CatherineL Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 I have a PC desktop running Windows 11 and Photoshop 22.5.0. It is over 3 years old, and has 48GB of RAM. Its hard drive has 444GB free out of 937GB. The last time I shut down was last night. I rarely run a cleanup program. (But just ran Glary a week ago) My 4 year old PC has been running very slow. I discovered that I had Dropbox on my PC so I switched everything to online only, unless I needed to work on specific files. (My internet sucks out here so I was wasting time just waiting for images to appear when they were online only). It's freed up a lot of space, but it still takes forever for thumbnails to open in Bridge. I'm not sure where the problem lies. My PC? Bridge? I was getting the "scratch disks are full" message as well, but not anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 7 hours ago, CatherineL said: Windows 11... 4 years old... Those two really don't mix. In fact, I'm holding off using Windows 11 until I'm forced to upgrade in 2025. Until then, you are on your own. I'm wondering if you need a BIOS Update and / or driver updates, specifically ones that are designed for the chipset of the motherboard. I'm also not talking about the updates from Microsoft, these updates are straight from the manufacturer. Is this a traditional spinning HD or a SSD? I have also found Anti Virus Programs like McAfee or Symantec really slow things down. Even if you think you'd uninstalled them, pieces remain. Case in point, my son's laptop took 20 min just to load up. Took 2-3 minutes for Chrome to open. It was nuts. He tried defaulting it and reloading Windows, but I felt that the software image that was built into the laptop was corrupted; garbage-in-garbage-out and all that. McAfee was un-installed, but his Manufacture Update Utility kept bugging us to update McAfee. So I installed a SSD HD and created a Windows 10 Thumbdrive via the Media Creation Tool. Updated the BIOS before dorking around with the Hardware. I then replaced the HD and loaded a brand new / fresh copy of Windows. After I was done, Windows loaded in 9 Seconds vs 20 minutes. I'd look for any driver updates from the manufacturer first. Especially BIOS and Chipset Drivers. Then be prepared to replace the HD with a SSD and reload everything. You might be able to downgrade to Windows 10. Not sure. This is kind of advanced stuff. Right now, this Samsung EVO 870 1TB is on sale for $90. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 Can you tell I'm not a technical person? I went back in my emails and looked up my purchase from Dell. It said 2019, but I didn't think it was that long ago. Traditional spinning HD because I think that's what I hear a lot of the time. Most of what you said is completely foreign to me. I use Norton for security. So I should check Dell for updates? Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 There should be some Dell Software installed on your computer that will scan for drivers. You can also head to Dell's Support Website, type in your Service Tag and let it scan. But if you go searching, there should be some pre-installed Dell Scanning Software Utility. As to which one, I couldn't tell you. It's one of those things; when I see it, I will recognize it. Just search your Start Menu for "Dell" and go from there. As for the Norton, that stupid software is a resource hog. Between that and McAfee, I don't know which one is worse. Personally, I like WebRoot. But first things first, let's see if there are any updates for your computer. After we get the Dell Updates installed, I want you to install your pending Windows updates. You'd be surprised on just how laggy a computer gets when people refuse to run Windows Update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 A Traditional Spinning Hard Drive, which has been around since 1958, consists of "Platters" an Actuator Arm and a Read/Write Head, amongst other things. It looks like a Vinyl Record Player inside the HD's case. A SSD drive or "Solid State Drive" is the new kid on the block, and there are no moving parts. Think of it as a device that looks like a HD, but inside is similar to a bunch of really fast CF Cards. SSD Drives consume less power, are 100% quiet (no moving parts) and are WAY FASTER than a Traditional HD. When you power your computer on and you hear a whine and a bunch of chatter-chatter...pause-chatter-chatter-click-pause...chatterchatterchatter, that is a Spinning HD. I might take a few minutes for your computer to boot up with a typical HD. With a SSD, from powering on to a Windows Login Screen or Windows Desktop is usually between 10-15 seconds. Your smart phone has similar storage chips as a SSD Drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 8, 2023 Author Share Posted January 8, 2023 Thanks for the examination! Are you able to convert an traditional HD to a SSD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Nope. You will need to replace it. It's like going from a Gas Powered Vehicle to a Electric. However, you can "clone" the drive from one to the other. If you aren't comfortable doing this, most local repair shops usually provide this service. You can purchase a Samsung EVO 870 SSD and contact a local repair shop to see how much they would charge to install it / replace the existing HD. From a hardware standpoint, it's pretty straightforward. The Cloning is the complicated part and isn't something that I could do over a hardware forum, I need to be in front of your computer. Setting up the Cloning Procedure to make sure you get EVERYTHING is tricky and can vary from computer to computer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 8, 2023 Share Posted January 8, 2023 Before you ask again, the Samsung 870 EVO SSD Drive is still on sale for $89.99. I remember when those drives were $400! If you wanted to spend a little more money, you could get the 2TB version for $170. But 1TB is "fine." Oh, after you clone the drive, you can use your existing drive as a storage drive, so you aren't throwing anything away. But I'd hold off just in case you ever needed to "go back in time" if a file didn't transfer and you needed to get it back. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share Posted January 21, 2023 Ok, I did all the updates Dell had. It's running a bit better now. My Norton subscription is up so I am looking into WebRoot. Any suggestions on which subscription? I have a photography business and use 1 desktop and my phone for all business related things. I do not have a laptop, but I am looking to possibly investing in one this year. I have read through the posts about laptops on here and still have a hard time figuring out which one to purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Laptops are such a moving target. By the time I find one to recommend and people come across that link, the laptop is usually discontinued by the manufacturer. I know people just want me yo tell them what to buy, it’s just so tough keeping up. Laptops only last 45-90 Days before they are replaced with a different model. It’s insane. I’ve written several articles in this subject and pinned them to the top. Frankly, I don’t know how to explain to people what to look for more than I have already. You will need to dive in the tech specs of the model you are looking at. Look for a IPS Display Panel Type, Dedicated GPU with Dedicated Video Memory. At LEAST 16GB RAM and a 1TB HD. Any modern i7 or i9 CPU is fine. The display panel type is the hardest thing to find. 98% of the laptops out there don’t have them and you need IPS if you are editing photos / video. Start by looking at Gaming Laptops. For Webroot, the middle one is fine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 I fiddled with my son's laptop today. A friend of mine gave him an old laptop, and it's purpose was general computing. It was running SLOW. It had all sorts of lag. Even after a System Restore. Sound familiar? So I removed McAfee Antivirus and it was "better," but still had lag. Then I used the McAfee Removal Tool, which kills all of the other software that McAfee leaves behind. Finally, after removing ALL things McAfee, did the lag go away. (The lag completely went away when I replaced the HD with a SSD Model.) Those two things made the problems go away. I'm really thinking it's your Norton / Symantec killing your speed. There is a program that I hear called CleanWipe, but that program can be a bit risky as there are a lot of spyware/malware laced files, so I'm not going to link to anything. I did find the Norton Remove and Re-Install Tool, you might want to give that a try when you are ready to Nuke it. I also found this web page as well: Uninstall Norton Family. It's been years since I've really dealt with Norton / Symantec. My company abandoned it about 20 years ago when it started causing lag issues; we actually had to increase the RAM on several of our client's computers that we just sold them due to Norton sucking up resources. Norton and McAfee both SUCK, in all honesty, the Windows Defender that's free from Microsoft does a pretty good job for what it is. I do not like either Norton/Symantec & McAfee, unfortunately...they have a lock on the market and people don't know any better so that's what gets installed. Then performance takes a hit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 My Norton just renewed, but I am going to cancel it. Should I cancel it and then ger WebRoot or install WebRoot and then cancel Norton? Thank you for all the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 These are the options for WebRoot. When you say the "middle one" which one are you referring to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 24, 2023 Share Posted January 24, 2023 The "Plus" should be fine for most. But to help you choose, they have this:Choose the perfect Webroot antivirus product That said, the complete isn't that much more and I'd opt for that one. Hmm...tough call. You can't go wrong with either. I'd say spend the extra $12 and get the $47.99 version. You can always downgrade next year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 24, 2023 Author Share Posted January 24, 2023 Signed up with WebRoot, super easy install and the customer service was great! Thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 25, 2023 Share Posted January 25, 2023 Were you successful in getting Norton / Symantec un-installed? Is it running any better? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 I am up for renewal for my WebRoot subscription. Do you still recommend this brand/software? The past two years have worked great, as far as I can tell. Just not sure which plan I need. It's just for my PC and laptop. Also, when running PS my desktop it sound like it's going to explode. I looked back at this convo and I was wondering if you have any other updated suggestions for the Samsung SSD Drive listed above? Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 WebRoot is still good. But in reality, Windows Defender works fine as well and that's free from Microsoft. You just have to stay on top of the Windows Updates for it. People don't really get "Viruses" anymore. It's keyloggers, trojans, and other things like Ransomware to get money out of you. That's the Goal these days: Get the Money! Get the Money! Get the Money! It does nobody any good to lock out your computer or corrupt it, without some sort of exploit to get money out of your bank account or credit cards. But if you want to sign up for WebRoot again, that's fine. Personally, I run Windows Defender on my Wife's Computer and don't run any Virus Software on my Mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 25 Share Posted January 25 Adobe's products are using the Video GPU for a performance boost overall, and to run things for its fancy modules. So if your Video Card isn't "Beefy" enough, Photoshop forces your computer to work harder. Sometimes Windows 11 has an update that is installed, and it Royally screws up Windows, causing all sorts of issues. Unfortunately, there is no single "Magic Answer" to tell you how to fix. There could be 1 thing or the combination of things that are causing your sluggishness. What I want to know is, what are you actually doing when it starts the "Jet Engines." If it's something like Liquify, then it's definitely the Video Card or it's Drivers. Speaking of which, what Video Card are you using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 My subscription officially expired and now I have been getting spam emails. So i feel like I need something, but when I can't seem to find the same product I had before. I am up to date on the Windows update. Sometimes I am working is PS and sometimes I am sitting on the other side of the room and no where near it when it starts running like that. Using NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 On Webroot's website I went through their "help me choose" for a plan and it suggested Webroot Security Complete. I googled it and it's $15 cheaper on Amazon than purchasing through their website. Would there be a major difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 With Security Complete, you are paying for a Password Keeper and Cloud Storage on top of the WebRoot stuff. If you want to go that route, "it's fine," I guess. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 3 hours ago, CatherineL said: Using NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6G Dear Lord... I'm surprised Photoshop is working at all, especially if you are running the latest version of PS CC. Yeah, that Video Card doesn't have enough horsepower for Photoshop in 2025. Your lagging will just get worse as time goes on. Here is a list of recommended Video Cards for Photoshop. I recommend one with a score of 10,000 or better in 2025. The closest to your Video Card is a GeForce GTX 1060 with 5GB of Video Memory and that has a score of 4189. Before you head down this Rabbit Hole, it really sounds like you upgraded to Windows 11 on a 4 year old computer, and the components inside, while good 4 years ago, doesn't hold up to what Photoshop is now. This is why I recommend such expensive things and jump up-and-down about Video Cards. Adobe keeps upgrading Photoshop, it seems 2-3 times per year these days, and unless you have BEEFY Hardware, you can't blindly upgrade thinking things will work. I know folks like to purchase things they can afford, but what they really need to do is purchase things they NEED, and plan for the computer 4 years from now. Otherwise, you are buying a new computer every 36-48 months to keep up with software. Gone are the days of running Photoshop CS6 for 12 years. Feel free to purchase the WebRoot if you'd like. Personally, I wouldn't...but it's not my money. I would, however...start saving up for a new computer. Why a new computer? Because Video Cards these days are like "Computers within Computers." They are HUGE and a new NVIDIA RTX 4070 or 4080 (Hell, even one like a 3070 or 3080) won't physically fit inside your computer. Plus, you have to upgrade the Power Supply, and then your Motherboard probably won't have the type of slot you need to support it, then you have to buy a new Motherboard, RAM that will work and then a CPU Chip. All for a friggin' Video Card. It's just easier to purchase a new computer all at once. Cheaper too. To show you what I mean about purchasing a Video Card off the shelf, here is a YouTube Sort Video of someone installing a NVIDIA 4080 in their computer. Now you know what I mean about "HUGE." Try fitting one of those damn things into your Dell. LOL!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 Wow, seems like it a snowball effect. I just purchased a laptop, so I will most likely hold off until black Friday for a desktop deal, unless you know of any that happen before (hoping it makes it that long). Thanks so much for the explanation, I appreciate it so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineL Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 How do I know I have enough security on my desktop? What programs should I be looking for? Just windows defender? I do some banking online so that's my main concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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