Laptop running too slowly...need to re-install windows?......how?

[eem2am]

Hi,

My laptop is running very slowly.
When I right click a folder, it takes a good 10 or 15 seconds or so before the dropdown list appears with “copy” , “paste” etc options.
Also, when I click the windows explorer icon, it takes maybe 20-30 seconds before it opens up.
The laptop just generally runs slowly, and when you click something, it doesn’t “snap” to it, but just shows you the “blue circle” for too long time.
Do you think I need to re-install windows?
Do you know a good youtube video on how to do this?

I bought this laptop new from from Currys/PC World in December 2020

I am using Windows 10 Home.
Laptop is Acer Aspire A315-56.
Processor is 1.2GHz.
RAM is 4GB

 

[DavidG]

Can you update your post with the details of the storage (hard drive/SSD)? The specs you posted so far indicate a budget low power laptop with minimal RAM slow processor and (I assume) probably a slow mechanical hard drive. Reinstalling/refreshing windows will temporarily help, this will remove temporary files, left overs from windows updates etc until they accumulate again.
you can refresh windows quite easily.
go to start, settings, update and security, recovery, refresh. You can choose whether or not to keep your personal files. Ideally backup your files beforehand. Here is a YouTube video to show you how

a more permanent solution would be to upgrade the RAM to 8GB and to replace the mechanical hard drive with an SSD.

 

[DavidG]

Your helpful screen shots confirm you have a mechanical hard drive. An SSD replacement would considerably improve the speed

 

[johnb35]

You need an SSD drive and upgrade to at least 8gb of memory. A mechanical drive will be terribly slow running windows 10 even on a fresh install.

 

[TheRealSwede]

Hi,

My laptop is running very slowly.
When I right click a folder, it takes a good 10 or 15 seconds or so before the dropdown list appears with “copy” , “paste” etc options.
Also, when I click the windows explorer icon, it takes maybe 20-30 seconds before it opens up.
The laptop just generally runs slowly, and when you click something, it doesn’t “snap” to it, but just shows you the “blue circle” for too long time.
Do you think I need to re-install windows?
Do you know a good youtube video on how to do this?

I bought this laptop new from from Currys/PC World in December 2020

I am using Windows 10 Home.
Laptop is Acer Aspire A315-56.
Processor is 1.2GHz.
RAM is 4GB

First of all:
Please run the "System File Checker" to check for errors in your PC. This feature is built into Windows.. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...em-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e
"Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, do the following as your appropriate:

If you are running Windows 10, Windows 8.1 or Windows 8, first run the inbox Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool prior to running the System File Checker. (If you are running Windows 7 or Windows Vista, skip to Step 3.)

Type the following command, and then press Enter. It may take several minutes for the command operation to be completed.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

When done, in the same CMD type: sfc /scannow (Press Enter)
Wait untill it done! It might find and fix some errors.. Sign Out and REBOOT before using your Pc again..

Do this BEFORE you RESET your PC using Windows own RESET tool.
This way you get to keep all important stuff like drivers etc.

You find RESET by typing it into the searchbox nest to start-button and then selecting "RESET THIS PC" (it is there in most cases)

 

[johnb35]

First of all:
Please run the "System File Checker" to check for errors in your PC. This feature is built into Windows.. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...em-files-79aa86cb-ca52-166a-92a3-966e85d4094e
"Open an elevated command prompt. To do this, do the following as your appropriate:

If you are running Windows 10, Windows 8.1 or Windows 8, first run the inbox Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool prior to running the System File Checker. (If you are running Windows 7 or Windows Vista, skip to Step 3.)

Type the following command, and then press Enter. It may take several minutes for the command operation to be completed.

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth

When done, in the same CMD type: sfc /scannow (Press Enter)
Wait untill it done! It might find and fix some errors.. Sign Out and REBOOT before using your Pc again..

Do this BEFORE you RESET your PC using Windows own RESET tool.
This way you get to keep all important stuff like drivers etc.

You find RESET by typing it into the searchbox nest to start-button and then selecting "RESET THIS PC" (it is there in most cases)

This is pretty useless to do since the machine doesn't have good specs and would need an SSD drive anyway. Just back up any personal data, install SSD and more ram and reinstall windows.

 

[eem2am]

Hi,

Thanks, any tips on how to do an SSD drive install for Acer Aspire 3? Also, any tips on how to install the extra 4GB of SDRAM?
Also, i looked round but couldnt find where to buy these, or any costs for these?

Incidentally i used to have an Easynote TE laptop which was much quicker....
EasynoteTE

Packard Bell EasyNote TE 15.6-inch Laptop - Black/Silver

Buy Packard Bell EasyNote TE 15.6-inch Laptop - Black/Silver - Intel Celeron B830 1.8GHz, 6GB RAM, 500GB HDD, DVDSM DL, LAN, WLAN, Webcam,...

www.aria.co.uk

Also, i still have a Lenovo Yoga 510, and that is much quicker than this Acer Aspire 3

 

[DavidG]

Thanks, any tips on how to do an SSD drive install for Acer Aspire 3? Also, any tips on how to install the extra 4GB of SDRAM?

Go to the crucial website and run the memory scanner tool, it will tell you how much RAM you currently have, how much you can upgrade to and SSD upgrades. Depending on the number of RAM slots available if there is only one slot you may have to swap out the 4GB RAM stick for an 8GB RAM stick
http://uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/systemscanner
Here is a tear down YouTube video

 

[eem2am]

Thankyou very much, do you know which will increase the speed more.....the RAM upgrade or the change to SSD?
When i say speed, i mean all the problems of slowness i am having in opening and closing documents etc...it takes too long.

That RAM upgrade seemed amazingly simple on that video, thankyou.

 

[DavidG]

Changing to an SSD will give the most benefit

 

[beers]

Please run the "System File Checker" to check for errors in your PC

This is a bunch of crap, just look at the specs. Those are super slow to use even on a completely fresh format.

New SSD and more RAM would change the experience drastically. What specific CPU is in the laptop? If it's something like this then it's a little anemic, largely in part by the low TDP enforced which will constrain clock speeds in most workloads.

Intel® Core™ i5-7Y54 Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.20 GHz) Product Specifications

Intel® Core™ i5-7Y54 Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.20 GHz) quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com

 

[TheRealSwede]

This is a bunch of crap, just look at the specs. Those are super slow to use even on a completely fresh format.

New SSD and more RAM would change the experience drastically. What specific CPU is in the laptop? If it's something like this then it's a little anemic, largely in part by the low TDP enforced which will constrain clock speeds in most workloads.

Intel® Core™ i5-7Y54 Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.20 GHz) Product Specifications

Intel® Core™ i5-7Y54 Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.20 GHz) quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com

This is pretty useless to do since the machine doesn't have good specs and would need an SSD drive anyway. Just back up any personal data, install SSD and more ram and reinstall windows.

NO! This was a correct answer to his question: "need to re-install windows?......how?"
And the easiest way to to this is via a RESET of Windows.. (Keeps all driver etc.) BUT this often requires a healthcheck before the reset..
As i mentioned....

Buying new stuff was another question...

 

[beers]

And the easiest way to to this is via a RESET of Windows.. (Keeps all driver etc.) BUT this often requires a healthcheck before the reset..

So, what benefit does the user have of checking the file system if they're about to wipe said file system to 'reset'?

 

[johnb35]

NO! This was a correct answer to his question: "need to re-install windows?......how?"
And the easiest way to to this is via a RESET of Windows.. (Keeps all driver etc.) BUT this often requires a healthcheck before the reset..
As i mentioned....

Buying new stuff was another question...

So you want him to do stuff that doesn't make sense to do when he has to install an SSD to actually get good performance from his system? Reinstalling windows on his current hardware isn't gonna make a difference. Just don't answer his question, look at his hardware used and then go from there. The time it takes to system file check and to reset the pc back to new, I could have a new SSD installed and windows up and running and data transferred to new SSD. Meanwhile, if he followed your advice he would come back asking why is my system still slow?

 

[Darren]

Pretty sure the DISM.exe tool he's getting at also validates the Windows image it uses for the reset so it's not completely worthless...

DISM Overview

DISM overview

docs.microsoft.com

Still gonna be slow without a hardware change though.