Windows 11 and an incredibly slow, new Dell desktop

Thanks for all the recommendations, everybody, I really appreciate it. My level of frustration with this, with a new computer product, is off the charts, and I don't have the time, skill, patience or interest to deal with it the way you guys all do. And it's been going on for more than six months, to the point I don't even want to use the machine when I'm home.

Good point about the limits of remote support, if there will be numerous re-starts. I'll focus on an old-fashioned house call.

I've got about 5 million people living within an hour of my house, so it's not a small-town problem, it's just a matter of finding the right support. You can draw a triangle between the Google, Meta and Apple HQs and I'm right in the middle. And I can't get tech help with a stupid desktop PC that most people don't even use anymore! (And nobody used iTunes anymore either, but I'm not paying again for music I already paid for.)

I hadn't thought of Geek Squad (if it still exists), but I assumed those guys mainly helped set up new systems for BB customers; would they have the skill to deep-dive into Windows 11 to find out what's happening? If so, that may be the best way to go. I just don't want to bring some guy into the house, have him fiddle around for 3-4 hours, not solve the problem, and leave me with a $1,000 bill (about what I paid for the new computer). It's the open-ended nature of this that is troubling from a repair standpoint.

One last thing I'll say, at the risk of completely talking out of my ass - I agree there may be something to the earlier question about where folders or files are located that may be the root of the problem. In a previous corporate job, I similarly stored all of my documents on folders I would create on the desktop - that's how I found things, they were all neatly organized in visible desktop folders. I thought that was the entire purpose of having a "Desktop" - so you can see everything. But the corporate IT guy said it was better not to have files on the desktop because they weren't backed up as well or as often as if they're somewhere else like My Docs or whatever. But again, to me, the whole point of a desktop is so I can see where everything is filed. Plus that conversation was a decade ago.

But it feels like as soon as I copied all the photos and music files to the Dell, everything slowed to a crawl. And whenever I turn the unit on after a week or two offline, it's incredibly slow - but after a day or two being left on, it is somewhat better. So it seems Windows or something is trying to scan all 100,000 photos/music files and programs looking for something. I got rid of Norton for just that reason, it was always scanning everything and updating itself, but that didn't help. I don't use One Drive (as far as I know, I never signed up for it), but if Windows is trying to conduct some kind of file indexing on every startup as you suggest, that would explain why everything is so slow for the first hours/days.

The fact that it is "somewhat better" after being left on for a day or two is relevant, but at some point after being left on it should eventually "stay better".

You may well be hooked up to One Drive by default. I have NO idea what the Dell default configuration is, but One Drive can be shall we say "counter productive" to the inexperienced. To put it mildly.

Do you have a model number for this specific "Dell Inspiron" or maybe a link to that model at the Dell web site?

Or did you buy it in a traditional store like Costco or Walmart?

I'd like to find out if it has an SSD. Do you have the detailed original Dell receipt/invoice?

Micro Center is a generally reliable outfit for purchasing or repairs or diagnosis, but I'm not sure they have a store in Northern California.

There's a 99 percent likelihood there is competent help within 5 miles or less of your home, but it's up to you to find it.

And I'd guess no more than a 10 percent chance you have hardware issues.

Files can be backed up regardless of whether they are "on the desktop" or not, but that's neither here nor there for you right now. It's over your head and not topic A.

It could be as simple as your desktop is being synced to the cloud by OneDrive. If there are hundreds of gigabytes of files on the desktop, that's going to be a big performance hit. Although, I would expect you'd encounter an out of space error from OneDrive if that were the case.

I would still drag those folders to the root of C: to see if it makes a difference.

If you were in the NY area, I'd be happy to help in person for lunch. Hopefully you can find someone in your area.

Or Windows indexing never finishes on time, due to the volume of imported files...

Fishmill said:

You may well be hooked up to One Drive by default. I have NO idea what the Dell default configuration is, but One Drive can be shall we say "counter productive" to the inexperienced. To put it mildly.

Do you have a model number for this specific "Dell Inspiron" or maybe a link to that model at the Dell web site?

Or did you buy it in a traditional store like Costco or Walmart?

I'd like to find out if it has an SSD. Do you have the detailed original Dell receipt/invoice?

And I'd guess no more than a 10 percent chance you have hardware issues.

Files can be backed up regardless of whether they are "on the desktop" or not, but that's neither here nor there for you right now. It's over your head and not topic A.

Click to expand...

I'll check again, but pretty sure One Drive is not activated - I don't store anything on the cloud. I know, probably not a great idea, but I've backed up all my photos and music to an USB external hard drive (which is not connected to the desktop).

As I recall I bought directly from Dell with help from their telesales guy - in fact it may have been more than a year ago, this problem has been going on so long I can't even recall when I bought it. If the System page shows me the model number, I will post it, but I think I copied above everything I could find on the System page or whatever you call it.

If an SSD is a spinning hard drive, I'm pretty sure I don't have that. I could hear it spin up on the old HP desktop, and I don't hear that sound with the Dell, it's very quiet except for my swearing as I wait minutes for Edge to open.

Dell Support says it's definitely not a hardware issue based on the diagnostics they did sometime last year.

LesFerch said:

It could be as simple as your desktop is being synced to the cloud by OneDrive. If there are hundreds of gigabytes of files on the desktop, that's going to be a big performance hit. Although, I would expect you'd encounter an out of space error from OneDrive if that were the case.

I would still drag those folders to the root of C: to see if it makes a difference.

If you were in the NY area, I'd be happy to help in person for lunch. Hopefully you can find someone in your area.

Click to expand...

I'd certainly buy you lunch to fix this - at Le Bernardin!

And yes, I'd be surprised if One Drive would store 260GB for free, which is why I'm pretty sure it's not in use. But if some other Windows file indexing or virus-hunting process were going on each time I turned on the machine, that would make a lot of sense. I just don't know what those other things could be.

I'm hesitant to drag anything to the root of C because a) I have no idea what or where the root of C is, and b) I like having my folders visible on my desktop where I can see them. Once it's moved somewhere "behind" the desktop, it's as good as deleted, I will never find it again. I can only work with what I see in front of me.

CMB62 said:

Thanks to everyone for the replies, but I may have overstated my ability to do things on a computer - I'm not capable of doing ANYTHING beyond a Word doc, a basic spreadsheet, or opening Edge to browse. Anything involving a "clean boot", "BIOS", "msconfig", or anything else technical, you may as well be speaking Chinese - I have NO IDEA how to do that stuff and don't want to make the situation worse by messing around with stuff I don't understand. I could look at "Dell crapware" or other system files, but I have no idea how to identify what they are or what should or should not be there. And I have no interest in learning this stuff, I am NOT a computer guy. I just want to drive the car, I do not want to look at the engine under the hood.

So I am CERTAIN I cannot resolve this by poking around into the inner workings of the machine. I need a capable technician to go in to find out what is causing this problem, and yet I can't find anyone who wants to do this. Is it really that hard to find people who know Windows well enough to diagnose and fix the problem? I don't mind paying for this, just like I have to pay a mechanic to tune up my car. I'd rather have a professional do it than me making the problem worse or somehow wiping out all of my files. Thanks!

Click to expand...

If money is no object you can send it to Dell. I would suggest that if you intend to use a Windows operating system you would benefit from learning some of those terms, what they mean and how to use them. You don't have to be a mechanic to learn how to change your oil, inflate your tires, top up the fluids etc. There are plenty of online tutorials that you can access online for free. That you are NOT interested in learning such things places you in that position to pay someone else to do it for you. If you are okay with that then I rather doubt anyone here can help you as those who offer their assistance here basically help people to help themselves. If you're looking for a technician to pay I'm sure you can find one near by.

There are some common misconceptions about new PCs that people fall victim to. I will list some of them here:

1) Newer is better. < Nope. Not always. Companies strive to find the cheapest cost effective ways to manufacture a PC to increase their bottom line. A PC may be new but obsoletion isn't. Cheaper plastics, cheaper circuitry, inferior alloys, do not necessarily make for superior quality.

2) SD is the same thing as SSD < Nope. SD cards are slower than solid state drives and definitely slower than NVMe (which is also SSD). Companies will sell these "Surface" type laptops that advertise X amount of storage and the storage drive is actually an SD card. These so-called laptops run extremely slow and even slower as the drive fills up. They often provide no option apart from changing out to a higher capacity SD card and most times even this isn't a thing.

3) An i3 is just as fast as an i5. < Not usually. What makes a CPU fast is its processing speed. More cores will help your CPU process more information at once but an i3 doesn't give you a whole lot in the way of cores and if it's only running around 3 GHz don't expect blazing fast speeds. In some cases you can over clock a CPU to run incredibly fast but understand over all your entire system will only run as fast as the slowest link in the chain. This is why "bottle necking" is a real thing.

I could share more but I don't even know if you would find this information useful as you choose not to know or even understand why your laptop is slow. I'm at a loss to understand why you even bothered to post but I hope this helps anyway.

Thanks for your comments, but it's a desktop, not a laptop, and Dell has already made it clear they don't believe it's a hardware problem. I don't think they fix their customers' operating system or software problems.

And I don't really "choose" not to know when I have computer problems, but I've used them long enough to know that I am not able to resolve something this complex, with many possible causes, and requiring knowledge about the inner workings of software and programs that I simply don't have and don't have time to learn at my age.

I bothered to post because I am out of ideas of what to do, and some of these responses have been very helpful - such as hiring an in-person expert to fix it. I don't think there is anything wrong with recognizing that I'm not the guy to service my own computer and never have been. Some computer-savvy people seem to take offense at that, but I'd no sooner try to replace the transmission on a Ferrari either.

CMB62 said:

I'd certainly buy you lunch to fix this - at Le Bernardin!

And yes, I'd be surprised if One Drive would store 260GB for free, which is why I'm pretty sure it's not in use. But if some other Windows file indexing or virus-hunting process were going on each time I turned on the machine, that would make a lot of sense. I just don't know what those other things could be.

I'm hesitant to drag anything to the root of C because a) I have no idea what or where the root of C is, and b) I like having my folders visible on my desktop where I can see them. Once it's moved somewhere "behind" the desktop, it's as good as deleted, I will never find it again. I can only work with what I see in front of me.

Click to expand...

Le Bernardin! That would be nice, but I'd need a wardrobe upgrade first.

@garlin makes a good point that Windows could be busy indexing those files. That was another reason I wanted you to move them. The desktop is an indexed location. The root of C is not. Presumably you have the files backed up on a USB drive where they reside on the root of D: (or whatever letter your USB drive defaults to). It's the same idea with drive C. If you moved them there, it's easy enough to make a shortcut that you can place on the desktop. Anyone here can step you through that.

Another way to determine if indexing is the cause of the slowdown is to just turn it off. To do that, you can follow the steps here:


Or you can download and run this batch file:

LesFerch said:

@garlin makes a good point that Windows could be busy indexing those files. That was another reason I wanted you to move them. The desktop is an indexed location. The root of C is not. Presumably you have the files backed up on a USB drive where they reside on the root of D: (or whatever letter your USB drive defaults to). It's the same idea with drive C. If you moved them there, it's easy enough to make a shortcut that you can place on the desktop. Anyone here can step you through that.

Another way to determine if indexing is the cause of the slowdown is to just turn it off. To do that, you can follow the steps here:

Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll give that a try tonight! Do you think it is unlikely to be related to Windows Defender or whatever their antivirus solution is? Because I completely uninstalled Norton, but wonder if the lag is related to the system scanning files for viruses each time I turn it on.

CMB62 said:

Thanks, I'll give that a try tonight! Do you think it is unlikely to be related to Windows Defender or whatever their antivirus solution is? Because I completely uninstalled Norton, but wonder if the lag is related to the system scanning files for viruses each time I turn it on.

Click to expand...

Windows Defender is still going to scan all of those files, but it does keep track of what it scanned, so just like indexing, once it's done performance will improve. It may help to leave the computer on for an extended period (maybe a few days). Disable sleep so it can keep processing everything.

Virus scanning and indexing are 2 different processes. Both are optional.

The former is much more critical.

I've always turned indexing off. It's useful if you wanted to, for instance, find the word "pork" within a pork chop recipe Word document. Do you ever have reason to search for a file by searching for words within that file, rather than by the file's name? There are people who would name a pork chop recipe "stuff from grandma" rather than "pork chops". There is little hope for those people.

Do you ever knowingly use indexing AT ALL?

You can turn indexing off with a single checkbox, but that may be over your head. Even if you left it on, indexing should eventually complete and not further hinder you much.

If nothing else, I would turn the PC on and walk away from it for several days.....unless you want to get a repair guy in house immediately.

I would have NO faith that One Drive isn't running, despite the fact that you may have no reason to believe so. And you may not be able to confirm that for whatever reason.

Santa Clara: 5201 Stevens Creek Blvd (Serving the Bay Area/Silicon Valley).

Above is your local Micro Center store.

I'd be on the phone to them within hours if not minutes. Tell them you've got a Dell that needs a diagnosis. They may want to sell you a new machine, but you need them to evaluate what you have right now. I'm not positive they will do a diagnosis or repair on a PC they did not sell, but it's certainly a step up from Best Buy.

No, I never use indexing, as far as I know. If I'm looking for a particular set of photos, I drill down on those folders. Or a song or album, I open iTunes. I don't even have Outlook, Word or Excel installed on this computer because I don't know how to access the Office subscription from my work laptop. I'm sure there's a way, but I don't know how. So no problem shutting off indexing.

As far as turning it on and walking away for a day or two, that's what I've had to do for the past year just to be able to use the damn machine. But I don't think that's the way it's designed to work. Imagine if you had to do that with your oven or lawnmower!

Fishmill said:

Do you have a model number for this specific "Dell Inspiron" or maybe a link to that model at the Dell web site?

Click to expand...

It's a Dell Inspiron 3891, purchased direct from Dell. And thanks for the MicroCenter tip; I've heard of them, but thought it was just a retailer.

Trying to turn off the indexing function now according to the tutorial, so will report back if the blue screen of death occurs...

Your Inspiron 3891 supports one of the following storage configurations:

• One 3.5-inch hard-disk drive
• One M.2 2230/2280 solid-state drive
• One M.2 2230/2280 solid-state drive + One 3.5-inch hard-disk drive

Above Dell link IMPLIES that your hard drive is a traditional spinning hard drive, not an SSD..........if it is larger than 512 GB.

You say it is larger....932 GB aka 1 terabyte.

You might even have 2 drives in your machine...a spinner and an SSD....and not know it.

A spinning drive is a considerable hindrance, though possibly tolerable if not defective. You might consider having Microcenter replace it with an SSD if you don't already have one.

And as always happens when I start digging around where I don't belong, I immediately run into a problem trying to turn off indexing - my Settings/Privacy & Search menu screen looks nothing like that shown in the tutorial. Is the tutorial also describing Windows 11? Why would it look different from what I'm seeing?

Mine does say that indexing status is "done" and there are 63,934 files indexed. The Privacy & Search/Search screen shows the following:

Show Search highlights - On
Microsoft account - On
Work/school account - On
Find My Files - Classic is checked

Then there are 6 excluded folders shown below, including with names like C:\Program Data, AppData, WINDOWS, Default App Data, etc - no idea what those are for.

So I just need to switch all of these to the Off position and I'm done?

Nothing I see in the tutorial seems to match what I see on my screen.

Thanks.

Do you keep your personal files (pictures, music) somewhere under the C:\Users directory?

I don't, but most people do and that is the default as far as I know.

As far as I know, if indexing is "done", any newly created file will be added to index and indexing should not really be hindering you at all.

It's very unlikely you'd need to index any of those other 6 folders. They shouldn't contain any of your personal files. Leave them alone.

If you right click your C drive and choose "properties", do you then see a checkbox at the bottom that begins with "allow files"............?

Fishmill said:

As far as I know, if indexing is "done", any newly created file will be added to index and indexing should not really be hindering you at all.

Click to expand...

Agreed. It seems the problem lies elsewhere.