Question Windows 11 suddenly became slow out of nowhere ?

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A

aa1991aa

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Hello everyone, I have an Intel i9 9900ks + RTX 3090 + 32GB RAM and my PC was working fine then yesterday out of blue my computer started being so slow , even hovering the mouse over icons is slow and laggy, right clicking has 2 seconds delay to open, opening a program has about 2-5 seconds delay, everything is very slow and I can't remember if I changed anything. Any idea why my computer started acting up ?

Things I've tried:
  • Updating the windows to the latest ( I have windows update set to automatic and double checked and everything is up to date )
  • Uninstalling and reinstalling some programs that known to cause issue such as antivirus and Razer synaps and etc...
  • Nvidia driver is up to date
  • Upon checking task manager the CPU is in use by 10% at most and memory 25% ( with Firefox using the most resources ) . I could not spot any programs that using too much resources.
  • I boot the PC in safe mode and the problem was gone ( so the problem should be software and not hardware )
  • I checked for viruses and ( I'm using Avast free antivirus BTW ) and nothing was found

I didn't tweak any settings and this computer was working fine, I can't think of anything else. One of my HDDs in this PC is full, could that be causing this issue ? ( the HDD is full of media and not the OS . ( The OS is installed in a separate SSD )

Also the day before my PC became so slow, we lost power while the PC was on, wondering if that has anything to do with the issue ?
 
Ralston18

Ralston18

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Immediately try the built in Windows Troubleshooters. The troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Failing that:

Use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free) to observe system performance.

Use all three tools but only one tool at a time.

Observe the system for a few minutes then move the mouse to see what changes when the system slows or lags.

Objective being to discover what system resources are being used, to what extent (%), and what is using any given resource.

Note the small arrows in the column headers. Clicking the arrow will sort the columns and make it easier to discover potential culprits.

Process Explorer (To find and identify processes that are unknown or unexpected. Google as necessary.)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

May take a bit of trial and error so take your time and be methodical.

The power loss may have corrupted some files.

Reinstall drivers if a particular device (i.e., the mouse) proves suspicious.

Try "sfc /scannow" and "dism".

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

How to use DISM command tool to repair Windows 10 image | Windows Central

Post what you discover.
 
A

aa1991aa

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Aug 6, 2015
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Ralston18 said:
Immediately try the built in Windows Troubleshooters. The troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Failing that:

Use Task Manager, Resource Monitor, and Process Explorer (Microsoft, free) to observe system performance.

Use all three tools but only one tool at a time.

Observe the system for a few minutes then move the mouse to see what changes when the system slows or lags.

Objective being to discover what system resources are being used, to what extent (%), and what is using any given resource.

Note the small arrows in the column headers. Clicking the arrow will sort the columns and make it easier to discover potential culprits.

Process Explorer (To find and identify processes that are unknown or unexpected. Google as necessary.)

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer

May take a bit of trial and error so take your time and be methodical.

The power loss may have corrupted some files.

Reinstall drivers if a particular device (i.e., the mouse) proves suspicious.

Try "sfc /scannow" and "dism".

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

How to use DISM command tool to repair Windows 10 image | Windows Central

Post what you discover.
Click to expand...
The CPU usage don't get more than 18% at most. It's mostly idling at less than 10% . Windows troubleshooter didn't do much. The sfc scan found broken files and fixed them but that didn't fix the issue. A few processes like "windows shell experience host" are suspended in Resource Monitor but I don't think that's an issue. One thing I got suspicious to was the I/O in Process Explorer , it fluctuate on a constant intervals. it can be as low as few KB and fluctuates to 300 MB range , is that a red flag ?
Also another smal detail I notice is when I restart my PC, for the first couple seconds PC is fast then gets slow so that tells me the issue might be a software perhaps ??
 
Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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Not sure about "One thing I got suspicious to was the I/O in Process Explorer...."

More explanation needed. Or take a screenshot and post the screenshot here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

If the PC starts fast and then slows then take a look in Task Scheduler.

Something may be being triggered to immediately launch and run. Check Task Manager > Startup as well.

Could be some app or utility trying to run, update, do a backup, or simply "phone home".
 
A

aa1991aa

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Aug 6, 2015
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Ralston18 said:
Not sure about "One thing I got suspicious to was the I/O in Process Explorer...."

More explanation needed. Or take a screenshot and post the screenshot here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

If the PC starts fast and then slows then take a look in Task Scheduler.

Something may be being triggered to immediately launch and run. Check Task Manager > Startup as well.

Could be some app or utility trying to run, update, do a backup, or simply "phone home".
Click to expand...
Tried disabling stuff in Task Scheduler but no help and for start up in task manager most of them are set to disabled. Still slow
 
B

baboma

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First troubleshooting mantra is to minimize your configuration. Have you tried booting into Windows safe mode and see if slowdown still occurs?

Second mantra is, when you have a big problem, break it down into little problems. It's either the software or the hardware. More likely it's software. Remove software as a possibility by downloading and booting into live Linux ISO and see if problem exists there. If no, it's software. Yes, it's hardware.
 
A

aa1991aa

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baboma said:
First troubleshooting mantra is to minimize your configuration. Have you tried booting into Windows safe mode and see if slowdown still occurs?

Second mantra is, when you have a big problem, break it down into little problems. It's either the software or the hardware. More likely it's software. Remove software as a possibility by downloading and booting into live Linux ISO and see if problem exists there. If no, it's software. Yes, it's hardware.
Click to expand...
I did boot into safe mode and the problem was gone
 
A

aa1991aa

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Aug 6, 2015
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Ralston18 said:
Not sure about "One thing I got suspicious to was the I/O in Process Explorer...."

More explanation needed. Or take a screenshot and post the screenshot here via imgur (www.imgur.com).

If the PC starts fast and then slows then take a look in Task Scheduler.

Something may be being triggered to immediately launch and run. Check Task Manager > Startup as well.

Could be some app or utility trying to run, update, do a backup, or simply "phone home".
Click to expand...
I looked at task scheduler again and noticed 2 programs are constantly running AsusAPI64 and AsusAPI32 and the error was 0x41301 . I deleted the task and restarted the PC but still slow
 
A

aa1991aa

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helpstar said:
clean boot

How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support

Describes how to use the clean boot process to troubleshoot a problem in Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, or Windows Vista.
support.microsoft.com support.microsoft.com

check windows integrity
open the command prompt as administrator and type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-open-an-elevated-command-prompt-2618088
Click to expand...
Clean boot fixed the issue, so the problem is a software
 
Ralston18

Ralston18

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ASUS (maybe).

API = Application Programming Interface.

Likely 32 and 64 bit versions

My thought is that what was running on your system and slowing things down was corrupted, buggy, or malware.

The clean boot ended that.

Keep an eye on Task Manager, Resource Monitor, Process Explorer, and Task Scheduler.

Watch for when and if AsusAPI64 and AsusAPI32 come back.

Be very careful about what you download and where you download from.
 
A

aa1991aa

Distinguished
Aug 6, 2015
69
0
18,530
Ralston18 said:
ASUS (maybe).

API = Application Programming Interface.

Likely 32 and 64 bit versions

My thought is that what was running on your system and slowing things down was corrupted, buggy, or malware.

The clean boot ended that.

Keep an eye on Task Manager, Resource Monitor, Process Explorer, and Task Scheduler.

Watch for when and if AsusAPI64 and AsusAPI32 come back.

Be very careful about what you download and where you download from.
Click to expand...
Back to regular boot , I ended every Asus related task but still there's an issue, I uninstalled few programs that were suspicious such as Razer synapse but still slow, I'll uninstall Asus Armoury and reinstall later to see if that makes any difference
 
Ralston18

Ralston18

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Oct 11, 2014
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Try disabling first versus uninstalling. Just in case....

Observe performance first. Before and after "Asus Armoury" for example.

Use the tools but only one tool at a time.

Then do one action at a time. Keep notes.

Check performance again.

Note the small arrows that appear in the tool headers. The arrows can be clicked to sort the presented data. May prove helpful if the data keeps "jumping around" and is difficult to view.

= = = =

Process Explorer:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer
 
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