Question Seeking revelation for slow browsing speed - on one machine

[mft004]

Hi,

I seek the counsel of the wizards out there. Sorry if this shouldn't be in networking - I think it's specific to one machine. It's my main machine, a Windows 10 mid-spec Dell which I've used for about 4 years so far. For the past two weeks, a great many websites are really slow to load - if they load at all. I've attached a pic of what one website homepage will look like for several minutes; in that particular instance, the loading icon will stop after those couple of minutes and there won't be any further attempt to load the images etc - all those grey and white boxes should have images on them, which should load up in two seconds for most machines. On Youtube, if I was lucky to reach a specific video page, it might eventually play 10 seconds of the video before a buffer attempt, then about a minute later it might succeed in loading another 10 seconds, but at 240p! Yet download speeds, for those download links I can reach, are unaffected.

These are some sites that are very slowly loading or not loading at all for me:
https://www.amazon.co.uk

RuneScape Classic Wiki

We are the official RuneScape Classic (RSC) encyclopaedia, written and maintained by the players. Documenting the world of RuneScape Classic, from its inception in 2001 to its shutdown in 2018.

classic.runescape.wiki

https://www.youtube.com

These ones are fine:

epocalc - Computers database

Forgotten Hope - Vehicles

forgottenhope.warumdarum.de

https://www.ebay.co.uk

I've not been on Tom's for a while and forgot my password; I had to do the password recovery process on my backup laptop, because on this problematic main machine, when I asked to recover the password, the Cloudflare verification step wasn't loading/appearing at all. Very odd stuff. Trying a different browser makes no difference. Then based on initial searches about the problem online, one idea was to change the DNS server to those 8s and 4s which Google uses, or the Cloudflare equivalent - but that's done nothing.

Any help/ideas appreciated here.

Two more little things which I had tried, based on other generic threads I saw online. I'd disabled hardware acceleration for the given browser - didn't make a difference. I also disabled that IPv6 thing in the network adaptor settings - didn't make a difference.

Edit:: adding specs which I missed earlier:
It's a Dell XPS 8940 bought direct from Dell, with Intel i7-10700K @3.80Ghz (base clock), 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD (about half full) with (unused) 1TB HDD as a backup. The GPU is a 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.
The PSU is a Dell one, made specifically for that unit I think - a 500W D500E005P H500EPM-00 0Y7R0X.
Attached peripherals are a Cherry Stream keyboard and Logitech M100 mouse. In case needed for some reason, the monitor is one of the oldschool 5:4 ones, a Dell P1913sb.
The machine itself runs fine with any other process. I don't describe it as a high-end PC given it's got a relatively basic GPU (that came with the machine) and no snazzy cooling system - just Noctua fans; but the machine's current setup gives crisp performance at most everything - practically hasn't changed over these 4 years in that respect.
The task manager / resource monitor isn't showing any difference in performance that I can see. With a few Explorer, notepad, MS Paint and Firefox windows open, plus a video running in VLC, it's averaging about 7% of the CPU and 9.5GB out of 16GB RAM in use, which isn't changing regardless of having the ethernet plugged in or not, or regardless of whether a webpage is attempting to load or not. I don't see any sluggishness.
The ethernet adaptor is a Killer E2600 Gigabit Ethernet Controller. I've tried disabling that and using the wireless adaptor, but no difference made there. The router is from my ISP Talktalk, a Sagemcom FAST5364 3.00, with firmware version of SG4K100208. In checking that detail, I noticed that some people on the Talktalk forums are talking since March '25 about issues with that latest firmware, but then again probably people are posting about problems with firmware all the time.

KR,
Mark

 

[Ralston18]

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

Include PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition (original to build, new, refurbished, used)?

Disk drive(s): make, model, capacity, how full?

List all attached peripherals.

Make and model modem, router, (or modem router) if combined?

Use Task Manager and Resource Monitor to observe system performance. Use both tools but only one tool at at a time.

First do so while not browsing then while browsing. Look for what changes when the browser slows down.

 

[Aeacus]

a Windows 10 mid-spec Dell which I've used for about 4 years so far.

Full system specs, including PSU make and model (or part number) is? Also, how old the PSU is, and was the PSU bought new or used/refurbished?


Does the slowness also appear when you boot into Safe Mode with Networking?
And is only the webpage loading slowed down? Or is the whole build slow/sluggish (e.g opening file explorer, navigating folders, opening/running images/vids stored on the PC)?

 

[mft004]

My bad there. It's a Dell XPS 8940 bought direct from Dell, with Intel i7-10700K @3.80Ghz (base clock), 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD (about half full) with (unused) 1TB HDD as a backup. The GPU is a 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti.
The PSU is a Dell one, made specifically for that unit I think - a 500W D500E005P H500EPM-00 0Y7R0X.
Attached peripherals are a Cherry Stream keyboard and Logitech M100 mouse. In case needed for some reason, the monitor is one of the oldschool 5:4 ones, a Dell P1913sb.
The machine itself runs fine with any other process. I don't describe it as a high-end PC given it's got a relatively basic GPU (that came with the machine) and no snazzy cooling system - just Noctua fans; but the machine's current setup gives crisp performance at most everything - practically hasn't changed over these 4 years in that respect.
The task manager / resource monitor isn't showing any difference in performance that I can see. With a few Explorer, notepad, MS Paint and Firefox windows open, plus a video running in VLC, it's averaging about 7% of the CPU and 9.5GB out of 16GB RAM in use, which isn't changing regardless of having the ethernet plugged in or not, or regardless of whether a webpage is attempting to load or not. I don't see any sluggishness.
The ethernet adaptor is a Killer E2600 Gigabit Ethernet Controller. I've tried disabling that and using the wireless adaptor, but no difference made there. The router is from my ISP Talktalk, a Sagemcom FAST5364 3.00, with firmware version of SG4K100208. In checking that detail, I noticed that some people on the Talktalk forums are talking since March '25 about issues with that latest firmware, but then again probably people are posting about problems with firmware all the time.
I'll try that safe mode idea next.

 

[mft004]

Update: I've just tried in Safe mode with Networking; it took a minute or two to load/respond but once I could click things, I went to Firefox and all websites were loading up no problem. I hope this doesn't mean I'm doomed to live in safe mode from now on :')

 

[Aeacus]

Update: I've just tried in Safe mode with Networking; it took a minute or two to load/respond but once I could click things, I went to Firefox and all websites were loading up no problem. I hope this doesn't mean I'm doomed to live in safe mode from now on :')

This actually narrows things down considerably. For one, issue isn't hardware. And for two, OS (kernel) itself is also fine (no corruption). Also, it points the issue towards 3rd party software (or drivers), which are loaded when OS boots normally, thus conflicting with Firefox and slowing it down. Hence why it is fine in Safe Mode, since no 3rd party programs are then run.

Now, things can go into either direction;
1. Finding the needle in a haystack.
2. Clean OS install.

#1 Means trying to figure out what 3rd party program is the culprit. Since OS and it's apps is a big haystack, it will be looking needle(s) in a haystack.
Frankly, i don't quite have a good point where to begin.
There are several options you can try and look into (e.g using Process Explorer to see if you have some strange/bloatware running).
Or start looking into programs that automatically start (e.g using Autoruns to disable/remove auto start-up entries, including scheduled ones).
Another option is disabling all other drivers/programs when you boot to OS (essentially creating Safe Mode situation) and then, one-by-one, enabling drivers/programs. But that takes quite a bit time, since after each enable, you need to do system reboot. (For that, i need to look into some more, since i've done it few times only and need to find out/recall how it was exactly done).

#2 Means formatting OS drive and making a new, clean Win installation. Starting fresh and anew.
This is the fastest and easiest way to fix software issues. It gets rid of all the bloatware and almost all malware as well (except firmware rootkits). Downside is downloading and installing all your currently used apps/programs and possible loss of personal data on OS drive. (For the latter, there is workaround).

So, which one would it be?
Do note that with option #1, all the searching and effort may end up futile, whereby only option #2 is definitive fix.

Edit: Found the method to disable drivers (services), link: https://www.microcenter.com/tech_center/article/10798/how-to-disable-startup-services-in-windows-10
Idea is, to hide all Microsoft services, then disable everything else, reboot, then, it would be like in Safe Mode and then, enabling each service one-by-one, with reboot and back to OS after each one, while also testing when the Firefox slows down.
It takes considerable amount of time to go through the list one-by-one.

 

[Ralston18]

Re: "The ethernet adaptor is a Killer E2600 Gigabit Ethernet Controller."

Has there been an attempt to reinstall its' drivers?

 

[mft004]

Yep Ralston I've just tried uninstalling the ethernet adaptor and restarting, prompting an auto reinstall; no difference made from that. I wasn't thinking that was the issue just given that I tried disabling that adaptor and using the wireless one, but that made no difference either. It's curious that a specific handful of the websites load fine for me, whilst others have this issue - almost as if all those specific websites share something, some background detail which my computer reacts negatively to.

Thanks Aeacus for that insight and laying out the two paths. Looks like I've got some hard thinking to do then. The machine's not heavily loaded up with apps and files, but the ones I've got there are all set such that it would take a while to put it all back together again; plus the need to note down all the custom settings in place to make it look/feel more like WinXP/Win7 than WinFail(s). But as you say, I might just have to cross that bridge anyway. Thanks again; I knew Tom's guys would know the score.

 

[Aeacus]

plus the need to note down all the custom settings in place to make it look/feel more like WinXP/Win7 than WinFail(s).

I too am using Win7 GUI over my Win10 build. Also did same for my missus'es build as well.

To achieve that, i used OpenShell + OldNewExplorer
I followed this guide: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/make-windows-10-look-like-windows-7

Back in the day, when i used WinXP, i had Win98 GUI over it.
Later this year, when i'm forced to move on to Win11, i'll use the same method to put Win7 GUI over Win11 as well.

Spoiler: How my Win7 GUI looks like (click here to view)

On 1st glance, one would tell i have Win7 running, but WinVer says i have Win10.

 

[mft004]

XD yes I was starting to wonder about the options there for Win11. If OpenShell can handle those aspects and if there's a fix created for disabling the program grouping shenanigans on the taskbar, then I think I'll face it.