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Booting up windows 7 after 1 year. Everything is unusuably slow

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clawish

PCHF Member
Oct 26, 2016
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#1
After one year I'm trying to boot my windows 7 computer, and I run into issues I never had (NO issues back in September 2015):
The login screen freezes as soon as a key is pressed on the login screen. Mouse is still movable. Wait 10 minutes and the computer is reacting again. Enter password. Press enter. Login takes forever. When on the desktop, opening "My Computer" takes very very long, and some programs don't start. (IrfanView DOES start, while others like Chrome and iTunes don't even start but show the "A problem occurred" dialog.)
In safe mode, everything works fine! All drives/SSDs have the files I expected to be on there.
Cleared the auto start menu in msconfig. Didn't solve the problem.
When trying to "Repair Computer" in the F8 menu, the setup doesn't find any issues.
I tried booting with only one of the RAM bars, tried both individually, same story.
Vaccuum cleaned the computer from the inside. Still same bad behavior.

Can anybody help me? How can I run this computer again?... :'/
 
#2
Welcome to PCHF. :) So you say everything is fine in Safe Mode?

First before we get into software troubleshooting, I think it is best to re seat ALL hardware. :)

 
#4
clawish said:
In safe mode, everything works fine...
Cleared the auto start menu in msconfig. Didn't solve the problem.
Click to expand...
Indicates that msconfig options do not include offending process. We need a more comprehensive tool.

Download Autoruns from MS.
"This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login"
Once scan is complete, you can export a list of all entries - File, Save, ZIP, upload to this thread, etc.
Or, use the 'disable everything, re-enable one at a time' approach. This is valid here as a test of why a clean boot did not solve the problem.

If you have, or acquire, a Linux Live boot CD/flash drive, and the PC boots and behaves correctly, you will have essentially proven all hardware being in working order.

I always recommend a SMART Test for a slow PC (examines physical damage), followed by chkdsk /r from an elevated cmd prompt (examines logical damage).
http://hddscan.com/
https://askleo.com/chkdsk_what_is_it_and_how_do_i_run_it/
 
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#6
I reseated and dusted off the video card.
Antman said:
If you have, or acquire, a Linux Live boot CD/flash drive, and the PC boots and behaves correctly, you will have essentially proven all hardware being in working order.
Click to expand...
I have a second SSD installed with a Unix system on it. It works as intended.
Antman said:
I always recommend a SMART Test for a slow PC (examines physical damage), followed by chkdsk /r from an elevated cmd prompt (examines logical damage).
Click to expand...
The SMART test of the SSD where the operating system (Win 7) is on gives all green lights.
One of the hard disks gives the warning "Current Pending Errors Count" 200, where 200 is the worst value.
The other hard disk gives the warning "UltraDMA CRC Errors" 200, where 200 is the worst value.
The other SSD where the Unix system is on gives the error "Soft ECC COrrection Rate" 100, where 100 is the worst value. (but keep in mind, the unix system boots and works as I am used to it! Without errors.)

The AutoStart tool you gave me the link to freezes when I untick certain boxes.. Will see what I can do
I am about to do checkdisk.

Issue has not been resolved yet.
 
#9
clawish said:
The AutoStart tool you gave me the link to freezes when I untick certain boxes.. Will see what I can do
I am about to do checkdisk.
Click to expand...
Assumption:
You are in Safe Mode
PC does not freeze while when you are browsing File Explorer. Please confirm. Dig around. I want you to try and make it freeze by simply reading the disk.

Clicking a box in the AutoRuns tool creates a disk write in a registry file. Please run from elevated cmd:
sfc /scannow
I have no idea if SFC checks any of the DAT files, so this may be a waste of time
 
#10
clawish said:
How long does CHKDSK take? It seems to halt at 40 percent in phase 2.
Click to expand...
Let it run.

chkdsk does NOT check the disk, per se. It checks for file integrity in a select group of files. Failure to recover integrity MAY be an indication of failed drive, but it is not proof.

A passed SMART test is NOT proof that a drive is physically sound.

Sometimes, a "failed" drive is actually a power supply problem.
 
#11
Antman said:
Assumption:
You are in Safe Mode
PC does not freeze while when you are browsing File Explorer. Please confirm. Dig around. I want you to try and make it freeze by simply reading the disk.
Click to expand...
Dug around quite a bit. Didn't freeze.
Antman said:
Let it run.
chkdsk does NOT check the disk, per se. It checks for file integrity in a select group of files. Failure to recover integrity MAY be an indication of failed drive, but it is not proof.
Click to expand...
Ok, it's running now. But it repeatedly halts and slows down the computer at 40%. (It's not a freeze since the mouse still moves. But I can't open "Computer" anymore, or any folders in the start menu... Everything is super slow and doesn't open)
 
#12
If you do not have another user profile, create one. Log in with a different (local) account.

Your PC (explorer) is looking for something it cannot find. If we get lucky, the missing thing is in your user profile.
 
#13
Antman said:
If you do not have another user profile, create one. Log in with a different (local) account.

Your PC (explorer) is looking for something it cannot find. If we get lucky, the missing thing is in your user profile.
Click to expand...
This didn't work unfortunately. Same error.
Btw unticking some boxes in the AutoStart did improve things a little bit as I now can consistently get onto the desktop in non-safe mode. This was not possible before (only on rare occasion I somehow managed to do it by waiting enough). But from the desktop on I can make it hang by opening a program basically...
 
#15
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
Copy this to a new folder on your desktop.

Delete every folder except Administrator Tools and Startup.

Delete everything in the Startup folder.
Delete everything in the Administrator Tools folder EXCEPT Computer Management

stand by

Boot, test
 
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