HELP !! Laptop has become slow and CPU issues

[Sparky19]

I have a Compaq Presario C700 series Core 2 Duo laptop which is 4 years old. In the last one week or so my laptop has become very slow. Browsing on it has become a pain because it takes a long time to open pages. For record i have a 4mbps connection. When i stream videos on youtube, or play any videos they keep flickering and freezing and makes viewing very uncomfortable.
I have installed Core Temp app, and as now as i type it reads 64 63. I also have Vista provided CPU usage meter and Ram usage meter on my desktop. The CPU usage meter is always running high in 80 % or 90% range. When i open the task manager and see what all System processes are running, i find that only those applications that i am using are running. So not sure what the CPU is using.

It would be helpful if you guys can help me out here.


Edit : Will upgrading RAM solve the problem ? Presently i have 2gb ram.

 

[dashing.sujay]

Frankly, 4GB RAM is min today. My roomie has same laptop and no issues as of now.

PS: After you upgrade RAM, do a clean install. And use HwMonitor for temp monitoring.

 

[Sparky19]

Frankly, 4GB RAM is min today. My roomie has same laptop and no issues as of now.

Noted.
But, it was working fine until recently with 2gb RAM. So could there be any other problem too ?
Because i see the problem with CPU meter and not RAM.

 

[dashing.sujay]

Noted.
But, it was working fine until recently with 2gb RAM. So could there be any other problem too ?
Because i see the problem with CPU meter and not RAM.

There are some processes which throttle CPU uselessly. I too faced this problem sometimes. Also, have you applied thermal paste after you bought laptop as 63° is on a bit higher side.

 

[Sparky19]

There are some processes which throttle CPU uselessly. I too faced this problem sometimes. Also, have you applied thermal paste after you bought laptop as 63° is on a bit higher side.

I did check the processes running using the Task Manager, but nothing else is running apart from what i am using
Can you please tell me what thermal paste is for ? and what benefit would i have from it ? No i have applied none.

Well 63 is as of now. But it has touched higher temperatures like 70s and 80s too. I used to love playing FIFA on my computer, but i cant play it anymore as my system shuts down when i run the game

 

[dashing.sujay]

I did check the processes running using the Task Manager, but nothing else is running apart from what i am using
Can you please tell me what thermal paste is for ? and what benefit would i have from it ? No i have applied none.

Well 63 is as of now. But it has touched higher temperatures like 70s and 80s too. I used to love playing FIFA on my computer, but i cant play it anymore as my system shuts down when i run the game

Thermal paste is a liquid material which acts as coolent in order to reduce CPU temps. Get it done by a mechanic if you're not comfortable opening the laptop, it will cost around 200/-. After that, add RAM and format, and bingo!

 

[ratul]

I did check the processes running using the Task Manager, but nothing else is running apart from what i am using
Can you please tell me what thermal paste is for ? and what benefit would i have from it ? No i have applied none.

Well 63 is as of now. But it has touched higher temperatures like 70s and 80s too. I used to love playing FIFA on my computer, but i cant play it anymore as my system shuts down when i run the game

higher CPU usually means that a virus or a faulty driver is taking the toll on precious CPU...
First download Process Monitor..
After that, take the note of the process taking the CPU, and then in it's details look for the thread which is taking most of it, end the thread and it should be fine..
Also, check for viruses with a good antivirus, i recommend scanning with Kaspersky Anti-virus and then with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware..
Trust me, i used to have alot of these high CPU usage problems on my Celeron once, mostly used to be a faulty process..

 

[Sparky19]

I downloaded Process monitor and ran the program. This is what i am getting. When i took the screenshot, i had loaded only 68% and it was taking forever. Could the problem be because of too many processes running then ?

Could you please tell me again as to how to use this software ?

higher CPU usually means that a virus or a faulty driver is taking the toll on precious CPU...
First download Process Monitor..
After that, take the note of the process taking the CPU, and then in it's details look for the thread which is taking most of it, end the thread and it should be fine..
Also, check for viruses with a good antivirus, i recommend scanning with Kaspersky Anti-virus and then with MalwareBytes Anti-Malware..
Trust me, i used to have alot of these high CPU usage problems on my Celeron once, mostly used to be a faulty process..

 

[ratul]

View attachment 6712
I downloaded Process monitor and ran the program. This is what i am getting. When i took the screenshot, i had loaded only 68% and it was taking forever. Could the problem be because of too many processes running then ?

Could you please tell me again as to how to use this software ?

Firstly, use firefox, running chrome in 2GB RAM is not considered a good habit unless you are a light browser, firefox won't create process for every tab you open, thus reducing memory usage and CPU, i have 8GB RAM, still i use firefox, and normally it stays <300MB range, i never in my life touched (and never will) chrome, it's a resource hog..
And you are new to process monitor??? well, then it would be difficult for me to explain here it's usage, it's a long process to find a culprit there, if you are finding it difficult to use, then you can also try Process Explorer..
It's a toned down version of Process monitor, and advanced version for Windows Task Manager, so it should give you better view...
Try it and then post screenshot again..

 

[Sparky19]

And you are new to process monitor??? well, then it would be difficult for me to explain here it's usage, it's a long process to find a culprit there, if you are finding it difficult to use, then you can also try Process Explorer..
It's a toned down version of Process monitor, and advanced version for Windows Task Manager, so it should give you better view...
Try it and then post screenshot again..

I restarted my laptop and ran Process monitor. It was the only program running and it showed 51 Processes. So is it like i am supposed to kill all those processes ?

 

[ratul]

I restarted my laptop and ran Process monitor. It was the only program running and it showed 51 Processes. So is it like i am supposed to kill all those processes ?
View attachment 6714

no, don't kill all the process, usage is ~1% shown in this pic, arrange processes acc to CPU usage(click on CPU tab on top), and post the pic when you have high usage, over 60% idling..(as you said 80-90% idling)..