Windows is running slow

[diddle283]

Hi,

Every now and then I am getting a message pop up from windows (it is actually from windows, not spam as I first thought) and it says my computer is running slow, would I like to change the theme to basic?

Why is it doing this? My computer is new and barely has any programs running on it, certainly not more than I used to have running on my old pc and I never saw this message once.

Any help with finding out what is causing this would be much appreciated

PC spec is as follows (if its any use)

i5 2500k
Asrock extreme3 gen3 motherboard
16gb G skill ram
GTX 560 ti gpu
Crucial M4 ssd boot disk
500gb WD caviar Blue

 

[diddle283]

Ignore it.
My pc occasionally gets this message too.

It's not occassionally though, it comes up quite often and something is clearly eating all my system resources!

 

[rocknrollz]

Right click on task bar, click "Start Task Manager". See if CPU and RAM is close to 100% if it happens. If not, just ignore it.

 

[tsnor]

Strange message.

Suggest you run a few free cpu benchmarks on your system and ensure that it is running comparable to other systems of the same CPU. Then do the same thing for your Video card.

Googling for a minute got me this ref "If your computer is working slowly, you might see a message saying that the theme is using most of its allowed memory. If this happens, you can change to the Windows 7 Basic theme or a high-contrast theme to improve performance."

Can you open up 'resource monitor' <Start→All Programs→Accessories→System Tools→Resource Monitor.> and check the MEMORY tab. You could have a memory leak that is using up your memory to the point windows is doing drastic things like asking you to go to a crude theme. On the memory tab you should see how much memory is in use and which process owns it. A memory leak (a process losing track of memory and asking for more) would show up as a process holding most of memory, much more than anything else. Google the process and see if it's something that should be updated or reinstalled.

Can you retest you 'windows experience' numbers and post them ? That would rule out anything like overheating leading to slow processor, etc.

EDIT: nice rig. I assume you're current with anti-virus and anti-malware. If not not 'windows security essentials' is a free download. Aside: this message would drive me nuts until I got to root cause. No way your i5-2500K/gtx560ti with 16gb is having trouble showing a desktop theme. Thsi feels more like incompatible java levels or bad dot-net or something else updated wrong that is causing software problems.

 

[Pinhedd]

This happens all the time, it's a symptom of poorly written graphics engines

 

[diddle283]

Strange message.

Suggest you run a few free cpu benchmarks on your system and ensure that it is running comparable to other systems of the same CPU. Then do the same thing for your Video card.

Googling for a minute got me this ref "If your computer is working slowly, you might see a message saying that the theme is using most of its allowed memory. If this happens, you can change to the Windows 7 Basic theme or a high-contrast theme to improve performance."

Can you open up 'resource monitor' <Start→All Programs→Accessories→System Tools→Resource Monitor.> and check the MEMORY tab. You could have a memory leak that is using up your memory to the point windows is doing drastic things like asking you to go to a crude theme. On the memory tab you should see how much memory is in use and which process owns it. A memory leak (a process losing track of memory and asking for more) would show up as a process holding most of memory, much more than anything else. Google the process and see if it's something that should be updated or reinstalled.

Can you retest you 'windows experience' numbers and post them ? That would rule out anything like overheating leading to slow processor, etc.

EDIT: nice rig. I assume you're current with anti-virus and anti-malware. If not not 'windows security essentials' is a free download. Aside: this message would drive me nuts until I got to root cause. No way your i5-2500K/gtx560ti with 16gb is having trouble showing a desktop theme. Thsi feels more like incompatible java levels or bad dot-net or something else updated wrong that is causing software problems.

Windows experience numbers are:

Processor 7.6
Memory 7.9
Graphics 7.9
Gaming Graphics 7.9
Primary HDD 7.9


I use MSE - running at all times and I run spybot s&d once per week as well as malwarebytes and advanced system care deep clean (these 3 are not running in the background, just opened once a week).

I've benchmarked using Prime95 (ran for 2 hours to test my OC) just last week and Unigine ran today, both no issues at all.

CPU idles at 29-32 degrees and maxes out around 60, but rarely touches 60.

GPU is OC to 940mhz, again no issues with temp again maxing at at under 60 degrees.

I've been monitoring my memory from resource manager and I've not gone below 12400mb free

 

[diddle283]

WEI score makes no difference to real world performance and is no good measure.
My 480 easily surpasses your 560Ti but my 2 HDD's are slower than your SSD...
Your seeing the issue loads more than me...
I suggest you check what stuff you are running when this message pops up.

This is the bit I can't get my head around! It only really happens when I'm surfing the net or sat idle, I have never seen the message when actually putting some strain on the computer. I could understand if I was playing battlefield on ultra settings, while running Prime in the background, but It happens when practically doing nothing!

the worst thing is, it's not happening right now so I can't put my finger on whats happening in the background, It just boils my blood seeing it as my old Athlon II x4 machine never once saw it and that ran pretty much the same programs (and had the same gpu in it)!

 

[diddle283]

Like i said.... ignore it.
The only time you should worry is if there is noticeable performance loss.

guess Im gonna have to do that for now, I'll look into it some more when it happens again.

cheers

 

[tsnor]

?idiot?

edit: dang, i missed your /notserious tag.. "Who said i was serious? " grin.

guessing you're ignoring the implied /sarcasm tag on Zingam's append. Diddle has a nice system. /understatement

Your advice to ignore the warning message is probably sound, but no way I could ignore it myself.

The WEI numbers were just to rule out a gross system problem that made his system run slow. I saw an i7-920 system running with 486 speeds on this forum -- cpu heat sink wasn't attached properly and cpu was throttling at 105C.

Next debugging is to launch Resource Monitor when the system is displaying the message and see who is using memory.

 

[aqe040466]

A fresh Win 7 installtion is the solution to your problem.
Go to BIOS set the SATA configuration to AHCI disconnect the HDD not the DVD ROM set the DVD rom as first boot priority open the DVD ROM put the WIN 7 OS DVD save and exit Win 7 installs automatically.