Troubleshoot Windows 10 laptop slow boot time and slow in general.

[grimreaper1014]

Briefly explain your current issue(s)

Slow booting into Windows and slow, slow to load programs, and overall sluggishness of the laptop.

Steps taken to resolve, but have been unsuccessful

Got rid of Windows 10 from HP with HP baked in software.
Upgrading all the drivers to the latest version per manufacturers website.
Replaced 5400RPM 1 TB drive with Samsung 840 EVO,
Used msconfig to remove boot software.
Used CCleaner to cleanup leftover crap and Windows 10 upgrade remnants.
Optimized SSD drive.

Hi guys,

My desktop croaked so I inherited a cheap laptop. Its an HP. I decided to do my own fresh install of Windows 10 to avoid all the baked in crap from HP. I noticed majority of the slowness was due to the hard drive. It was a junk 5400RPM 1 TB platter. I yanked it out and upgraded it to a Samsung EVO 840 I had laying around from the desktop that died. This laptop isn't much to marvel at. I mean I know its going to be a slow pos. It only had a 1.6Ghz Intel Celeron processor with boost to 2.4GHz I think it said and a single RAM slot with 4Gbs of ram. However, for just web browsing I feel like it should be faster than this. I checked the speeds in Samsung Magician for the SSD speeds both read and writes are over 500MB/s both directions. So that rules it out. I also optimized the drive once I got everything installed. I know how to remove items from bootup. I did that part. However, I have read scheduled tasks can cause slow boot up and overall sluggishness of a computer. I downloaded autoruns. This way I can see everything thats firing up. However, its a little over my head. Can someone recommend what I could disable? I included screenshots.

Thanks,
Rocky

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Well guys I all the tweaks CyberTech recommended, removed Windows bloatware, and disabled unwanted services. I have to say this bay is humming along nicely. Even with Kaspersky cloud security. Thanks again for your help fellas.

PS. Is there a very easy to use Linus distro that looks similar to Windows? My mom uses the laptop sometimes. I have hardly no experience with Linux and she isnt even very good with Windows lmao. Therefore, if I do decide to switch I need something relatively simple to tackle.

Have a look here:

7 Linux Distributions to Replace Windows 11 & 10

Looking for a Windows-like Linux? Here are the best Linux distributions that look like Windows.

itsfoss.com

 

[bayasdev]

@grimreaper1014 you can give Lubuntu a try

 

[grimreaper1014]

Thanks guys. What about drivers? Is Linux pretty good with finding drivers? Will I have to go to all the device manufacturers and try to find Linux drivers? There were some I couldn't find updated drivers for on windows 10 so I used a program from iobit to find updated drivers. I forget what its called right now.

 

[South Park]

Thanks guys. What about drivers? Is Linux pretty good with finding drivers? Will I have to go to all the device manufacturers and try to find Linux drivers? There were some I couldn't find updated drivers for on windows 10 so I used a program from iobit to find updated drivers. I forget what its called right now.

The Ubuntu distros (incl. Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, and Mint) are usually pretty good at finding drivers unless you're using brand-new hardware. Some hardware (like in my case, a Panda wireless adapter) includes a Linux driver. FWIW, I had no problems running the Puppy-based Fatdog 64 Linux on a 2010-era low-spec laptop: everything worked, incl. networking and the touchpad, which can cause problems with some Linux distros.

 

[grimreaper1014]

The Ubuntu distros (incl. Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, and Mint) are usually pretty good at finding drivers unless you're using brand-new hardware. Some hardware (like in my case, a Panda wireless adapter) includes a Linux driver. FWIW, I had no problems running the Puppy-based Fatdog 64 Linux on a 2010-era low-spec laptop: everything worked, incl. networking and the touchpad, which can cause problems with some Linux distros.

Cool thanks for you help I really appreciate it. Now I just have to find a distro I like. With some many to pick from this is a challenging task lol.

 

[sepik]

You can also test linux distros online via Distrotest.net. It's good site especially if you want to test different Desktop Environments(DE), like KDE Plasma, MATE, Cinnamon, XFCE, LXQT. KDE Plasma looks good(more eye candy) but it needs more horse power to run efficiently. XFCE/LXQT runs very fast on older PC, but without "eyecandy". MATE and Cinnamon are middle of those in terms of eyecandy and resource usage.

Examples:
Distrotest Mint (Cinnamon, Mate, XFCE Desktop Environments)
Distrotest Lubuntu (LXQT)
Distrotest Manjaro (KDE Plasma)

When testing distros via Distrowatch, the mouse movement is bit slow. But you'll get a picture of how those DE's look like.

Kind regards,
-sepik

 

[grimreaper1014]

I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on Ubuntu I did a google search for easy to use linux distro for beginners. Ubuntu was the fist one on the list. I took it for a test drive using distrotest.net. I looked it over a bit. Some of it looks confusing which makes it a bit intimidating. However, I'm sure once I get it installed and go look at more things since distrotest.net seamed to be limited that I will get the hang of it. I said it is a version of linux that doesn't rely on the command line. Which sounds really attractive to me as I hate messing around typing in commands etc. Another thing I'm concerned about is getting Wine installed. I want to install it just in case a program I want to run doesn't have a linux version. Also, there might be some Windows software my mom want to install. She is an RN so she has some nursing CD's she installs. I'm going to try to install it now. I will report back and let you guys know what I think. That way maybe someone can offer some suggestipons or maybe a new distro entirely. Thanks again fellas.

 

[grimreaper1014]

Anyone know a way I can make an easy backup of my current Windows 10 install? That way if it turns out I dont like Linux I can return back? Prefferably I would like to backup to DVD-R or DVD+R as I have a lot of both.

 

[South Park]

This is the backup most people have recommended to me, though I haven't personally used it yet: Macrium Reflect Free. When installing Ubuntu, there should be an option to keep your current Windows installation, which I would highly recommend in any case.

(My situation is unusual in that I only use portable software, so I just keep a backup of my data, the Windows iso, and my portable app settings.)

 

[grimreaper1014]

This is the backup most people have recommended to me, though I haven't personally used it yet: Macrium Reflect Free. When installing Ubuntu, there should be an option to keep your current Windows installation, which I would highly recommend in any case.

(My situation is unusual in that I only use portable software, so I just keep a backup of my data, the Windows iso, and my portable app settings.)

Thanks for you help. I can only run one had drive at a time in this PC as thats all it has room for. The SSD is only like 240GB. So my issue with running Windows and Linux was hard drive space. However, I don't think it will be much of a problem as I dont install much software. I just have my web browser and email client really.

I'm wondering how hard it is to install programs in Wine. Thats going to be a big problem if my mom wants to install her nursing software. It looks easy to install wine. However, as I mention is I wonder how hard it is to install actual programs? Do yoju have any experience wit Wine?

 

[South Park]

Thanks for you help. I can only run one had drive at a time in this PC as thats all it has room for. The SSD is only like 240GB. So my issue with running Windows and Linux was hard drive space. However, I don't think it will be much of a problem as I dont install much software. I just have my web browser and email client really.

I'm wondering how hard it is to install programs in Wine. Thats going to be a big problem if my mom wants to install her nursing software. It looks easy to install wine. However, as I mention is I wonder how hard it is to install actual programs? Do yoju have any experience wit Wine?

I haven't used Wine because I mostly run Linux-compatible software already (like Firefox) and I only use Linux as a "Live USB." Wine 5.x is supposed to be a major improvement over earlier versions, but some Windows-only apps (esp. games and business software) still probably won't work too well with it. There's an installation guide at How to install and configure Wine on ubuntu 20.04 – Linux Hint

 

[South Park]

Anyone know a way I can make an easy backup of my current Windows 10 install? That way if it turns out I dont like Linux I can return back? Prefferably I would like to backup to DVD-R or DVD+R as I have a lot of both.

Here's something that might be helpful: a free promotional license for AOMEI Backupper Pro: Promotional - AOMEI Backupper Professional 5.7 - Free License

 

[grimreaper1014]

I haven't used Wine because I mostly run Linux-compatible software already (like Firefox) and I only use Linux as a "Live USB." Wine 5.x is supposed to be a major improvement over earlier versions, but some Windows-only apps (esp. games and business software) still probably won't work too well with it. There's an installation guide at How to install and configure Wine on ubuntu 20.04 – Linux Hint

Thanks again bro I appreciate all your help. You guys are awesome. Very responsive and very helpful!

 

[grimreaper1014]

Well I decided to get rid of Windows completely and just run Lubuntu from the Samsung 840 evo. Its only a 240 gig hard drive so I was worried about space running them both. Supposedly Lubuntu is supposed to be a little easier than Ubunta. I have a .iso with Ubunta too just in case.
I didn't realize when installing it starts a live session and you have to install from the desktop. I was like what the heck is going on here lol. I am sitting at the install screen right now and it is formatting the drive. Installation seams to be going really quick. I am a little intimidated though because I hope I possess the knowledge to be able to learn Linux.
Are there any things I should do when I get up and running? I have certain things I do after installing Windows. Like I do my tweaks and install my AV. Plus I update all my drivers etc. Do I need a AV on Lubuntu? If so what is a good free one? I am digging the eye candy so far. Kinda has a little retro feel to it. I heard Ubunta is supposed to have way more eye candy. Will check back and let you guys know how things go. Thanks again fellas.