System running slow on startup and ALT-TAB

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Billy_1

Billy_1

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Aug 24, 2013
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Hello guys. I am pretty confused over here about my system's boot speed. Most of the HW is new (Ram,CPU,MoBo,HDD) and so i find no reason for my PC to be so slow at startup. I thought maybe i got a virus or something and a format would do the job, but still the problem persists.
My PC specs:
Cpu: Intel i3 3220
MoBo: Gigabyte B75-M
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002
Gpu: Asus 9600gt (magic)
Ram: Corsair vengeance 2x4 Gb 1600 (the black ones not the blue)
Os:Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
* All of these bought from a retail shop, not second-handed.
If you guys could help me out here i would really appreciate it.
 
Solution
mauller07
oops i meant hdtune not hdtach lol http://www.hdtune.com/

yes you can change to allow windows to use AHCI mode easily by changing a registry entry, even if you installed windows in IDE mode originally doing this allows you to switch to AHCI mode and back to IDE in bios without windows caring.

1. Startup "Regedit
2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlset / Services
3. Open msahci
4. In the right field left click on "start" and go to Modify
5. In the value Data field enter "0" and click "ok"
6. exit "Regedit"

then go into your bios after you have done the above and change your sata mode to AHCI, if it just bsods and does not boot just change the option back to IDE but it should boot after doing the above first.
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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Now, after the format was done, i don't have any programms installed that run on startup except the antivirus. I use the free versions of AVG and avast.
 
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mauller07

mauller07

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get rid of avast its a system hog and can cause all sorts of system slowdowns and problems.

also you should not run 2 antivirus at once it can cause sporadic system performance and other problems also.

just leave avg on the system running, i would also grab ccleaner and run the file cleaner then the registry cleaner multiple times till it finds no errors after removing avast.
 
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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Ok. I'll try that, and see how it goes. Thank you for the fast response.
 
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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Yea. The previous didn't work. The speed is still the same. So i'll try disabling "superfetch".
 
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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Disabling superfetch gave a slight boost but i don't understand why i should do that. I don't need to free up memory i think i have lots of it. And it also says that it improves performance so why disabling it make my pc run faster?
 
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mauller07

mauller07

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because it thrashes the hdd and reserves memory, i often find it causes poorer general pc performance, its supposed to improve the performance of programs when you open only a few programs frequently but its useless on a gaming pc or when you open many different programs often and can cause a decrease in performance overall.
 
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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Well after reinstalling AVG and all, the bootup was indeed a bit faster but still not as fast as it should be. I am starting to think that it's my hdd that has problems rather than the registry or my memory. I don't understand why a 5 months old hdd has such problems, but i can't find any other possible explanation for my pc slowness.
 
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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Drivers are all up to date. Umm about what you said with the IDE and the AHCI, what is their difference?
 
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mauller07

mauller07

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AHCI mode support more advanced performance features but some HDD's seem to not like it and experience negative performance with it enabled.

i would also run HDTach first and check your read speeds before changing the sata mode setting. you may just need to defrag windows if it installed all its windows updates.
 
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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I downloaded and installed HDtach. Can't open it because it needs windows 2000 or XP?!?! So i read some things about AHCI and IDE and i can't see why my hdd won't support it. Also found that it is not possible, as a guy said, to switch between these modes when Windows is already installed. My pc seems to work in IDE mode. I am guessing that this might be causing the slow startup and stuff. Can i change it into AHCI?
 
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mauller07

mauller07

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Mar 28, 2010
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oops i meant hdtune not hdtach lol http://www.hdtune.com/

yes you can change to allow windows to use AHCI mode easily by changing a registry entry, even if you installed windows in IDE mode originally doing this allows you to switch to AHCI mode and back to IDE in bios without windows caring.

1. Startup "Regedit
2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlset / Services
3. Open msahci
4. In the right field left click on "start" and go to Modify
5. In the value Data field enter "0" and click "ok"
6. exit "Regedit"

then go into your bios after you have done the above and change your sata mode to AHCI, if it just bsods and does not boot just change the option back to IDE but it should boot after doing the above first.
 
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Solution
Billy_1

Billy_1

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Aug 24, 2013
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With all that done things got better. The only thing that freezes at startup is my taskbar. I have Google chrome pinged on taskbar and when i press on it, as soon as the pc gets on desktop, it freezes and chrome does about 5 seconds to open and another 5 to respond fully.
 
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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I think there is something really wrong here. The average transfer rate is 63.4 MB/sec (with min. at 3.7 and max at 133.3). That's weird because before the format when i run HD Tune the speed was a lot higher, don't remember how much but it was certainly higher. Access time at 16.8 ms and Burst rate 141.3 MB/sec.
 
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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On my motherboard i have only one Sata 3 port. All the others are Sata 2 and with my hdd being a Sata 3 would it help changing it to a Sata 2 port?
 
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mauller07

mauller07

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it wont make a differerce in terms of max read speeds since no HDD can reach sata 2 speed anyway, just to make sure theres nothing wrong with the hdd change it to a sata 2 port and test with HDTune again.

you may have needed to install a driver for the sata 3 ports to work correctly, someone else i helped had poor performance on their sata 3 ports.
 
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Billy_1

Billy_1

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Ok. Thank you for your help, i really appreciate it! <3
 
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