What is causing rebuilt computer to lag? Older machine, SSD, Win7

[tvanhorne]

I just upgraded an old Dell Vostro 1400 from XP to Win 7 64-bit, and it's running much slower than I anticipated. Can anyone help me with ideas why this would be the case? Here are the details:

Core 2 Duo T7250 2.0 GHz proc

4 GB RAM

Crucial 200 GB SSD (System, programs, dropbox folder)

100 GB HDD (documents, music, videos)

The Windows experience index for the proc is 2.3, RAM 2.8, graphics 3.5, so on the low end.

Many windows services are disabled, such as media features. Lots of Windows 7 Aero effects are disabled. SSD is optimized as outlined here: http://www.overclock.net/t/1156654/seans-windows-7-install-optimization-guide-for-ssds-hdds

Specifically, the CPU is always maxed out for a while after startup, but no one process seems to be using too much memory. Chrome is also loading very slowly, even with only Gmail and Evernote tabs open. I have disabled as many Gmail Labs as possible, and also disabled most Chrome extensions for now, but no improvement.

Any help? Thanks!

 

[PandaBear270]

Is the ram DDR2? Is the HDD a old IDE ATA disk? Hell, everything in your rig, except the SSD, needs a refresh.
I had a dual core 1,86 Ghz laptop in the past, very similar to your specs, and Windows 7 was really slow on it.

 

[tvanhorne]

Thanks for the response. Yes, the RAM is DDR2. I figured that things running from the HDD might be on the slow side, but since I have the pagefile disabled or turned way down, I thought that programs run from the SSD at least would be fast. I'm really surprised at how slow they load. Are there any Windows 7 options that would speed things up by disabling them, or is the system itself really that much more resources-intensive than XP that it would keep things so slow?

 

[PandaBear270]

Windows 7 is a system too heavy for your specs. Either install Windows XP SP3 or upgrade. Today, you can build a medium-end gaming pc for 500-600$.

 

[tvanhorne]

OK, thanks very much for the information!