Laptop slowing down the longer it's on...

[DJ...]

For that spec machine to slow down like that without full usage CPU is odd.

Is it not perhaps a malfunctioning driver problem with the touch screen. Perhaps try disable it.

Not even sure how to disable it. Will google...

Right. What sort of files do you deal with mostly on the machine? Mostly Office, or more intensive applications (Photoshop etc)?

What is the RAM usage when the machine starts to slow down? Can you post a screenshot of task manager when the machine starts to slow down?

Also have you changed the pagefile size at all? If not and you only work with mild programs, try disabling it completely.

I only use it for web browsing, XBMC, and work (Excel, Email, Word, PowerPoint, and a few other minor programs that don't chow much CPU or ram. To give you an example, it's in the process of slowing down. The Windows taskbar takes a second to show (hidden by default) and is jittery when it shows. Task manager takes 5 seconds just to open. Here's a screenshot of the task manager (busy running a Windows Defender full scan at the moment)

 

[DJ...]

Speccy temps:

 

[w1z4rd]

My three guesses would be:


1) Over heating. This can become a problem especially if you are a smoker. When I used to smoke I often had to clean my laptop to maintain performance. (though I see your temps are not that high)
2) Virus. Windows defender is a very poor performing AV and not recommended (though this should show up in your cpu usage)
3) Faulty hard disk. Your hard drive could be corrupt and on its way out.
4) Hard disk is too full and you are running out of pagefile space.

If its none of those I would format and reload. It could just be Microsoft software rot.

 

[DJ...]

1) Over heating. This can become a problem especially if you are a smoker. When I used to smoke I often had to clean my laptop to maintain performance. (though I see your temps are not that high)

The temps are always fine when it slows down. It just happened now and I had to restart, and the temps were all perfect...

2) Virus. Windows defender is a very poor performing AV and not recommended (though this should show up in your cpu usage)

Unlikely. Windows Defender shows nothing wrong and I've honestly not done a single dodgy thing on this machine...

3) Faulty hard disk. Your hard drive could be corrupt and on its way out.

Downloading Hard Disk Sentinel now to test...

4) Hard disk is too full and you are running out of pagefile space.

Still have 630gigs free so definitely not the problem...

If its none of those I would format and reload. It could just be Microsoft software rot.

Already done this and the problem returned, which leads me to think that it's a hardware fault somewhere. My first thoughts were with the graphics card with this schitty crossover between Intel HD and the Nvidia graphics card. But testing the HDD now to see if that's the problem...

 

[Eskomisaloser]

Hmmm, Temps look normal. How long has the laptop been on for?

Ghoti brings up some valid points, it could be a faulty HDD. Try running the command chkdsk: http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/how-to-scan-fix-hard-drives-with-chkdsk-in-windows-8/

Is your bios recent?

 

[DJ...]

I've done two things:

Updated the BIOS, and disabled iObit Start Menu 8 to see if that's perhaps the problem, as I had a previous Windows 8 machine not like the start menu replacement app...

 

[DJ...]

Hmmm, Temps look normal. How long has the laptop been on for?

Was on for 12 hours before I reset it a few minutes ago. Had to for the BIOS update in any case. BTW, when I did the BIOS update, the moment I clicked next to perform the actual update, the fans went berserk as if the machine wanted to take off...

 

[DJ...]

HDD Sentinel reckons the hard drive is absolutely perfect...

 

[GoofySmurf]

I bought the HP Pavilion Touchsmart 15 n267si a few months ago on account of the great specs

Touch screen
Intel® Core™ i7-4500U
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM (1 x 4 GB, 1 x 4 GB)
1 TB 5400 rpm SATA
HD BrightView LED-backlit touch screen (1366 x 768)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)

Problem is it has been getting slower and slower, the longer it remains switched on, yet there is no indication in the task manager of any memory or CPU issues. It gets so bad that I have to restart the machine twice a day now to get it to function properly. I've reinstalled the OS, updated to the latest Windows 8.1 updates. Updated drivers for the thing. I'm at my wits end with this machine now. It feels slow to start up (takes about a minute and a half until it's usable from a restart), but then gradually it just slows down until it's literally unusable and I have to do a hard reset with the power button as I can't even open the menus to get to the power options.

I'm hoping someone can advise me on what tests to run to determine the problem, and perhaps I can fix it myself without sending this thing in for who knows how long it's going to take to diagnose and resolve...

Its overheating ... your cpu/gpu is being throttled most probably as that is the only time something like this will happen. You can download HWmonitor or coretemp for your cpu temps and MSI afterburner for your gpu temp.

 

[DJ...]

Its overheating ... your cpu/gpu is being throttled most probably as that is the only time something like this will happen. You can download HWmonitor or coretemp for your cpu temps and MSI afterburner for your gpu temp.

Got Speccy installed and watched it while it went through the last slow-down cycle. Nothing was overheating at all. I can assure you that this machine is running cool - barely even warm to the touch underneath...

 

[GoofySmurf]

Got Speccy installed and watched it while it went through the last slow-down cycle. Nothing was overheating at all. I can assure you that this machine is running cool - barely even warm to the touch underneath...

The laptop is faulty then take it back and get an RMA.

 

[Electric]

I agree with it being faulty.
If you know PCs and you are out of options, RMA.

 

[TehStranger]

Could be caused by a fault graphics driver. If you've downloaded the latest, do some reading to see if there are any common issues. If their are, download an older driver and see if that helps.

Otherwise RMA and make it someone else's problem.

 

[Eskomisaloser]

Hmm, If it's still slow after all of this then I agree with the RMA crowd. Not worth the hassles.

Maybe contact HP about the issue, they were helpful the last time I dealt with them which was aprox two months back.

http://www8.hp.com/za/en/contact-hp/contact.html

 

[DJ...]

So far all is working perfectly. No indication of it slowing down yet.

So either the BIOS update solved it, or it's the start menu replacement app that was causing issues. It also feels much quicker now - kinda like how it was when I first got it.

I honestly think it might have been the start menu replacement app that was causing issues as I had the same problem on another machine a while back...

 

[Electric]

hmmm, so not quite a base install of windows.

You make us jump through hoops.....

 

[The_Unbeliever]

@DJ... - look at this site : http://pcdecrapifier.com/

Maybe it will be of some help?

 

[DJ...]

hmmm, so not quite a base install of windows.

You make us jump through hoops.....

Sorry, I never know what's relevant and what's not. Machine is flying now, so it must have been the start menu thing. Which is crap, because this new Windows 8 "start screen" is horrendous. I never know where to find apps, and I hardly remember the names of all the apps I install, so searching doesn't help either. Isn't there some way to view recently installed programs/apps now? Fsck, I really do hate this new start screen...

 

[DJ...]

@DJ... - look at this site : http://pcdecrapifier.com/

Maybe it will be of some help?

Thanks Libs. Considering the specs this thing shouldn't get bogged down by bloatware, although I did my own manual cleaning up of this crap when I reinstalled the OS a few weeks ago...

 

[Rickster]

Switch the power saving option to High Performance, if that doesnt help install Windows 7, just to test.