Painfully slow Sony Vaio

Thanks very much for the advice, bazz2004. My son's computer is newer than mine, so I don't think it runs anything older than Windows 7.
 
Hi Janet,

Firstly, there's likely nothing wrong with your VAIO-- it just needs to be reinstalled. I'm a small business owner in IT. I specialize in mainly residential clients, as the rest of the local IT people all chase businesses. Anyway, a reinstall of your VAIO, using a stock Windows 7 image (not the Sony factory recovery) is the way to get the best performance from your laptop. Most machines do well to have a reinstall by the three year mark. If you're doing it right, you should have two back-ups of your data- NOT on the computer. That way, the reinstall isn't such a big deal. Later, I'll tell you how to make it even easier, next time. :)

Stop now & back-up all of your data if you haven't, as yet. Email is dependent on how you have yours set up. If you always access it online, then it will be there. If you use a program on your computer & do not have it save a copy to the server, you may need to locate & backup that folder from your computer.

Yes, you're quite correct in suspecting the VIAO software as a source of sluggishness. Sony was even shot down at one point for attempting to charge a fee to sell you it's PC's without all of the junkware. Suffice to say, you generally don't need anything but the drivers which run the actual hardware. One exception would be proprietary software to control your specific keyboard's Fn (function) keys. Put another way- when you're done installing what you need, device manager will let you know if anything is missing- & then you can go and fetch only that from Sony.

Luckily, most computers have a folder which holds all of the maker's drivers in one spot- which you can copy off to an external device. VAIO's usually use C:\Drivers, but have a poke around if that's not the right location. Look for something called C:\Sony\Drivers, or C:\Programs\VAIO etc...You can use Belarc Advisor to get a report of what's actually on your current system & save that, too. Makes it easy to reinstall drivers when you know what you've got!

Keep in mind that when you install with a plain Win 7 disc, you also need your product key handy- meaning the one that's on the label on the computer. When re-activating afterwards you'll likely need to use the automated telephone activation- takes about five minutes of button pushing, & you're done...(you'll see "activate now" by right-clicking My Computer>properties/system information>lower-right of screen, ).

Windows images are stored here. They are large files so, even using a torrent program, it may take a while. Choose your version & then choose either 32 or 64bit (matching your *current system). This will be found within Belarc's report. Once the image is downloaded (& you can check the MD5 sum, if you wish, per the article linked), you'll need to burn the image to a DVD (or create a bootable USB, but the DVD is easier). You can use your own software (look for the choice of "burn image") or download & install Imgburn (free) via ninite as they make sure no malware gets attached (tick Imgburn, get installer, run). *Btw- your Windows 7 key will activate both 32 & 64 bit- so really the choice depends on whether your hardware ever had 64 bit drivers & whether you will ever have more than 2GB of RAM. If no- then stick with 32 bit.

Once you have the DVD burned, you pop it into your VIAO & shutdown. Start up again & at the very first hint of something on-screen, look at the bottom left-hand side of your screen for key info on getting to "setup" or "boot order", usually F2. On some VAIO's, you start up with the "assist" key to reach this.

This, BIOS, is where you want to alter the machine to force it to look at your DVD, 1st, rather than booting back to the hard drive. This is sometimes tricky- as some machines give you almost no time to read before booting- so be patient that it may take a few goes. When you do finally get to the installation screen for Win 7, choose "custom" & then choose the largest partition to install your new Windows to. You'll be warned that there's already an OS there & that all data will be lost-- click continue.

Once windows is installed, you load your drivers you saved to the external drive at the beginning. Start with the network (LAN/wifi) & then activate Windows before going any further. If there's any issue, you can always fall back to the factory recovery.

A few tweaks: right-click the desktop>personalize>change desktop icons>tick user/computer/recycle bin. For speed: right-click computer>properties>advanced system settings>advanced tab>performance>set for best performance & tick: show thumbnails, enable peek, smooth fonts, use visual styles, apply. Right-click recycle bin>properties>set "custom size" to 500mb from the outrageous & massive amount MS wants to steal from you for your rubbish. If your battery is shot (likely is, by now) & you mainly run off power, then go to power settings, in control panel, and set yours to "high performance". Go back to ninite.com & grab 7-zip, LibreOffice, Auslogics defrag, Avast AV (if you don't have one), Sumatra PDF, and anything else you find of interest. The one installer will install everything for you- all junk removed. ;)
Run Auslogic. Go to settings>program settings>"Algorithms" tab>tick delete temp files, skip files larger than 10mb, & move system files to the beginning of the disk. Then, run the defrag.

Now- once you get things set as you like them, you can create your own image of the way things are at that moment. Go to start>all programs>maintenance>backup & restore>create a system image. Send it out to your external drive. If you ever have a bad virus or any other issue, you can go back to this image within minutes- fully activated & ready to go. Be sure to also make the recovery CD while you're there.

That's about it. I recommend a reinstall over a "clean up" because after a certain point, it's impossible to gain back the performance due to registry bloat, corrupt files, fragmentation (both of the registry & hard disk, malware & virus damage, etc)...Cleaners simply cannot undo it. Reinstall is the best value for your time spent, bar none.

Cheers & good luck!
 
Thank you, Girl Down Under! This is a lot to take in, so I will print it all out and review it. I might have questions. They might sound like stupid questions.

I used to be an intelligent, computer savvy woman, believe it or not. lol. Not to the point of being a techie, but enough so that I could take care of my computer. But that was decades ago. ;-)

Janet
 
Thank you, Girl Down Under! This is a lot to take in, so I will print it all out and review it. I might have questions. They might sound like stupid questions.

I used to be an intelligent, computer savvy woman, believe it or not. lol. Not to the point of being a techie, but enough so that I could take care of my computer. But that was decades ago. ;-)

Janet
No worries. No such thing as a stupid question when you're trying to learn! I should add that if you do use the "assist" button to enter your BIOS, you'll need to be sure to get that reinstalled. Double-check if it's within the drivers folder. I haven't seen a VAIO in a few months so can't quite recall.

Cheers
 
That's good advise if Janet has the time to take all that in and undertake the lengthy process. It doesn't even look easy when it's written down. I quite agree that there is probably nothing wrong with the Vaio. I reckon that it's an unnecessary exercise to reinstall Windows 7 but I could be wrong.. I'd smooth out the biggest problems with the Windows 7 set up and likely remove another chunk of the Sony bloatware. If it's looking better after that go for the Windows 10 upgrade via Microsoft's media creation tool. If the Vaio has the latest Windows 7 updates installed and is running Internet Explorer 11 it should be ready to go. Windows 7 users are nearly all going to migrate to the latest OS.
 
That's good advise if Janet has the time to take all that in and undertake the lengthy process. It doesn't even look easy when it's written down.... Windows 7 users are nearly all going to migrate to the latest OS.

My "advice" comes from experience which has been that "patching" a cludgy, clunky system is a very aggravating, time-consuming shot-in-the-dark which nets you a "limp-along" sytem.

The fact is that reinstalling is faster in practice & cleaner than troubleshooting (the reading makes sense if you follow as you go- kind of like Ikea ;)). It also sticks with you- like everything, the first time there's a bit of trepidation, but next time, not so much. You end up with a slick & quick system afterwards as your reward, too.

RE: Win 10: Anyone who jumps from 7 to 10, imho, just because it's "free" (& we all know that IS the main carrot ;) is really being a bit silly. Win 7 is rock-solid, has the drivers behind it, & still has years of official support. Even if you skipped the update-- what will it put you out later? A bit over $100? Hardly a bank-breaking moment. If it IS bank-breaking, you likely have more pressing issues at hand than worrying over your computer!

Imho & cheers mate, from sunny WA, AU!
 
We'll have to agree to differ GirlDownunde. In the old days it was maybe worth reinstalling occasionally but things have moved on. Both Windows and hardware have improved to the extent that with modern systems regular reinstalls are for geeks.

From the post it looks as if you haven't yet upgraded a computer to Windows 10. It's high time that you tried it out because Microsoft have come up with a worthwhile OS. Get in there, try it and make an informed judgement based on experience. Rolling back to W7 should be easy but I doubt many will want to.

I'm bowing out on this one now and hope that there is a successful outcome. In no way was I advocating that the Vaio be left with a creaky Windows 7 installation.
 
We'll have to agree to differ GirlDownunde. In the old days it was maybe worth reinstalling occasionally but things have moved on. Both Windows and hardware have improved to the extent that with modern systems regular reinstalls are for geeks.

From the post it looks as if you haven't yet upgraded a computer to Windows 10. It's high time that you tried it out because Microsoft have come up with a worthwhile OS. Get in there, try it and make an informed judgement based on experience. Rolling back to W7 should be easy but I doubt many will want to.

I'm bowing out on this one now and hope that there is a successful outcome. In no way was I advocating that the Vaio be left with a creaky Windows 7 installation.

No worries, oi, we all have an opinion.

And yes, I do know "things have moved on"- lol. I have a plethora of PC's- My own (main unit I hook other's dying drives to when not detected- or just for grunt running Linux Mint 17 on an i7 w/18GB RAM) my biz unit, Mint again; and also Win 7 Pro, 8 Pro, 8.1 Pro, & Win 10 Dev- which I've had online from the start. XP & Vista are there as VM's in Mint. I only just sold my very nice iMac, as I wasn't getting many Mac calls. I keep them all as I get calls for all and I like seeing for myself what someone is describing to me- usually by phone in the beginning. Eventually, they'll all be MS VM's.

If it's possible, I remote in to fix systems, otherwise one of us travels. I do have instances of successful "clean & tunes"-- on systems which otherwise weren't totally bogged down (or within 1-2 yrs new). However, as we see, even in the space of one event here, four pages of back & forth have netted basically what? I like a success story as much as anyone, and after some hundreds of units, it became clear that a clean install was fast, cleared any viri, and gave a "new" machine back. I also do a flat rate, which would work out cheaper than were I to troubleshoot & try to "tweak" for hours, you see? I know when it's done- it's good to go. As with you, that's only imho but thought I'd "flesh it out".

And as far as "roll-backs" to 7-- I've had at least 3 a week since release of 10- no joke. Another tomorrow. People just don't care for it. A few really don't like the browser strong-arm & many are now reading about MS forcing updates, others had severe lock-ups, corrupted files, & other peripheral issues...maybe Aussie hackles just pop up easier? ;)

Personally, I see 10 as "okay". Not too happy with the browser/privacy concerns though. It won't impact me personally as long as I have a Linux distro to run. :) Cheers!
 
Got my chores done and can now revisit this thread.
Attached is the analysis of the event log data. Lots of insignificant records were captured and we needed only Error events. The Critical events are all system restarts after an abnormal shutdown - - like a force power off or BSOD. There's a Failure to Start on Google Update and who cares - - I disable it on my laptop as a a tuning technique and run it manually when needed.

@bazz2004
Windows 7 users are nearly all going to migrate to the latest OS.
hmm; Opinion and speculation. As a programmer, I didn't go to 8.x and will not go to 10.*. If I loose development access, I'll go to Mac or Linux. With Win/7, I can use the Cygwin Linux Emulator and lots of productivity for web server programming

No worries, oi, we all have an opinion. ...

it became clear that a clean install was fast, cleared any viri, and gave a "new" machine back.
Very true. My issues with "wipe-and-reinstall" are
  1. All the user installed programs have to be reacquired and reinstalled. This can be as time consuming as fixing the system. Sometimes, it sadly includes a repurchase. Worst case is when the existing system has someProgram_v2.x and at the time of reinstall that version is no longer available and one must "upgrade" to the latest version. This can be a snowball from hell as the previous data need to be transformed into the newest formats.
  2. Any significant data (like business records, accounting files) must be saved and a path determined to get them into the newly installed system properly.
  3. Some "user data" can be complicated to save and recover - - depending upon the programs you are using. (such as your Contacts, Emails). From (1), a newer version of someProgram may not only change formats of its files, but the location in which they are stored.
And as far as "roll-backs" to 7-- I've had at least 3 a week since release of 10- no joke.
EVERY person I know who was suckered into the Free Win/10 has regretted it and rolled-back. Due to the complete rewrite of the OS, ALL drivers need Win/10 version or you're in trouble. I was asked to evaluate this question for a business system and found that the existing printer would need to be obviated and a new one purchased, as the "Approved Printer List" is sparse and did not include the existing printer.

@Janet444 For clarity and reduced backup media, if you intend to wipe-n-reinstall, you only need to capture \Users\Janet\Documents.

@Janet444 No one has clarified exactly "why the Vaio is painfully slow" - - slow doing what? Browsing the net, running programs (which ones???). Slow opening your Picture folder?(a known issue and solution) How much free space is on the HD?

more to come in another follow-up....
 

Attachments

  • Janet444.Techspot.pdf
    92.7 KB · Views: 1
I asked for the tasklist previously, but we couldn't get the filtering quite right - - just give me the naked list and I'll just have to wade through it.

get the command prompt and enter
  • tasklist /svc >myTask.log
  • notepad myTask.log
copy the contents and paste as your follow-up

System tuning is the process of
  1. reducing the workload to a minimum
    1. eleminating unnecessary System Services (including Vaio stuff))
    2. reducing user Startup programs
    3. reducing tedious and redundant Updates
  2. getting the hd to perform at it's best (free space, defrag)
 
Does the VAIO Care application include any information about the pre-installed software?
Yes, the VAIO Care application includes a section called Learn about VAIO Programs that provides a description of what each specific Sony application does and it also may include a short tutorial.
To access this feature, open the VAIO Care application, click VAIO Software and then click Learn about VAIO Programs.
Note: This feature may not be included on all VAIO computers.
@Janet444 Let's find what's there and how much of it is "necessary"
 
@Janet444 Improving paging system
right-click on Computer->Properties. READ how much ram is installed, then multiply by 2.5 == mypagesize

click Advanced System settings (needs the admin password)
  • click the Advanced Tab->click the Performance Settings button
  • again, click the Advanced Tab
  • [x] performance of Programs
  • Virtual memory -> click CHANGE
  • (x) custom size and set both Initial & Maximum to mypagesize

The will stop the pagefile from expanding unnecessarily precisely when you need the best performance. Pagefile expansion WILL make performance even worse than it already is.

Takes effect upon the next Boot.
 
Jobeard
My issues with "wipe-and-reinstall" are...
  1. All the user installed programs have to be reacquired and reinstalled.
  2. Any significant data (like business records, accounting files) must be saved...
  3. Some "user data" can be complicated to save and recover....
Agreed, but then again, the same would hold true when that person's hard drive dies or they end up hit with a ransomware encryption virus. I mean really, in whose best interest is it to keep copies of your discs, data, etc? We're dealing with adults here, not 5 yr. olds (because 5 yr. olds already know this)- lol. The point here being-- you must keep your programs discs, you MUST HAVE two separate back-ups of everything important to you. It behooves the end-user to take ownership of their computing life. No time like the present? ;)

Regardless, none of the "issues" above negates anything I've written thus far. I know that many techs (I used to be one of them) love to try to "solve" the mystery sluggishness. By comparison, you can be 100% certain that a reinstall provides a fresh registry/ clean system. I prefer to teach the end-user better habits.

Back-up, reinstall, create pristine image for next time. I've worked on a few Vaio's- & I can tell you that the owner's were stunned at the speed when I handed them back, sans Sony's famed & unnecessary bloatware. Save that image & next time you need a refresh, you're golden! You have a basically unattended, pristine "go-back" image that has you back on-line in minutes. Courtesy of M$, to boot!

Imho once more, :)

Cheers!
 
By comparison, you can be 100% certain that a reinstall provides a fresh registry/ clean system.
I prefer to teach the end-user better habits.
Bravo - - however, just how many eons ago did we start chanting the mantra -- take backups? The sad truth is few actually do and worse fewer still have attempted to recover using one.

A large population of readers on TS have little to no business data and espouse your dictum of just reinstall. Their primary usage is email, gaming and the social networks. As long as these users understand what will be lost, that's just fine with me and it certainly is far less effort.

The OP @Janet444 can make that choice, but clearly it is not the only path available and there are good reasons not to go down that path. I'll not get into a debate which way is "better" and unless the OP responds with more question, I'll just bow out.
 
This is all really overwhelming. I will try to answer the questions one at a time, as I'm able. But I won't be able to do it all at once.

Meanwhile, my ex-husband does believe that simply wiping out the hard drive will solve all the problems.

The reason I included the critical errors and warnings is because to me, as someone who doesn't understand all of this, they appeared to be significant.
 
Okay, first answer to JOBeard's first question. You said that no one has clarified what is slow on the computer. This was the subject of my very first post, so I am copying and pasting that information here:

Over the past few months, though, things have gotten even worse. The computer is slow to start up. Various programs will suddenly become "unresponsive" for no apparent reason. Sometimes if I wait, they'll become responsive again. Sometimes, it will take almost a minute to save a minor file in Word.

This past week, I've gotten a new screen at start up a couple of times that says there are problems that need to be fixed. I realized later that it was because I'd left a CD in the laptop. But after I took it out, I got the screen again one or two mornings later upon startup. I'm sorry that I can't describe it properly. It has a loading bar and says it will take a few minutes, but it takes longer than that.

Also over the past week, sometimes the screen will just go blank - a bluish blackish color. It usually goes away if I press enter a few times, but not always. I think I had to restart it at least once.

This morning, both Word and Excel failed to open for no apparent reason. Later in the day, both opened and worked properly. Both are starter versions.

I hope this isn't too vague. It's hard to get a handle on the multiple problems I've had over the years. I'm hoping these are problems that can be resolved without having to buy a new computer.
 
Below are tasklist contents:


Image Name PID Services
========================= ======== ============================================
System Idle Process 0 N/A
System 4 N/A
smss.exe 384 N/A
csrss.exe 576 N/A
wininit.exe 624 N/A
csrss.exe 648 N/A
services.exe 684 N/A
winlogon.exe 728 N/A
lsass.exe 740 EFS, KeyIso, SamSs
lsm.exe 748 N/A
svchost.exe 864 DcomLaunch, PlugPlay, Power
svchost.exe 960 RpcEptMapper, RpcSs
svchost.exe 424 AudioSrv, Dhcp, eventlog,
HomeGroupProvider, lmhosts, wscsvc
svchost.exe 532 AudioEndpointBuilder, hidserv, Netman,
PcaSvc, SysMain, TrkWks, UxSms, Wlansvc
svchost.exe 1028 EventSystem, fdPHost, FontCache, netprofm,
nsi, WdiServiceHost, WinHttpAutoProxySvc
svchost.exe 1052 Appinfo, BITS, EapHost, IKEEXT,
LanmanServer, ProfSvc, Schedule, SENS,
ShellHWDetection, Themes, Winmgmt, wuauserv
svchost.exe 1144 gpsvc
svchost.exe 1232 CryptSvc, Dnscache, LanmanWorkstation,
NlaSvc, TermService
AvastSvc.exe 1356 avast! Antivirus
wlanext.exe 1364 N/A
conhost.exe 1376 N/A
spoolsv.exe 1736 Spooler
svchost.exe 1764 BFE, DPS, MpsSvc
SASCore64.exe 1840 !SASCORE
armsvc.exe 1876 AdobeARMservice
ADVWindowsClientService.e 1896 ADVService
taskhost.exe 1968 N/A
dwm.exe 1348 N/A
explorer.exe 1532 N/A
AppleMobileDeviceService. 1608 Apple Mobile Device Service
mDNSResponder.exe 2056 Bonjour Service
svchost.exe 2084 DiagTrack
svchost.exe 2136 FDResPub, SSDPSRV, upnphost
LMS.exe 2168 LMS
taskeng.exe 2204 N/A
taskeng.exe 2356 N/A
SPMgr.exe 2500 N/A
MDM.EXE 2580 MDM
PMBDeviceInfoProvider.exe 2656 PMBDeviceInfoProvider
RegSrvc.exe 2796 RegSrvc
psia.exe 3168 Secunia PSI Agent
RAVBg64.exe 3600 N/A
Apoint.exe 3660 N/A
WiMAXCU.exe 3692 N/A
sftvsa.exe 3872 sftvsa
SOHDms.exe 3932 SOHDms
SOHDs.exe 3972 SOHDs
svchost.exe 4052 stisvc
VESMgr.exe 4088 VAIO Event Service
VcmIAlzMgr.exe 2472 VcmIAlzMgr
dllhost.exe 3116 N/A
VcmINSMgr.exe 580 VcmINSMgr
VSNService.exe 2776 VSNService
AppSrv.exe 848 WiMAXAppSrv
WLIDSVC.EXE 696 wlidsvc
iFrmewrk.exe 3160 N/A
DMAgent.exe 4144 DMAgent
WLIDSVCM.EXE 4196 N/A
EvtEng.exe 4244 EvtEng
VSNClient.exe 4420 N/A
sftlist.exe 4652 sftlist
SOHCImp.exe 4700 SOHCImp
VESMgrSub.exe 4728 N/A
CVHSVC.EXE 4124 cvhsvc
ipoint.exe 4776 N/A
igfxtray.exe 3732 N/A
igfxpers.exe 3840 N/A
hkcmd.exe 4164 N/A
SearchIndexer.exe 5348 WSearch
SpfService64.exe 5544 SpfService
dpupdchk.exe 5604 N/A
esrv.exe 5936 N/A
conhost.exe 5996 N/A
ApMsgFwd.exe 2572 N/A
unsecapp.exe 4860 N/A
unsecapp.exe 5268 N/A
sua.exe 6064 Secunia Update Agent
Apvfb.exe 4372 N/A
ApntEx.exe 5804 N/A
conhost.exe 5260 N/A
wmpnetwk.exe 6236 WMPNetworkSvc
iTunesHelper.exe 6476 N/A
SUPERAntiSpyware.exe 6552 N/A
WmiPrvSE.exe 6604 N/A
WmiPrvSE.exe 6612 N/A
VCFw.exe 6620 VCFw
VAIOUpdt.exe 6992 N/A
iPodService.exe 3240 iPod Service
svchost.exe 3468 p2pimsvc, p2psvc, PNRPsvc
IAStorIcon.exe 5964 N/A
ISBMgr.exe 5572 N/A
SetPoint.exe 3768 N/A
PMBVolumeWatcher.exe 6576 N/A
VUAgent.exe 3164 VUAgent
AvastUI.exe 7172 N/A
jusched.exe 7180 N/A
dllhost.exe 7588 N/A
esrv_svc.exe 7716 ESRV_SVC
SetPoint32.exe 7776 N/A
KHALMNPR.exe 8108 N/A
VCSystemTray.exe 6496 N/A
CCleaner64.exe 1048 N/A
unsecapp.exe 7104 N/A
TrustedInstaller.exe 3532 TrustedInstaller
svchost.exe 5968 HPSLPSVC
VAIO Messenger.exe 7628 N/A
IAStorDataMgrSvc.exe 7328 IAStorDataMgrSvc
Oasis2Service.exe 5060 Oasis2Service
VCPerfService.exe 3476 SampleCollector
jucheck.exe 6212 N/A
UNS.exe 876 UNS
listener.exe 6160 N/A
SPMService.exe 7984 VAIO Power Management
svchost.exe 6256 WinDefend
PresentationFontCache.exe 8364 FontCache3.0.0.0
VCService.exe 6724 VCService
VCAgent.exe 7792 N/A
CVH.EXE 4660 N/A
OFFICEVIRT.EXE 9232 N/A
OSPPSVC.EXE 8284 osppsvc
chrome.exe 8528 N/A
chrome.exe 7320 N/A
chrome.exe 708 N/A
chrome.exe 10992 N/A
chrome.exe 8752 N/A
chrome.exe 9096 N/A
chrome.exe 7440 N/A
VCAdmin.exe 9636 N/A
IOLOTO~1.EXE 5316 N/A
MpCmdRun.exe 9544 N/A
SearchProtocolHost.exe 7900 N/A
splwow64.exe 9352 N/A
chrome.exe 10940 N/A
chrome.exe 2876 N/A
chrome.exe 8768 N/A
chrome.exe 8516 N/A
WINWORDC.EXE 1792 N/A
chrome.exe 8072 N/A
OffSpon.EXE 7504 N/A
chrome.exe 9980 N/A
SearchFilterHost.exe 7108 N/A
cmd.exe 8512 N/A
conhost.exe 4896 N/A
tasklist.exe 5980 N/A
 
Does the VAIO Care application include any information about the pre-installed software?
Yes, the VAIO Care application includes a section called Learn about VAIO Programs that provides a description of what each specific Sony application does and it also may include a short tutorial.
To access this feature, open the VAIO Care application, click VAIO Software and then click Learn about VAIO Programs.
Note: This feature may not be included on all VAIO computers.
@Janet444 Let's find what's there and how much of it is "necessary"

Although there is nothing called "Learn about Vaio Programs, there are a few features there that might help, including self-heal. I don't have time to work on that now, but that will be the next step I take.
 
Thanks for the feedback. SO SORRY I missed the startup issues :sigh:

Likely this is Vaio attempting to call home before the network is ready.

Let's do some quick tweeks:
  1. Improving paging system
    right-click on Computer->Properties. READ how much ram is installed, then multiply by 2.5 == mypagesize

    click Advanced System settings (needs the admin password)
    • click the Advanced Tab->click the Performance Settings button
    • again, click the Advanced Tab
    • [x] performance of Programs
    • Virtual memory -> click CHANGE
    • (x) custom size and set both Initial & Maximum to mypagesize
  2. download Defraggler , install and run
    program files (x86) -> right-click Defraggler
    Menu Bar:Settings->Boot Time->Run Once
    you will be prompted to Reboot Now -> Yes
NOW Let's see about startup itself:
Reboot and when you see the B/W screen, start tapping F8 until you get the choice of Safe Mode - - select it and continue.
when you get to the login screen, login as Admin

?? HOW WELL did it reboot ??
 
Attached is the analysis of running processes, some annotated for actions by you.

Also note conflicts:
  • between usage of AVG and BitDefender
  • SUPERAntiSpyware.exe
You can only run ONE active firewall and ONE antivirus program, otherwise they argue between themselves and massively impact the system.

You have a real-time file scanner running and that eats both CPU and disk IO. With a proactive AV, you don't need to scan every file every time it is accessed or run.

You have options for Word and Spreadsheet tools other than Microsoft, and that would cleanup several programs. Search for OpenOffice Suite - - gives you equivalents of word, excel & powerpoint.
 

Attachments

  • Vaio_system_tunning.pdf
    76.9 KB · Views: 6
Thank you. I did the first two and then rebooted.

The computer shut down very slowly. I did need to force the restart, but that always happens (I probably should have mentioned that, but it's happened probably since I got the computer, so I take it for granted now).

Even so, it shut down more slowly than usual. Also, a female voice said "Welcome to Avast." That never happens.

Then it went straight from shutting down to restarting Windows. I tapped F8 while it was starting Windows. I black screen appeared very briefly with some information from Defraggler, but it flashed by too quickly for me to see what it was. Then it went to my desktop.

I'm not sure if it's helpful to add this, but when I rebooted this morning, Windows tried to install 25 updates. It got hung up on the 20th update. I finally had to shut it off. When I turned it back on, it wanted to do a disk check. It deleted a lot of "corrupt attribute records."

Sorry if that's irrelevant, but that's what happened earlier today.
 
I guess I was writing my message when you wrote your second message.

I uninstalled Bitdefender. It shouldn't be coming up. I switched to Avast.

I do have Open Office, but I think I'll need to use Word with a new job. But then again, my ex will be taking this computer, so if he's okay with using Open Office, that might work.

He does plan to strip the hard drive, so it could be that all of this is unnecessary. I'm not sure, because all of this is confusing to me. I don't want to waste your time, so sorry if this is unnecessary.
 
OpenOffice is compat with all MS Office products. It can open all those formats and
for new docs, it defaults to ODS, but can perform save as DOC, PPT and XLS.

Forcing shutdown is a bad habbit !!! sometimes we just need to be patent.
It's during shutdown that the registry is flushed and aborting that - - N A S T Y !!!

"I switched to Avast" good, configure it to disable realtime scanning, but allow email and link scans.
 
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