Fixing a HP laptop - very very slow

HP laptop, Athlon, 4gig ram. Win 11 (in my spec profile)

• I have run a virus check - nothing.
• I have turned off background programs/services from running
• Start up has minimal programs

This 4 gig ram laptop runs like it has 256MB of RAM. This laptop cannot be used because it is so noticeable slow. Even trying to get into the control panel takes at least 1 minute before it pops up.

I am presently trying to run an update, but this SEEMS hanging as well. I am not sure if it is progressing or not.

Apparently the laptop used to run fine, fast but it is not mine so I can't vouch for it.
any suggestions?

Suspect thermal throttling, if CPU usage is at 100 percent or near there and the CPU frequency is so low, especially it resembling a 20-year old PC!

I just checked the Device manager - CPU 21%, Memory 84% and disk 100% and right now all I am doing in the updates (if they are even updating). Nothing else is running.

I suspect a faulty drive now. That can cause 20-year-old-PC-like slowness!

netrate said:

Apparently the laptop used to run fine, fast

Click to expand...

It might have run fast...10+ years ago.
IMO trying to run 11 with an Athlon cpu and 4 gb ram is like trying to drive up a steep hill on icy roads....you're spinning your wheels but you can't go anywhere.

I just rebuilt an HP Laptop, that had two battery failures, no Hd and 4GB of ram. A real Basket Case!
There was NO OS problem, because there was NO OS!

But because the Lappy would not accept more than 4GB of ram, I decided to use a Micro-11 OS instead of a full blown version of Win-11/Pro/64.

With a new SSD installed, I then installed the Micro-11 OS, and with some fiddlin' and tweaking, I now have a nice running little HP Laptop. OH, and it's about 12 years old.

So, I'm pretty sure that if I had the HP Laptop in question here on my own Repair Bench, I could make a real computer out of it, even with just 4GB of ram. More would be nice, if the laptop will actually take it.

But, seriously, consider a new install of Windows.

See if you can find:

a) a bootable flash drive with free space

b) a working Windows computer

If going to guess the the laptop has a HDD. If the laptop is cable of being upgraded from the HDD to a SSD you may see a speed increase. Even if it can be upgraded, it still may not be fast enough to be worth it.

Yes an SSD was my next thought, but is it better to down grade to win 10? I am assuming the person didn't upgrade on their own as they don't know much about computers. I am not sure if this was purchased with win 10 or with win 11.
Downloading the updates has been on 0 % for 30 minutes now

An SSD can be Blazing Fast, compared to a mechanical HD, especially an OLD one.
With new SSD's available for $35, it's hardly worth the pain of trying to live with an old and slow spinner.

TM

zbook :​

I have both, what are you thinking?

Windows 10? Forgetaboutit! MS already has!
Win-11 is still the current OS as far as MS is concerned, and upgraded versions just get Betterer and Betterer.
And, Win-11 is very easily customized to your liking. The Classic Shell can make that even easier. My own Win-11 looks just like Win-7, or maybe Win-8.1. And, lockups and BSOD's are a thing of the distant past.
Win-11 may very well be the most Stable OS I've ever run.

Cheers Mates!
TM

TechnoMage2021​

Yes but if this laptop cannot run win 11 properly, is downgrading an option?

Download to the bootable flash drive: HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI – v10.3.0.0



Move the flash drive to the problematic computer.

Plan to run the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI overnight while sleeping.

Power on the computer and repetitively click F9.

Boot to the flash drive > HP UEFI Hardware diagnostics > system > extensive > loop until error > the next day if it has made two or more loops click esc > take pictures > post images or share links displaying the tests performed with results

netrate said:

TechnoMage2021​

Yes but if this laptop cannot run win 11 properly, is downgrading an option?

Click to expand...

What do you mean, "cannot run win 11?" The only PC I've seen that could not run Win-11 was an old 32 bit machine. I have a couple of those!
A PC MUST be 64 bit capable, to run Win-11. Then you just need to use the right version of Win-11. Downgrading should not even be an option.
But, that can lead to a conversation that's forbidden on this forum.

TM

I was just looking at the post in this thread (see above) post #5 :
"
glasskuter wrote : "It might have run fast...10+ years ago.
IMO trying to run 11 with an Athlon cpu and 4 gb ram is like trying to drive up a steep hill on icy roads....you're spinning your wheels but you can't go anywhere."

Win11 is a pita on a mechanical disk and 4gb ram is a bit tight.

If it's slow on 11, it'll probably be slow on 10.

But it seems slower than it should be.

netrate said:

Yes an SSD was my next thought, but is it better to down grade to win 10? I am assuming the person didn't upgrade on their own as they don't know much about computers. I am not sure if this was purchased with win 10 or with win 11.
Downloading the updates has been on 0 % for 30 minutes now

Click to expand...

I don't think Windows 11 is the problem. Knowing next to nothing about the laptop my suggestion is to increase the memory if possible and replacing the HDD with a SSD as your best bet. If Windows 11 is part of the slowdown @TechnoMage2021 may be able to help guide you to installing a lite verson of Windows 11.

I will install a new SSD and report back when it is done.
Also a Scan of the hard drive revealed no errors and a defrag was done.