Huge loss of performance in short time peroid, seems to stem from driver problems.

[Synchronicity]

Hi there, just recently in the last day or so i've noticed my PC running Vista 64bit has lost about 50% of its general performance both with starting programs and in games. The windows "Problem Reports and Solutions" page shows a number of errors, but many of which I have tried to install the recommended updates which led to even more problems.

I have sinced performed a System Restore on my PC to nearly a week back but the problems are still present, even after alot of attempts to fix the drivers and registry issues, I have done virus and spyware scans and there are no issues there.

Many thanks to anyone that can help at all, is there a way for me to compile my errors into a text file somewhere?

 

[lovesX79]

Either your hard drive is dying or your CPU is over heating or your video card is over heating

 

[TenPc]

If you have recently changed any hardware, you also need an increase in watts for the PSU so possibly your PSU is in short supply of power which results in poor performance. Also, older programs not suited to Vista (as with some older games) will also give poor performance.

Your hdd needs to have about 20% free space with Vista on the main partitiion, where your OS is installed. If you have partitoned your hdd, the OS partition needs to be larger than the other partitition.

Perhaps you could jusd add details about a couple of the errors...Also, check the Device Manager, are there any x"s or exclamation points?

Does your motherboard actually support Vista?
Is your ram more than 2gb?

More details gives more answers.

 

[Synchronicity]

If you have recently changed any hardware, you also need an increase in watts for the PSU so possibly your PSU is in short supply of power which results in poor performance. Also, older programs not suited to Vista (as with some older games) will also give poor performance.

Your hdd needs to have about 20% free space with Vista on the main partitiion, where your OS is installed. If you have partitoned your hdd, the OS partition needs to be larger than the other partitition.

Perhaps you could jusd add details about a couple of the errors...Also, check the Device Manager, are there any x"s or exclamation points?

Does your motherboard actually support Vista?
Is your ram more than 2gb?

More details gives more answers.

Hi sorry for the very long delay in replying, but the system restore does solve the problem, but only for a few days at a time, so I have to keep system restoring every few days, I think it's something to do with the Windows Update causing the huge slow down, but I have many underlying problems that obviously contribute to it. Occasionally I will encounter some BSOD's including System_Service_Exception, and Win32k.sys , for the Win32k.sys error I was told to just rename the win32.sys file to .old and that a new file would replace it, but this did not happen and I was unable to boot onto my normal drive and had to change the file from another hard-drive.

Where can I find a error log that is copy/pastable? My PC is very powerful, 16gb ram, MB definately supports vista, 2GB graphics card, the problem literally makes games from over 60-80fps to about 15fps which is horrible. Many thanks for your replies I will get any information from my PC that will help solve this issue. Sorry also I have 850watt PS by XFX so that is not the issue, it is purely messed up drivers/registries from what I can guess, also I have both an x86 and x64 version of MS Framenet 4.0, not sure if this will also cause some problems.

Also no issues in device manager.

 

[TenPc]

Instructions to retrieving mindump.log error report
http://www.pchell.com/support/minidumps.shtml

 

[TenPc]

MS Framenet 4.0 is for Vista SP2, you might need to consider previous versions of DotNet for compatibility of older programs. No point having 64 bit versions of DotNet if you are using Vista x32.

 

[Synchronicity]

MS Framenet 4.0 is for Vista SP2, you might need to consider previous versions of DotNet for compatibility of older programs. No point having 64 bit versions of DotNet if you are using Vista x32.

Thanks for the info I will get on getting the log sorted out ASAP, I am using Vista 64bit as I have well over 3gb ram which is the limit for 32bit OS. I haven't had any compatibility issues really, just the BSOD and the conflict with the update causing terrible performance drop. I'm 90% certain it is all to do with drivers/registry since I did a clean install about a month ago now.

 

[TenPc]

When you do a clean install, you may have not deleted the previous partitions on the hdd as well as the hidden partition where the previous install had put system files so by just doing a"clean" install (formatting only formats the install target and not the hidden partition) you have inadvertently got some of the older install files included in the hidden partition. On a clean install, best to delete all or any partitions on the target drive.

I'm using Vista x32 for my Internet Pc and I use 4gb of ram that allows about 3.5gb of usable ram. My XP x32 Pc has 4gb of ram and uses about 3.35gb of ram.

Although I do have OS Vista x64 (as well as XP x64), I've not yet installed it to a PC, (I've really got too many now - 10 PC's - with different OSes) so I cannot really tell you whether Vista x64 would be better or worse than the x32 Vista OS.

Some 32 bit programs (software) and older games require previous versions of Dot Net but you can't instal some prevous versions, you mightwant to consider dotNet 3 and 3.5

Also, you might note that when you install a PC game, it also install C++ redidtributable files for a certain year pertaining to the requirement of the game.

BSoD"s is not always about system files, it can occur if a certain audio software is installed or an older program that was specific to XP x32. Vista x64 is really about 64 bit programs and not that good with 32 bit programs that is why Wndows 7 x32 and x64 is so much bette than Vista x64 (and x32) for older software.

You can get OEM Windows 7 for about $100, it only has a single user licence though and you'd need compatible hardware for Windows 7 OS. The problem with Windows 7 is that it does not use Vista products well, lots of glitches with web cam and Tablet pen.

Yo might want to consider booting to your Vista Disk go to REAIR Option as the directx version sometimes gets corrupted during a fresh install, you just do a repair on anything listed in the repair list.

 

[Synchronicity]

Thanks, I have tried previously using the vista install disk to repair the PC, but it did not solve the issue at all. I'm also having a lot of trouble getting the Windows Debugging Tools able to read my minidump files, for some reason I am not able to access the file from the program, or change the "read only" tab in the properties even though I am the only user and administrator. Very strange, oh and also this hard drive was a new one, I previously had/still have another install of vista 64 on another hard-drive that is in my pc, but it is mainly used to storage now. This hard-drive was brand-new when I installed Vista 64-bit.

If it's of any use, every time I do the command prompt "sfc /scannow" it always reports that it has solved an error and requires a restart, should I try doing this maybe 10 or more times in a row till it says there aren't any errors?

 

[TenPc]

Rather than the scannow, try CHKDSK /F, restart. The system check may take less than a minute or it might take more than ten minutes in which case, your system files might be corrupted somehow.

Could you give a detailed list (versions, speeds, watts, etc) of your hardware so as to rule out incompatibilities.

It is better to choose which updates to install rather than auto updates. I only do updates about once every 4 months, my PC 's really don't require any updates.

What is the most recent game and program you have installed (or dowloaded directly)?