Question Win10 running slow even after formatting

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Giulio Sincovich

Apr 21, 2019
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Hi everyone!
I'm by no means a computer expert, so here I am asking your help.
My laptop was running pretty slow, not fluid, so I tried formatting it (following the Step-by-Step option in "Settings"). It got better, but STILL feels like a fresh clean Win10 laptop should run better.

It's a "cheap" laptop (around 400€ 3 yrs ago) with Win10, i3 proc, 4gb ram, Nvidia 920M. I guess it's a basic laptop meant for office duties, but it performs really slow even while doing basic things like opening folders, opening search bar, opening browsers, right-clicking on desktop or any file, etc. I only play one single game, League of Legends, which is not very oppressive to run, and once I'm ingame it runs really well, 100+ fps usually.
I know I could get an SSD, or more ram, or whatever, to improve it, but my question right now is:
is it NORMAL to run so slow after a clean formatting?

If you need more info's on my setup, just ask for them. Thanks in advance.


Edit: added some info
 
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ex_bubblehead said:
Right there is a very large part of your performance issues. 4GB of RAM is just barely enough for Windows itself. 8GB should be the minimum for all machines.
Click to expand...

Yea as I said it's a cheap laptop, but I tought 4gb ram would be enough AT LEAST for basic tasks. Also, I don't get this: how can League of Legends (not performance intensive but still) run just fine, if 4gb ram is just enough to run Win10 at idle? I mean, my laptop can't even open folders/open searchbar/open rightclick menu/etc fluidly, BUT it can run a game with no issues at 100+ fps? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I basically have no idea what I'm talking about and I'd like to know more :)
 
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Giulio Sincovich said:
Yea as I said it's a cheap laptop, but I tought 4gb ram would be enough AT LEAST for basic tasks. Also, I don't get this: how can League of Legends (not performance intensive but still) run just fine, if 4gb ram is just enough to run Win10 at idle? I mean, my laptop can't even open folders/open searchbar/open rightclick menu/etc fluidly, BUT it can run a game with no issues at 100+ fps? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I basically have no idea what I'm talking about and I'd like to know more :)
Click to expand...
I think it is the hard drive making your PC slow. Recently I formatted my athlon 4200+ cpu and Nvidia 210 GPU running windows 7 and installed OS on a new hard drive and it ran really fast while opening things. And my PC is a 10 year old. Also consider cleaning your laptop as it could be a cause of overheating. That will surely provide it a boost.
 
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ishaankaushik said:
I think it is the hard drive making your PC slow. Recently I formatted my athlon 4200+ cpu and Nvidia 210 GPU running windows 7 and installed OS on a new hard drive and it ran really fast while opening things. And my PC is a 10 year old. Also consider cleaning your laptop as it could be a cause of overheating. That will surely provide it a boost.
Click to expand...

Sooooo what exactly can I do, that doesn't imply buying a new HDD, SSD or more ram? 😀

Also, is it possible to simply "add" 4gb to my laptop's ram? How does it work?
 
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Without knowing the exact make/model there's no way to know whether or not you can simply add additional RAM. There may be only 1 memory slot. No matter, you cannot improve performance without either adding RAM, installing a faster drive (SSD preferred), or both. Or, replacing the entire laptop with a newer, higher performance model.
 
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ex_bubblehead said:
Without knowing the exact make/model there's no way to know whether or not you can simply add additional RAM
Click to expand...

Acer e5 573g33vr (this is written in the back of the laptop)



ishaankaushik said:
If you do not want to spend money, removing the dust by opening your laptop and using appropriate blower is the immediate and effective thing which you can try.
Click to expand...

I'm gonna try this soon, even tho some days ago I ran a simple temperature monitoring software (Speedfan) and it looked like everything was ok.


Edit: still, I find it weird that a prebuilt laptop (even tho it's considered cheap) can barely handle Win10 idle, and struggles as soon as you try to accomplish BASIC tasks like folder browsing, rightclicking and web browsing. Ofc adding ram/ssd will improve, but isn't it supposed to be able to handle basic home usage without struggling so much?
 
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Giulio Sincovich said:
Acer e5 573g33vr (this is written in the back of the laptop)





I'm gonna try this soon, even tho some days ago I ran a simple temperature monitoring software (Speedfan) and it looked like everything was ok.


Edit: still, I find it weird that a prebuilt laptop (even tho it's considered cheap) can barely handle Win10 idle, and struggles as soon as you try to accomplish BASIC tasks like folder browsing, rightclicking and web browsing. Ofc adding ram/ssd will improve, but isn't it supposed to be able to handle basic home usage without struggling so much?
Click to expand...
Did it behave the same way when you bought it? it is a 5400rpm HDD which is installed in it so this is not surprising. Buy a good HDD or buy a new laptop because the RAM is not expandable according to specs of your laptop.
 
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Giulio Sincovich said:
Acer e5 573g33vr (this is written in the back of the laptop)
Click to expand...
You have 2 SODIMM slots in that unit. Your best bet is to purchase an 8GB kit consisting of a factory matched set of 2 x 4GB modules.


Giulio Sincovich said:
I'm gonna try this soon, even tho some days ago I ran a simple temperature monitoring software (Speedfan) and it looked like everything was ok.
Click to expand...
Unlikely overheating is your problem.

Giulio Sincovich said:
Edit: still, I find it weird that a prebuilt laptop (even tho it's considered cheap) can barely handle Win10 idle, and struggles as soon as you try to accomplish BASIC tasks like folder browsing, rightclicking and web browsing. Ofc adding ram/ssd will improve, but isn't it supposed to be able to handle basic home usage without struggling so much?
Click to expand...
Welcome to the real world. 4GB may have been good enough 3 or 4 years ago but Windows has evolved since then and 8GB is now considered the absolute minimum if you actually want to accomplish anything.
 
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As far as I remember, when I bought this laptop it ran the same way as now, so "kinda ok" but still sluggish. Before formatting it 3 days ago, it was noticeably slower.

ishaankaushik said:
Buy a good HDD or buy a new laptop because the RAM is not expandable according to specs of your laptop.
Click to expand...


ex_bubblehead said:
You have 2 SODIMM slots in that unit. Your best bet is to purchase an 8GB kit consisting of a factory matched set of 2 x 4GB modules.
Click to expand...

Which one of you is telling the truth? 😅 is it possible to add 4GB of RAM on my unit or not?
 
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Giulio Sincovich said:
As far as I remember, when I bought this laptop it ran the same way as now, so "kinda ok" but still sluggish. Before formatting it 3 days ago, it was noticeably slower.






Which one of you is telling the truth? 😅 is it possible to add 4GB of RAM on my unit or not?
Click to expand...
It could be that I refered to a wrong specsheet. The best way to confirm is to locate the slots for RAM and see if one is empty. Watch a video for that. However I can tell you in advance that it is doubtful that this will bring a huge change. Upgrading hard drive often brings computers to life especially if you have a 5400rpm hdd. Buy a hdd with 7200rpm. Finding RAM for that laptop is extremely difficult.
 
Last edited:
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Ok so let's assume it CAN be upgraded with 2x4GB RAM slots. You say it won't bring any major change. Let's discuss about this a little.

1) upgrading to 8GB RAM
So at idle (= laptop just turned on) it sits on 50-60% memory usage according to Task manager. I have no idea if this is a "critical" value that means it needs more RAM or not, you tell me.

2) upgrading to a better HDD
Let's say a new 7200rpm HDD, as you suggest. How much will it cost, more or less? What aspects will be mainly influenced bu this?

3) upgrading to an SSD
Is it possible to do it on my laptop? Costs around 50€, right? Pro/cons of an SSD instead of a 7200rpm HDD?


Sorry for the "entry level" questions :)
And thanks again for the quick and useful answers!
 
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Increasing RAM from 4GB to 8GB will bring an immediate, and quite noticeable improvement in performance.

1) Idling means absolutely nothing. Look at memory usage while running your daily mix. Watch it over several days. That's the only thing that counts.
2), 3). These days there really is no reason to put a spinning drive in a laptop (bump the laptop and potentially lose everything on the drive). The SSD, with no moving parts, is a far better option. Prices are very close to those of the spinning drives of the same capacity.
 
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Great, I'll start monitoring my mem usage for a week while gaming, or web browsing wih 2-3 tabs open.

Next thing: 8GB ram vs SSD battle! I watched a video some days ago about RAM vs SSD, and what I could understand is that upgrading RAM will only bring a noticeable improvement if you use most of your RAM in your regular computer use (makes sense). Now, atm with Firefox and 3 tabs open it sits at 72%, and I guess with League of Legends running it will go up to around 80-85% (but as I said I will monitor the values better). For now, let's assume it sits on 70% while browsing and 85% while gaming. Is this a scenario where upgrading to 8GB of RAM will bring a greater improvement, instead of getting an SSD?
 
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Giulio Sincovich said:
Ok so let's assume it CAN be upgraded with 2x4GB RAM slots. You say it won't bring any major change. Let's discuss about this a little.

1) upgrading to 8GB RAM
So at idle (= laptop just turned on) it sits on 50-60% memory usage according to Task manager. I have no idea if this is a "critical" value that means it needs more RAM or not, you tell me.

2) upgrading to a better HDD
Let's say a new 7200rpm HDD, as you suggest. How much will it cost, more or less? What aspects will be mainly influenced bu this?

3) upgrading to an SSD
Is it possible to do it on my laptop? Costs around 50€, right? Pro/cons of an SSD instead of a 7200rpm HDD?


Sorry for the "entry level" questions :)
And thanks again for the quick and useful answers!
Click to expand...
My answer to these will be-
1)It is really hard to find a RAM stick for that laptop and it is really tough to identify some screws for laptops and you end up with a open laptop.
2)When I used my xbox I noticed a huge boost when I upgraded to a 7200 rpm HDD or when I used a usb.I was not recommending ssd becuause they are a bit pricier for less storage. REMEMBER: Purchase hdd with higher cache size.
3) If you can go with both ssd and RAM it is great but first check that if it is expandable or not at all !!!
THOSE 2xSODIMM could also mean 2x2 and not 2x4.
 
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Before thinking about finding a RAM stick, the bolts, the possiblity to even upgrade to 8GB RAM, I think it would be better to understand what is better in my case: 8gb RAM vs SSD.

PS: SSD costs around 50€ from what I know, so I'm willing to pay for that IF I know it will solve my issues.
 
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Giulio Sincovich said:
Before thinking about finding a RAM stick, the bolts, the possiblity to even upgrade to 8GB RAM, I think it would be better to understand what is better in my case: 8gb RAM vs SSD.

PS: SSD costs around 50€ from what I know, so I'm willing to pay for that IF I know it will solve my issues.
Click to expand...
Oh I misunderstood that 2x2 and 2x4 thing. The memory structure indicated by specsheet tells that it is a 1x4 so the possibility of 2x2 is ruled out. If it is so upgrade both RAM and SSD.
 
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Ok wait, I wanna be sure 😅 you confirm that my laptop CAN be upgraded to 8 gb ram? By using 2x4GB slots?

If yes: I only have a single slot, therefore I should get a single 8GB slot, am I right?
 
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Giulio Sincovich said:
Ok wait, I wanna be sure 😅 you confirm that my laptop CAN be upgraded to 8 gb ram? By using 2x4GB slots?

If yes: I only have a single slot, therefore I should get a single 8GB slot, am I right?
Click to expand...
So you checked the slots? If not then the only way to confirm is to get your laptop opened at a shop and ask them if the slot is empty. Otherwise I think it should be upgradable. Still you shoul visit nearby Acer shop. Then you see how you can populate the RAM slots.
 
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Giulio Sincovich said:
Hi everyone!
I'm by no means a computer expert, so here I am asking your help.
My laptop was running pretty slow, not fluid, so I tried formatting it (following the Step-by-Step option in "Settings"). It got better, but STILL feels like a fresh clean Win10 laptop should run better.

It's a "cheap" laptop (around 400€ 3 yrs ago) with Win10, i3 proc, 4gb ram, Nvidia 920M. I guess it's a basic laptop meant for office duties, but it performs really slow even while doing basic things like opening folders, opening search bar, opening browsers, right-clicking on desktop or any file, etc. I only play one single game, League of Legends, which is not very oppressive to run, and once I'm ingame it runs really well, 100+ fps usually.
I know I could get an SSD, or more ram, or whatever, to improve it, but my question right now is:
is it NORMAL to run so slow after a clean formatting?

If you need more info's on my setup, just ask for them. Thanks in advance.


Edit: added some info
Click to expand...
Only 4GB of RAM... You should have at least 8GB, so increase the RAM and if you can afford it go to a SSD. That is about all you can do to speed up this laptop.
 
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Yea those are the main targets for now, but since my budget for the computer is pretty low, I can only afford one for now, so I'm trying to figure out which one of the 2 will give me the best performance boost until the 2nd upgrade :)
 
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