Why isn't my uncle's new computer that fast?

By DaDude
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_dandy_

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Jeez, some people really need to take a step back and look at what they're suggesting.  Sure, a 7200rpm hard drive is faster than a 5400rpm one, but that will NOT account for a machine with an i5 CPU and 6GB of RAM to be described as slow as a Core 2 Duo running Vista on 2GB of RAM (man, that machine ought to be paging constantly).

 

The obviously thing to do, as others have said, is to start by uninstalling as much preloaded crap as possible, starting with whatever trial version of anti-virus software was bundled with it.  I installed Win8 (not even 8.1--yet) on a 4+ year old machine running an Atom CPU and 4GB of RAM, and boot times aren't any slower than 7 ever was on that same machine.

 

Next thing to do is to look at what's left in Task Manager / Resource Explorer and establish what's hogging the CPU and the hard drive.

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Grand Master

Praetor

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The point he was trying to make is that if your Laptop came with an OEM license for 8/8.1, it shouldn't ask you to enter a key during install, it should just grab it automatically from the SLIC tables in the bios (stored there by the manufacturer). Sounds to me like yours wasn't stored there since you had to entire it externally.

 

This; thanks snaphat. :)

Jeez, some people really need to take a step back and look at what they're suggesting.  Sure, a 7200rpm hard drive is faster than a 5400rpm one, but that will NOT account for a machine with an i5 CPU and 6GB of RAM to be described as slow as a Core 2 Duo running Vista on 2GB of RAM (man, that machine ought to be paging constantly).

 

The obviously thing to do, as others have said, is to start by uninstalling as much preloaded crap as possible, starting with whatever trial version of anti-virus software was bundled with it.  I installed Win8 (not even 8.1--yet) on a 4+ year old machine running an Atom CPU and 4GB of RAM, and boot times aren't any slower than 7 ever was on that same machine.

 

Next thing to do is to look at what's left in Task Manager / Resource Explorer and establish what's hogging the CPU and the hard drive.

 

that was advised long ago; OP still haven't answered.

  • snaphat (Myles Landwehr)
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Grand Master

TAZMINATOR

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The point he was trying to make is that if your Laptop came with an OEM license for 8/8.1, it shouldn't ask you to enter a key during install, it should just grab it automatically from the SLIC tables in the bios (stored there by the manufacturer). Sounds to me like yours wasn't stored there since you had to enter it externally.

 

 

This; thanks snaphat. :)

 

I know what you guys meant ... 

 

I understand you don't need to enter the same key again but it didn't work for me...  Trust me.

 

If people have new laptops or PC with UEFI that would be no problem..

 

Mine is not that new...  which is why I have to enter it every installation as long as I get a new hardware such as hard drive or whatever.

 

That is why I let the OP know if he is not able to activate the key he used before... so he can call MS for replacement key.. 

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simplezz

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Your uncle isn't the only one. A family friend of mine recently bought a brand new high spec laptop with Windows 8. It ran like crap. Admittedly it did have malware on it, which I removed, but it still ran like a dog.

I've played around with Windows 8 a fair bit, and without disabling things like disk indexing, system restore, prefetching etc, it runs very very slow. Now some of those things might be useful to some people, but I find they just slow the system enormously.

Now, it can be tweaked to perform reasonably, but it takes a hell of a lot of effort. I gave up trying to optimise his system in the end and installed Xubuntu instead. I normally enable things like noatime and avoid creating a swap for systems with 4GB+ of ram when running Linux. noatime equivalent can be done on Windows, but it's too opaque for my liking, not to mention the awful syntax and having to use the Windows console, which is unpleasant after using a rich GNU/Linux terminal.

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Praetor

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Your uncle isn't the only one. A family friend of mine recently bought a brand new high spec laptop with Windows 8. It ran like crap. Admittedly it did have malware on it, which I removed, but it still ran like a dog.

I've played around with Windows 8 a fair bit, and without disabling things like disk indexing, system restore, prefetching etc, it runs very very slow. Now some of those things might be useful to some people, but I find they just slow the system enormously.

Now, it can be tweaked to perform reasonably, but it takes a hell of a lot of effort. I gave up trying to optimise his system in the end and installed Xubuntu instead. I normally enable things like noatime and avoid creating a swap for systems with 4GB+ of ram when running Linux. noatime equivalent can be done on Windows, but it's too opaque for my liking, not to mention the awful syntax and having to use the Windows console, which is unpleasant after using a rich GNU/Linux terminal.

 

most of the problems i see with new systems with Windows is due to crappy hardware; slow and just makes the whole system sluggish. It's a problem, you can't expect to have the same performance of a 1600$ laptop in a 300$ one (just an example), even running the same Windows version.

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simplezz

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most of the problems i see with new systems with Windows is due to crappy hardware; slow and just makes the whole system sluggish. It's a problem, you can't expect to have the same performance of a 1600$ laptop in a 300$ one (just an example), even running the same Windows version.

While I don't doubt that's the case in some instances, the Windows software, or at least the default services and settings seem very demanding, even on a high spec machine like the family friend I was describing. After installing Xubuntu it ran so fast he (the owner) thought it was a completely different machine.

Sure, replacing the hd with an ssd, increasing the cores from 4 to 8, and upping the memory mhz might help, however, it doesn't change the fact that those requirements are approaching the enthusiast level, not normal everyday consumers. If that's what's required to get Windows to perform well, I'd be inclined to advise would-be buyers to get a Linux laptop or an Android tablet, because at least with them I know the user will get a decent performance at a good price.

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DaDude

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I see a lot of people suggesting SSDs. Well, my uncle was originally planning to get one, but they're hard to find. There was nothing on Costco's site nor on Dell's site. Apparently, they're not all that popular yet due to their lower capacity.

 

If we're missing something and they are indeed listed on Dell's site, please post the link. Thanks!

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I see a lot of people suggesting SSDs. Well, my uncle was originally planning to get one, but they're hard to find. There was nothing on Costco's site nor on Dell's site. Apparently, they're not all that popular yet due to their lower capacity.

 

If we're missing something and they are indeed listed on Dell's site, please post the link. Thanks!

 

You don't have to get anything from Dell..

 

You can get anything from Amazon, TigerDirect, etc...  as Snaphat said.

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DaDude

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Do you have the option to buy from an online retailer like Amazon.com or Newegg.com?

 

BTW I just searched Dell.com and there are SSDs:

 

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/category.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&category_id=5992&~ck=bt

 

I'm talking about laptop with a SSD already built-in. My uncle doesn't want to go through any hassle of installing this. That's why he wanted a laptop instead of a desktop.

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+Warwagon MVC

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People still use spinning drivers as their boot drives? :D Just kidding!

 

yes, put a SSD in that bitch and be done with it!

 

Personally when I buy a laptop I look up the service manual on how to remove the hard drive. If it requires anything other than unscrewing a hard drive cover i'm not going to buy it. Which is one of the reasons I love the HP Probook Lines. Has a service panel on the back which makes it EXTREMELY easy, as shown in the video I made below.

 

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patseguin Global Moderator

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Almost for sure bloatware. The one time I bought a Dell, the first thing I did was wipe the drive and reinstall Windows. 6GB RAM seems low for Windows 8 but I guess it will work.

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Grand Master

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People still use spinning drivers as their boot drives? :D Just kidding!

 

yes, put a SSD in that bitch and be done with it!

 

Personally when I buy a laptop I look up the service manual on how to remove the hard drive. If it requires anything other than unscrewing a hard drive cover i'm not going to buy it. Which is one of the reasons I love the HP Probook Lines. Has a service panel on the back which makes it EXTREMELY easy, as shown in the video I made below.

 

[video snipped]

 

 

Mine is on the back with the screws... Easy...    I have not seen remove keyboard in order to get the hard drive before.

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sc302 Veteran

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here.  dell latitude e6430.  it is in their business class but it is the cheapest starting with a ssd. 

 

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=slctj1&m_2=I53340M&m_8=128SSDM&m_10=HD&m_11=W8N6E&m_16=DV&model_id=latitude-e5430&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

 

here is a dell latitiude e6530

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=slctu2&m_2=I33120M&m_6=UMA3&m_8=180SSDM&m_10=HD&m_11=7HPN61E&m_16=DV&model_id=latitude-e6530&c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04

 

acer also makes some nice units.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-S7-391-6818-13-3-Inch-Touchscreen-Ultrabook/dp/B00H7WF54K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392832678&sr=8-1&keywords=acer+s7

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DaDude

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Awesome!! I'll send these links to my uncle and see what he says. Hopefully, he'll return Inspiron laptop to Costco and get that Latitude one. The price difference isn't much.

 

thanks!

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Som

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Start > msconfig > startup tab. review, and untick things you dont need stating up (normally all). issues should be lot better

 

it's windows 8

 

so it would be ctrl alt delete, task manager,  then startup tab....

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+BudMan MVC

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"Personally when I buy a laptop I look up the service manual on how to remove the hard drive. If it requires anything other than unscrewing a hard drive cover i'm not going to buy it."

 

This is good advice! Had to replace the HDD in an older Inspiron 15R N5110, man was that a PITA!!!  Pretty much had do disassemble the entire thing to get to the drive..  If looking for a laptop, how easy it is to add memory or replace HDD is great to look into before purchase - especially if you plan on keeping the thing for a while.

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+Warwagon MVC

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"Personally when I buy a laptop I look up the service manual on how to remove the hard drive. If it requires anything other than unscrewing a hard drive cover i'm not going to buy it."

 

This is good advice! Had to replace the HDD in an older Inspiron 15R N5110, man was that a PITA!!!  Pretty much had do disassemble the entire thing to get to the drive..  If looking for a laptop, how easy it is to add memory or replace HDD is great to look into before purchase - especially if you plan on keeping the thing for a while.

 

I think the Inspiron 15R was the same laptop in the video.

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+BudMan MVC

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If so that is funny!  When I went to go remove the drive I had to look up instructions because I kid you not I think I had to basically undo every freaking screw in the thing.. The HDD is in the heart of the thing - it was a freaking nightmare!!  Who every designed that thing did so thinking, oh they will just throw this away if the hdd dies and get a new machine ;)

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+Warwagon MVC

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If so that is funny!  When I went to go remove the drive I had to look up instructions because I kid you not I think I had to basically undo every freaking screw in the thing.. The HDD is in the heart of the thing - it was a freaking nightmare!!  Who every designed that thing did so thinking, oh they will just throw this away if the hdd dies and get a new machine ;)

 

Did you watch the video?

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+BudMan MVC

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No - I knew what you were taking about without having to watch a video ;)

 

edit: ok took a look - that is not a N5110, that HDD is actually easy to get to compared to the horror that is the N5110.. Let me see if I can find a video of that nightmare

 

Here you go

 

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