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...
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