What do I need to do to keep my equipment running as efficiently as possible?

Note:

This article is part of a series of materials on the system and gaming performance. When troubleshooting performance issues, please strictly follow all step by step instructions in the article.

Diagnose performance problems

Performance issues such as low frame rates or intermittent slowdowns can be caused by bugs, ineffective game coding, or hardware issues. Before contacting support, it is worth checking to see if your computer is the source of the problem. Hardware issues do not affect all games the same way, so even if you are only experiencing problems with one game, it is a good idea to check your hardware.

All troubleshooting advice is based on your using Windows. Some of the tools used are third party and not owned by Valve. Their mention here does not imply their endorsement or guarantee of effectiveness by Valve. The list below is also not an exhaustive list of available tools.

Reduced CPU performance

Sometimes while gaming, you may notice your CPU slowing down due to overheating or going into battery saving mode. Sometimes sudden changes in frame rate in a game occur precisely because of such slowdown. If the frame rate does not improve after lowering the resolution, then the problem is due to processor performance and you should take the following troubleshooting steps.

Most Valve games have a built-in command to track your CPU speed. By adding "+cpu_frequency_monitoring 2" to the CS:GO command line, you can monitor your CPU speed every two seconds. The measured frequency is compared with the speed of Windows response to the processor, and then the percentage ratio is displayed in the cl_showfps and net_graph graphs. At normal operation the ratio should be 90% or higher. At 80% and below, overheating and thermal braking are possible. If you notice a decrease in processor performance when the game slows down, then you can assume that overheating is the cause of the problem. Since this is a hardware problem (a well-designed computer should never overheat), the only solution is to fix the hardware by replacing the CPU heatsink, improving ventilation, etc. A ratio greater than 100% means that your processor is self-overclocking (TurboCore or TurboBoost) and is working properly.

There are also third-party tools to help identify these types of problems.
The CPU-Z app (http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html) is a publicly available tool that shows your CPU speed in real time. If you run the game in a window and CPU-Z next door, you can monitor the CPU speed and see if the speed drops when the game slows down. Unfortunately, some types of thermal stunting are not measured correctly by CPU-Z.

Since the main cause of slow CPU performance is overheating, monitoring the CPU temperature will also help determine what's wrong. The Real Temp app (http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/) only supports Intel processors. And the Core Temp application (http://alcpu.com/CoreTemp/) supports Intel and AMD processors. Please note that the maximum permissible temperature may vary depending on the manufacturer and model. See http://www.alcpu.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=892 for additional information. Temperature tracking generally never shows a temperature reading above normal because the device modern processors provides for reduced performance to avoid overheating. Consequently, approaching the temperature to the maximum permissible norm should in itself be considered problematic.

If your processor is overheating, it means that the cooling system is not functioning properly. This can be caused by poor design (the heatsink is too small or inadequate ventilation), poor placement (a computer in a stereo cabinet can be damaged by lack of fresh air), or dust clogging the vents and heatsink openings. Make sure that your computer has cool air flow in the room, that the vents are not blocked by carpeting, and that you open the computer and remove any dust that has accumulated on the surface.

Insufficient memory

Modern games use a huge amount of memory, while players leave others running programs turned on during the game, which leads to the fact that even computers with 4 GB or more memory begin to function with reduced performance. If your system doesn't have enough memory, it will start switching the game or Steam to disk, which will cause multiple frame rate drops. In addition, if Windows does not have sufficient free space random access memory, it will not be able to cache frequently used files, taking too long to load levels.

In practice, try to make sure that the amount of available memory (Vista version and higher) in the “Performance” tab of the task manager is indicated in an amount of at least 1000 MB. Better yet, have 2000 MB or more. If the amount of available memory drops below 800 MB, Windows will begin writing data to disk to free up more memory. This explains the fact that the memory level almost never drops below the 800 MB mark, so care must be taken to ensure that it never approaches this figure.

There can never be too much memory. If the available memory is 8+ GB, Windows will be able to cache a lot of files, which will lead to fast loading levels and restarting games without problems.

Hard drive slowdown

Sometimes data is read and written during the game. If the hard drive responds quickly, these operations will cause short-term or completely unnoticeable changes in frame rate. However, slowing down the drive's response for a certain period of time will cause the game to pause accordingly.

Surprisingly, these long pauses happen most often with SSDs (solid state drives). Some SSDs, especially those that are nearly full, begin to perform significant internal maintenance at inopportune times. Using the Resource Monitor will help determine what is happening. You can launch Resource Monitor by typing its name into the search field of the Start menu. Then go to the “My Disk” tab and open the “Disk Performance” section. The Response Time column shows the disk's response time to requests. Click on a column heading to sort the results by response time. This will give you the opportunity to track extremely slow disk response due to frame rate issues while playing. Response times greater than 10-20ms may cause performance issues while gaming.

Some hard disks go into sleep mode, slowing down the rotation of the plates, only after 10-15 seconds of inactivity of the disk. Such drives will be slower to respond to read requests because they will need to start spinning the platters again to read the data. This will cause significant delays in the disk operation, which clearly manifest themselves during the game and lead to serious drops in frame rate.

If you encounter a bad Windows 7 performance, the system freezes quite often, or maybe the program does not respond, and so on, then you can try some of my suggestions and recommendations that may help you solve these issues.

Selective launch:

Most of the time, startup services can cause problems that affect system performance. A clean boot may resolve the service that is causing the problem. To determine this we can use system setup program to find her.

It goes without saying that the first thing to do is always create system restore points!

In the Start menu, in the search box, type MSCONFIG and press Enter.

In the General tab, uncheck the box - Load startup items and then go to the tab - Service.

Then check the box on “Hide all Microsoft services” and click on “Disable all”. Click the Apply button and restart your computer.

After restarting the computer, you will see whether the issue is resolved or not. If yes, then return to MSCONFIG and first of all go to the tab - Startup and make the first launch of the element and reboot the system. You should do the same procedure until you find which services or startup items are causing the system to crash. I know it may take a while to find out which service is down, but it is not recommended to constantly start the system in - Selective Startup. Because Selective Startup does not fix, but troubleshoots to find the culprit that is causing the system to fail.

Trust me, most of the performance related issues can be resolved in this step.

Driver Update:

Outdated drivers can cause your system to crash, so it's a good step to keep your device drivers up to date. You can find the exact model of device drivers and check the version and date of the driver, you can use the MSINFO32 file for this.

In the Start menu search field, type and press Enter.

This is what MSINFO32 looks like, select each non-Microsoft device and on the right sidebar you will find the device model, driver version and date, etc. Once you find the driver name, date and version, go to the manufacturer's website and in the appropriate section, download the driver and install it.

Do not use Windows updates or third party applications For automatic update drivers because most of the time Windows updates or any of the third party applications will not find the latest and greatest drivers which can crash the system even causing a blue screen.

Advice: I have seen many cases where drivers are causing display issues or lag related to performance, it is better to update or reinstall the relevant drivers from the manufacturer's website.

Maintenance system:

The service system is important point when troubleshooting a performance issue.

Windows Update: It is important to update the operating system on a regular basis, as there are many updates that will resolve issues of increasing system security. Feel free to run the update. If you have some errors when updating or if the update fails to run from Microsoft, use the tool System Update Readiness Tool. Microsoft has released a tool System Update Readiness Tool to resolve certain conditions that may result in the installation of updates and other software that does not work as expected. You don't need to manually run this tool. This tool automatically connects your computer to Windows Update with the proviso that the tool can resolve performance issues.

Cleaning Junk Files: The program may not seem like a big step towards solving issues like system performance, but trust me, there are many situations where this program does the trick. There is a built-in cleaning tool in Windows 7 which will help you delete temporary files etc, but I would recommend free program which is called . It removes temporary and unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up hard drive space. It also clears traces of your online activities, such as Internet history.

You may or may not use Registry Cleaner, this or any other registry cleaner program. It won't do you any good operating system, may even damage the system. The decision is of course yours! Check out one of my articles for more information

Virus scan: Most often, malicious Trojan infections can lead to unstable behavior of your operating system. Run a full virus scan and make sure your computer is clean. There are many free antivirus programs. I would recommend has a very low system footprint and fewer false positives.

Then download free versions or Emsisoft Anti-Malware 6.0 and perform a full scan in safe mode. If you find an infection and cannot remove it, you can use the comment form below to ask a question and I will try to answer your questions about system security,i I will be more than happy to help you solve your problem.

System integrity check: teams SFC/SCANNOW(Examination system files) verifies the integrity of all protected system Windows files 7 and replaces incorrect and corrupted versions with correct versions if possible.

• Go to the Start menu and type CMD in the search field, then right-click on it and click on the Run as administrator button.
• Then enter the type SFC/SCANNOW
• This article will help you analyze SFC logs.

Equipment diagnostics:

The next step I would recommend is running a hardware scan to make sure there are no hardware failures causing the system to crash. Check your RAM first by following articles that explain the process to you Advanced Memory Diagnostic on Windows 7, with, run hard drive diagnostics, each manufacturer usually has its own diagnostic tools for checking hard drives .

The program monitors the status hard drives, monitors performance and temperature, and checks for fragmentation file system and registry. In this case, the fragmentation check occurs only at the moment when the computer is “idle” and all system resources are free. Download the verification program for free hard drive, you can use the following link - .

No less interesting and useful program for hard drives - - this program includes various tools for maintaining hard drives: bad sector repair tool, speed test, S.M.A.R.T information. ,hard drive surface test, media stability test and controller test.

Uses S.M.A.R.T. technology for monitoring the health status of the hard drive, thereby preventing data loss and predicting possible disk failures. The program also includes HDDBadSectorRepair (a technology for repairing and restoring bad sectors on a hard drive). Download for free using the following link

Last but not least is the version of legal Windows being used. An illegal or torrent copy may seem convenient, but you are exposing your data to security and risk, and this can raise many questions for your operating system.

No matter how fast and efficient new computers are, their performance may degrade over time. So even the state-of-the-art computer you bought last year won't be exciting after installing dozens of programs, downloading anti-spyware and anti-virus tools, and filling up your disk space with tons of junk from the Internet. Performance may decrease gradually, and you will hardly notice it until one day, when you open a program or file, you exclaim: “What happened to my poor computer?”

Whatever the reason, there are many ways to speed up Windows and improve your computer's performance without having to upgrade your hardware. Listed below are some tips for Windows optimization 7, providing increased productivity.

Using the Performance Troubleshooter

The first step is to use the performance troubleshooter, which automatically finds and fixes problems. This tool checks for settings that may be slowing down your computer, such as the number of users logged on and the number of programs running at the same time.

Open the Performance Troubleshooter. To do this, click the Start button and select Control Panel. In the search box, type problems and then select Troubleshoot. Under System and Security, select Search for performance issues.

Removing unused programs

Many manufacturers equip new computers with software that the customer did not order and may never use. These usually include trial editions and limited edition versions of programs. Companies hope that after trialing such software, the buyer will find it useful and will pay to upgrade to full or newer versions. Even if such programs are not used on the computer, they can slow it down by consuming valuable memory. disk space and computing power.

It is recommended to remove all programs that you do not plan to work with. This category should include both applications installed by the manufacturer and user programs that are no longer required, especially utility programs designed to manage and configure the hardware and software on your computer. Utility programs, such as virus scanners, disk cleanup, and backup tools, often start automatically when the system boots and run in background invisible to the user. Many users don't even know they are running.

Even older computer models may contain factory-installed programs that you never noticed or have long forgotten about their existence. However, it's never too late to remove them to clear up the clutter and reduce system resource usage. Some users believe that such programs may be needed in the future, but such a moment never comes. Remove them and see if your computer speeds up.

Limiting the number of programs launched at system boot

Many programs are designed to start automatically when Windows boots. Software manufacturers often set programs to run in the background, where the user cannot see them, so that when their icons are clicked, they will open immediately. This feature is useful for programs that are used regularly, but for programs that are used infrequently or not at all, it only wastes valuable memory and increases the time required to complete Windows startup.

Decide for yourself whether you want the program to start when the system boots.

How can you determine which programs automatically start when your system boots? In some cases, this is obvious because the program adds its icon to the notification area on the taskbar, where you can see it running. Browse this area to identify running programs. automatic start which are not required. Hover your mouse over each icon to display the program name. To view all icons, click the Show hidden icons button.

Show hidden icons button in the notification area

Even after checking the notification area, there may be some programs that automatically start when the system boots. AutoRuns for Windows is a free tool that can be downloaded from the Microsoft website. It displays all the programs and processes that start when Windows boots. To cancel program autorun when booting Windows, open the AutoRuns for Windows program and uncheck the box next to the name of the required program. AutoRuns for Windows is designed for advanced users.

Note

Some users prefer to manage the programs that start when the computer starts by using the System Configuration tool.

Defragmenting your hard drive

The high degree of file fragmentation makes HDD perform additional actions, which slows down the computer. Disk Defragmenter organizes fragmented data for more efficient work hard disk. Defragmentation of hard disk is launched according to a specified schedule, but this process can also be performed manually.

Cleaning your hard drive

Unused files take up space on your hard drive, which can slow down your computer. Disk Cleanup removes temporary files, empties the Recycle Bin, and removes many system files and other unused items.

Reducing the number of programs running simultaneously

In some cases, changing what your computer does can significantly affect its performance. If you're the type of computer user who keeps eight programs and a dozen browser windows open at once while sending instant messages to your friends, don't be surprised by your computer slowing down. Opening a large number of messages Email may also consume device memory.

If you notice that your computer's performance is slowing down, it is recommended that you leave only the most open necessary programs and windows. You don't have to keep every email open to remember to respond.

Make sure that only one antivirus program is running. Using multiple antivirus programs on your computer can also slow it down. If you are running multiple antivirus programs, the Help Center displays a notification and helps you resolve the problem.

Disabling visual effects

If your Windows operating system is running slowly, you can improve its performance by disabling some visual effects. In this case, you need to decide what is more important: appearance or performance. What OS Windows is better choose: faster or more attractive? If the computer is powerful enough, this choice is not necessary, but if the PC is only suitable for running Windows 7, reducing the number of visual decorations may be useful.

The user can individually choose which visual effects to turn off, or leave it to Windows. There are 20 visual effects available to control, such as the transparent glass effect, how to open and close menus, and the presence of shadows.

To configure all visual effects for optimal performance, follow these steps:

Regular restart

This is simple advice. Restart your computer at least once a week, especially if it is used frequently. Restarting the computer is effective method clear its memory and ensure that all failed processes and services are shut down.

When restarting everything closes software running on the computer: not only the programs displayed on the taskbar, but also a large number of services that are started by various programs and never stop. A restart may resolve strange performance issues that are difficult to pinpoint.

If you have too many programs, email messages, or websites open that you find difficult to close, this may indicate that you need to restart your computer. The more components are open and the longer they are used, the higher the likelihood that your computer will slow down and eventually run out of memory.

Adding Memory

This article does not provide guidelines for purchasing hardware that will speed up your computer. However, any discussion of ways to speed things up Windows operation It wouldn't be complete without mentioning adding more random access memory (RAM) to your computer.

If the computer is under Windows control 7 is too slow, usually due to insufficient RAM. The best way to speed up its operation is to increase the amount of memory.

Windows 7 can be run on a computer with 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM, but 2 GB is better. Optimal performance is provided by 3 GB of RAM or more.

Another option is to increase the memory capacity using Windows technologies ReadyBoost. This feature allows you to use storage space on some removable media, such as USB flash drives, to improve the performance of your computer. It is much easier to insert a flash memory device into a USB port than to open the computer case and connect memory modules to the system board.

Checking for viruses and spyware

If your computer is running slowly, it may be infected with a virus or spyware. This situation is less common than other problems, but it should also be taken into account. Checking your computer with anti-spyware and anti-virus programs will help you avoid worrying too much about its health.

A common sign of a virus is slower-than-normal computer performance. Other signs include messages popping up unexpectedly on your computer screen, programs that start automatically, or a sound from your hard drive that is constantly running.

Spyware is a type of program that is installed on a computer, usually without the user's knowledge, to monitor his online activities. You can check for spyware using Windows Defender or other anti-spyware applications.

The most reliable way to fight viruses is to prevent them from entering. Always run antivirus program and keep it updated. However, even if these precautions are taken, your computer may become infected.

Checking your computer's performance

If your computer is still too slow after following these tips, you may need to buy a new PC or upgrade some hardware, such as installing new hard disk or a more powerful video adapter. However, you don't need to manually measure your computer's performance. Windows OS offers a way to check and evaluate the speed of your PC using an index Windows performance.

The Windows Experience Index analyzes your computer's configuration across five major components and assigns a score to each component as well as an overall score. The overall score depends on the score of the component that received the worst results.

The problem of computer performance and increasing its speed periodically arises for almost every user. There are a number of factors that, to one degree or another, affect the speed of a computer. First of all, these are the parameters of the computer - its processor and RAM, in addition, the existing RAM limit. They can be seen using the built-in DirectX diagnostic tool by selecting “Run” from the Start menu and entering the DXDIAG command there. Naturally, these parameters cannot be changed and you have to put up with what is.

However, you can try to solve the problem by optimizing the system and setting it up correctly. First of all, you need to regularly defragment your hard drives, which sometimes allows you to increase operating speed by 20-30%.

This procedure can be performed using the program built into the Windows OS, to launch which you need to do the following: in the Start menu, select Control Panel, then Performance and Maintenance, then Change the location of files on the hard drive, and in the window that opens, click on the Defragmentation button.

The next step in optimizing your computer’s operation is to disable system services that are unnecessary for operation. To ensure operational actions and execute user commands, the OS provides special services, but not all of them are used. You need to carefully analyze the list of such services, identify those that are not used, and edit the list. This helps increase productivity by 10-15%. To do this, in the control panel, select – Administration, then – Services.

Another important factor affecting the speed of a computer is startup programs. These programs are automatically added to the startup list during installation, which significantly reduces operating speed. They can be disabled or switched to manual start mode. The easiest way to do this is as follows: Start menu - All programs - Startup. In the list that opens, make the necessary adjustments, removing shortcuts of unnecessary programs from the list.

Now you can clean the OS from accumulated garbage - unnecessary more files, registry errors, empty lines, leftovers remote programs etc. For this you can use any of available programs and third-party utilities. The simplest and most effective today is Cleaner, which simply, affordably and quickly copes with the task.

Service center "Vector" provides service and Laptop Repair any complexity. Specialists also recover data from hard drives.

I offer as a gift to download a free book: causes of freezes on PC, data recovery, computer network through electrical wiring and many other interesting features.
Even more interesting news, and most importantly communication, solutions to your problems! Add to telegram - https://t.me/mycompplus

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On the day you bought a new computer, you definitely couldn't be happier with how quickly it responded to given commands, but over time, the PC's performance level began to decrease.

What to do in this case? And is it possible to return the original speed? But it is quite possible to solve this problem; it is only important to determine the real reason slow work computer.

There could be several reasons why your PC is performing poorly.

One of them is processor temperature. After all, most users simply ignore the indicators of the “heart” of the computer, and it is its severe overheating that can threaten not only slow operation, but also cause the chip to burn out.

In order to monitor the temperature of your PC, you can use a program such as “Everest”. If the processor temperature is more than 50 degrees, then it is advisable to remove the cover system unit to check coolers and clean the device from dust.

If the situation has not changed after this, then the reason for the slow performance should be looked for in the registry, which can simply be overloaded with all kinds of entries. After all, after deleting a program, all components of its activity do not always disappear. Very often, excess balances are found in the registry. You can get rid of this problem and carefully remove all “invalid” components using the well-known program “CCleaner”.

To learn more about your computer's situation, you can use the Performance Index check. To do this, you need to open “My Computer”, select “System Properties”, then “Performance Index”.

If the index is too low, you will need to make changes to the operating system graphics. To do this, open “System Properties” and click on “ Extra options system", then find "Performance" and open the parameters. Now all that remains is to configure the visual effects, but one nuance should be taken into account - the more effects are enabled, the slower the performance.

Also, one of the reasons for the slow performance of the computer may be a large number of programs that start automatically when turned on. In order to remove these programs from startup, you need to go to the control panel and select “Hardware and Sound” and open “Startup”. Next, in the window that appears, you need to uncheck all unwanted processes. But remember that turning off your antivirus can have unforeseen consequences, so you should be careful about what exactly you turn off.

Most often, the cause of this type of problem may be the action malware. Therefore, you should scan your computer with an antivirus and exclude this option.