Windows 7 Windows 7 seems slugish even though I've got more than enough...

Bryce

New Member
So, I decided to install and test out Windows 7 seeing how I've already bit the bullet and bought Vista Ultimate OEM. I know I'm shit out of luck with that money, but I wanted my new computer to be all legit and what not. Anyways, I am coming from a Linux Distro and the Windows 7 install went well, but I noticed that it's a bit slugish. Even Vista Ultimate was actually a LOT faster than what others say, but I know it's because of my computer. Anyways, anyone think they could help me figure out what might be causing the sluggishness in Windows 7?

Problem: Windows 7 is sluggish. Programs like Firefox, Opera, etc all open slowly and not just open like they do in Vista or Linux. There's a good 1-2 seconds that it takes to open even the small browsers and start menu. I've checked to make sure all my hardware drivers are up-to-date and they are, so I'm at a lost as to why it's so slugish. I know it's a BETA version, but come on, it can't be this slow for everyone. My computer details are below.

CPU: Intel C2D E8400 @3.0ghz stock Overclocked to 3.87ghz
RAM: 8gb G.Skill DDR2
OS: Windows 7 64-bit

Would it be possible that my hard drive is wearing down? I doubt that because I just have built this computer just a month ago, but I have reformated and formated about 40 times. Yea, I can't pick a OS between Linux and Vista/Win7 and I refuse to have both Linux and Windows dual/tri-booted on my computer at the same time. I guess the games got the best of me, heh. Anyways, anyone else have any ideas of what it could be that's causing me to experience the sluggishness?

EDIT: One more problem. Whenever I minimize Firefox or another browser Window Live Messneger pops up. Is there a way to keep WLM from doing this or no because it's seriously annoying. I thought there was a way to send WLM to the system tray, but apparently there's not.

Another problem. When I had linux all 5 of my speakers worked perfect. Now that I'm on Windows 7, just the left and right work. I've tried using my motherboard cd to install the drivers for them, but it's not supported by Windows 7 says the cd. Everything else is fine though.
 
Memory etc is fine.

What a lot of people overlook in computers is that they always tend to "skimp" on Hard Disks" -- for example even if you had 100GB of RAM and an 8 Core CPU if you had to load all the programs from something like a floppy disk it would take AGES.

You really need SATA disks these days --Old IDE drives just don't really give you the performance your computer needs.

Run the Windows Experience from the control panel and see what your hard disk score is.

Other things you can do is switch off Superfetch, Readyboost (Build 7000 only) and Search -- these don't really help much and cause far more disk activity than necessary which really penalizes you if you have slow disks.

Most people finf thaw W7 does perform very well even on modest hardware.You won't have wasted your money on Windows Ultimate as you'll be able to get a W7 Upgrade rather than a New copy when it is released.

Cheers
jimbo
 
I've got SATA Barracudas 7200rpm drives.

And are you saying that even if I built my computer and bought Vista Ultimate just 2 months ago I'll get a upgrade for it or just a fresh install version of it for free.
 
Hi there
so long as you have a RETAIL copy of Vista Ultimate (not an OEM copy) you can always purchase the UPGRADE version to the next release of the OS (Windows 7 in this case).
It won't be free -- you will have to pay the UPGRADE price but it will be cheaper than having to buy a new Full install.

You'll be able to do a CLEAN install of course even from the "Upgrade" copy but you'll have to start the installwith VISTA ULTIMATE running .

(That's how I got a cheap version of Photoshop CS4 -- I bought a very old edeition of Photoshop (Photoshop 7) for 5 USD and then did the upgrade to CS4 -- Photoshop 7 is the earliest edition allowed for the upgrade.)

Try enabling DMA on your drives or doing some other Disk optimisiation.
On your rig W7 should FLY. Both versions (X42 / X64).

You might also have some horrible AV software running in the background or some other process. Most people's experience with W7 ranges from GOOD to EXCELLENT.


Cheers

jimbo
 
I've got it a bit more responsive, but it still doesn't support my 5.1 surround sound on my motherboard, but I don't thinK Vista did either. Linux did though XD. I'll enable DMA and try it then. And I've got the OEM version of Vista Ultimate :(
 
Many different things could be the culprit here.. such as an AV program running in the background.. which do you currently use? Also, Disk Defragmenter in Windows 7 is set to run on a schedule by default.. it runs in the background and is supposed to use minimal resources.. so you'd hardly notice it running.. however I don't always believe stuff like that so the first thing I do after a fresh install of 7 is untick the little box that says "run defragmenter on a schedule".. ;) That may help some as well.. Like I said, with your hardware it shouldn't make a difference but stranger things have happened...

Also, proper drivers are of utmost importance too.. you said you made sure they were all up to date.. well that's good but not neccessarily always the right thing.. ;) I'd suggest going through and checking your drivers and making sure they are the right ones to be using... example.. for your gpu.. did you install the latest available Vista driver or the Windows 7 Beta driver package? (both ATI and nVidia have Windows 7 Beta drivers out as far as I know) Some have reported excellent performance visually by using the Windows 7 Beta driver packages and some have reported slow sluggish behavior by using those ones.. so my point here is it might not be the best driver to use for you at this point in time.. if you are using the latest windows vista driver than perhaps try uninstalling that and installing the windows 7 driver or vice versa... stuff like that may help as well.. :)

Hopefully this helps out a bit.. Windows 7 x86 and x64 work VERY well even on older hardware.. I'd hate to see you not be able to have a good experience with it..
 
Everything works fine now, I guess I'm just used to applications opening within .0001ms on Linux, this ain't Linux now is it. It takes a good 2-3ms to open on a fresh boot. Afterwords, it just pops open.

I'll recheck for the correct driver as I didn't on the install as everything seemed to work and my graphics card was even working on my native resolution (1280x1024) at very good detail. But thanks for that piece of information, I'll check those.
 
I've got it a bit more responsive, but it still doesn't support my 5.1 surround sound on my motherboard, but I don't thinK Vista did either. Linux did though XD. I'll enable DMA and try it then. And I've got the OEM version of Vista Ultimate :(

Bryce,
Did you try opening the MB CD and using Vista Compatibility Mode on the programs you need to install your audio drivers? That's what I had to do with my motherboard cd, and it worked.
 
Theres your problem right there 8gig of ram wtf dude the time it takes to process all that ram to use it etc thats what people dont understand,i mean im using 1500mb of ram with my windows 7 and everything runs fast so much faster than vista did though vista was not that slow me eather just like bigger beter things but anyway get rid of that 8 gig of ram i know it may seem silly but that much will actually slow you down and make things slugish i know because my mate who builds computers though.. hay ill slap 5 gig of ram in it will be FAST!! well no it wasnt my 1.5 ram was aprox 2-3 seconds faster at loading games running them opening windows closeing windows opening apps closeing apps take my advice and cut the ram count down in the end having that much slows you down.
 
Back
Top