Optimize Windows 7 Under a Crappy CPU ?

[RoutedScripter]

Hi

I've got an old friend's PC to repair that's just for basic multimedia stuff nothing else.

I've managed to do some optimizations, and heavily on the desktop visual stuff, it improves the lag incredibly, moving and resizing windows is basically lagless now, still CPU is so weak it basically lags the mouse

I though it was mouse lag before, and i've just upgraded from 512MB to 1536MB, got DDR2 extemely cheap so why not, it's working great now, it was horrible before.

So it's not RAM, it's definitely CPU

This is before I made the Visual Effects modifications in Performance Options stuff in System Settings (it's already non-aero). You can't see the mouse here, but it was at the top of the taskmanager windows I was moving up and down, normal speed, no any deliberate fast movements, it was extremely annoying It would never be accepable if this was my PC.


Anyone has any more ideas, I've already gone through all the "10 steps to make win7 faster" and other tinkertoy stuff around the web, most of the stuff will not affect CPU, only one out 10 sites I checked has the Visual Effects mentioned that really helped a TON.

I have all the non-essential services disabled, ..etc

 

[kn00tcn]

overclock the cpu? are any newer/faster/multicore ones available on that socket? the older AMD singlecores certainly struggle with multiple processes/threads compared to hyperthreading (in my experience with an overcolcked athlon xp-m vs a pentium 4)

 

[Fourstaff]

Install linux

 

[erocker]

You have 46 background processes going on. You should be able to slim that down into the 30's. Thing is, it really won't help very much with a single core CPU.

 

[ne6togadno]

windows classic skin + set visual effects for best performance
and stop trying to multitask

 

[jboydgolfer]

I'm gonna guess that if He/She gave it to to "fix", that they have Little or no experience with PC's, atleast in the maintenance area. My suggestion would be that if You CAN'T get it to handle such simple task's as desktop functions , and there is NO other program running in the background hogging CPU, or RAM, and bringing down performance, Legitimate, or malware/Virus, etc. Then it LOOK'S like it might be time to make the jump into a NEWER system.Unfortunately, I cannot see the PC in question's Spec's , but really, it would cost a MINIMAL amount of Cash to invest in a new, more powerful CPU, or even used More powerful CPU. Even with a motherboard upgrade the costs would be Minimal. If it's an older LGA, or AMD socket type that your friend has reached the "end of the road" so to speak with, as far as a More powerful option(No room for upgrade without moving to a newer socket type), Then maybe you could take this opportunity to make a few WELL deserved upgrades, Otherwise something tell's Me You'll be "working" on their PC again sooner than later. thats My opinion. If buying a few new part's is OUT of the question, then Maybe a Less intensive O.S. , like linux, or something like it?

 

[RoutedScripter]

Install linux

long story, not an option

I'm gonna guess that if He/She gave it to to "fix", that they have Little or no experience with PC's, atleast in the maintenance area. My suggestion would be that if You CAN'T get it to handle such simple task's as desktop functions , and there is NO other program running in the background hogging CPU, or RAM, and bringing down performance, Legitimate, or malware/Virus, etc. Then it LOOK'S like it might be time to make the jump into a NEWER system.Unfortunately, I cannot see the PC in question's Spec's , but really, it would cost a MINIMAL amount of Cash to invest in a new, more powerful CPU, or even used More powerful CPU. Even with a motherboard upgrade the costs would be Minimal. If it's an older LGA, or AMD socket type that your friend has reached the "end of the road" so to speak with, as far as a More powerful option(No room for upgrade without moving to a newer socket type), Then maybe you could take this opportunity to make a few WELL deserved upgrades, Otherwise something tell's Me You'll be "working" on their PC again sooner than later. thats My opinion. If buying a few new part's is OUT of the question, then Maybe a Less intensive O.S. , like linux, or something like it?

1. not the main pc
2. casual use only
3. didn't ask for a new PC
4. barely made it to work, i was just looking for some extra speedups.
5. it was working slower when I got it (4 years old install of winXP)
6. profession of fixing things is trying to fix not replace, that's what I do best, I already managed to get it work
7. money is not an issue but we don't have kind of "wasteful" lifestyle around here

windows classic skin + set visual effects for best performance
and stop trying to multitask

I was trying to tell that that's only part of the problem, the CPU is hogging even when opening browser windows, installing programs, etc

The user is probably not as demanding as I am at all, but you know, i still try to do my best as I always put things in expecting the worst, not trying to make it appear good when it's not, like other people try to explain their way to make it seem better.

Definitely don't want to overclock because i don't want instability, it was BSOD that's why they brought the PC for a fix.

 

[Dent1]

overclock the cpu? are any newer/faster/multicore ones available on that socket? the older AMD singlecores certainly struggle with multiple processes/threads compared to hyperthreading (in my experience with an overcolcked athlon xp-m vs a pentium 4)

The issue is still the RAM too. You only have 20MB free. Should have upgraded him to 4GB.

The CPU spike is a background APP, the antivirus or something else that's hugging the CPU. Do a full format and reinstall windows.

 

[Frick]

That CPU shouldn't do that. With the visual effects turned off it should be ok. I've used Windows 7 with slower systems (with 2GB RAM though) and it was surprisingly quick.

Anyway what erocker said, kill everything not absolutely necessary. You can look around for a cheap dual core as well.

 

[Mathragh]

Depending on what graphics hardware is in there you might get better results by running windows 8 aswell, because its optimized for less capable systems and has more hardware acceleration. Don't know whether that is an option though.

 

[RoutedScripter]

You have 46 background processes going on. You should be able to slim that down into the 30's. Thing is, it really won't help very much with a single core CPU.

Those are just normal, i usually don't have as much svchosts on my, and i don't have rundll32 and WUDFhost, but some of them seem to go on and off an are usually at fresh install, I also don't have taskeng, this is completely different hardware so that's maybe some different behavior from windows, but there's also one Unknown Device that i have no idea and since already everything works it's fine, it was also a pain in the ass finding the drivers for all this, glad I could make it work.

Also to note, now that I'm basically done, I will also uninstall the wireless PCI card and it's drivers, maybe it'll improve something, but as you can see the DPC latency wasn't the problem in this case.

Depending on what graphics hardware is in there you might get better results by running windows 8 aswell, because its optimized for less capable systems and has more hardware acceleration. Don't know whether that is an option though.

The user did not want to have win 8.

The issue is still the RAM too. You only have 20MB free. Should have upgraded him to 4GB.

The CPU spike is a background APP, the antivirus or something else that's hugging the CPU. Do a full format and reinstall windows.

Sorry, I think I forgot to mention that this is a fresh reformat reinstall from XP. I assumed people know I know what I'm doing so I just got straight to the main point


Referr to this thread to understand all the "stanby, free, available" memory terms in windows http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/win7-memory-cache-further-analyzing-mapped-file.144712/

 

[ne6togadno]

replace nod32 and malwarebytes with avast.
if zoran has router turn off win firewall and setup router firewall.
turn off that nv driver help as well
change ms office with libre office or if this is not option remove ms office speed up from startup (cant remeber what was exact name but you will find it in msconfig and/or start up folder)
and realy change to windows classic skin. it really makes huge difference.

 

[RoutedScripter]

It already is classic skin, just, I left one tick on that actually makes it still look like Win7

But I tested it and, it actually is fine like this, might be ofcourse faster with that but it looks weird to me , mostly because buttons are different sizes and I get dizzy, not whining about looks.

Because that's my opinion, I'll have the guy to test it and he can choose, as usual.

 

[Dent1]

Sorry, I think I forgot to mention that this is a fresh reformat reinstall from XP. I assumed people know I know what I'm doing so I just got straight to the main point

If its a fresh windows then the high CPU usage is probably windows update. It will hide in the background eating up resources until its downloaded fully.

What happens if you disable windows update?

 

[dhdude]

Did you install 64bit Win 7? I'd suggest 32bit if you're low on ram

 

[brandonwh64]

I ran windows 7 on my TV (Yes it has a AM2+/3 system INSIDE it) and with the original low watt dual core and 1GB ram it was super sluggish and would skip during video play even on youtube and also max out the cores alot and this was on a clean install. I upgraded it to a low watt quad core with 4GB ram and its run smoothly now

 

[LagunaX]

Yeah what the ppl above said, forum find or ebay a cheap used dual core and 4gb ram if u can.

 

[InnocentCriminal]

If you're familiar with disabling services you can always trim down the non-essential ones. Black Viper's website is a great resource for definitions on services and which ones he deems suitable to be disabled. Always make a note of what you're disabling and what the original state was and do not disable essential services.

Hopefully that'll help lower the resources being used. Don't expect a miracle cure though.

 

[TheGuruStud]

The cpu is not crap. I'm still running my original athlon 64 3500 in a test PC. Stop insulting such a wonderful piece of silicon. Windows sucks, but does work fine on it.

The only thing it needs is a modern gpu to accelerate video.

I can game on that cpu and put the ps3/360 to shame.

 

[qubit]

So what CPU you got in that old rig, Ruski?

 

[thebluebumblebee]

So what CPU you got in that old rig, Ruski?

Really? It's in the OP.

 

[qubit]

Really? It's in the OP.

Now I see it. <facepalm> I did look for it, lol.

Been a long day at work.

I've got a socket 939 single core Athlon 64 running at 2GHz which works quite smoothly on W7, so I would have expected this one to be that little bit better than mine. The smaller RAM will make a difference though as W7 really wants a minimum of 2GB.

My one's been donated to a friend and is only used for the basics like internet and email.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

I do not think the CPU is at fault. that 1.5GB of ram is.

Even if you upgraded to 1.5GB. That is still not quite enough for Windows 7.

Also, some people might flame me for this recommendation, but install ccleaner and run the registry repair thing and clean that up. I usually do that on VERY old systems that I get and its like a night and day difference.

Also what anti virus is on that system other than malwarebytes on the desktop?

 

[newtekie1]

The RAM is not the issue, he has plenty of RAM free. Even in the pictures in the OP he has 512MB just sitting there unused. And in the later pictures there is close to 1GB going unused. This isn't a RAM issue. Windows 7 runs fine on 1GB of RAM if you don't have a bunch of crap running in the background and don't have a bunch of stuff open.

 

[RoutedScripter]

Look guys you don't have to keep suggesting hardware replacements and anything else, this is already done basically, I was just looking for some extra advice on software optimizations.

If its a fresh windows then the high CPU usage is probably windows update. It will hide in the background eating up resources until its downloaded fully.

What happens if you disable windows update?

Nothing, that's already all disabled. I don't use it either. Updates provide nothing, they usually mess stuff up, it's just some security stuff that I don't care much since I don't have anything of big private importance on PC, neither will the user as we speak.

The cpu is not crap. I'm still running my original athlon 64 3500 in a test PC. Stop insulting such a wonderful piece of silicon. Windows sucks, but does work fine on it.

The only thing it needs is a modern gpu to accelerate video.

I can game on that cpu and put the ps3/360 to shame.

Well I see the CPU spiking, but it could be the GPU indeed, it's some integrated nvidia stuff in ... takes like 65MB of RAM or something, hardware reserved.

I do not think the CPU is at fault. that 1.5GB of ram is.

Even if you upgraded to 1.5GB. That is still not quite enough for Windows 7.

Also, some people might flame me for this recommendation, but install ccleaner and run the registry repair thing and clean that up. I usually do that on VERY old systems that I get and its like a night and day difference.

Also what anti virus is on that system other than malwarebytes on the desktop?

33% of the memory is empty, the guy won't open more than 1 friefox window or more than 5 tabs probably, 1500MB is way enough, the key is having at least 700MB for the whole stripped down windows 7 fit on the RAM, then it shouldn't lag as much even if pagefile is used, the default RAM consumption of default Win7 is 1.1GB.

Refer to this thread to learn more about Windows RAM readouts: http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/win7-memory-cache-further-analyzing-mapped-file.144712/


Anyways that's not even the correct picture, this is fresh reboot here: