My Dell Inspiron 7548 Is Running So Slow!

[jimmy058910]

Hello,

I purchased this Laptop off of eBay. Extremely clean unit. I immediately DBAN nuked the HDD and fresh installed Windows 10. I noticed almost immediately it was running slow! First thing I did was install Google Chrome and some drivers (first from Dell, then a few through Snappy Driver) and took care of Windows Updates.

When I restart the computer, it loads pretty slow even though there's dang near no software at all on here! No antivirus other than Windows defender. I monitored processes and OneDrive was taking an abnormal amount up so I uninstalled that. Then one of the services that was more optimized for SSDs or something was taking up a decent amount of resources so I disabled that. And lastly, the Microsoft Store was auto-updating some stuff that took a good chunk of resources but that's all done and still the same issues.

For example, I'll open Google Chrome (with no sign-in, no add-ons, or anything) and it'll take a few seconds to open, then be white for about 3-4 seconds, then finally view as normal.

I ran through some testing from Dell, freeware through the web, MemTest, Hard Drive tests, and more. NOTHING showed problems except LatencyMon which almost immediately noticed the computer was having "trouble with real-time audio and other tasks." That tool doesn't really seem to help in actually determining what's causing it though. The highest measured interrupt to process latency was 4092 though.

Here's some info on specs and tests etc:
http://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/8098431
CPU-Z: https://valid.x86.fr/c6r0zk

Do you have any possible solutions to my dilemma? My next step I was considering was opening it up and cleaning it out really good with an air canister. Just doesn't seem like that would affect it this much. Just seems slow, laggy, and off.
Any help is extremely appreciated! I really thought it was the HDD at first but it really doesn't seem to be that.

Thanks!
Jimmy

 

[robert600]

Before doing anything too drastic, I would try booting up in safe mode (maybe with networking). Does chrome load any quicker?

Another setting that may be worth looking at is performance - consider changing 'balanced' to 'high performance'.

 

[jimmy058910]

Before doing anything too drastic, I would try booting up in safe mode (maybe with networking). Does chrome load any quicker?

Another setting that may be worth looking at is performance - consider changing 'balanced' to 'high performance'.

Hello, thanks for the suggestions. I did try safe mode and Chrome was a little quicker but overall still slow. I tried Microsoft Store and it took a long time to open. I tried the Microsoft Mail app and it took a little while to open as well. I also did put it into high performance mode and no difference essentially.

I know something's wrong. I have an old laptop with weaker specs that wouldn't perform like this on an absolute clean install.

Any more help/suggestions greatly appreciated!

 

[robert600]

If you go into 'devise manager' are there any exclamation points?

 

[jimmy058910]

If you go into 'devise manager' are there any exclamation points?

None at all.

Ok, so I'm 95% sure its the HDD (which is my original assumption). Check out this comparison from my two laptops in the house using HD Tune Pro: https://imgur.com/a/wp8W4

 

[dudeman509]

Windows 10 thrashes a HDD on a fresh install. Installing lots of add-on crap, indexing things, etc.

Leave it for an hour or two, idle, and see if it improves as it caches stuff.

Personally, I can't stand W10 without a SSD. It's the slowest loading OS ever on a platter drive.

 

[pupnasty]

Looks like the Hard Drive is on its last legs... Replace it with a cheap 120 or 250 GB SSD. I am still running a 6 Year Old HP Elitebook 8560w that I dropped a 120GB SSD into and it still runs like a champ and as snappy as a new laptop.

 

[robert600]

Yes that looks like the problem. This ssd looks ok to me.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820215163

or if you need more capacity and and don't want to pay SSD prices there is this hybrid. I put one in a laptop the other day and I'm surprised at how quick it boots up etc.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822179110&cm_re=hybrid_2.5-_-22-179-110-_-Product

You could try reformatting the current HD and use it as an external in a usb enclosure but ... I wouldn't fully trust it.