So is this normal wear and tear on a PC?

So I just need a bit of outside perspective on this because I have a tendency to be a hypochondriac and "make up" problems. Anyways, I got my current PC last april with my tax return. So its over a year old now and I've noticed its just slower than it used to be. And yes I do run virus and spyware checks on a regular basis. Its just like a couple of minutes ago I woke up the computer from sleep mode and stuff like for instance doing the Ctr+Alt+Del to bring up the menu on Win7 to lock it and launch task manager actually takes a second to load or I'll click on say open my Documents folder which houses all my media stuff will take a second to load etc. After I click on something once though it will load instantly.

Like once I actually click on something or run a program its fine this usually only happens after I leave it in sleep mode for awhile. The HDD doesn't seem to be making any alarming sounding noises and like I said I defrag and run spyware/malware checks on the regular. So is this just normal wear and tear because it still operates fine its just not the spring chicken it used to be when i got it last year. I mean i can run games like Saints Row 3 at near max settings no problems. Anyways, could use some outside perspective.

Sometimes the best thing to do is just reformat your hard drive and reinstall Windows, but what virus and spyware tools are you using? Also what are your specs?

Run msconfig and take a look at what's in your startup and services tabs. There may be plenty of junk in there that's slowing your machine down. If you're not sure what a program is or why it's on either of those lists, google it before disabling. There shouldn't be any meaningful wear and tear from a hardware perspective--your processor or memory shouldn't be any slower--but certainly even non-virus non-spyware stuff will get on your computer that can slow you down.

as a rule i format my OS every 6-8 month to clean up all the files etc that are left behind once i uninstall programs. check your CPU temp that might also cause slowing down. u should also replace the thermal paste at least once a year. seems like you need to format if you havnt done it since you got the PC.

i did a clean install today on my laptop and its way faster now.

Dust can be a major power sapper. Get a can of compressed air and open up your case.

@wewantsthering:

• Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
• AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 925 Processor
• 4 GB RAM
• Radeon 5570
• 1TB HDD I think its a Hitachi drive.

As for my spyware stuff I use AVG , Spybot S&D and Anti-Malware Bytes

It mostly is fine like I said I'm thinking its just normal wear because I know HDD shelf lives are usually 3 years and they do eventually start to not be as fast as they used to be.

Ya, it's something to do with your hard drive. Possibly cluttered with files so it's waking up slower or something.

Could try a defrag, but if that doesn't change it it probably just needs a clean install.

@rebgav: How would I go about that? I bought this thing pre-assembled from Newegg and It came with the OS preloaded. Is there a way to make a disc to do this in windows?

sounds like you are talking about waking a sleeping hard drive.

sleep mode puts the hard drive at rest, 1st time accessing it after that will cause a delay, after which things should be normal.

@stinky: Yeah thats basically what happens. Usually when I click on stuff after it being asleep for awhile it takes a second to load things the first time after that everything is really snappy like it should be.

Defrag, see if it improves, if it doesn't, save stuff you actually care about and format.

I do a yearly format now every december so my PC is fresh and quick for all the gaming during the cold months.

Check power settings and make sure its not putting your hard drive to sleep for inactivity.  Format at least once a year?  Thats crazy.  How many apps and shit are you installing/deinstalling?  Probably running amd.. HEYO!
 
I would also check for dust as it will build up quite easily.

Thanks for whoever mentioned checking the power settings. Apparently my current power settings had the HDD shutting off at 20 minutes. I'll try changing that that could indeed be the issue.

you should try CCcleaner. it deletes stuff that is left behind when deleting things. see if that helps.

@iam3green said:

you should try CCcleaner. it deletes stuff that is left behind when deleting things. see if that helps.

Registry cleaners are a no-no. I couldn't begin to list all of the times I've heard that.

Anyway @Demoskinos

• Dust out your computer - yeah, this can make it a little slower
• Run MSCONFIG and shutdown anything you don't want to be at Startup. (Questions? Ask Google. I can't help you much because I don't know what all you've got in there))
• Defrag (probably won't help much these days but you never know)
• Uninstall any programs that you don't want
• If you leave it on all the time, then turn it off and leave it off for a while.

Over time, Windows does slow down a bit and a fresh install will make it faster. However, after just a year of use it shouldn't be slowing down by much. Try the above first.

Reinstalling Windows isn't really needed anymore, I had a installation of 7 that was a year old and still felt super quick. My current install is 6 months old and feels exactly the same as it did when I installed it too, then again I am now using an SSD so of course it's fast.

@stinky said:

sounds like you are talking about waking a sleeping hard drive.

Why is it when you said this I thought of this...

I must be reading way to much Lovecraft lately.

@rebgav said:

@Demoskinos: I haven't dealt with a pre-loaded OS in over a decade so I really have no idea what you'd need to do. I'd check the forums for the retailer and the manufacturer for information.

There is probably a factory partition on the HDD that has the system restore information. My laptop is set up like that...also from like a decade ago, so maybe they dont do that anymore...

Question for all the people that reinstall the OS regularly: do you just store all your files on a HD (and then recopy them) and reinstall all your programs? I feel like that would be a bit of a hassle.

Nothing like a good reformat. Back when I played games super seriously I used to reformat every three months.

Clean out all the crap in the registry and msconfig and get all the shit out of your startup and services list. Download CCleaner and use that.