that may explain the present issue/s.

To publish a Speccy profile to the Web:

In Speccy, click File, and then click Publish Snapshot.

In the Publish Snapshot dialog box, click Yes to enable Speccy to proceed.

Speccy publishes the profile and displays a second Publish Snapshot. You can open the URL in your default browser, copy it to the clipboard, or close the dialog box.[/COLOR]

[Data838]

Thank you for the information ???. Here’s the link http://speccy.piriform.com/results/T...ToS6GkiB8QnKQR

[Pyro]

This right here is my first guess:
[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]Avast Antivirus

Antivirus:

Enabled

Virus Signature Database:

Up to date

[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]McAfee Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware

Antivirus:

Enabled

Virus Signature Database:

Up to date

Having multiple antivirus/antimalware programs is a guaranteed way to gum up any computer.

Typically Windows Defender will work okay with a bit of precaution (and a good adblocker)

Avast published this article on how to use their removal tool should you come across an issue with the Windows Uninstaller.

Same thing here from McAfee.

These might be worth running anyway, but a default uninstall with a system restart should give you a good baseline for a second Speccy report.

If you are set on keeping them, disabling them for a test would be an okay alternative as well, but uninstallation should net you the best results.[/COLOR][/COLOR]

[Rustys]

Let’s see if this helps

Antivirus
Windows Defender
Antivirus: Disabled
Virus Signature Database: Up to date
[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]Avast Antivirus
Antivirus: Enabled
Virus Signature Database: Up to date
McAfee Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware
Antivirus: Enabled
Virus Signature Database: Up to date

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/693559/running-two-avs/

Having more than one AV or Firewall installed on your computer is bad, it will slow down the computer, cause internet connection problems and leave you with no AV protection at all if they cancel each other out as they fight for resources.

Windows 8, 8.1, 10 and 11 come with an improved Windows Defender, it offers the same real-time anti-virus/anti-malware protection as Microsoft Security Essentials. Windows Defender also shares the same malware signature definitions as Microsoft Security Essentials, and Forefront Endpoint Protection. Technically, Microsoft Security Essentials has not been renamed Windows Defender, or combined with it in Windows 8, 8.1, 10 and 11.

You are also running low on disk space for your C drive

Partition 1
Partition ID: Disk #0, Partition #1
Disk Letter: C:
File System: NTFS
Volume Serial Number: 067061F6
Size: 930 GB
Used Space: 742 GB (79%)
[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]Free Space: 188 GB (21%)

For Windows to be able to run efficiently and to be able to update you need to have between 20 and 25% of the partition or drive available on a HDD and an SSD between 10 and 15% as free storage space at all times, if you don`t you risk Windows becoming corrupt or not being able to update which puts you at risk of malware attack.

Then there is also reserved around 7-10 GB.[/COLOR][/COLOR]

[Rustys]

You may also want to get more RAM for the system.

RAM
3.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 (9-9-10-24)

Memory
Type: DDR3
Size: 3508 MBytes
Channels #: Single
CAS# Latency (CL): 9 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD): 9 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP): 10 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS): 24 clocks
Bank Cycle Time (tRC): 33 clocks

[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]Physical Memory
Memory Usage: 79 %
Total Physical: 3.43 GB
Available Physical: 729 MB[/COLOR]

[Data838]

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly ???.

Actually for a long time I was using only Windows Defender and Adblock for Firefox but at one point it started letting through some ads, so it wasn’t enough to protect my computer. As I mentioned before, I recently started using uBlock Origin and it seems pretty efficient but if you know something even better, let me know.

It took some time but I uninstalled both. Here’s the second link for the test results http://speccy.piriform.com/results/A...Hfe0JzrWt1YpPy .

I used uninstallers for both AV but I see that still it left something from McAfee. Nevertheless, it worked really well! My laptop got significantly faster, though I noticed that it is still a little slow on booting and tabs in my browser are a little slow to open in the beginning. Other than that, it seems to be working almost as good as new.
I will be freeing some space on my C disk soon as there are some temporary files, though I think I’ll wait as to adding more RAM.

Anyway, I think I have to test it because my biggest issue was with Firefox which got slower every time I hibernated my laptop, so I’ll observe how it works and then will get back to you in the coming days!

If you had any other suggestions on how to maybe boost Firefox, let me know.

Again, thank you very much!

[Pyro]

Go into settings > System > Power & Sleep select Additional power settings and then click “Choose what the power buttons do”

From this menu, ensure that “Turn on fast startup” is turned on.

I will look into why McAfee did not fully delete, did you restart the machine after running the removal tool?

[Data838]

After my last post, I put my laptop in hibernation and from the moment I opened it, it started acting a little weird. First, it switched on by itself, although in hibernation mode I have to push the button to do it. It was showing me the screen with a picture and time, but the buttons or the mouse didn’t react and I couldn’t even get to log in. So I had to switch it off and restart.
My conclusion is that, although it improved significantly after I applied your suggestions, it still takes longer than it should to boot and to open tabs, sometimes Firefox starts freezing and crashes. I’m having an impression that there is still something installed that makes everything slow down.

[Data838]

P.S. I just checked the amount of GB used by Wifi since yesterday and its more than usually use, so now I have an impression than it’s downloading data by itself without reason.

[Pyro]

Referring back to Rusty’s suggestion in post #6, you are probably running out of ram.

I have a machine with a similar amount and it struggles to keep up with having a few programs open at once.

It would make sense that it got slower over time, as you downloaded more applications it struggled to have enough memory to keep tabs on them all.

If you restart your computer (using the Windows menu) you should notice it is faster for a while, or at least is using less than 80% memory.

The issue lies in the fact that your specific computer has ram that is non-removable:
[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]System Note: [COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)] All system memory is soldered onboard.

Unfortunately this puts you in the place of either keeping your laptop empty (very few programs) to try and reduce ram usage, or experiencing the slowness and living with it. This is of course short of buying a new computer.[/COLOR][/COLOR]

[Rustys]

P.S. I just checked the amount of GB used by Wifi since yesterday and its more than usually use, so now I have an impression than it’s downloading data by itself without reason.

windows automatically download and installs updates. Same is for the Microsoft store and any other programs that are running in the background.

That is also if you send and or receive data as well.

What happens when you tell FireFox without any attachment running?

The other thing I would suggest is running a check disk on the drive.

https://pchelpforum.net/r/run-chkdsk-using-command-prompt.20/

to retrieve and post

https://pchelpforum.net/r/retrieve-check-disk-information.209/

[Rustys]

After that has completed let see what a Minitoolbox report shows.

You will need to download to a working system then use an external device to run on the affected system.
Download MiniToolBox and save the file to the Desktop. Right click on the file and select Run as Admin

Close the browser and run the tool, check the following options.

Select all

Click on Go.

copy and paste the contents of the file called MTB.txt or attach the file to your next post.

[Pyro]

The last thing I can think of is just a general system cleanup, Windows has some built in programs that can help to organize/optimize things, here is a laundry list that may help get things moving a little better:

1. Try running the following programs, also try to keep at least 20-25% of your disks as free space.

Run Disk Cleanup (check all the boxes) this will delete things such as your recycling bin, so make sure you don’t have any files you want to keep.

Run Defragment and Optimize Drives, run this on your drives.

1. Disable any overclocking or changes to power/performance settings

Turn off XMP/any overclocking you may have done (if any)

Settings > System > Power and sleep > Additional power settings
Make sure your power plan is set to balanced, anything else could tamper with the wrong settings and cause issues.

1. Check for Operating System Corruption

Right click on the Windows logo in the bottom left and select Windows Powershell (Admin)
Run these three commands separately:

[ICODE]sfc /scannow[/ICODE]

[ICODE]Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth[/ICODE]

[ICODE]Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth[/ICODE]

These will take a while to run, do not close out of Powershell while they are running, if one fails then move onto the next and then loop back around.

Note: It doesn’t hurt to make a system backup before you make all these changes, save any important files of folders. While these changes shouldn’t cause any issues, better to be safe than sorry.

1. Unplug unnecessary devices.

If you have a gamepad, extra monitor, external hard drive/flash drive, or anything that is not essential to using the computer plugged in, unplug it.

Once you have completed all of these tasks, restart it (using the restart option in the power menu) and re-test.

[Data838]

Thank you for your suggestions. After all the info you gave me, I think I’m going to think about maybe buying another laptop.
Nevertheless, I observed my laptop for several days and as I wrote before, I had a suspicion which seems to be not true after all, maybe at that given moment those were updates downloading plus I had spent more GB than usual, but since then it has been working without any anomalies. Nevertheless, I ran CHKDSK, but it didn’t change anything and will eventually run Disk Cleanup and Defragment and Optimize Drives because I do it from time to time anyway. As to other options, I’ll save this thread and try them later if I feel the system needs to be checked for corruption.

Thank you very much guys for your help!