Windows 7 Several performance issues with windows 7

[JWittz]

Hello everyone! This is my first time here in the forums, so help me along the way if I've done something wrong. I upgraded to Windows 7 home premium from Vista home premium about a week ago, and unlike the average consensus, it has been nothing for trouble for me. I have had performance issues that stem from two major problems, which I'll list below:

1) Random slowdown spikes where computer usage hits 100%:
-about 3 out of 4 times, this problem stems while I am watching videos on the internet. The sound crackles, the video slows down to unwatchable, and the computer slows down to a near-unusable speed. The other 1/4 of the time this happens while any process is going. Sometimes when I restart the computer is still this slow, othertimes I restart and it's faster than ever once again.

2) VERY strange startup error:
- maybe 1 out of every 4-5 times I restart ( I do this often because of the first problem) my computer starts with two noticeable errors. The first is that Windows Aero is disabled, and I cannot re enable it by going to the display settings (it is grayed out). The other is that my computer cannot connect to the internet. During this bizarre startup process, I also CANNOT activate system restore, it tells me that system restore is disabled or not functioning properly. The ONLY way to prevent this problem from happening is my going to system repair from immediate bootup and choosing system recovery options before windows 7 even starts. Only there is system restore a working option.

Here are a couple of things I have tried so far:

--I have used system configuration to adjust the processes and startup programs I do not need
--I have run a system defrag, as well as a registry cleaner
--I have run the system in safe mode, which gives me NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER. However, I did not get windows 7 to run it in a mode that looks like windows 95
--I have NOT run a clean installation of windows 7, I have only upgraded into it. I'm using this as a last resort, because I am not familiar with creating a backup, and I am not sure how many of my settings would be lost and which of my program CDs I would beed to relocate.

I'm not sure what system information I need to specify, as I've never had a pc issue like this before. I'll list the basics at least below. Thank you for any help you can provide!

System information:
OS: Windows 7 64 bit
Computer: HP HDX 16 Laptop
Ram: 4 GB
Processor: 2.2 Ghz Intel duo core something P)

 

[fjgold]

It is always best to format and do a clean install.
Question, I see by your specs you installed the 64 bit version, I'm not sure if it possible to upgrade 32 bit Vista to 64 bit Win 7 but if your Vista install was 32 bit and the upgrade was allowed that could be part of your problem.
I'd sooner think that the Win 7 installer would not allow such a scenario, I don't know.
More than likely you've encountered some of the pitfalls of an in place upgrade.

The "good" news is that Win 7 has a lot of built-in driver support so more than likely you won't need to manually install many drivers.

In my case the only drivers needed was my ATi graphics drivers and drivers for my Acer Orbicam webcam.
Windows update installed them on the first windows update.

My suggestion is to round up all your program cd's and driver discs (likely not needed) and bite the bullet and do a format and clean install.

My opinion is MS has done us a diservice by encouraging in place upgrades.

I will never do an in place upgrade myself.

 

[JWittz]

I figured this would be the recommended option. It'll be a great christmas project . For the record, I upgraded from 64 to 64

 

[tblount]

There are some excellent optimization tips in the links in my tagline, but a clean custom intall is the best one.

 

[fjgold]

I just finished doing a clean install of Win 7 Home myself. This after running both the Beta (build 7000) and the RC (build 7100) for the past 8 month or so.

It took a couple of days but my new clean Win 7 Home install is much like my highly customized Win 7 RC install was.
I made a point of gathering up all or most all of the stuff I'd need ahead of time as well as making screenshots of my Program Files folder contents as well as my Desktop.
I have many programs as standalone apps and have them on a separate partition.
After installing Win 7 all I had to do was create shortcuts to the various .exe's.

I run a lean machine with very few startup items and I'm pleased to say that my boot time is around 50 seconds to full desktop as reported by BootRacer.

This is great because my machine is a notebook and I never leave it on after using it.
A great improvement over my XP install (over 95 seconds).

Good luck and have fun.