Posted on 08/13/2018 6:36:01 AM PDT by savedbygrace
My PC has been running slowly at times during the past several months. Some time ago, I thought I had done enough troubleshooting to conclude I needed more RAM, so I added 4GB and now have 8GB.
However, the slowness continues. Now I see that when I am loading a new web page in my browser, or a web page update with new content, the CPU usage goes up to 70-90%, and that is when it slows for a while.
I have tried using Waterfox (64-bit version of Firefox) and Edge with the same symptoms and results, so it isn't being caused by the browser.
RAM is nowhere near 100% in use when the slowness happens, or at anytime.
I have a Lenova All-in-One PC that has an Intel Pentium G2030 dual core 3.00GHz processor. The 1TB hard drive has 800GB free space.
Why would the CPU use increase to upwards of 90% at times? Is that normal, or could it be an indication that the PC or the CPU has a problem?
Or is there a setting or two somewhere that would help with this issue?
Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete (all at the same time), when the next screen comes up select Task Manager. With the processes tab showing Click on the CPU column header, this will sort the list by percentage of CPU used. This will show what processes are using most of your CPU. The Performance tab is useful also.
check your device manager, could be your fan and/or your video card.
use process explorer to get more details. Free program that will give you better clues.
What OS are you running?
Nowadays, a 2-core CPU is going to choke out because developers have generally forgotten how to write software.
What kind of antivirus and operating system are you running? Could be malware running in background using your computer for nefarious purposes.
Run antimalwarebytes free, spybot free...
What is your cooling method? Have you checked Temps during these slowdowns? Generally speaking I wouldn’t think this was a cpu problem, but checking temps would help rule it out. I would guess you have malware, or a “antivirus” program that does its best to be like malware and that is causing your slowdowns.
“What OS are you running?
Nowadays, a 2-core CPU is going to choke out because developers have generally forgotten how to write software.”
Amen to that!
KYPD
Clear your cache for your browser.
Also, do cnt-alt-del and click on task manager.
Click on Start and check for any odd craplets running. Disable them by right mouse click.
You also may want to look through your running programs and see if there is any malware running. Malwarebytes is your friend.
There is also a troubleshooter somewhere in the settings. I am not near my Windows10 computer right now, or, I would find it for you.
Don’t listen to the naysayers. Windows 10 is a great OS and really will improve how your computer works. It did on mine.
I’ve found that on my system firefox runs noticeably slower than chrome. For an easy experiment, install chrome. If you don’t see any difference just delete it.
Try using the Brave Browser. It has the best ad blocker software I have seen.
It drastically reduces the load time of websites. And will reduce the CPU usage of your browser.
Your system may also just be trying to do an update. Check there too.
Also Google drive will gobble up all your CPU until in syncs...which it does every time it turns on. I pause it whenever I can.
Conan speaks truth
Malwarebytes is your friend.
If it is a 32 bit operating system it cannot utilize more than 4GB of ram. 64 bit OS can utilize more. Just throwing troubleshooting mud on the wall....
Brief CPU spikes are typically OK, but if you see a correlation between these spikes and PC slowness, something else is likely at play.
I’m guessing your CPU is multi-core, so it seems unlikely that your browser would be pegging multiple cores at the same time under normal operation. By that, I mean even if one processor spikes due to browser use, you should have other cores that have low workload so your system does not become sluggish.
Install CPU-Z and a CPU temperature monitor like CoreTemp. Make sure you’re not having CPU downclock under stress due to heat. This can happen if you have a crappy bond between your processor and heat sink. It can also mean your heat sink fan has died.
If your temps are good and you’re not having CPU throttling due to heat, then it must be OS/Browser/Software: You have something installed that is causing your troubles. Whether its a browser plug-in or some other third-party software, it may be your culprit. It doesn’t necessarily have to be “malware.” It can be legitimate software that is poorly-coded or optimized.
I know I use “Dashlane” as my password warehouse, and it has browser plug-ins. This tool has a propensity to cause my CPU to spike at times.
My advice would be to look at your installed browser plugins, as well as your installed software and apply some good ol’ common sense on which of these items may have hooks into your browser and be CPU-intensive.
If nothing leaps out, I’d back up my system, and then do a system restore to bare-bones Windows, and then install a Waterfox with nothing else and see if the problem has gone away. If so, you can either revert to backup and uninstall software until you’ve found the problem, or rebuild your system on the restored OS.
Good luck!
Clear your browser history of EVERYTHING.
At the top here it says HISTORY. Click and press CLEAR RECENT HISTORY. EVERYTHING. Watch the CPU and wait a couple seconds. CPU should drop significantly.
This will mean you will have to re-login to each website.
Try this for a start.
Thank you. I will do that.
Thank you. I will look for those.
This made me think of Antivirus programs can use up a lot of memory.
I had a anti-virus program on an old computer that had “Real Time” virus monitoring. The antivirus program is basically running continuously whenever the computer is running.
That antivirus program pretty much used up my CPU. So, I turned off the real time feature and eventually uninstalled the antivirus. I was better off with out it.
Your problem sounds a lot like what I had with the antivirus program.
Win10, v1803, Build 17134.165.
Win10, v1803, Build 17134.165.
Webroot v9.
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